Longterm Report Yamahaxs750 Special
LONGTERM REPORT YamahaXS750 Special
An Unbreakable Motorcycle, but We’d Rather Have the Standard.
Living with Yamaha’s XS750 Special for a year was much like living with a roommate for a year. First you notice the conveniences but later you become annoyed with the quirks. Having lived with Yamaha’s Triple now for 10,000 miles and a year we can say it makes a good mate. It's trustworthy, attractive, comfortable and never gave us any trouble.
More than the usual long term motorcycle, the Yamaha gave us a chance to evaluate a style. Yamaha has been very successful selling Specials, motorcycles with gracefully styled gas tanks and short mufflers and stepped seats and big handlebars. These models have not always been our favorites, but people keep buying them (sometimes because there are no standard models) and the Yamaha 750 gave us a chance to get used to the Specials.
First off, the 750 Special proved to be a very tough motorcycle. It stood up to the drag strip when it was first tested and then when it was a test bed for an accessory exhaust. Even a turbocharger kit on the Yamaha didn’t break anything, even at the dragstrip. Nothing broke during the 10,000 miles and the only pieces that wore out were the original equipment tires that were replaced after 4,200 miles. Having electronic ignition, there were no points to change, though the plugs were changed at 4000 mile intervals when the oil was changed and the bike was checked over. Valve adjustment throughout the test period stayed constant, with the shim-type adjusters living up to their promise of reduced maintenance-.
Maintenance on the Triple was performed by the man who rode the bike most. He likes maintaining the bike he rides and the Yamaha, he found out, was easy enough to take care of, despite the theoretical nuisance of valves that can’t -easily be adjusted.
While the maintenance that was performed was simple enough, there are some operations that are too much of a chore. Removing the carbs, for instance, is difficult because there isn’t enough clearance to pull the huge airbox off without first removing the carbs. Adjusting the cam chain is simple and during the 10,000 miles> nearly all the travel of the cam chain adjuster was used.
Yamaha uses hex bolts to hold the engine together and they’re much easier to deal with than the Phillips head screws fitted to some motorcycles. Except for the installation of the turbo, there was no major work performed on the engine.
Tire changing was a chore on the Yamaha. The rear tire was easy enough to remove, considering the disc brake on the^ opposite side from the drive unit, but the front tire could only be removed after pulling both brake calipers. It was surprising that the front tire needed changing at the same time as the rear, but it wore unusually fast on the Triple. While the cast wheels are low maintenance and were trouble free during riding, when tires had to be changed they were annoyingly difficult because the tire bead wouldn’t seat evenly. No matter what kind of tire chang-, ing lube we used, the front tire wouldn’t slip out into place with any kind of ordinary tire pressure. It took several tries before the tires were seated properly.
The original equipment Bridgestone tires, besides not lasting very long, weren’t what you’d call inspirational when it came to handling or braking. The replacement Goodyear HST tires were better all around. Until the turbocharger was installed, the Goodyears were holding up admirably with 5000 miles on them. Then came the strip and the not-yet-half-worn rear tire evaporated like gasoline. Until the rear tire was worn flat at the strip, it was a good handling tire with less squirm and slip than the Bridgestone. It’s significantly better than the Goodyear Eagle A/T tested in the CW tire test, at least in this application.
Finding accessories for the Special proved difficult during the past year. The boom in Special sales caught many aftermarket manufacturers with their pants down and few suppliers had fairings or saddlebags to fit the Special.
We did try an Alphabet 3-into-l exhaust on the Yamaha that cut a third of a second off of the quarter mile time and raised the terminal speed by 5 mph, significant gains in performance. But the power came with much greater noise and the custom exhaust was removed soon after the evaluation was done. Available from Alphabet’s Custom West, 12572 Western Ave., Garden Grove, Calif. 92641.
During most of the year a Silhouette plexiglass fairing remained on the Yamaha. It was easy to remove and install, provided good protection and didn’t take away from the Yamaha’s good looks. After several thousand miles of use, a crack developed in the fairing near one of the mounting holes, apparently due to being installed with some stress on the mounts. The crack grew to about 8 in. long, but the fairing remained useable. Careful installation is necessary for the plexiglass fairing, apparently. From Silhouette Fairings, P.O. Box 1672, Martinsville, Ind. 46151.
A set of Craven fiberglass saddlebags were mounted early on. They fit well, were water-tight and spacious. They also looked good on the bike, something earlier Craven bags haven’t been noted for. We were sad to see them returned to the importer, Tom Anderson, P.O. Box 472, Freeport, 111. 61032.
Finding saddlebags to fit the Special wasn’t easy. Originally we thought the short, low mufflers would leave plenty of room for bags, but the Special is short and many bags wouldn’t fit behind the passenger footpegs without sticking out too far behind the Yamaha for good handling. Having a set of the excellent Samsonite bags around the office left over from the KZ1000 long term test, the brackets were adapted to the Yamaha so the bike would have carrying capacity, but the fit was less than perfect and Samsonite doesn’t make brackets for the 750 Special.
A turbocharger was the least useful accessory installed on the Triple. It turned a nice motorcycle into an irritable, hard-toride beast with an increase in performance that was difficult to use. The Blake turbocharger was removed as soon after testing as possible and the Yamaha again became a pleasure to ride.
Yamaha knows riders like accessories, so the company now makes a full line of equipment for standard and Special models in all sizes. If a rider wants a Special and a fairing, they are available, though the selection has been a little slim.
As far as the appeal of the Special, a year with the Yamaha hasn’t changed anybody’s mind. One rider liked the Special more than the standard model and he still does. The rest of the staff still prefers the standard model over the Special. The man who likes it says that the gas tank is really bigger on the Special, the quartz-halogen headlight is superior and the handlebars of the Special lend themselves to riding behind a fairing. Mostly, he likes the looks. The opposition complains about the handlebars and the stepped seat. And they like the looks.
Special features on the XS750 Special worth mentioning are the self-canceling turn signals, headlight, adjustable preload on the forks and there’s still a kick starter on the Triple. Near the end of the year, after the Triple had sat for several weeks while other bikes were tested, the battery was low and the electric starter couldn’t get the bike started. Three prods on the kick starter and the Triple was running. It’s a shame so many of the new motorcycles are abandoning kick starters on electric start motorcycles.
Bad points about the Yamaha aren’t a matter of major failings, but of temperament or even character. Shifting the bike is more work than it should be and it frequently slipped out of gear. A loud clunk accompanied each shift and lots of pressure was required for shifts. The clutch requires more effort than normal for a 750. >
Even Yamaha’s XS1100 has a lighter clutch pull. The sound and vibration that are so endearing when the motorcycle is new become annoying on long trips to some. The vibration was enough, in fact, that our computerized test gear had to have new equipment because the vibration was triggering the mechanism. Finally, the XS750 isn’t the best handling bike in its class. Honda’s 750F is far better and so is Suzuki’s GS750. The Yamaha isn’t unsafe at all, it just requires more effort to turn and doesn’t go around corners as fast as the more sporting 750s. Then again, they don’t have the Yamaha’s shaft drive.
Performance on the Yamaha was never exciting, but it was adequate for its intended use and had more low speed, useable power than some of the competition. It also provided good gas mileage, averaging 47 mpg for the year, with highs around 50 mpg on the highway and low 40s around town.
Does it sound as though the Triple has lost some of its excitement to us? Probably it has. Excitement has given way to trust and admiration for this tremendously reliable workhorse of a motorcycle. ES
