Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Just cross posting from here.

Couldn't resist it, had to go for a ride. Not just any ride, but my first ever on the bike. A few thoughts...

1) It's quick for an old girl. Took it easy on 15 year old tyres but it really pulls past 7k. Only had the nerve to take it to 10k for a nervous shakedown after all the work done but very happy

2) It's light. Feels nimble and much more responsive than my newer RSV. Really impressed and so much fun on these Bedfordshire b roads

3) The brakes are more of a concept than a practical way of stopping. Just what I imagined 6 pots would be like so will think about rebuilding vs replacing

Overall though very pleased with the first test ride and looking forward to many more

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Nice

Might just be shit pads? Could try new pads and then go from there. Pistons are much anyway after.

First thing I did was take out whatever no name shit was in the superduke and put some oem Brembo in, night and day.

Sweet - they're properly cool! Everytime you post a pic, I want one!

I remember a second surge post 10k, a proper screamer. I'd be doing the fluid / pads if you haven't already - those 6 pots should be able to stop the fun quick. They were better than the brakes on my TLS back in the day and I had no problem getting that stopped.

Oh and needs a Yoshi out back....

When recommissioning the calipers I noticed the pads are sintered so that's something, haven't given them a fistful yet though.

@Jung the long term plan is to replace the front end, including calipers so weighing up how much I want to pour into these 6 pots. If I don't have to buy another set of braided lines when fitting new forks then might go that route with a seal kit. Also agreed, will be getting some gsxr 1000 k4 Ti headers and yoshi, has to be done.

Why a new front end?

Surely that money would be better spent on track days or tuition?

I like tinkering. I know modifying motorbikes is essentially pointless and money on track or tuition is always more sensible, but I enjoy it. Radial master cylinder, braided lines, pads and seal kit should be a good 1st stage to see if I want to go the whole hog.

edit: newer forks do mean radial calipers and decent cartridge kits.

Don't need to convince me, I spend more time working than riding, it's part of the fun!

I have sworn to myself the new bike I ride it hard and only fix what I brake.

You got the old R / new Factory version of the Mille?

Comparing my 750 K2 GSX-R against my Mille R K2; the GSX-R felt really sluggish in the wheel department and it required a lot more effort to keep a line compared to the RSV.

The OZ’s really made a difference in handling and the stopping power was on another level as well.

See if there’s a k-tech kit available (not the cartridges, but the stacks.) They’re supposed to be fabulous. Gsxr1000 k4 forks are excellent and can be made even better if they’re an easy swap. Calipers aren’t much cop though. Still haven’t had a thou without the dreaded spongy lever.

And here I was, proud that the little XJ got to 100mph a few times... then I see that Suzuki and get all sorts of feels!

I have a gen 2 factory with the OZ wheels, I agree they're lovely and funny enough a popular upgrade for SRADs.

@Jung yep, pretty sure there's a proper K-tech kit available. Will be interesting how much of an improvement radial master, braided lines, seal kit and pads make.

@pdlouche have we had a proper ride report of the XJ yet? Presume you got out on it this sunny afternoon.

Yes please.

https://www.subito.it/moto-e-scooter/ducati-1098s-2007-monza-347268009.htm

Ugh, white and red just looks stunning. Not sure what looks better Zard or Termi's. Termi's seem to follow the lines better.

@jambon Tinker away! One of best parts of owning a bike.

I think I prefer Akra’s tbh.

The Zard’s have a nice rumble to them but it’s somewhat of an acquired taste in terms of esthetics. Maybe just takes some time to get used to.

The late Termi slash cuts look the best to me. The Akras are a bit big and I'm not a fan of the Zard. The Akra pipework is magic though. I looked at an 1198s with a full system a few years ago and it was a thing of beauty.

Where to begin?!

Distance covered:

I took it for 140 mile shakedown on Saturday, around 30 miles yesterday, and then today I meant to be out for an hour or so to check after some adjustments and 160 miles and a visit to Helmet City in Cheddar later, I finally got home again! And then, a short errand to check something off marketplace after dinner, so around 350 miles since taking ownership on Friday evening.

Naked bike thing:

First 140 miles was a little bit torturous, so by this morning I’d already fitted the Puig mini screen I’d bought for the GN125 way back. Instant benefit, and I haven’t even got the setup perfect.

Although a large front fairing would be great, I quite like the aesthetics of the workhorse type bike. Ripe for stickers and mods.

The kickstand seems kind of flexed and bent. Possibly a PO wasn’t kind to it. I have another on order from a breakers, and will mig a reinforcement brace to it to try avoid the same happening twice.

Geometry:

Swept back risers came off immediately. Drag bars from the get-go and I’m not unhappy with body position, helps to tuck and stick my belly on the tank. No loss of slow speed control.

However, after so much comfort on the DR, it feels very heavy and cramped in the body. I find myself aware of my bent knees, and my posture, but to be fair to the bike I am riding for a few hours at a time with minimal breaks.

Power:

People complain it’s a boring bike, that it’s a dull ride, etc. Yes, I can agree with that and all the references to diesel cars that just go and go without much excitement. It just kind of turns on and works and doesn’t apologise for itself.

But! It isn’t that boring. There isn’t the same sense of achievement as with the DR, where anything on a thumper feels fast and fun. There is, however, an incredibly sedate and manageable power delivery below 6k. In town it ticks over in any gear. You can accelerate relatively hard without much worry, and you can crawl at 2k on the rev counter in traffic and just potter along.

