Yamaha Diversion XJ600

I've had my 1995 XJ600s Diversion for a little while now. I went for this model because the insurance is reasonable and its reliability. I bought it (without an MOT) for £1200 and is in good condition for its age. This is quite good value for this model, year & condition. Luckily, it passed its MOT first time despite my concerns, but I'm not complaining since I budgeted around £200 to get it through. I use the bike daily to get to work & back, and also for occasional long trips. The longest being a 220 mile round trip in the worst rain since Noah started chopping down trees. My gloves are still damp... Here are my finding so far. ...

I bought a new Divvy 600 in 1995 as my first "proper" bike (something of a step up from the trusty RXS100 learnt on) and sold it to a good friend some 18,000 plus miles later to a very good (female) friend to move up to a YZF1000R ThunderAce (see review). I vivdly remember picking up the bike at 6pm from the dealer and the elated 100-odd miles I covered that evening, basking in the smoothness of the ride and the apparent oceans of performance available even while being gentle while running in - my first "real" overtake past a Golf exiting a 30 limit was a real thrill! I forget what the initial tyre fitment was - Dunlop, I think, but ...

I bought my XJ600N Diversion the week after I passed my Direct Access bike test so it was my first ‘proper’ bike. I wanted something powerful but sensible, that would be comfortable to do long distances on and could take luggage and/or a pillion without too much fuss. The Diversion came in as a winner of all these fronts AND as new young rider living in the capital I could afford to insure it! I’ve found it to be a good reliable workhorse. It goes round bends well (although I am not a knee down type of rider, I have seen someone else do it on a Divvy), acceleration up to about 60 is great. I’ve had it up to 110 but it’s ...