Sweet'n'Lo

Decided yesterday to play around with the X and swap out a few bits and pieces.



Sits a few inches lower than stock and rides pretty nicely. Actually feels more stable, which may be from the firmer springs; a little less bouncy.

Still need to get the sidestand angled right and it's now impossible for me to put it on the centrestand without rolling the backwheel onto a block of wood first... And of course I'll need to sort out the rr fender. Maybe carve the passenger seat into a little faux-mustang?

 

Looks good man!

 

Looks nice. Good luck getting the angles right. I never noticed that you don't have stock wheels anymore. What did you get to fit? That open rear wheel looks great.

 

hey....i really like the look of that bike. could you post up or email me some more pics of it? zookie400@gmail.com

 

Anthony: Thanks!!

Paco: The rr wheel came off a XJ700 airhead. Easy swap. No mods required. I'd originally tried one from a Virago but that one's a no-go. I think the open spoke design looks great with the matching front wheel but I think I'm gonna put the original X wheel back on. In my opinion it looks better with the Fazer front. And now that the back end is lowered there isn't that space between the wheel and the fender so the semi-disc wheel might fill it up better.

Zookie: Is there anything in particular you'd like to see? I have a few from slightly different angles but really just more of the same. If you had something specific in mind let me know.

 

what is the exhaust you are running?

 

The header's a Hindle with an old track can. The can was pretty ugly when I got it and it's still pretty ugly now even though I took a grinding wheel to it to give it a bit of a brushed industrial look. There're even a couple of loose rivets that jiggle a bit when it's running... :wink:

 

could i still get my hands on one of these "hindle" headers?

 

Not sure. I picked mine up a few years on eBay as New Old Stock from a bike shop. Don't know if they still make them or not. You'd probably be better off picking up one of the many 4-1's available for the other XJ models. The one I have was specific to the MaxX.

 

Swapped the rear wheel back on. Also put the pass seat front fender back on for now. Still thinking about carving that seat down to a little mustang look and the fender needs to be lowered about an inch so it hugs the tire better.



And here's a pic of the sidestand after some heating and bending. And some heating and bending... And some more heating and bending. Bike's a lot more stable on the stand now.

 

FYI, my 30" inseam can actually flat-foot it from the passenger seat.

 

Yeah, I'm quite short, and my 28" inseam can flat-foot my stock X, albeit from the driver's seat. That's another one of the reasons I love it. It's the first bike I've owned that I've been able to flat-foot.

I might try that XJ700 rear wheel swap, or maybe photoshop it first to see what it looks like. I was at the boneyard today where I really scored with a set of engine guards (they needed serious cleaning, but I got them to look presentable) from a 700 and it had a good rear wheel. There were actually two 700's and one X in there, so if any of you guys ever need a part, let me know and I'll see if I can nab it for ya. This place is only a few blocks from my house and these days when I walk in they just tell me to go on back to the Yamaha section.

 

Where did you get the front tire?! I love that look!

 

Thanks. The front wheel came off of a '87/88 Fazer.

 

In doing a little research, am I wrong to think that the front wheel is the same size as my current back wheel??? Besides the fender issue, would that work at all?

 

The Fazer front wheel is 16", same as your rear wheel. It's a little bit narrower though, I forget by how much. Like 2.5" compared to 3... Something like that. The tire I have on the front is a 130/90-16, same as the rear.

The issue with the fender wasn't really and issue. I just thought it would look better sitting lower and hugging the tire better. I resolved this by cutting some spacers (approx 20mm) and got some longer bolts to mount it.

 

What kind of rear shocks did you use, or did you just cut the springs?

 

WHERE did you find those highway pegs?

 

I like that fat front tire look. I'm planning on going a size bigger (wider) tire on my bobber but I am concerned if will look stupid with the stock 19" rim?
It does look mean with that smaller wheel on yours. I like it!

 

Thanks PD. I do really like how the bikes looks. I thought about going wider on the stock 19" rim but wasn't sure a 110 would make that much difference and that was pretty much the widest I could find, not that I looked all that hard. Have you considered going narrower? A skinny front tire might look pretty cool on your bike.

 

How are the pods working for ya? From what I understand, it is nearly impossible to get the X to run right with pods.

 

Meh... The pods aren't the greatest, but they sure make pulling the carbs a lot easier. :wink: I've got it tuned so it runs well enough for my purposes but it has lost a bit of low-end pull.

 

what are you running for rear shocks/springs?

bike looks great!

 

Thanks Strat.

The shocks in the previous pictures were from a Suzuki Savage. They're about 10.5", eye-to-eye, and drop the rear about 3 or so inches. I liked them pretty well for solo riding, but I found they bottomed once in a while with a passenger, so I decided to splurge and get myself some 11" Progressive 440s a little less travel and a heavier spring rate.

 

Hi Ma...X

What is the eye-to-eye length on the MaximX stock rear shocks?
Would putting suchs a pair on a 750 Seca be possible?
Sitting no way near my bike, i don't even know the eye-to-eye of the 750 Seca, but i guess it should be nearly the same as that nice little 900 u got there in the background.
Don't u think, lowering a 750 Seca a bit, could reduce high speed wobling and maybe make it look a little more Grrrr..
Highway speedlimit here is 130km/h and even small holes and cracks in the road often results in a(controllable) wobble-not a nice experience.

Anderesn

 

Hey Andersen,

The length of the stock MaximX shocks is just under 13". Don't see any reason not to put shorter shocks on your Seca750 as I'm pretty sure others have done the same. One thing to consider carefully is the springrate. Heavier is better, as far as I'm concerned, especially when going shorter.

The shocks you see on my 900 are actually the Savage shocks that were previously on the X. I'm a bit on the shorter side with a 30" inseam, so the 900 is a bit easier for me to manoeuvre now that it's lowered a bit. It's not plated yet, so I haven't had it on the highway other than a quick half mile blast with a borrowed tag, so I can't really comment on high-speed stability, but from riding it up and down the street and around the neighbourhood it feels pretty good. And there seems to be more clearance than on the X as I haven't noticed any fender rub, even going over speed bumps.

 

hey what size front tire is that?

 

Reading is your friend... :wink:

 

reading...whats that?

haha THANKS!