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Who has got a XJ6 ? What do you think of it ?


monkeyjim
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Although this may not be the right topic for it I have seen xj6 posts regarding fuel consumption .

Had to see what I am getting per tank now the bike is getting on a bit .

I do 48 miles a day commuting, about 5 miles is around 30mph the rest is country and dual carriageway at 50 to 70mph depending on traffic .

I got it low enough to put just over 16 litres of fuel in , we have a 17 litre tank as you know .

Reset the trip and ran it 33 miles into the reserve flashing on .

208 miles clocked . I did do about 10 miles at 70 plus last night so I may well of got more without that .

I have ran it 35 miles into the flashing reserve before and promptly ran out of fuel on the drive . Lucky . Before I put the above 16 litres in it managed 37 miles in reserve and did not run out before I refuelled.

That reserve mileage seems to be yamahas best kept secret, thank you for giving me an idea how long it will go for while flashing at me. I once had it start flashing when i first joined a motorway so panicked all the way to the services - at least I know better now :eusa_dance:

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Remember this 37 mile reserve I managed to get was on MY typical commute at the speeds I have stated I ride at on that commute .......

Obviously if the light starts flashing when your doing 30mph or 70mph I would not like to say you will get a further 37 miles at that speed before it runs out .

Don't want to blamed for people running out of fuel .

Btw Not trying to brag and show off by saying I am doing so and so mileage , just thought I would see what i would get if I ran tank from dry to dry.

I reckon, normally when I put fuel in before reserve reaches 20 miles I would get around the 180 mile figure .

. Happy with that considering the mileage .

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi all, I've just bought new XJ6S with touring kit, couple of weeks ago. (Picture of it when I came back from dealer). Done about 250 miles so far... Smooth ride, but seat is not very comfy, maybe handlebars needs adjusting, because I keep sliding forwards on the seat. The manual says that fuel reserve is 3.5 liters :)

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Bit late with my response... I bought mine new, but preregistered. 60 plate, 0 miles on the clock, bought in 8/2011.

So I've had her about 2 years now. 16500 miles later, still on original chain & sprockets and on 2nd front & 3rd rear tyre (punctured one).

Good bike. If a bit bland & boring... Does everything well enough... Handles well enough, is fast enough, stops well enough. Doesn't excel at anything.

As for MPG - saw a few numbers before of 180 to a tank. I get 140 on average?!?

I must have a loose wrist! :-)

My IXIL full system makes her sound nice at least...

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I got a stone stuck in the fan on mine during a trip to France. Needless to say I came back with a burnt out fan motor. Not happy as it's £250 for a replacement. Trying to get a 2nd hand one was near impossible and hardly any other models use the same fan (and if they do, all the mounting points are different).

Whilst trawling around the internet searching and searching for suitable fans to replace the broken one, I since discovered that this is not an uncommon occurrence with these bikes (including the US FZ6 version) - due to the way it's designed. The fans are prone to getting stones and debris kicked up into them and they will burn out long before the fuse blows. As it's a complete sealed unit, you can't just replace the motor, you have to get the whole thing.

I dare say there are thousands of owners that have never had a problem, but since there are a good portion that have (if you include the US market) then beware, especially if you get caught on a particularly gravelly road. Check your fan regularly is the advice :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sorry to hear about the fan motor . Were you able to keep using bike or did you ge it recovered home .

Great place France for driving or riding , I make a few trips a year down to the Limousin in the dead centre of France. Not been on bike yet . They do like there Motos and i was at a village in June , the main road is shut for a bike show, night prosession ride outs etc , loads of open pipe Harley and Sportsbikes on the rev limiter . It would not be allowed over here , all the Honda Jazz owners would complain .

Unfortunately if it is not table top smooth black tarmac ( definately on roads the tour de france will be using ) they do like there gravillon (gravel) to resurface the roads , you need to be carefull because off the riding line it can be a bit dangerous hence the caution gravillon signs.

How did bike fair overall on the journey , how do did you do on bike ?

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Still rode the bike, just had to keep an eye on the temperature at lower speeds and around towns etc. Was fine on the motorway. Still managed to have a fabulous time riding around the Alps and came back via Lake Geneva which was a lovely route. I love biking in France, it's totally different to over here - way better :)

Since doing my investigations about the knackered fan, it seems the fan itself is quite a common part, but none of the mounting arms are the same across the bikes that use them. Bit of a pain unless you're really handy at fabricating stuff to make things fit. Just ended up getting one from Yamaha in the end after the bike being with the garage for nearly 3 weeks! Oh well, you live and learn...

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  • 2 months later...

