1983 Yamaha XJ550 Café Racer

• Capable middleweight all-rounder
• Professionally converted into a café racer by Jap Retro
• Only 19 miles since completion
• Non-original engine

"Can't afford to keep a 750 in tyres and chains? Intimidated by their sheer size and weight? Want speed and good handling? Yamaha's XJ550 would seem to have it all." – Bike magazine.

The XJ550 was one of a new family of Yamaha four-strokes introduced as the 1980s dawned. These new XJs had benefited from considerable input from European motorcyclists, relayed back to Japan via Yamaha Motor NV in Holland. The result, in the XJ550's case, was an accomplished, light-middleweight all-rounder, a comfortable ride, accurate steering, secure handling and strong brakes. Only the 528cc four-cylinder engine came in for criticism that it was too peaky and insufficiently economical, shortcomings Yamaha addressed a couple of years later by introducing its YICS linked inlet port induction system. Bike magazine managed to coax a top speed of 110mph out of one in 1981 while returning an overall fuel consumption of 55 miles per gallon, which doesn't seem that bad even by today's standards.

This Yamaha XJ550 has been professionally converted into a café racer by restoration company Jap Retro. The vendor advises us that everything was stripped down and all cutting, welding and modifying done to achieve a café racer style machine. All parts were stripped and restored, and the engine fully rebuilt. Post-rebuild only 19 miles had been covered at time of cataloguing. The rebuild procedure is fully documented by images on a memory stick, which is available to view on request by prospective purchasers. There is also a video of the machine running, which will be available to view on the Bonhams website.

Accompanying documents include an old-style V5C; expired MoT certificates; various receipts/invoices; and an expired tax disc (1986/87). It should be noted the V5C records the engine number as '4V8002797', while the actual engine number is '4V8-005082', and the HPI report records the machine as an Insurance Write Off (Theft) in 2002. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should satisfy themselves with regard to the originality, correctness, and registration status of the machine. Two keys present.