Beerlao...Asia's greatest export after motorbikes!
I sure will. That was a great trip. Arizona and New Mexico just reminded me so much of South Australia! Hot, dry and plenty of ice cold beer!
Fitz, I'm amazed you don't get them...but then again I was always amazed that you barely got the 900. XJR1300 was also on my shopping list, but...
This is a rather sad moment. All good things come to an end, and after five years and 50,000 happy kilometres of XJ ownership I'm packing up the...
Do you mean the grab rail? This is the aluminium "handle" that runs from one side to the other behind the pillion seat. It only has one mounting...
Thank you. That was a very interesting article.
If you find the view window hard to use, you can improvise a dip stick from a bamboo chopstick (!) Make sure you have the right amount of oil,...
My 1983 XJ900 has 140,000km on the clock and runs really well. 50,000 of those km are mine, and I've had very little trouble...minor electrical...
That's interesting, TimetoRide. I've never used the mat, as I thought it would rather defeat the purpose of diffusing the gas (and the noise)....
It's a bit of a balancing act. Pack in too much and you get a very quiet bike, but excessive back pressure. In my experience, sometimes a loose...
It's not asbestos, it's fibreglass. Most bike shops can supply it. Just wrap the core and bind the stuff on with soft wire. Try to get it about...
NZXJ750RIDER, WTF is a WOF? (Is it NZ for a female spouse? As in " I now pronounce you man and wof".)
I had a split like that on my XT500. I wrapped fibreglass tape around it, gave it plenty of resin, a coat of paint, and seven years later it's...
Took off for work last week on the 900. Dreadful rattling noise from the front end. My bike has 130,000km on the clock, so some kind of...
The etymology (origin of the word) seems to be that you "chop" the ignition after running at a certain rev range. This gives you a picture of the...
You young wet-behind-the-ears whippersnappers! I'm 63 and haven't been without a bike for 46 years. Had a scare last year when gout in the knees...
I always get on the bike from the left hand side, but we drive on the left, so if you're parked parallel to traffic, getting on from the right...
I fitted bar end mirrors to the 900 about a year ago and the difference is AMAZING!! The only problem is that I can no longer see whether the...
My 1984 XJ900 is fairly fussy about pressure in the front tyre. If the pressure drops, my front wheel has a tendency to "wander" as you describe....
It was 93F here last night. That was our MINIMUM!
Yes Hound, I'll never understand why Yamaha didn't run the 900 in the US the way they did here. It was a good seller and still is a great...
115F this afternoon. Not a cloud in the sky. After my 25km ride home, the keys were almost too hot to handle, just from sitting in the sun. I...
My '84 XJ900 has 129,000km on the clock (That's about 80,000 miles) I've done about 50,000 of those kilometres. During that time, except for...
43 degrees today. 43 degrees Celsius. (That's 110F)
BOTH of my ex-wives gave me the ultimatum "It's me or the bikes". I don't miss either of the bitches.
Lou, If you can't find a place for a starter button, you can always do what I did-bypass all the cut out switches, drill a hole in the LH side...
Well, I'm just back in Adelaide after riding round southern Laos in utterly perfect weather. Rode to work today (First day back) through sunny,...
Just like you Baz, I also was out on the 900 today. The other similarity is that it was 22 degrees here for a while, then got up to...
I'm writing a book called "Way Too Lean". Can I use your photo for the cover?
Been using my 900 for everyday transport for the last 45,000 kilometres. (Five years). Now has 128,000 on the clock and I still haven't done...
Fitz, at the risk of turning this into a mutual admiration society, you are so right. I had a model 18 AJS (rigid) with the old tractor style...
As long ago as 1908, the architect Adolf Loos wrote: ".... ornamentation can have the effect of causing objects to go out of style and thus become...
Quite true indeed Fitz! Thing is, are bikes following the path of "natural selection" or "unnatural selection"? Are we getting better, more...
Fitz, I'm looking at your "Ferrari", and I'm thinking that it would be a bitch to work on! I'm also totally unable to work out how those front...
Old timers!! I'm not old, I'm only 63!! Here in Australia, we have graduated licences, so you can only get bikes up to about 500cc when you...
Very interesting, Splunge, but why did Yamaha leave the XJ900 on the (comparatively tiny) market in Australia, where it competed with the FJ1100?...
Seat comes off with a turn of the key, tank lifts off without tools, side covers just pull away, rear seat cover held on by four bolts (but you...
Why was the 900 withdrawn from sale so quickly in the States? I know the '83 model had some handling issues involving the fork mounted fairing,...
Can't comment on what happens when you put your bike away for winter, but I often hook the battery up to the trickle charger without taking the...
The XJ900N had a round headlight....but no fairing. As far as I know, the XJ900 was not sold in the USA. I ride one every day and think it's an...
Deadulus, congratulations on a great name for your bike. I love the connection to the Golden Age. I hate to be pedantic, and I know we're...
You can buy special grease for rubber (I think it's silicone). I bought a tube of it years ago; still haven't used it all, but it makes this kind...
I bought a NOS seat cover for my XJ900 and it was very nicely shaped to fit over the existing seat. I got my lovely lady friend to help (She...
Ooops!
Just to allay one worry: "......the multimeter was $4.99 at Harbor Freight, so how accurate is that? " I have seen multimeters fail, but...
"cables today are really much better" That is so true! I'm sure most riders my age can remember stopping at service stations and borrowing...
Fitted some new handgrips to the 900F. The old ones were original (after nearly 128,000km) and were worn completely smooth! The new ones have...
If I told you guys what the weather's like here in Adelaide at the moment, I think you'd probably raise a lynch mob and come looking for me!
Very nostalgic topic. I'd forgotten Isolastic suspension, and nearly forgotten non-unit gearboxes. They certainly made maintenance easier, but...