XS750 improvement mods
Thanks for the article on the XS750. I bought one new in early 1978 as the improved SP version came out in preference to the ubiquitous Honda, Le Mans 1, BMW etc. offerings at the time, and in preference to the XS1100, which we [South Africa] seemed to have gotten a year earlier than the U.S. The 1100 was just too heavy for my 75kg weight and it had horrible handling in the twisty stuff. I still have my XS750 and it remained my favorite street bike in my collection until the Guzzi V85TT appeared a few years back.
There were two things I didn’t like on the new XS750. The second-gear-issue, which I had fixed under recall by the agents, but also the rear shock absorbers had too little compression and rebound damping for sporty riding and were soon replaced with a pair of linked S&W air shocks, which made a world of difference and were easily adjustable for load with an air valve.
The bike still runs extremely well. In the first 20 years, the only other issue was a leak on the rubber seal on the rev-counter-cable-drive which was fixed for cheap and a tiny bit of wrench time. Fifteen years down the road, second gear began to cause issues
