What Do You Think Of This?

Post by **Hippy** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 4:57 pm

Going to have a look at this tomorrow night, could do with some opinions or if anyone's owned one, what to look out for.

[attachmentid=194]

It's a 1996 Yamaha XJ600N, up for sale for Â£700.
28k miles

New tyres
New front and rear pads and disks
Good battery
Good chain and sprockets

Includes soft luggage rack

Bad points.

Cracked rear seat fairing
One of the exhausts has been welded up and painted as you see in the pic

3 months MOT and Tax

What say you?

Post by **Nellyboy** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:45 pm

Hiya Hippy, I had an XJ600 for a few years. This is a little updated to the one I rode. If couriers swear by the xj 600 and 900 then its gotta be a good bike. Only would prefer the 900 cos of the shaft over chain. A great bike I think.

Post by **Dangerous Bob** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 6:23 pm

should be a decent reliable workhorse.
Decent mileage for the year.

Post by **Hippy** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:10 pm

Cool, seriously tempted by this now.
Nobody seems to have a bad word to say about them, unless you count 'reliable' and 'workhorse' and 'bland' as bad things, i happen to quite like the look of them though. And at that price, they're very attractive

Nelly, you prefer the shaft drive to chain?? strange boy, how can you pull wheelies?

Post by **Turts** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:59 pm

a NAIL !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry to disagree, I only had one of these for 24hrs whilst mine was in for a service some years ago. It was a 600 and was absolutely gutless.
Excellent as a workhorse (courier etc) where riding in and out of city traffic is required with the odd trip round the M25... but on a country road where the idea is to have fun.. You may as well get a Raleigh Chopper Hipps..
...and wheelies ??? on an XJ ?? .. some more homework required young Sir

my 2d

..ps.. the Fazer ... now that's a different kettle of fish... and is a much better option bud.
I'd hope that for that kind of dollar you'd be able to find something a little better

Post by **Hippy** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 12:05 am

Yuk! Fazer! bleurgh!!

Oh, and. . . <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgDbH3Lk ... re=related" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgDbH3Lk ... related</a>

Post by **Eagle** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 6:33 am

Well if youre thinking about pulling wheelies and you havent even passed your test yet, I would stop now and forget the idea of ever owning a bike.

Post by **Turts** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 7:55 am

Eagle wrote: Well if youre thinking about pulling wheelies and you havent even passed your test yet, I would stop now and forget the idea of ever owning a bike.

wot OGF1 sed

Post by **Hippy** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:36 am

Ahh shuddup!

My little GP125 was a wheelie monster!

Anyway, i was only pointing out that shaft drives dont' wheelie. I'm not bothered about it myself!

Post by **andrew** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:48 pm

My neighbour (the one we hate and don't talk to) has an xj600, she uses it to goto work on, nice enough bike I guess for AtoB.

Fazers are nice bikes, a friend has one (with grip heaters as well the posh sod) and he loves it to bits, he does a mix of riding including spirited rides and town hopping. Its a good middle of the road bike i'd say

but my opinion isn't worth a lot, but i'd go fazer before xj if you can for the money.......
All that said, its your money and your choice hipps

Post by **Turts** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:39 pm

andrew wrote: My neighbour (the one we hate and don't talk to) has an xj600, she uses it to goto work on, nice enough bike I guess for AtoB.

Fazers are nice bikes, a friend has one (with grip heaters as well the posh sod) and he loves it to bits, he does a mix of riding including spirited rides and town hopping. Its a good middle of the road bike i'd say but my opinion isn't worth a lot, but i'd go fazer before xj if you can for the money.......
All that said, its your money and your choice hipps

...at the end of the day we know you have no 'style' because of what you drive Hipps... If you fancy slow leisurely bimble on an XJ.. go 4 it bud

Post by **Nellyboy** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:58 pm

Wheelies are for idiots who give riders a bad image to all the non-bikers out there.

It takes a man to ride responsibly. I enjoy riding most while in proper control of the machine.

Have fun

Post by **Hippy** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:15 pm

Look, i don't want to wheelie or show off ok!

I want a good first bike bike, my criteria is:

Naked sports/tourer (i hate faired bikes)
good commuter
good for some longer distance touring/travel
reliable
cheap

Now that puts me squarely aiming at a Hornet/Bandit/SV650/ER-6 type bike. As good a bike as the fazer is, it doesn't fullfil my criteria, i hate the looks of the bikini fairing and finding a decent one under a grand is next to impossible!
If my budget could stretch to Â£1300 - Â£1500, then i'd be looking at a hornet/SV instead.

Thie divvy ticks all the boxes for me, It might not be fast but i don't care, i don't want to ride everywhere at warp speed, i'm used to riding a 125, everything feels fast for me and at 65bhp, this is plenty! by the time i'm bored of it, my riding skills will have caught up enough to warrant a faster bike. Plus slow = less petrol!

That said, i've just been to see the divvy in the flesh, it was as to be expected with a few extra minor niggles such as:

Missing bar end weight
split, worn out grips
the carbs need balancing and the idle setting (idling way too fast) but rode well
exhaust blowing out of a pin sized hole
noisy clutch at idle (i was expecting this, it's a design 'feature', they all do it, i know how to fix it)
paint wasn't quite as good as it looks in the picture but just needs a good clean.
pass light switch working intermittantly

On the plus side though:
lower mileage than he had listed, 21k, not 28k
brand new wheel bearings
new caliper seals
some service history and reciepts for all work/mot's

the owner works in a local dealer, he will fit new bar end weights, new yamaha grips and balance the carbs. The blowing exhaust and paint condition is a point of leverage on the price, exhaust could be fixed with a dab of liquid metal or some gun gum (it really is a tiny hole)

All in all i'm pretty pleased and if he sorts out the niggles, i will be making an offer. He's happy to wait a week or so and even knows someone looking for a bike like my 125.

So anyway turts, i'm happy with the little divvy, it's not all about speed and we know who has more style! don't we gramps!!!!

Oh and the insurance for this bike comes in at Â£120 for me instead of nearer Â£300 for the FZ6.

Post by **Dangerous Bob** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:15 pm

Hey, You can wheelie shafties...

I can get the front wheel of my GTR up..
Not for long, but it's up....

Fill the panniers and put the missuss on the back makes it easier mind.

Post by **Hippy** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:17 pm

Did you just call your missus fat?