Yamaha Diversion Reviews/Opinions

[iCraig]

Right, I am thinking of buying one as a cheap bike and I want peoples opinions and reviews that have owned one.

I know they are considered a boring bike, but I want to commute and tour on one so boringness won't bother me, saying that my current bike is considered boring but I have some fun on it.

The reason why I am considering it is cos most I see have full luggage and that I have had an offer accepted on a 1993 one for fairly cheap.

[_Will_]

Owner of a 96' divvi, I dont think its boring even tho ppl say they are.
Right performance, the jack of all trades, will piss over porches from the lights still, doin the 0-60 in less than 5 so not too dull, light and very flickable, single front disc is adequate but could be better.
Touring capabilites, if you searched reviews for a while you tend to find the response that its great for touring, handles luggage elegantly and i have to agree, 2000 miles and just some oil at the end(oh and a nice clean of the chain *cough*).
Its one of those bullet proof engines, you will get strange noises, dont worry its a characteristic of these bikes as is the heavy clutch rattle.
Does towns well and mpg is good at the 60-70 mark taking about 12 quid as you hit reserve which will go 160/70 ish miles.
Things that tend to go wrong are, Clutches tend to have a problem with going dry from a lack of lubrication(just some holes in the plate at the front sorts it)and starter relay wire at back corrodes.
I would invest in engine bars for it as i found out today when it got pushed over that they save a hell of a lot of the bike definatley worth the money.
Great bike, i use it all year round so its no winter hack, still looks nice with the half/bikini fairing and they are cheap to pick up.
Basicly its a 'it does what it says on the tin', dont expect sports performance or nice frills, its a workhorse plain and simple.
Oh and the seat is comfy for both rider and pillion.
EDIT you didnt say which size, mines a 6, obviously the 9 doesnt have the chain problems as its shaft driven, i hear they are better for touring but duno bout town stuff, 6 is better for the shorties.
Pop over to the msn diversion owners club if you want more info.
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Past -Honda qr50 | 2004 Peugeot Tkr s 50| | 1996 Yamaha XJ600s Diversion|

[Method]

My mate owns a divvy 6 - 1995 model.

It might look tame and boring but its realy not that bad.

The engine itself is incredibly smooth and you get next to no vibration when riding it. The power supply is smooth and can be quite rapid.

Cornering is very good on it, the front end can get a little twitchy on the normal tyres - but my mate has a CBR600 semi- sport compound tyre on the front and it sticks great.

He can keep up with the majority of flashy sports bikes around his local roads and always has a smile on his face

Touring wise it has to be one of the most comfy bikes for long distance. The riding position is pretty much spot on, and the front fairing and screen realy make it easy on the neck.

The seat is huuuuge and very very confortable, put a luggage rack on the back and you have yourself an armchair almost.

Hes not had much trouble with it at all realy, engine wise its solid and hes never had to do anything to it. It had developed a small oil leak from a weak oil seal but thats about it realy.

Hes just bent the gearbox shaft on it now however - threw its chain and tore the gearbox shaft and bent it slightly. So his is currently off the road - but he likes them so much hes just put in for a second one

Its a for me.
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Full Test Dec 04... Suzuki GS500 Jan 05... Suzuki SV650 Mar 07... Gixxer 6 K5 May 08... Oh and my 'Rado
My Bikepics.com - No Brakes, No Gears... No Fear.

[veeeffarr]

I didn't realise they were that good!

This sounds right up my street.

for all when I get some

[Serendipity]

A ’92 Diversion 600S was my first big bike just under twelve years ago!!! I loved it and it was perfect for me at the time. I covered 77,000 miles in about two and a half years with minimal problems (considering the mileage). The only work I had to do was (if I remember correctly):

- New clutch plates when the old ones started to slip at about 55k
- Changed head gasket after it started misting oil (just after the TT, go figure)
- New brake disks at about 60k
- Total spontaneous combustion of the wiring loom when parked up in heavy rain. Just suddenly caught fire, but nothing else on the bike burned.
- Loads of tyres, oil, brake pads, chains and sprockets, fork oil etc….

