RE Bear.

[Sadlonelygit]

I'm at a loss re A2 licences!
Why emasculate a 6-700cc bike when a manufacturer makes a 4-500 that would do the job admirably.
It was explained to me that this side of the channel, even if you de-restrict an A2 bike, it still has less power than a non A2 model (RS660)
But it's horses for courses re RE. You don't buy one for pin sharp handling and eyeball bleeding acceleration. You buy one whilst you save up for a GS

[Yorick]

XJ550s weren't great, though the two people I knew who had them thought they were.

My pal bought one to race in the Formula2 class.
Our LCs smoked him

[Bustaspoke]

XJ550s weren't great, though the two people I knew who had them thought they were.

At the the time I thought it was good but not great & on one occasion we were on the M6 two up,me on the XJ550 & one of my mates two up on his 350LC,I was flat out on the XJ & he could slipstream me on the 350LC,that surprised me...
Whenever we mention the XJ550,me & my mate's think it was a good bike,last month at the local bike meet our old bike shop owner was there on a YR5 so we had a chat,the shop was a Yamaha dealers & he reckoned that the XJ550 was a better bike than the XJ650.
Performance wise I think that the XJ550 was a whole lot more fun than my mates RE Interceptor that I rode the other year.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

XJ550s weren't great, though the two people I knew who had them thought they were.

My pal bought one to race in the Formula2 class.
Our LCs smoked him

Feck me, I'm really not surprised, a standard 350LC is quicker than an XJ, never mind a tuned one, and the LC handled a lot better

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

XJ550s weren't great, though the two people I knew who had them thought they were.

At the the time I thought it was good but not great & on one occasion we were on the M6 two up,me on the XJ550 & one of my mates two up on his 350LC,I was flat out on the XJ & he could slipstream me on the 350LC,that surprised me...
Whenever we mention the XJ550,me & my mate's think it was a good bike,last month at the local bike meet our old bike shop owner was there on a YR5 so we had a chat,the shop was a Yamaha dealers & he reckoned that the XJ550 was a better bike than the XJ650.
Performance wise I think that the XJ550 was a whole lot more fun than my mates RE Interceptor that I rode the other year.

I rode an XJ when I had a 350LC, my LC was quicker, lighter and handled better, but the XJ wwould have been a better bike for touring on, especially 2 up, really it's horses for courses, though if I was buying an early 80s 550 I'd buy a GPz as they're more fun to ride than the Yamaha or Suzuki, no idea what the CBX is like, none of them made it to 1987 when the people I knew could afford them.

I've no problem with a modern 47bhp bike, I'd just prefer it to weigh 150kg.

[Yorick]

XJ550s weren't great, though the two people I knew who had them thought they were.

My pal bought one to race in the Formula2 class.
Our LCs smoked him

Feck me, I'm really not surprised, a standard 350LC is quicker than an XJ, never mind a tuned one, and the LC handled a lot better

IIRC his sponsor bought him it as he was quite good.

[Yorick]

XJ550s weren't great, though the two people I knew who had them thought they were.

At the the time I thought it was good but not great & on one occasion we were on the M6 two up,me on the XJ550 & one of my mates two up on his 350LC,I was flat out on the XJ & he could slipstream me on the 350LC,that surprised me...
Whenever we mention the XJ550,me & my mate's think it was a good bike,last month at the local bike meet our old bike shop owner was there on a YR5 so we had a chat,the shop was a Yamaha dealers & he reckoned that the XJ550 was a better bike than the XJ650.
Performance wise I think that the XJ550 was a whole lot more fun than my mates RE Interceptor that I rode the other year.

I rode an XJ when I had a 350LC, my LC was quicker, lighter and handled better, but the XJ wwould have been a better bike for touring on, especially 2 up, really it's horses for courses, though if I was buying an early 80s 550 I'd buy a GPz as they're more fun to ride than the Yamaha or Suzuki, no idea what the CBX is like, none of them made it to 1987 when the people I knew could afford them.

I've no problem with a modern 47bhp bike, I'd just prefer it to weigh 150kg.

Mine's 50 bhp and 105 kgs

[Ditchfinder]

Who wouldn't want a 47bhp 200kg bike?

It probably goes better than my 24hp 200kg bike.

Looks nice that

[Bustaspoke]

I've no problem with a modern 47bhp bike, I'd just prefer it to weigh 150kg.

Same here,that's why I want to get my ancient XT600 43F back up & running

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Who wouldn't want a 47bhp 200kg bike?

It probably goes better than my 24hp 200kg bike.

Looks nice that

The last 24bhp bike I had weighed under 90kg (YZ125F)
Ignore that, it was actually a YZ125G and made 36bhp according to the internet.

[Bigjawa]

So £5600 in today's money roughly, for a bike with a lot less 'stuff' on it.

How much would an EFI or ABS unit have cost in 1983 I wonder They did exist but they were a bit more special.

The first FI bikes that I remember were Kawasaki's,in the early 80's they had FI versions of the Z1000,GPZ1100 & Z1300.
I've no idea who brought out the first ABS systems,or when..

And the FI was utterly crap. Most of them were converted to carbs.

[ChrisW]

Who wouldn't want a 47bhp 200kg bike?

It probably goes better than my 24hp 200kg bike.

Looks nice that

The last 24bhp bike I had weighed under 90kg (YZ125F)
Ignore that, it was actually a YZ125G and made 36bhp according to the internet.

A 36 brake YZ125 in 1980? Crikey - were you a factory rider?