Anyone here ever race or even trackday a XS750? I did a search and found a few references but not much. What little I found seems to indicate it's underpowered. I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on one. The XS400 was my first bike and that thing was great (never raced it) but I'm a bigger boy nowe. I'm not familiar with its bigger siblings. What would it take to get one on the track (not necessarily competitive)? A quick scan of the rules looks like it would fall into V5 and likely be crushed by the other bikes in that class. Is it just a fool's errand?
One of them might be mine. I spent 3+ years and thousands and thousands of dollars tarting up a 750/850 yamaha xs and took it to the track twice. Too many hurdles in my opinion... lack of power (you could swap an 850 engine in a 750 frame but even then stock hp was a generous 79hp but that had to go through a shaft drive) lack of ground clearance (those days the alternator hung off the engine off the end of the crank and the engine cases stuck out like a bmw flat opposed twin.) lack of sufficient rubber size and race/track compound excessive weight (the standard bike without fairings weighed over 550 pounds, the front end on those bikes weighed a ton. solid discs, forks and triples were HEAVY) a poorly behaved rear end shaft drive led to a lot of skipping at corner exit as the suspension topped out from the shaft jacking. If I had any power at all, I would have probably highsided it. I guess the questions are what modifications are you allowed and what is the competition like in terms of bikes allowed.
My old boss used to run one in WERA Endurance back in the early 80s. They put a modified 850 tank on it for extra fuel. Not the fastest or lightest or best handing thing in the world, but a cool bike none the less. I've owned a couple, just love that sound.
I raced one with AAMRR with mild success. Had every part SPECII could supply. 920cc, big cams, Klymenko head, pipe ,carbs. You have to really respect redline as cranks were suspect. Oil pick up needs to be spaced lower for better pickup. Worth it for the sound it made. I still have it as a street bike.
You should pick up that pair of VF500s south of you instead and race that. And not because I'm biased for V4s. I'll even take the one you don't want. Maybe.
Thanks guys. This is just the kind of info I was looking for. I'll probably get the bike and at least use it on the street. Where should I be looking for parts? It seems like they may be tough to come by these days.
I'm not sure how I didn't see those? Probably because I have next to no knowledge of Honda's. I'll give him a call though and see how complete those bikes are.
MAC makes (or made) a cheap 3 into one pipe. Pod filters work well and little to no rejetting is required with stock carbs. Bare in mind I live 1000 ft above sea level.
A set of triumph carbs from one of their 90's triples- Tiger or Thunderbird, are spaced perfectly and other than the choke, work well with minor mods. Even though they are meant for a 900cc, I found the main jets very lean. However, changing jets on a 90's carb is way easier than the old Hitachi carbs from the XS850. A set of good pipes will be the hardest thing to find. Mac pipes do the job I guess. Every once in a while a Kerker will show up on ebay, but I suspect these are getting rather rare.