Commuted 50 miles everyday in all weather. Fast enough for me at the time (coming from a 100cc). Went camping in Scotland a couple of times and definitely found it very comfortable. Once set off from Braemar in Aberdeenshire planning to head south as far as the Lakes. Hit Lake District at about 3pm so I just carried on all the way home to London. Took about 10 hours for a total of about 450 miles. No aches or pains, but rather knackered.

I fitted a Givi rack and top box which while very useful did make the front end dangerously light with a full load on board.

It’s an air cooled engine so it’s never going to keep up with sports 600s, even my brothers CB500 would leave me struggling to keep up, but it’s got a useful blast of power all the way up to about 90mph where it starts to get a bit breathless. Cruising at anything over 90 will demolish your fuel in no time at all.

They crash fairly well. I chucked it down the road on ice once and only snapped the front brake lever. I replaced the scratched exhaust can and small fairing panel for cosmetic reasons, they were still perfectly sound. It got knocked over in a parking bay once and only smashed the mirror. Curiously the footpeg didn’t fold up so that got bent too.

So I say go for it. Ideal spare hack for the daily grind…
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2007 CBF1000 & 2016 CBF1000F - Commuter heaven | 1994 CBR600FR - Awaiting defibrillation

[krebsy]

Had one for about a year now and it's been pretty solid as far as a first bike goes.

Pulls away cleanly, even from standing start in 5th (with a bucket of revs. Had a bolt work lose and jam in my gershift once )

Got the 600N variant so no fairing and that combined with air cooled 60bhp engine means it tops out at around 105-110 on the Motorway. The S may get a better top speed with the half-fairing. I used mine to do 40 miles of commuting every day (now my commute is 300 yards, funny though, still riding the bike to work.. ) and it handled the twisty back roads with no problem at all. Countersteers well and you can really push it over at speed, further than the "comfort point" at times and it'll still grip the road. The back is light though under heavy breaking and can slide a bit if the tyres are cold. Same for any bike I guess though.

Pulls away sharply and cleanly with no major front end lift if you give it some wellie off the line.

Divvy's vibrate a bit at 4000-5000 RPM and power is good but not great in the mid-range. The twin disk versions (96 onwards i think) stop much better and I'm still on 1st set of pads front and rear. The front brakes lasted me through winter with no servicing. Only issues was one out of the 4 pads was sticking slightly as the slider had corroded a little. Just take off the calipers now and again and give them a good cleaning.

Tires (BT45's) lasted me about 6000 miles. Petrol is about 7 quid per 100 miles and TPF+T insurance for me is £101 with 1 year's NCB. (174 without.)

Not the most exciting bike in the world it has to be said but if you want a commuter bike that will keep up on the ride-outs then the Divvy will do. I chased down a CBR 600 the other week by chucking it into the corners with no fear.

The front end can be twitchy in the wet on worn rubber or the wrong compound but I've only had 1 minor straight line slide and I use lots of front anchor... Stick with BT45's and you should be fine.

The bike is easy to strip, clean and service. There's not that much to go wrong on them.

Bad points?

Check out the workshop threads re: Divvys. It's mainly electrics and exhausts. The "Blue/white wire woes" are common where the starter relay circuit can rot as the relays collect water if you are too liberal with the power hose when washing the bike. Simple fix though through bypassing the affected part of the wire or connector block. 3 inches of wire, 1 spade connector, a wire splicer, a small hacksaw and some bathroom sealant and it's right as rain...

The exhausts are prone to rot at the collectors due to the choice of materials and a stock replacement from Yamaha is 750 quid. Then again, a Motad 4-2 system is 450 and a Nexus 4-1 is 300-350 quid. The 4-1 on mine seems to have improved performance by smoothing out the mid-range power delivery so I'd recommend it as the first "upgrade". A 60 quid rear hugger will keep the road mess off the shock and engine and let you remove the ugly rear mudguard.

