xj900 cafe racer

Hi

I recently bought an xj 900-83. This is my first xj and so far I love it. I come from modern sportsbikes so the chassie, brakes and suspension isn´t very impressive but I like the racing feeling I get. Almost like I´m riding a factory racer from the 50´s.

 

wow it is a looker
out of curiosity how much did you spend on it?

 

Glad you like it. I paid roughly 5300$ for it. Rebuilt engine and hand made aluminum by a guy who wont be making any more. I had plans on building my own this winter when i saw this one was up for sale. Saves me a lot of hours and most likely a lot of money too.

 

You can't really complain about the chassis, brakes and suspension as none of that looks stock on your bike.

If it was stock you sure could (and should) complain about the suspension! :lol:

Welcome to this site, you will find answers here that just are not available any where else.

 

Well actually brakes and front suspension are original. Rear shocks are moved to new location. I didn't mean to sound like I'm complaining its a bike from the 80's and that is exactly how it feels. Frames suspension and brakes have evolved a lot since then.

I'm thinking about putting on front shocks ande brake calipers from a cbr 600 from early 90's. They are also 37mm from what i can tell.

I had a cbr 600 earlier and got the suspension to work really good with some minor changes.

Any suggestions on shock upgrades would be great.

 

Put yellow film on the head light. Gives it an added retro look in my opinion.
What do you guys think?

 

5300 krona or usd ?

 

5300 kronor is the same as a happy meal so it´s 5300 us.

 

I made an integrated muffler in my exhaust and tried to go for a straight pipe look. Pretty pleased with the look and its almost as silent as the bulky big chromed silencer I had on before.

 

Norhing too exciting just a little ride with the cafe.

http://youtu.be/biJgCbPAI6w

 

that shoelace thing is exciting when you discover it at a red light.
you go too fast, i like to look at your countryside
bike sounds good, especially going through the towns
Conti makes radial tires in a few sizes
http://www.conti-online.com/www/motorcy ... ck_en.html
they might make a big difference in the suspension

 

Hehe I did a nice one on a dirtbike a while back. Somehow got the kick up inside my pants and found out the hard way in a big nice mud hole.

I wasn´t going that fast really but will try to make a more scenic video next time.

If you want to check out a video where I´m really pushing it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF8-2vKfU2M
Not riding at warpspeed but pretty close considering it´s a tuned monkeybike

Thanks for the tyre tip. I have been eying these for the next change. Classed as a sporty tyre.

Swedish link. Anyone with experience of these?

http://www.tirendo.se/continental-conti ... 51551.html

 

Moved the licence plate today. Think it fits the café style better. Side mounted is a little bit more of a bobber look.

 

Nice metalwork! That qualifies as art.Is that a smaller aluminium airbox with the pod style filters mounted on the rear?
Very nice countryside.
Feel free to put more photos up I wouldn't mind a better look at that triple clamp cover?.But I suspect that whole bike is like that.
Very nice.

 

Hi yamazuki. That is one very nice Cafe Racer. I enjoyed your footage of the ride out through the countryside even though you were on the wrong side of the road ha ha. The licence plate definitely looks better now. What type of camera did you shoot the ride-out video with? I bought a cheap helmet cam but it only worked a couple of times and seems to have packed up altogether now.
By the way it didn't look too fast to me. Here is a link to a great day out I had at Donington about 5 years ago. My wife is useless with a camcorder but I cobbled something together to remind me of the experience.
Donington 22nd Sept 2009: http://youtu.be/uDjIoSSYuQE

 

nice work on the muffler!!!

 

Thanks for the thumbs up guys. I use a gopro2 camera works ok but I had to do som mods to get the sound recording decent. Not perfect now but way better.

Found a pic of the aluminum airbox. Will upload more detailed pictures of the bike in a couple of days.



And another.

 

Here are some closeups on the cover. Stainless steel a little brushed to make it less shiny.

 

Had a nice little ride this evening.

 

Does anyone know if there is someone who makes custom final gears?
I want to lower the revs when im riding at highway speed. As far as i can tell the xj900 has the highest gearing already so no swapping from another bike right?

All my friends ride plastic modern racers so speed is sometimes a bit over the leagal. I previously had a turboed r1 for eight years so im not used being the anchor of the crew

I could get new friends but i kinda like them and they refuse to buy slower bikes. I also like my xj and dont want to push it to redline just to keep a tempo thats not too boring to my friends.

Help me out here

 

If you are running at redline in 5th then you are pushing 130MPH. Go to the track, or get new friends.

 

I got to the track every now and then but somehow that doesn't lower the revs on my xj.

Anyone else?

 

Ride at a normal speed and like magic the revs will be lower.

 

Ok changing name on my cafe racer to cafe cruiser.
Thanks alot for the help.

 

I suspect that, without a tach, you only think it's revving too high.

"Cruising" RPM for the XJ motors is 5K ~7K or so.

 

X2, throw a tach on and see where you are, I can't imagine pushing a bike to its peak without my eye on the needle letting me know how much I have to go

 

Approx 4500 rpm at about 60mph. I would feel more comfortable with 4500-5000 at 100mph. I'm used to being able to change sprocket sizes up and down to get what I want but it's a bit harder on my xj.

 

It's not a crotch rocket its a cruiser.

 

And I would like my cruiser to rev less at a certain speed. I'm not after increased actual top speed. Just an increased theoretical top speed. 5th gear with an overdrive feel to it.

 

there's been a lot of people ask that question in the past, i don't think anyone found a way.
there is a way to trick yourself though, quieter pipes, less noise makes your brain think less rpm's, that seems like taller gears

 

It's not a cruiser or a sportsbike it's a sports tourer made to travel far and fast carrying you,your significant other and your gear for a weekend or more away so you can travel in comfort and arrive relaxed and refreshed and begin some different type of leisure time.
And it did it and still does it bloody well more than 30 years after it was designed and manufactured.
Have some respect,bloody cruiser indeed! :roll: Fighting words.
The basis of your issue is the fact that someone has taken the raw material that is the XJ and tried to make it something that it really isn't, it looks great as a cosmetic exercise but there are too many compromises required to turn this into a cutting edge sportbike[and a decade or 3] and still be an XJ different wheel sizes, forks, rake and trail are all things which are done differently for different purposes and they themselves have changed dramatically since the bike was designed.
Even in it's hey day the XJ was a series of compromises in order for it to be reasonably satisfying for the 2 purposes that were used in it's title Sports/Tourer.
Bloody cruiser you have got to be kidding me................ :wink:
Don't you have Police in Sweden or animals that leap into the road?

 

Im not trying to make this into a cutting edge sportsbike. Just lower revs in 5th or all gears.

Ride slower, quieter and think of the poor animals is what i got so far.

 

Actually it was more you I was thinking of the Kanga's here love to jump in the way at the worst possible time.
Other than that rev it and change the oil more often and earplugs maybe?

 

always earplugs.... what you could do is pay big money and have a gear manufacturer make you a different ratio gear set then you get what you want. then hopefully sell a few and make up for that initial cost.

 

Aaaanyhow. Had a great solo trip the other day. It's a real people magnet almost every time i stopped for gas, food or smokes someone ran up and started to talk about bikes. Always nice to chat with people with common interests.

Pic from last ride. A really old bridge and a pretty old bike.

 

Found a house thats gotta be older than my bike

 

I read the XS750 final drive lowers the revs, but requires alot of custom machine work. You will need to make everything fit.

 

From the info I got final drive has 2.909:1 ratio. Same as what I got now.

 

Added an oil temp display.

 

JPut together a new video. I suck at editing so don´t expect too much. Just some mixed riding on small roads.