Heritage Special 650

[oscarbravo]

Hi all,

I'm in need of some advice. I'm looking to get back into riding after about 10 years of 4 wheeled inprisonment (price of gas is killing me). I'm currently looking at an early 80's Yamaha Heritage Special 650, for under 1k Cdn). Now, the last bike I owned was a Suzuki 650 Tempter which if I remember correctly, was about the same all around as the Yamaha. Now, I've only found one review for the bike and it seems to be a bit mixed, is there anyone out there who can give me a "user's view" on the bike? Please be brutally honest as there are plenty of other bikes out there to look at other than this one. For all intensive purposes, if your feedback could be done for a "new rider" as my 16 yo son will no doubt be after me for his MC endorsment soon as I make a purchase. What ever I end up with will be used for a daily commute of about 100 km round trip on a highway (100 km/h +).

Thanks in advance!

Cheers!

Rod

[niterider]

In the early 80's I owned a 1981 650 maxim 4 cylinder, I am not sure what the Heritage is, but the maxim was a great bike. However since I have ridden a vulcan 750 twin I would not go back to the maxin as my every day road bike. I have a 1985 700 maxim that I enjoy riding just for fun.

[Joe Mc]

The Heritage Special is a XS650 I believe. Inline twin.

Good bikes from all accounts I have read. They have something of a cult following (more-so the older ones but basically same bike for 10+ years)

I'm looking for a late 70's standard model for my next bike.

[flynrider]

The Heritage Special was a slightly cruiserized (stepped seat, pullback bars) version of the XS650 parallel twin. I used to get quite a bit of seat time on one, as my buddy and I used to trade rides pretty regularly (I had Kawasaki's 750 parallel twin).

It's a good, dependable, solid ride. Like most twins of that vintage, torque is available at very low rpms, which makes it very easy to ride around town without a lot of shifting. It has a standard riding position and (as I recall) is fairly light and easy to manuever. The tradeoff for the easy to use powerband is that there's not a huge amount of horsepower available. For a new rider that can be a good thing. It's got plenty of hp for freeway riding, but it starts straining at around 85 mph. The main drawback (again, like most parallel twins) is vibration. The pistons move up and down together, so the whole bike tends to buzz at higher rpms. It's something you get used to after awhile.

Overall, if you can find an example that is in good condition, I think it would be an excellent choice for a daily commuter.

[Borris]

I just bought an 82 Heritage Special about a month ago. Overal I happy with it. I'm 6'2" and am comfortable riding it. Mine vibrates alot when idling but smoothes out for the most part while riding. It gets about 55 miles to the GALLON which I'm not gonna complain about. The power/pickup isn't to bad but I wouldn't race for slips from traff. light to light with it. Hope this helps you!

If you buy it, pm me and I'll send you a link to a parts site dedicated to the Yamaha XS/TX series of bikes. Good prices too!

[honda599]

XS650 twin has a very reliable engine. It's designed to copy classic British bikes, however it does vibrate quite a bit. If you put the bike on the centre stand and rev to 3500rpm you can walk backwards along with the bike. Handling is average for a custom bike, although the handlebar design causes your arms to jam into your sides when turning corners. The price is right. Make sure when changing oil that you replace the copper gaskets each time to prevent leaks...need a big socket if I remember correctly(22mm?)