Watch out also for the oil breather pipes. Oil can get drawn into the air filter if you over fill and it drips out from the breather hoses until clear in a watery/oily sludge. Not a problem if the pipe is offset if you are using the stock exhaust but will be something to watch out for if you replace the exhaust with a 4-1 as the pipe will need to be moved to stop it dripping onto the exhaust. The only place to put it is straight down which is inline with the wheels. I always check for drips before moving the bike after parking and at night chuck a rag under just in case to avoid oil spots on the tyres.

All in all a good choice for a starter bike, not too big or heavy, comfortable to ride, nippy enough for the commute and the ride-outs and more bang for buck than the GS500's, Er-5's and similar. Not quite up to the Bandit as far as performance goes or the Fazer but cheaper by 750-1000 quid for similar age and milage. Medium to high milage ones can be found at around the grand mark (28k on mine at a grand) but they are pretty bullet proof. The clutch rattles but you get used to that.

Commuting on them is fine. Big comfy seat that will get you and a passenger comfortably there. Get a rear rack and box if you will be carrying anything. I do 200 mile round trips on mine once a month and have no issues (bar the cold in february freezing my hands.. ).

Take one for a spin if you can and see.

K.
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[Harold_Shand]

My first big bike, had it for 4 months and not a complaint from me. Mine is a 94 and has now done 18k. It was dropped on both sides when it was stolen and suffered a bent front brake lever, but that was all.

I get about 100 miles mixed roads for £9. Fairing vibrates at 4-5k revs and the oil light shows up at the slighest drop of oil, nothing to worry about, I am told, they all do this...

Not very quick, but quick enough. Absolultley gildes along the motorway and plenty enough power to over take from 80mph - 90mph, as mentioned above, over 90mph it gets a bit hairy.

My brakes are in good condition, and they aren't great. Ride it like the bike it is and you shouldn't get into grief.

Haven't got much to compare it to regards cornering and that, but to me it feels stable, dependable, fun when you want it to be. I think they are often overlooked because of the grandad image, but balls to that.

Boring, maybe...
Cheap and reliable, definetley.
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BCF's 6th favourite poster 2009-2010

Harold_Shand's theory might be the best explanation.

[_Will_]

forgot to put in, at 4-5krpm they tend to vibrate a lot but you get used to it, roughly 55-60mph in top gear. and mine is the s version, so far ive been to 110 (private road officer honest) and it still had loads of push the prev owner has had 130 indicated
sounds like mine was a steal at 16k on the clock, 9 yrs old in mint condition for age for a grand, lol its worth more now than when i bought it though
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Past -Honda qr50 | 2004 Peugeot Tkr s 50| | 1996 Yamaha XJ600s Diversion|

[iCraig]

This is the bike in question.

Its a 1993 Yamaha XJ600S, with 40k on it, full years MOT and full luggage.

https://i17.ebayimg.com/03/i/07/60/f0/b0_3.JPG

Basically the bike has everything I am looking for, including a brand new Motad Nexxus exhaust.

All for the price of £750, is it worth it do you reckon?

[Kickstart]

Hi

I had one. Bought it as a sensible bike for commuting. Can't say I enjoyed it. As basic transport it did the job but it just wasn't in any way fun.

Take it down the motorway and it was great. Comfy seat. Decent fairing. However back lanes where you accelerated and braked a fair amount it was not really pleasant.

Clutch was a pain, although I think that is mainly down to a mistake in the Haynes manual (tells you to lube the thrust bearing with engine oil, Yamaha manual tells you to use moly grease).

Brakes were just about acceptable. Handling was quite pleasant. Fuel pump is vacuum powered and a sick idea of someone at Yamaha (if you run the carbs dry before switching to reserve it is entirely possible to flatten the battery before you get the fuel through).

I replaced it for commuting with the FZR600. FZR is better on fuel and has a larger fuel tank. And has better brakes.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[iCraig]

[Kickstart]

Hi

Handling with a top box became interesting. Think the max load was 2kg, and go over than and the front end got rather light .

I just found that it didn't feel like it wanted to accelerate. Get it cranked up to speed (on the motorway for example) and it was fine, just changing speed felt like you were wringing its neck. Round town I didn't like it.

