Windscreen and backrest

I am the new owner of a 1985 XJ700. I have a few questions for all of you experienced XJers out there. First, I am getting about 210 kms out of a tank of gas. Does this seem normal? I see the tank is small. So I did run out of gas, I was waiting for the low fuel light to come on. It didn't. Can that be fixed?

Second, I can see there are different windscreens available. The bike came with a small one that was bolted onto the handlebar effectively partially blocking the guages with support rods. I would like one that is a bit larger and perhaps can bolt onto the forks.

Finally, I see some XJ700 bikes have a backrest. Where would I start to locate one? It is not always easy to see if an item on Ebay will actually fit my bike.

 

Hey Rickvo....I can go from Hr.Grace to St.John's and back on a tank of gas which is about 200 kms. So yours is just like mine.

 

Not sure on the differences between our bikes and motors, but mileage sounds comparable to my 86 Maxim X, as I normally have the light go on around 90 miles and fueling by 110-120.

I just picked up a windshield at JC Whitney and rode with it yesterday in 25 mph head winds at 50-55 mph and it seemed to help quite a bit. I couldn't take the abuse last year when I tried to run 70 mph on the highways, this may help. If I was running high speeds more often, I'd want more coverage but for my cruising around town and occasional higher speeds it provides enough coverage. Of course time will tell how it holds up, but so far so good.

Not sure how bad they'd get you on shipping or if there are any issues with customs.

 

I appreciate you taking a moment to share your thoughts. Certainly the place to be to talk to other XJ owners.

Anyone with backrest info ? I would like to hear from you.

 

Rickvo...I could not find a backrest so I made my own from some square steel tubing. It's not perfect but it works.

 

Backrests turn up on eBay from time to time, but they usually make the seller pretty happy, if you know what I mean... I don't think I've ever seen one sell for under $100 unless it's really beat up.

Is your bike air-cooled or water-cooled?

 

My bike is air cooled. I will have to poke around the Web and see if anything might be available that does not force me to spend the kids college money...

 

I will continue to shout from the mountain tops that the Vetter fairing I put on my bike was the best thing I have done to my bike yet.
It save sooooo much on fatigue. I love it. I bought mine on ebay a year ago for I think 40 bucks plus shipping. Some sellers put a pretty steep price on shipping though. Mine didn't.

 

I had a Vetter fairing on mine for a few years and loved it. I had the best wind protection I could get. I also had a radio in the fairing, which made it nice for riding to work, being able to listen to the morning show on the way.
Now that I bobbed it, I still miss the protection of a windshield. I just use a Memphis slim windshield now and it does a good job. I had to make my own brackets, but it works great.

 

Thanks for the tips. This forum works great for XJ owners.