xjr1200

I finally got a full time job and can afford a new bike. XJR1200's have caught
my eye (I'm upgrading from a bandit 250). Can any current or previous owners
give me a few opinions on these bikes?

thanks.

 

A mate has one. Very nice, except for the naked bike effect at speed. He fitted a
screen and mini-fairing which fixed that up - Eagle Screens I think. Cost about
$250 for the bits and about the same to have the fairing painted to match the bike.

His other problem is the small tank which makes him nervous after about 200 kms.
This was disconcerting when a bunch of us did a 5,000 km trip last year out around
Broken Hill where service stations can be further apart than he likes.

I think he was initially after an FJR but the cost difference encouraged him to buy
the XJR and fit panniers and top box, then the mini-fairing and screen. It does
everything he wants it to do, apart from the fuel limitation.

This is a bloke with a spinal injury that makes his life miserable sometimes, and
he was unsure about the long trip out west on the bike. But when we finished the
5,000 kms in a week he said he was all set to take off to Perth. We all went back
to work instead.

Kim

 

Hi Ho,
It's off to winge I go! (sorry couldn't resist it)
This 1996 Black 1200 that I stuck with when the then largest Kawa dealer
in Brisbane went downhill at a rapid speed into the red ink, was the worst
bike that I have the misfortune to own, if only till I could off load it.
With only 2000 Km and 1 yr old it was a reasonable bike on a straight road
below 80 Kph.
Another dealer who was offered the bike, told me at the time that the
first owner was real keen to take any loss, just to rid himself of it, but
the dealer knew what lemons they were, from the inside trade talk, and over
priced to boot by $2500.

Give the speed a nudge in the curves, and the front suspension went to
jelly. The bastard front springs were made of recycled scooter rear springs
from a 50 cc, and just pogo'ed looking at them.
The damping was wrong of course. Funny enough the rear end was ok.
The local Yam dealer changed the fork oil from 5 to 10 to 20 Wt, but just
slowed the dancing Hippo, till I looked death in the face in slo mo.

At 100 Kph the bike would wallow and weave all over the place, and 80
Kph seemed to be the right speed this mongrel of a bike would cruise at, as
to go faster was dangerous.
In the end to shift it, the Kawa dealer had to fit progressive springs, and
fiddle with the fork valving, but still was far from ideal.
The guy who bought it was a friend of the dealer, who got it at cost,and
sold it again not long after.

Yamaha had scores of the bastards in boxes unsold for ages, and ended up re
painting the black tanks and the rear cowl in the Yamaha Racing colours of
the 1970's, AND a price drop of $2500.

If you really like the look, pay a bit more and try the next model the
1300.
This one is supposed to fix all the design **** up's of the 1200. I was
speaking to Leo Cash at Tyres 4 Bikes, about the 1300 not long after they
came out, and he said it was excellent up to 200 Kph, and had no handing
quirks like the 1200 model. This 1300 model I missed out on, as the Metro
Yam had sold the demo by the time I asked for a ride.

The 1200 had a comfortable seat, the motor was for cruising, and nowhere
as sporty as the Bandit 1200, a far better bike in every way. The seat on
the XJR suits those of shorter leg.
The fuel range was low at 200 km before reserve.
Hopefully by now, some owners may have spent some money on the forks, and
the 4th or 5th owners will get a better bike 7 years on.

The best one would be the current model, with the Olins look a like rear
shock with the yellow springs, the XJR1300SP model, with the 1970 replica
paint job.

Did I mention that I don't like the fucking **** of a bastard arsehole
poofter, the XJR1200 ?

Rob.
Ps, sorry about the swearing the 1200 brings it out when I see it's name in
print, let alone some one wanting to buy one. Yam will give you a new 1996
one, as I am sure they are still trying to shift them!

 

I have a 96 model 1200.The front springs have been replaced with racetech
springs,front end dropped 15mm,Avon tyres,Bitubo rear shocks.Handling is
good for a large heavy bike.Fitted bikini fairing for comfort and have
ridden up to 220kph no probs.Fuel economy 265ks to reserve with 4.5lts to
go.This is with XS1100 carb manifolds and larger jets and airbox mods.Motor
has been around for years in the FJ1200 so has a history of
reliability.There is a Yahoo XJR group based in Oz and a pommy group as
well.Any questions email me.

 

HI Michael,
Glad it worked out for you in the end, after the reworking of the bike.
My bone of contention was that this bike model was crook from day 1, and
Yamaha knew it from day it was appraised before being imported into this
country.
The Bandit ran circles around it, and the XJR12 was not what it was
advertised as.
It would not have cost Yamaha a cent more to have done the job right first
up.
Rob.

 

"It's been a good axe this one, it's only had three new
heads, and two new handles."

G

 

U COULD DO WITH A NEW HEAD YOURSELF THERES NOTHING BUT SHIT IN THE ONE U GOT
NOW

 

Don't like being reminded of how much work it took to turn your wobbly lump
of shiny metal into something which was merely outdated, do you?



Is it just me, or does dodo.com.au seem to be_the_home for cranky old
fuckwits with chips on their shoulder and fixations on crap, anachronistic
bikes. First Gus the Brit-shit champion, now this guy with his Jap
nostalgia...

 

<waves hand>
I use dodo at home, and there's nothing wrong with my bike, but the rest
sounds about right.

Conehead

 

In aus.motorcycles on Thu, 29 Jan 2004 10:55:03 +1100

Nah, there's a few of us elsewhere too.

Zebee
- living in the 70s

 

The way I heard it, you're a perfectly balanced
individual Zeebee - a chip on both shoulders.

Bob

 

What do you ride apart from ya mommas butt?

 

Well,_your_momma's butt, for one thing...

 

Well that's not really a surprise IK, I mean we have all had a turn at his
momma's butt.
God loves a old slapper.