Then, at 6-7k the bike wakes up, and from 7-10.5k it really gives out some power. First few times it was a little surprising, you go wide open throttle from around 4k and nothing happens then at 7k it pulls you as fast as the road allows, and by the time you shift at 10k you’re already way over the speed limit.

Conrols:

I’ve had some issues with dodgy shifts over the weekend. I had tried to resolve it by re-tensioning the clutch lever and tightening the shift linkage bolt. Seems to have helped. Today I found a couple accidental neutrals and only one nasty “is it isn’t it” no-mans-land between gears when trying to aggressively clutchless shift up from the lights.

It feels much more clunky than I would expect, but it has sat without much use at all for a year or two. Maybe these things need to bed in again, or have enough time to actually present as a fault to be rectified.

Speed:

Well, the guy I bought it from was shocked when I told him I hit 100mph on the bike. The one he kept struggles to reach 90. The aggressive shifting and trying to avoid the mis-shifts is really killing my ability to keep the revs high and get the most from the engine. It will dance around 100 on the clocks but would need some serious beans to get much over it.

When accelerating and using the clutch lever, there is a really noticeable delay. When clutchless works it gives a great pull forward but adds that risk of the bike hanging and me frantically kicking the lever to try get the gear to engage again. I blame technique, though this was never an issue on the DR.

Suspension:

Soft, not soft enough to absorb all the bumps. Not hard enough to butt-clench every slight imperfection.

Mods:

Mods so far are the windscreen and the PO’s crash bars and rear rack. I hate top boxes with a passion (aesthetically speaking) but I will try to source a used one for convenience.

Mods to come: led indicators, aux lights on the crash bars, maybe some custom bags, etc.

Oh shit moments:

Well, the brakes work fine. Definitely possible to stop sooner. Found it is incredibly easy to lock the rear wheel with a quick downshift and get a bit of a skid.

Maybe it’s all the time on the DR, but when I skidded or drifted the rear it felt just kind of slide-y. No big panic just ride it out and remember to be more gentle approaching the next set of lights!

I turned onto a B road, which was awful, thought it was flat and felt the rear hop over a massive lump and land a foot further out than planned. Not sure if fun or not.

Overall:

Not scary to ride, manageable underpowered engine, really quite okay. It’s still fun, you can still push it a little, and it still leans low on the corners. But, it’s no gixxer. It just does what it does and does it some more.

Good work! Get some half decent tyres on and go roundabout surfing. Take it easy until you find out what scrapes first....after that you can annoy all the sport bike squids.

It has an incredibly old Avon Roadrider on the back, so the same as the DR’s road wheelset. Once I get some miles on them I’ll replace with a new set of Roadrider II’s and do just that.

It’s a 600 inline 4 isn’t it? I’m surprised it’s seemingly so underpowered - my old CBR would smash the speed limit in first gear and very happily do well over a ton, you just rev it to the moon. And then keep going!

Skipping the rear tyre though, yes very easy if your weight is forward and the road isn’t perfect. Depending on where your bars put you, I remember my instructor being quite insistent that braking should be 90% front, progressive and positive to match the weight transfer and fat grippy tyres.

My GSR600 was similar on the power. Plenty enough down low for pulling away quickly enough but at 6k it suddenly kicks in and pulled hard up to 12 or so.
That would do 130 on a straight stretch of road (not that I tried myself, officer)
The bigger Kawasaki 750 just pulled like a train from standstill and scared the pants off me

@Dramatic_Hammer yes, inline 4, well it feels underpowered compared to the Bandit I learned on. That thing you crack the throttle and instant lightspeed - I had a few power wheelies more than I expected. Maybe it’s the gearing on the XJ, or because it sat for so long, or my way of riding.

It doesn’t feel totally underpowered, it’s like @PhilDAS describes. You just tick over manageable power and then get the vroom vrooms around 7k til limiter.

Progressive braking is something I put a lot of focus on, especially since I’m still feeling out the bike. The skids and skips are me being much more aggressive than I should be, and feeling out what works and what doesn’t. Trying to build a skillset and muscle memory specific to the XJ after 6 months exclusive DR use, it will take a little time to get there.

@PhilDAS I can believe it. I was thinking how I’d like a more powerful bike, and then I realised that these ‘boring’ bikes are better for now. I don’t want to be scared to ride on a rainy day.

Came out of work on it in the wet once. Wasn’t being silly, barely touched the throttle but I had the bike leaning a bit to turn out of the exit from the car park and went over the middle of the road onto the camber on the other side and the rear wheel spun and the bike turned a good 45 degrees in the road before gripping and flicking straight. I came off the seat and was amazed I’d stayed on the bike. Didn’t ride it in the rain much after that. Power, rain and cold tyres are not friends.

Just to add to that - NEW tyres too.

I’d either just replaced the rear or replaced it as a result of that incident but yeah, be careful on new tyres

Well, the brakes work fine. Definitely possible to stop sooner. Found it is incredibly easy to lock the rear wheel with a quick downshift and get a bit of a skid.

When you kick down the gears are you blipping the throttle? The idea being to match engine speed down the gear box and avoid locking the back wheel, which can be quite fun but limits braking efficiency.