I am not at all inspired by the current wave of fully faired race replicas but felt pretty sure I wanted more power and had, for a long time, looked with envy at the American market's plethora of street-drag, power cruisers. My ideal choice would have been Kawa's long and low ZL900 Eliminator, and when I heard it was going to find its way to these shores I was delighted. I was less than delighted to find that it had gained 100cc, buck horn bars and a price tag of £4500 exactly one pound for one dollar of the Eliminator's stateside price.
The door market reality slammed shut in my face and I decided to look for some cheaper and more sensible alternative. I searched for a long time to find the right machine then one day I saw an imported Yamaha XS1100 Midnight Special squatting ferociously on the showroom floor. So what's the point of telling you about a machine you can't buy - well, the XS1100 is 99% structurally similar. The real difference is in the cosmetics with the Yank using lots of chrome in place of the black of the S.
Anyway, plunge taken, there it sat outside the dealers parked on wet cobblestones and looking for all the world as if someone had plucked it from the drag strip and whacked on a number plate. Pure muscle. 13000km on ‘the clock and gleaming like a new pin. First ride on those cobblestones frightened the living daylights out of me - it just felt so bloody huge. Tarmac slowed the heart rate a little and at the first junction a little kid rushed up to the bike, glanced at the speedo, asking, does it really do 240. Yeah sure, I replied, forgetting to mention that the clock was calibrated in kmh. Still, I suppose I may have converted another young ‘un to the fold.
Ambling cautiously home, I reassured myself with the thought of just how sensible my choice had been - the bike looked rare and intriguing but servicing and spares were no problem thanks to the good old XS1100S. Perhaps the first ride is smugness had helped me ignore the horrific, agricultural drive line lash, clunky gear change and low speed handling.
High speed handling was also weird, going into a mild but persistent tank slapper whenever the bike was leaned over. Having saved £2500 by not buying the Kawa, I didn't feel too bad about spending a couple of hundred on much needed improvements. First to go were the dreadful rear shocks - these would have been out of place on a 250. They were replaced by S & W Street Strokers, not cheap at £97 but I swear they are the best.Next came a meaty fork brace, that was originally designed for the TR1, which helped make the forks work together.
These mods make the bike feel much more stable and chuckable. Persistent and deliberate riding will let me pester much of the newer high tech stuff. The next change will be to dump the Avon rear tyre for something with a rounder section, that will hopefully clear up the remaining small high speed wobble. After a few weeks ownership and the suspension mods, the weight isn't too much of a problem on the move. Parking is a pain in the neck.
Although the seat looks quite low, this is negated by the sheer width of the bike. I'm a leggy 5' 9" and still find myself in embarrassing situations when reversing the bike uphill or over a steep camber. Any shorter and you'll have to pick your parking spaces very carefully (not always practical in busy town centres) or choose another bike. Hands up all those who think bikes weighing over 500lbs should be fitted with a reverse gear.
The engine is a beautiful lump, well refined and noted for its reliability and durability. It has immense torque whack open the throttle in third, the first three thousand revs rise steadily and purposefully and when it hits four all hell breaks loose. If you're used to small machines you won't know what's hit you.
The motor keeps punching out the power right up to the 8500rpm red line, by which time you're going rather faster than the speed limit. Change up and the speed just keeps increasing, though you'll probably run out of road first. Fortunately, if you do run out of road or something annoying like a bend gets in the way, the triple discs will haul you up pretty sharpish. But don't try this in the wet, unless you like funerals...
OK then, this bike has more go that most people really need, but it doesn't come cheap. Litre plus bikes do like a drink and this one's an alcoholic. Average consumption is about 35-37mpg, but thrash the bike hard and a gallon of three star will disappear in 27 miles. Exercising the greatest restraint returns 45 to 50mpg, but this kind of riding is more suited to Gold Wing owners. I accord with the listings at the back of this mag for tyre and brake pad wear. Stock pads cost £18/pair; Ferodo pads have similar performance and life but cost £6 less, so I'd recommend them to anyone who doesn't like throwing money away.
The XS is an impressive, some would say awesome, machine, which in its day took the motorcycle world a little by storm. It still grabs attention amidst. the scores of GPZXRs. Given serious welly and a deliberate foot on the gear change it will scream up to sixty like something out of Santa Pod, but once you get there, it won't just relax and settle down. Every blip of the throttle will have you rushing up to the ton like a rhino bucking its horn at all the Cavaliers and Sierras unfortunate to get in its way. Grace? Svelte? Forget it. This bike is authoritative, dominating, brutish and at the end of the day frankly rather tiring.
If you think you can handle all this, or just want to find something mega that's relatively cheap, then buy one. They're built to last and will probably have you staining your panties for many years to come. Eventually it may become something of a classic if only as ultimate superbike of a bygone age in biking.
If you're not sure see if you can ride a friends for the experience and keep something more practical in your own back yard. Me, I'm still in awe of the thing but I have this recurring dream about an SRX600 single and I wake in the morning with a question on my mind: Is it really the size of the thing you've got or whether you've learnt how to use it?
Jon Dalton