Get a test ride and see how you feel.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[iCraig]

[Kickstart]

Hi

Playing silly buggers this weekend on an airfield. Sorry.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[_Will_]

Looks like a tidy bike for year, Personally i dont feel much of a difference with the topbox on(except when im carryin round way too much wieght) and it should do scotland no worries, and if you dont run it into the ground you can expect to get nearly as much as that back for it.
Only thing i can really give an good comparison to is my dads r850r and to be perfectly honest i'll take my 10 year old divvi over the 2 year old beemer any day
If you get it you will most probably find it worth every penny, just dont expect to be overtaking any zx6r's you get what you pay for.
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Past -Honda qr50 | 2004 Peugeot Tkr s 50| | 1996 Yamaha XJ600s Diversion|

[krebsy]

Parked mine up next to an '02 plated Er-5 today. The divvy looks far more substantial a bike it has to be said on close inspection. (The ER-5 has 9k on it, mine's 35k...) The ER-5 looks like the exhaust, swingarm and parts of the frame are already corroding badly.

I've chucked a laptop and rucksack with shoes, books, paper work and such like into my rear box and not had any issues at all with the front end getting light bar one time I got minor lift when cane-ing it off the lights and got some wobble.

If the front end does feel light then just shift your weight forward.

That bike sounds good enough for the price. Like I said, check the electrics under the rear-right fairing for corrosion and the exhaust collectors for rust and signs of splitting. Start her up, give her some choke and stick your hand NEAR the collectors to feel for escaping gas.

K. (Divvy pics included BTW.)
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What's my New Year's resolution?

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[iCraig]

[bish777]

I had a Seca 2 (a USA spec Divvy).

Handled ok, was rather heavy for what it is and accelleration was a bit sedate. Good on fuel!Motor always sounds like the camchain is about to go but it doesnt.....

I found out to my expense about the vacuum fuel pump and flattened the battery.

Too boring for me, and ditched for a much better FZ750.
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GSXR1100J

[Delbwoy]

All been said above.

I like mine so much I don't think I'll ever sell it (To be honest I don't think I'll be able to!). When I can afford a newer bike I'll keep it as a spare for as long as it gets mot's easily. Mine's naked so top end of little over a ton is no real problem. I ride 100 miles to my mum's in Bournemouth as often as time permits and back again same evening. Have felt worse driving a car on that journey.

As it is it serves it's purpose perfectly. Biggest problems I've had were self inflicted.

The brakes don't instill too much confidence, but you just ride accordingly.

Gets a from me.

By the way, mine's a '95. Had about 20Kish on it when I bought it a year ago (29K now). A Nexxus 4-1 and a bit of history. It has a few scratches, a bit of rust at the joints and two small dents in the tank. It's not mint by any standard but I paid £600. I've recently put 2 tyres on it, but that's all I've had to spend. Wasted about £60 last week, but hey ho.
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Check my website. look at my profile though as putting it here would be spamming methinks (I worked hard to create it so at least look at it!) Nothing to do with bikes I might add! Might appeal to the more feminine personality.

[bish777]

I do think the old kawasaki GT550 is better-ok its doesnt handle as well but is even cheaper to run, the motor has alot more pickup in the midrange and it has a shaft drive. Easily as good as the divvy on the motorway.

Runs on a pittance and required maintenance is shockingly minimal, far less than the divvy.
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GSXR1100J

[iCraig]

Well I went for a Diversion, and I pick up tomorrow.

Took the said bike for a test ride and I love it, far from boring and fairly good neutral handling.

Looks fairly easy to work on too, which is a bonus!

[krebsy]

Let us all know how you got on with the Divvy, It's nice to know that there are a few more of us out there riding the thing..

K.
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What's my New Year's resolution?

1280 x 1024.

[Harold_Shand]

Fucking bollocks. My exhaust has split.

I thought it was water evapourating off the down pipes. It's not. I'm not sure how long I can get away with this for as it seems to be just a minor amount escaping. MOT is not until June. Any ideas or bodges availble for this rather than buying a whole new system?

Or should I use this as an exuse to go and look at a ZX 636 and a Bandit 12 this weekend? It's probably about time for some beef.
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BCF's 6th favourite poster 2009-2010

Harold_Shand's theory might be the best explanation.