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kry1300

Message 1 of 77, 13 Aug, 2011

well, in september o7 when i bought my 01sp, i was actually in the market for a bandit, one the right colour and price didnt eventuate at the time but this yellow yamaha really stood out and that was one of my criteria.

so i researched it and technicaly they are almost identical bikes and the look of this xjr was really growing on me. so i eventually decided to test ride it and if i liked it i would buy it, the rest, as they say, is history.

after all it had everything else i was looking for, a full remus 4 into 1 system, ventura rack and bag and a tall smoked givi screen for the wind protection i wanted from the bandit. + it would power wheelie in the first 2 gears and people just love looking at it.

now im a fiddler so i will always try to make any machine i own more suitable for my purposes. straight of the bat the bars were a bit dodgy and im never happy with the gearing on japanese bikes, always too short for touring speeds.
so i got a set of $30 cheap bars that were wider and lower than stock and went to an 18t front sprocket, which was a good start. the bars are perfect, the gearing ive fiddled with substantialy since then.

im currently running a 20/37 combination which gives 115kmh at 3500rpm, a 20kmh advantage over stock, all custom sprockets, after much research and measureing. the front was supplied by moto heaven in the US (made by thrust sprockets)and is a top quality item. chain gang make custom sprockets now(theyd always refused to make custom sprockets for me in the past which is why i got the front out of the US)but the 37t rear is one of theirs. mind you, for the price, the quality could/should have been better. this is a new combination running with a brand new RK xso chain.
my measurements conclude that a 21/36 combination will fit, perhaps with just a little massaging, but this would suite a stock engined bike better(with clutch mod)as they will run cleaner at the lower rpm than modified engines.
speaking of which, she’s done over 90k now(55k mine)and ive rebuilt the clutch twice. a yamaha mechanic told me that the stock clutch needs rebuilding about every 40k if used, and i found this to be accurate.
now the first rebuild was needed due to slip coused by a couple(1 badly) warped steels, which in turn was most likely coused by bleed down of the slave cylinder not applying full stroke and therefore some steels not getting fresh lubrication when the clutch is desengaged.the oroginal fibres were in spec and unglazed but i did replace them with an after market set for this rebuild, i new steel and had the rest bead blasted to roughen them up again.
after another 40k(and a pretty hard time at the drags) some cold slip became noticable so i decided to pull it down to see whats what. this time the only issue was that the aftermarket fibre plates were worn down to bottom spec, which equates to about 1mm less overall thickness of the clutch and the subsequent loss of spring pressure was the couse of the slip. so this time i put it back together just with the original standard fibre plates that come out the at the first rebuild and simply installed an additional spring(as per the common mod)and its perfect. the leaver is probably only 10-15% heavier and engagement is much more positive. ill see how it fares after this summer’s run at the drags.

speaking of which, i took it down to the kwinana motorplex in december of 08, running the 17/38 standard gearing combination at first, and as i ran it on the street at the time otherwise(91 ron fuel and a full tank) and run a best of 11.7 at 185k and nothing slower than 12.0 over 6 runs, getting it off the line is the major issue.
the next week with a 16t front sprocket and 98ron fuel it ran an 11.6 at 185k, i put the improvement down to the sprocket, but time will tell.
so this summer im going to run 16/46 gearing, a front end strap, rear shocks in the hard position, 36y inlets and the biggest main jet it will run on (go for 120 straight away).
ive found out over the years of servicing the bike that it also came with a k&n air filter, a partial airbox mod(which i finished off), modified standard inlets and 100 main jets(currently 112).

ultimately my goal i guess is to have an xjr that will run 11.0’s with an internally standard engine(including ignition which i have no intention of modifying other than plugs), be an economical tourer and scratcher and still usefull as a track day bike if i was ever inclined, all without great modification from one use to another.

the tourer and scratcher part is basically achieved, the bars mentioned early in the thread wear throttlemister throttle stop barends for open road work(i would have preffered the brakeaway throttle stop but couldnt get enough info on them about fit)combined with a seat modification that allows me to get my nuts on the tank for scratching(will get recovered one day). my gearing(20/37)and engine tuneup gives milage of less than 6L/100k when scratching and 4L/100k touring, even though i have larger main jets ive actually leaned out the standard jet needle(pos 1 instead of 2 of 3) and run the air bleed at 3 turns (standard 1 and half), which in combination with the exhoust, air filter, airbox mod, inlet mod combination can be done as these things increases air flow and therefor fuel mixture and can be leaned out to achieve better fuel consumption and a more progressive power delivery for scratching.
my suspension is completely standard equipment, the oem ohlins badged shocks i have set in the softest preload position for comfort and are not adjustable otherwise.
an important thing i recently discover about stopping the rear end wobbles in corners on the xjr is to have the shock mounts locked solid, they will wear on the upper mounting spiggotts otherwise creating the wobble,i use a washer on the outside of each upper mount to take up the slack and lock it on with the standard mounting bolts otherwise, you wouldnt know it was there unless you were looking for it, and just make sure the lower mounts are tight so that you cant rattle the shock in its position at all while its on the stand, try it and see if it does the same for you.
also the lower removable chasis rail needs to be rock solid tight as this can contribute to the wobbles.
my forks are set in the softest adjustable preload position, the soft supsension soaks up bumps and aids weight transfer for road conditions, but i have also lowered the triple clamps down the upper fork tubes about 20mm or as close as i can get them to the bars, leaving about a 1mm gap so they dont rub and ensure that the exposed length through the top yoke is even on bothe sides. this mod improves turn in quite a lot(and stance)and even improves mid corner changes of direction some, again ensuring all fork mounting bolts are well tight and that steering bearings are properly adjusted is crucial to take advantage of all available rigidty in the standard bike.

and so the future, well comfort,reliability and ridability of the bike are almost perfect now so theres not much to go on about there, but if i ever stripped the bike id like to do some mods to further rigidify the rear subframe and shock mounts. theres always fully adjustable shocks, mod swingarm and usd forks but i dont see myself doing anything like that unless i was going show bike as whats there is working pretty well now.
if i cant get it to run 11.0’s with the stock engine maybe nitrous and try and run a 9, these stock engines its asif there built for nitrous.
otherwise its just ride it and general maintanence stuff, if i ever bothered with a track day id probably just change the gearing and rear preload as its only a bit of fun.

ill update this thread with bits and bobs as i go and add some more info on maintenance and how i go at the drags as it comes up, if anyone would like somemore info on anything mentioned here dont hesitate to ask as im an open book.

cheers all.

k.