Yamaha Diversion XJ600S

So its actually the xj600N i own but the only difference between the S and the N is the N has no fairing at all (a Naked bike) the S has the fairing.

Well i bought my XJ600n a year and a half ago now it's a 2003 model and to be honest its generally a great little commuter bike. Its ideal as a first big bike or a back to bikes starter.

My one has now only got 13000 miles on the clock and has not really given me much hassle. I have recently had to change the chain and sprockets because the chain bent (due to my oversized rear end and i dont mean the bike) this is work that all bikes need done though and is very easy and straight forward to do. adjusting the chains slackness is a simple procedure of turning two bolts at the back of the swing arm that pulls the rear wheel back and forth to tighten or loosen the chain (chain should have 1 inch freeplay up and down roughly)

The main issue to be honest with these bikes are that the exhausts rot through at the join from the rear cans and the front downpipes , this is annoying and sometimes fiddly work but should only take an hour to replace without too much agro. I did mine in an hour whilst keeping the bike on its centre stand in my garage.

if you look on ebay you can actually get the new downpipes for a little over £100 for stainless steel replacements so when people say its expensive i dont really tend to agree. i admit it can be f you go to your yamaha / local bike dealer and get them to do it for you but if you can afford a few tools and an hour or 2 then doing it yourself saves the £40 or so per hour labour charges. you can also 9/10 weld the exhaust where it had rotted and this is usually good for another few years but my advise would be do both pipes at the same time.

the exhaust being the biggest downfall of this bike the only real other one is the front brakes. Dont get me wrong they are the business when it comes to stopping you safely and quickl;y but be warned that when/if you park up your bike for more than a fortnight or so without a really good clean down you may find that the front brake needs stripped down and cleaned/lubricated. This again is not a big task as if you have some allen keys and wd40 along with some copper grease (motor store will supply this) you are able to do this without any tough problems. If ou decide to remove the caliper and push back the piston in the caliper you are going to have to bleed the brakes and this is where things can get tricky. it took me hours to bleed them properly and get the piston working again and then you usually find the small metal runners in the calipers are twisting and causing everything not to run smoothly again so i really suggest cleaning down brakes very well and if you are storing the bike over a period of time at least getting out every week and starting the engine and getting the wheels turning and brakes used a few times (10-15mins each weekend or so) so as to avoid the dreaded brake seizures.

That to be perfectly honest is the only 2 really poor things about the bike.

In general you will happily get a 50+mpg return for your fuel as long as you are not thrashing it everywhere, even if you do still expect at good 35+mpg.

These are by far not the fastest of bikes but will certainly beat most around town in traffic as they are quick off at the lights and very light and manouverable around traffic at very slow speeds.

They will happily sit at 80-90 on the highways and equally happy at 20-30 in town. If you are after a high performance fast monster of a bike then don't consider this one but if you want a very reliable every day commuter / street bike thats economical and easy to ride this is the bike for you.

The suspension on the xj600 is one of the more comfortable i have experienced the bumps and dips in the roads can barely be felt through the bike due to great suspension and possibly one of the most comfortable seats i have sat on (bike wise) however the bike is limited to a max recommended weight of somewhere in the region of 171kg to allow the suspension to work to its full. so i am sure that putting 2 burly blokes on this bike would create a completley different riding experience certainly in the comfort zone anyway. for the pillion passenger there is only the 2 grab handles behind them on the back of the bike and obviously the riders stomach to hold onto, there is not a strap across the seat like some bikes have but these can never be trusted anyway (at least i dont)

the bike comes equiped with a hazard light switch which a lot of bikes don't however you need to have the ignition on for this to work and i have never found a real reason to use it yet.

you will get around 150 miles to a tank of fuel and the reserve is a little on the small side so if you buy one be safe and dont try and go further than maybe 125 miles before looking for the nearest pump.

headlight bulbs when they pop are simple to change a quick turn of 2 screws located at the side of the round headlight and the whole unit comes out then just the same as a standard car headlight (H1 i think) pop off the plastic wire connector pull out the bulb and replace then the 2 screws back in to fix in place ( 2 mins job) you should still find under the seat a tool kit supplied with the bike that has every tool you should need to do most jobs on the bike.

So if your looking for a nice cheap cheerful bike to keep a smile on your face this is a good runner in the competition and i would recommend taking one for a test run, you will find the riding position is nice as you are not too leant over putting excess strain on your wrists and the bike will allow you for lots of riding errors without becoming unstable whilst you learn or get used to being back on a bike. It glides round corners with ease and the engine is renound for being practically bullet proof ( never tried sticking a bullet in one mind) as far as taking a thrashing from the rider.

I am 27 with 1 years no claims and insurance has just cost me a measily £64 third party fire and theft with a disclock that is not branded and kept in a garage overnight, fully comp was a quaint £97 and last year with 0 NCB i was £108 TPFT as above so insurance is not high at all on this bike