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84 Yamaha XJ 650 discussion forum:I love my XJ650 Maxim |
| I love my XJ650 Maxim |
| Hal Hagan said 2006-02-20 18:05 |
| Last summer I bought an 84 XJ650 Maxim, in that deep purple which is almost black (not my favourite colour, but it´s growing on me). I hadn´t ridden regularly in about 27 years (my last bike was a 1970 Suzuki 500 Titan), and I wasn´t sure I would be up to it. Thankfully, my friend Terry had got the bike bug earlier than I did, and he convinced me to join him on one of Honda´s "Come Ride with Us" factory test-drive campaigns at a dealer about 45 minutes away. I test drove a couple of biggish V-Twins - a 650 (I think) and a 1300. Within a few seconds, I knew I could do this and enjoy it (it´s like riding a bike...) I started casually looking for a decent, inexpensive (sub-$2000 used bike once Terry had bought his bike - we used to ride together back in Montreal and I wanted to do that again. The first bike I looked at was (for me) a dream bike from long ago - a Honda CB900 with the two-range transmission. Unfortunately, the guy who was trying to sell this before he moved out east had not so much as started it up in over 20 years, though he had drained the gas tank and carburetors. Everyone I discussed that with said what a shame, but that bike could be a massive list of repairs just waiting to happen, and that I´d be still working on getting that on the road a year or more later. I then looked at a 77 Yamaha triple, but suspected it had too much wrong with it (strong piston knock) and it was pricey, so that made me question whether it worth the effort to bring up to scratch. While on vacation up north, I dropped by Parkway Yamaha in Collingwood, Ont, and chatted with the owner about the Yamaha triple I had seen, telling him the symptoms it showed and where I saw potential problems. I asked for a real wild-*ss guess as to what it would cost to fix. He said a bike like that, showing those symptoms, wouldn´t be worth fixing unless I got the bike free and the owner threw in about $1200, too. Ideally, I wanted a Honda CB900 or CB650 - a 4-cyclinder rather than a twin as I wanted a relatively smooth and quiet bike - not a thumper which would wake the neighbours. He said he had just got in an 84 Yamaha XJ650 Maxim, 4-cylinders, shaft-drive - very dependable, inexpensive to drive and to insure. It came from a customer of long standing who had traded up, it had 34,000KM on the clock, and had been very well maintained and his shop knew that bike as being well looked after. He would be selling it tuned and certified for about $1800. That was a price I felt I could justify. I thought about that for a couple of days, then decided I would get it. My wife didn´t look too happy about that, but had pretty much resigned herself to the idea that I would probably geta bike now that Terry had one. My neighbour Percy, a mechanic, took a close look at it and pronounced it in excellent shape, no smoke on start-up or on acceleration, quiet and smooth. I put on perhaps a thousand km before the cold set in. It´s been a blast to ride, very comfortable, has a nice big seat (like me) and runs very dependably. I´m finding it´s just about the right size of bike for me. I´ll confess I´m always drawn to the big highway cruisers like the Honda Goldwing, so I may trade up some day way off in the future. My wife will never ride with me, so this is my toy alone. I´m really happy with it. My XJ650 doesn´t monopolize my garage, it´s light enough for me to handle, quick-footed, manoeuvrable and comfortable, and best of all, it´s inexpensive to insure - I´m paying less than $500/yr. I´m looking forward to many years of enjoyment on this bike, and I´m planning a trip to Ottawa on it this summer to meet up with an old friend I haven´t seen since I last had a bike. |
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