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I get such a kick out of these threads! Fun to read.
The XS is surely a 90 hp bike, at the crankshaft maybe... Talk rear wheel HP and it's probably 80 hp, and the torque is in the 60 ft/lb range which is what gets you going out of the hole.
On a 600 lb bike with those numbers (and a powerband that doesn't start until 3k rpm to be honest), I chuckle when we talk that "it will scare you and leave others in it's wake". Maybe if you haven't ridden anything besides an XS your whole life. I don't mean that in a negative way, but the XS is a bike that can go WFO on and lean over in the corners as far as it will go, and it's not even close to other bikes I've owned in terms of the pucker factor (because it doesn't have to lean that far to get to where it's giving most of what it's got, nor does WFO offer a clear and present danger like my Bandit 1200, ST 1300, ZRX 1200).
As well, the XS isn't a particularly wide powerband. It doesn't wake up until 3k rpm, and the party's over at 8.5k rpm if you care to push it that hard. If you don't push it that hard, you have a powerband that goes to 7.5k or 8k rpm.
What makes the XS work as well as it does (or as well as it did back in the day) is the short factory gearing that has it spinning high rpm. and uses the gearing to offset the fact the powerband doesn't get going until 3k rpm.
Yeah, I've done the FD swap and it has even less giddy up below 3k than it did with the stock FD. BUT overall I like the FD swap but let's leave that alone, as that is not the direction of this thread.
In any case, The XS probably has the ability to keep up with other bikes of similar or newer vintage in terms of straight line, but I don't think it's the one to go through corners with!
For the record, Motoman has it nailed with his thoughts a few posts back.
The XS is surely a 90 hp bike, at the crankshaft maybe... Talk rear wheel HP and it's probably 80 hp, and the torque is in the 60 ft/lb range which is what gets you going out of the hole.
On a 600 lb bike with those numbers (and a powerband that doesn't start until 3k rpm to be honest), I chuckle when we talk that "it will scare you and leave others in it's wake". Maybe if you haven't ridden anything besides an XS your whole life. I don't mean that in a negative way, but the XS is a bike that can go WFO on and lean over in the corners as far as it will go, and it's not even close to other bikes I've owned in terms of the pucker factor (because it doesn't have to lean that far to get to where it's giving most of what it's got, nor does WFO offer a clear and present danger like my Bandit 1200, ST 1300, ZRX 1200).
As well, the XS isn't a particularly wide powerband. It doesn't wake up until 3k rpm, and the party's over at 8.5k rpm if you care to push it that hard. If you don't push it that hard, you have a powerband that goes to 7.5k or 8k rpm.
What makes the XS work as well as it does (or as well as it did back in the day) is the short factory gearing that has it spinning high rpm. and uses the gearing to offset the fact the powerband doesn't get going until 3k rpm.
Yeah, I've done the FD swap and it has even less giddy up below 3k than it did with the stock FD. BUT overall I like the FD swap but let's leave that alone, as that is not the direction of this thread.
In any case, The XS probably has the ability to keep up with other bikes of similar or newer vintage in terms of straight line, but I don't think it's the one to go through corners with!
For the record, Motoman has it nailed with his thoughts a few posts back.
Here is one of my friends
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