Hi all ,

Bike still running perfectly and even the brake light switch on the bars has not packed up and needed a clean out for months and months .

It has just turned 34,000 and I decided to change the oil and filter at work where I can easily dispose of the waste oil and filter . Although its not due for a few hundred miles , over the years I seam to have done a few before the 6000 change interval so i have ended up changing it under the 36,000 mile mark . Not to worry though .

I did the usual search for oil and filter ? Usually I go to the dealer , but found last year even at trade price it was expensive ? Actually I do not think he discounted at all. I nearly didnt bother and only purchased as a free tin of motul chain lube came with the the 4 litres of oil I bought . I always buy genuine filter and sump washer and a quality oil for my cars and bikes . Oddly enough dealer has never got Yamalube and the bike has never run on it.

Decided ebay was the place to look this time for a service kit . Lots of genuine filters available but with oil i would not want to use , others had Castrol or Motul oil and non gen filter . Why are the oil filters so expensive , actually why is all bike stuff expensive . Working in the motor trade I find car bits cheaper .

Anyway......... At time of ordering in my opinion Flitwick Motorcycles had the best oil service kit .

Genuine filter, sump plug washer and a pot of Yamalube for £34.99 and £3 post .

Sure someone will proove me wrong lol but that was best I could find.

Going to take bike off road in a week or so for a about a week of work in the evenings for pre winter clean up , lube up with spray grease for the winter roads and a check over . I have been a bit lazy through the summer due to being busy with house and garden and the bike did not get all the plastics taken off for a frame and engine clean up or have the brakes dismantled cleaned up and reassembled with coppaslip as I usually do .

This bike has still never let me down ( touch wood ) and has only needed those pesky brake switches replaced .

I really rate these Xj6 bikes . Brilliant .

David.

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  • 3 months later...

The pre winter clean up and check over did not happen because I was too busy .

Bike now done just over 36,000 miles .

I have fitted a pair of new tyres ( see my tyre post ) , cleaned up the entire bike , sprayed the manky front forks and overhauled the brakes .

The front pads and discs are fine , all the brake caliper pistons came out of the calipers ok . I then cleaned the pistons and caliper before re-assembly . I used a little rubber grease to help the pistons and seal last time I had them apart and I think that helped the dismantling this time .

The rear brake I knew was binding . It was caused by the steel tube that should slide in the rubber tube on the caliper being rusty . The rust causes the steel tube that is meant to move , stick in the rubber . All other rear brake parts were moving freely . Once all cleaned up , rubber greased and copper greased all brake bits were were ok . I bled the system out and now got fresh brake fluid .

Couple of things I did come across and they were rusty pair of front mud guard screws and a rough bearing . The mudguard screws were rusty and the cross head screw heads distorted when I tried to remove them to remove mudguard while I was painting the forks . Needless to stay ,i did not have a spare fixing suitable to fit so the mudguard was masked up while I painted the forks . I will remove the screws and fit socket headed stainless bolts I have when I can find what I have done with my bag of stainless fixings .

The rough bearing is the one in the middle of the rear hub the back sprocket bolts too and the rear axle bolt goes through .

That is currently in hand .

I will put a few pics up shortly.

David .

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Had my XJ6S since new (Oct 2010) and am still in love with it.

It's my first proper bike and so far has done me well. We've been to Devon and back (400 miles round trip) a couple of times, some cracking pleasure runs but it was bought more as a commuter donkey. It gets used in all weather and hasn't let me down.

Just thought I'd pitch in with my tuppence worth :eusa_shifty:

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  • 1 month later...

Hi ,

Does anyone know the standard oil grade for the front forks ? Cannot find my manual to look it up .

Bike on 37,000 now, the left hand fork seal is damp so I will replace both and change the oil . Some people upgrade the oil grade , not sure if anyone has a view on this as this sort of thing is new to me .

I really like the Michelin tyres I fitted this time , now 1000 miles old and in my opinion the best set I have put on .

Brake light switch packed up yet again , managed to resurrect it with electrical contact oil spayed in the holes and repeatedly pressing the pin to clean it up . Light smear of grease over the holes to try and keep the elements out .

Dave

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 months later...

Hi guys,

Just had a read through this post it's good to read so many positive things about the bike!

I've just bought an XJ6 from a local Yamaha dealer, only covered 400 miles and looks better than the brand new ones in there!

I have a question for you guys, (sorry to deter the thread)! Is it an easy task to remove the gold engine covers and re fit them? I know my way around an engine but I'm asking, do they just come off or is it a drop the block situation. To put it in context, I want the gold bits red, but it needs to be all red! Can't have red covers and then a gold crank case! iron man!!

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  • 2 weeks later...
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