Yamaha SRX-6 (1986)
A true classic. The SRX is small, light, and not very powerful. It looks great, sounds great, and handles OK by 1980's standards. The frame is not that stiff, the forks are spindly, the rear shocks look cool but are pretty lame. Unfortunately, they would cost a lot to replace since there are two.
These bikes were only imported to North America for exactly one year: 1986. It seems that America was not ready for a 600cc single-cylinder, kick-start only streetbike. I was, though: I bought mine in August 1986.
I remember that I faced a terrible dilemma that year: I was either going to buy a Suzuki GSX-R750, or the SRX. The Suzuki dealer was not willing to bargain on price, so that was one thing. The Yamaha dealer was totally willing to bargain on price since the SRXs were harder to sell than they were to start. In the end, I think I was convinced by a motorbike magazine article. It said something to the effect that riding an SRX fast would teach you to be a better rider because without horsepower, you have to learn to conserve momentum. Sounded good to me, so I bought it as a birthday present to myself, which you have to admit, is one of the perks of being single.
It took three of us taking turns at the dealership to get the darn thing started so I could take it home. I stopped off at my buddies on the way home to show him. It took about 50 kicks to get it running again. I started to learn all about "rubber leg". When I stopped at another buddies place, I left it running.
Now it turns out that there is a starting drill to starting an SRX-600. For the benefit of anyone who is struggling with rubber-leg, here is my drill:
- Prime the gas petcock (turn it to PRIME) for about 10 seconds, then back to ON.
- With the ignition OFF and the choke full ON, push the starter through three full strokes.
- Choke OFF, throttle closed.
- Stand on the left peg, and find TDC (when the compression rises noticeably) by lightly pushing the kickstart level.
- Still standing on the left peg, kick the level down to the very bottom of the travel. No wimping out here: stroke that lever like you mean it, and be sure to hold your foot on the lever at the bottom of the stroke.
- It will start. If it does not, make sure the choke is OFF at this point or the engine will flood and you will get rubber-leg.
How well does the drill work? Well, I had this bike in storage at a neighbor's house for 2 years once. The neighbor had to move out, and I had to move the bike. I primed the gas, full choke, pushed it through 3 times, found TDC, kicked once, and it fired right up. They are sweet starters, once you know the drill.
The other cool thing about the North American SRXs is that they came with a Yamaha dirtbike motor. The rest of the world got a special motor. We got the dirtbike motor since it had already passed EPA emissions. The good thing was that the dirbike motor has a dirtbike ignition system: no battery required. That explains how I could start my bike after it had been parked for two years and a dead battery.
I used my SRX as an all-arounder: I would commute on it, I would ride it in the canyons, and I even went touring on it. My longest trip was up to Canada from California. The picture (above) shows the bike in Calgary, Alberta during the middle of that trip. The SRX did fine for the most part. The high-light of that trip was getting caught in a downpour in Idaho and having a lightning strike about 50 feet from me as I went down the road. That was loud even with ear plugs! I also encountered high winds in the Columbia river valley (not unusual). On this occasion, the winds were blowing so hard that I could only make 55 MPH with the throttle wide open. It was so bad that I stopped at a restaurant just to get out of the wind. I parked, but the bike got blown off its sidestand so I had to park it around the lee side of the building. People were getting blown over in the parking lot. It was quite the hurricane.
Mechanically, the bike is pretty much stock. I have Progressive front springs, a SuperTrapp exhaust, a K&N air filter, and that's it. I hacksawed off the ugly rear fender and formed my own license plate holder from an aluminum sheet, along with an aftermarket rear tail light.
I'll probably keep this bike until I don't ride anymore. It is the essence of motorbiking: small, light, simple, and fun.
It will be worth it in the end.
Wright Cyclones in full song.