More Yamaha XJR OEM-ification. The un-tidy tail.

About 6 posts ago, I started a series about undoing some modifications to the XJR400R that it had accumulated over the course of its lifetime. When I started, I thought that it would only be two or three posts long. This is the fifth post about bringing the XJR back to its OEM state. I'm pretty sure this will be the last one. Definitely not the last project post on the old girl. Just the last one where I right some of the wrongs done to her. Read on for more OEM fun!

Here is the main focus of today's post. A prime example of a take-off part from a dismantled XJR400. This is the kind of part that only restorers and weirdos buy from online auctions. I don't which camp I fall into. Since I consider myself a bit of both. When I started the XJR OEM series, I wasn't planning on fixing the work done to its tail. It was only when I saw one on Yahoo auctions that I decided I wanted one. I put in a weak bid for one and didn't win the auction. That made me want to get one even more. I checked the auction site daily trying to find one. I stretched my Japanese search term vocabulary to the breaking point  trying to unlock a secret combination of terms I could use to find one of these parts. Most of it was wasted energy, but one day one finally popped up. I stalked the auction like a cheetah in the bush and placed a bid 10 minutes before the end of the auction. I won and savored the kill just like that starving Savanah cat.

Here is the before shot. as you can see the tail of the bike looks pretty good. It is done in a way that I didn't think it had been modified for the longest time. It wasn't until I watched a local Japanese YouTuber that I checked out the rear of the bike more closely. On his video he described a new law that makes it illegal to mount the license plate at greater than a 45° angle outwards or a 15° angle inwards. I measured my plate and found it to be out of compliance. While I was down there I looked more closely and saw the tell tale marks of a hack saw. The tail tidy on this bike incorporates a couple of brackets that are pretty beefy. One of the reasons why I didn't suspect modification. The cut was done pretty neatly also leading me to think my bike's rear was stock. I bought an OEM parts list for the bike which included pictures of the various model years, all of them included a rear fender that I didn't have. 

The winning bid was only ¥2,200. Shipping was an extra ¥1,300 and what I got was super quick shipping on a stock rear fender. It was dirty indicating that the seller was another of the multiple breakers that can be found online here in Japan. It is a weird byproduct of the Japanese car registration system. The system rewards newer cars. As the cars get older, the repair bills that come with the bi-annual (every 2 year) inspection required for registration get pricier. The inspection is pretty detailed which leads to a lot of people only keeping a car for 5 to 7 years before getting a new one. It is rare to see older cars on the road. For motorbikes, the inspection is the same, but it is much more common to see older bikes ripping it up on the streets. Since the associated maintenance costs for being in compliance with the road laws is cheaper for bikes than for a similarly aged car, people are able to keep the older bikes going much longer. Parts like this OEM rear fender for a 25 year old bike are easy to come by online.

The work was really straightforward and only took about an hour on a relatively warm Saturday afternoon.  While my girls played outside, I was able to knock out all of the work needed to install this new (to me) part. I removed the rear body work entailing the removal of one screw and two bolts since one screw was missing. I was then facing a dirty and naked rear end, something I haven't faced since my youngest was in diapers. I resisted the urge to do a detailed cleaning with even more parts removal and proceeded to just install the new fender. The picture above on the right is the interim between removing old and installing new. The old piece is just the stock piece that has been trimmed to fit a couple of custom brackets that allow the license plate and turn signals to mount. The old one came off quickly, but the new one need a bit of persuasion and fiddling to get lined up correctly. Once it did it was a snap to finish up the turn signal wiring and other miscellaneous work. I also used the nuts-n-bolts from my last post to install the bodywork using some stock bolts instead of the one sheet metal screw that was there.

And here is the end result. As far as OEM rear fenders go, it really isn't bad looking. The rear red reflector is a bit obtrusive to the overall flow of the rear end, but it could be worse. Since my inspection will expire later this year, I'm just trying to ensure that the bike will pass without issue. I also want to get the bike in tip-top mechanical, if not visual, condition before I transfer back to the States in a year and a half or so. I figure that if it is mechanically sound, I can make it pretty once I have a real garage shop again if I decide to take it with me. I'll be taking a chance trying to get parts for the bike from overseas from the US and I'd rather not have to deal with the hassle if I can. While a stock rear end isn't big on the list of concerns for US road laws, it makes me feel good having the bike back in OEM condition.

Well friends, the weather is still pretty predictably chilly around these parts. I need to ride the XJR more. Every time I let it sit unridden for a couple of weeks, I get the itch to sell it and get something else. The bike needs faster speed curvy roads and warmer weather for the best riding experience. Around here those are hard to come by right now. I may be riding the electric bicycle again instead of taking either of my mechanically powered two-wheelers so that I can work off a few holiday pounds from my waistline. In that riding downtime, I may do some drastic work to either one or both of the bikes that would leave them laid up for the duration of the work. Whatever happens, you can bet I'll take you along for the ride. Ride safe friends! Catch you next time.

Mat