UJM

[ErikGustav2]

One example
Suzuki GS 750.
It did not even start when I bought it very cheap.
They had tried to convert the points system to electronic ignition system and mixed everything up.
That was solved by returning to points system with correct coils.
Complete service of the engine. Including adjusting the valve clearance with shims
I polished the aluminium.
Painted black and metallic green with car paint in cans
Changed wheel bearings, steering head bearings,
Fixed with breaks
And...

After a winter I had a very cheap and reliable travel bike

GS 750.jpg (180.52 KiB) Viewed 1955 times

[ErikGustav2]

Look at this person's bike
Another perfect example of a UJM

[Jak*]

When I was courier riding I owned or rode examples of most of the late 70s and early 80s UJMs. IMHO the Suzuki GS range were the best in terms of build quality, lack of maintenance, reliability and handling. Regulator/ rectifiers broke and were usually replaced with Super Dream ones and the HT leads were crap, not much else went wrong with them. Silencers were consumable items on the 550s but that was because I scraped them on every corner. I bought an 850 with about 40,000 miles on it, did another 30,000 in about six months and only sold it cos I fancied a change.

[garyboy]

thoroughly enjoyed that video


the bikes of that era seemed to have got the styling thing right?

[Crossrutted]

the bikes of that era seemed to have got the styling thing right?

With you on that, Gary.

[daveuprite]

I haven't used 'UJM' for years!

I had a GS1000, which qualifies I suppose. Comfiest bike ever and so easy to ride. Hopeless around corners though. I even rode it in the sea once, near Chesil Bank camp site, which was particularly stupid, but there we are.

These make good reliable classics to own now. If you go for something like an early GSX750 rather than a GS1000 you get just as good a bike but without the silly 'classic' prices that the bigger bike attracts. Or a Z650 instead of a Z900, with even more of a price difference (you need a lottery win to get hold of a nice Z900 these days).

The gutting thing is to realise that the same bikes you yearned for, owned and rode every day in the late 70s / early 80s are now regarded as classics!



Does anyone else remember the LEDAR kit and the Marshall Deeptone ?

[Flipflop]

C3BFDE4A-973D-4D7D-88F3-1315CC61CA84.jpeg (163.87 KiB) Viewed 1787 times

Sorry about the quality of the photo but this was my wife’s UJM.
She bought it in 2000 and at the time there were loads of 600 Bandits around for not much money (it might have been during the the grey import era)
She used it for daily commuting into London, weekend ride outs and every summer it was loaded with camping gear and we had a month on the continent.
The photo was taken in 2002 in the Czech Republic, we continued down through the high and low Tatras, into Slovakia, Hungary and home via Germany. As usual we stayed longer than planned so ended up chasing the ferry. On our second to last day we rode 750 miles from the Hungarian/Austrian border to Brussels - the Bandit didn’t miss a beat.

This was before LWR and adventure riding had yet to be invented . We got chatting to a chap riding a Pan European at Calais and he was amazed that anyone would ride a 600 Bandit to Eastern Europe.

Unfortunately, not long after someone drove into her in London and, even though the bike just had a few scratches and 1 dent it was written off. Luckily grey imports had come to an end and motorcycle prices were rising - the payout was £300 less than she paid for the bike.

[Flipflop]

Sorry, I’ve no idea why the photo is upside down.

[daveuprite]

Great stuff. As you say, a lot of us were just riding whatever we had around Europe - it didn't have to be a fancy ADV bike covered in metal boxes - and very few had taken to that kind of thing in those days. I rode GSXR750s to the Bol D'Or and Italy for years in the 80s/90s. Used to meet people on old GPZs, XS1100s, CB400-4s and all kinds, ridden down from the UK, Germany, Scandinavia etc. - piled up with old tents bungied on. The in-line 4 cylinder Jap bike was the mainstay of those trips.

[mark vb]

Yeah, I'm a big UJM fan, too. The smoothest, most reliable bikes ever made imo. There's still a '99 XJR13SP and '76 CB750K6 in the garage, along with my wife's old Hornet 600.