[AzCal Retred]

Here's a TDM850 for cheap for our North West members...

https://ridermagazine.com/2018/10/23/retrospective-1992-1993-yamaha-tdm850/

https://medford.craigslist.org/mcy/d/medford-1991-yamaha-tdm850/7575889934.html
1991 yamaha TDM850 - $1,500 (Medford)
odometer: 15000; title status: clean

hhh

[Karl Childers]

I think those were ahead of their time, they did not sell well then but currently Honda does well with similarly styled motorcycles that fit the same niche, riders just weren't ready for them yet.

[Richard230]

My daughter's first motorcycle was 1987 Yamaha SRX250TC single that I bought for $2,000. Gee, that thing was fast. It once carried both of us to my BMW motorcycle shop, 40 miles away, so that I could pick up my bike which had been repaired, at a speed of 90 mph on the 280 freeway - redlined all the way. As I recall the bike had two carburetors, a big one and a little tiny one. The little one was cable operated, while the big one was vacuum operated. The SRX was only sold in the U.S. for two years. For some reason it was just not a big seller as I guess 250's were just not what the market wanted at the time. Eventually, she sold that Yamaha to a private party and bought a Suzuki GS500 in 1990. I sure wish we had kept that bike. It was a really rare model and looked seriously cute.

[him a layin]

i've about concluded that it's always a mistake to sell a bike you love.

[Leofric]

I used to fancy a Yamaha TRX 850 but bought a 900 Yamaha Diversion instead. I regretted that in a similar way that I regretted getting a 600 Yamaha Diversion instead of a Yamaha 600 Fazer when I returned to biking in 1997. Other regrets over wrong choices followed over the years !

[Raymond]

Bought my 1978 XS650SE in 2019, on-line purchase, sight unseen from a shop in Devon. That was in hindsight a big mistake as the 'nice little runner' turned out to be anything but.

Spent months of time and as much money as the purchase price again to get the bike to where it is now. Been resurrected as a tribute to the 1972 XS2 and selected by by popular vote for inclusion in the 2020 XS650.com calendar - henceforth dubbed Miss November.




A few more changes since this photo, for example, removed those mirrors and fitted bar end on r/h bar.

I love Miss November. Registered as Historic Vehicle which means road tax costs nowt and annual safety check (MOT) is my responsibility. Compared with Kawasaki W800, Miss November is rough and rude but she has bags of character and is now reliable classic I can just jump on and ride. We've done over 10,000 miles together and the sense of involvement means I will probably never sell.

[Adrian II]

Nice to see one which has not been badly customized.

A.

[Raymond]

Nice to see one which has not been badly customized.

In this case, pulled back from being badly customized. PO had given the XS a 1950s Triumph Thunderbird makeover so the bike looked like Johnny's bike from The Wild One





which didn't look too bad - I bought the bike, after all. But the job had, uhm, not been done well. Bike was a confused mixture. Expensive goodies such as stainless chain adjusters but other things were awful. The tank was not just full of rust, it had millions of pinholes and was total scrap. Plus a number of other 'issues' came to light as I rebuilt nearly everything - engine top-end, forks, entire electrical system, brakes.

Managed to buy a new XS-style tank from Heiden Tuning in Holland, which gave me a blank canvas so it was a case of looking at XS colour schemes and choosing one I liked.

[Adrian II]

Good call, but I was thinking more of some of the hipster abominations seen these days.

A.

[Raymond]

Good call, but I was thinking more of some of the hipster abominations seen these days.

Brown leather plank seat and wrapped pipes with short n loud 'silencers'?

[Adrian II]

+ badly chopped frames, no mudguards, er... how long have you got?

A.

[Re-Cycle]

Last november I bought a Royal Enfield Continental 650, but the bike I rode before is still here as well. A Yamaha SRX-6 I bought new in 1986. In those days my main hobby was motorcycles but that changed during the late nineties. I rode less and less, and for the last ten (or a bit more...?) years the SRX hasn't been used anymore.
So for it to be ridden again there is some work to be done. I don't have the time -or energy- to do that, that's why I chose to buy the Enfield.

But the SRX still looks great, these are fairly recent photo's. Never has been used in the winter (so no salt), always stored inside. Aprox. 97.000km's on the odo, with the second piston in it (and camshaft, big end bearing and left side crankshaft bearing). Some don't believe me, but fifth gear is still the original one!  (a well known weak spot of the SRX, pitting on the fifth gear).

Anyway, I still like the looks of it. In fact the best looking Japanese bike of it's time I think (and fun to ride!)
For me it was love at first sight in '86...