advice needed for a newbie, swap or not to swap

[theoldbaldone]

Hi all, can anyone give me a bit of advice, I am new here on this site and to Biking, done cbt 2 years ago and how I have done the full licence (thanks to Mark Able and his team), I am now wanting to step up to a bigger bike (but dont need to), i ride in all weather to work and try to get a bit in for fun as well I have see a yamaha xj600 diversion on a 1996 plate with 14000 on the clock, they have offered a straight swap for my 12 plate YBR, i have no spare cash at the momant so this is the only way i have to get a bigger bike now, or should i wait and keep my YBR for a year or 2 more and save up, any feed back on the xj or keeping YBR would be good
thanks Gareth.

[Takson]

If it was me, I would wait.

I had a 96 Divvy, which was unbelievably powerful compared to the DT125 I took my test on....for about a week. I only kept it for about 7 months, before trading it in for a CB750. Still not the most powerful bike on the road, but a much better all round bike for me. It ended up costing me a good couple of thousand in total to change.

I should have kept the DT for 12 months, practiced my roadcraft, earnt some no claims and then gone for it. I probably wouldn't have bought the Divvy if I had 20/20 hindsight. It wasn't a bad bike, I just wanted more almost straight away.

[gibbo]

Agree with Takson...........I'd wait Gareth.
A 96 Divvy is a bit long in the tooth, so you might get reliability issues. The little YBR is usually bombproof.
Better the devil you know eh!

[WR6133]

I'd swap but I'd expect cash as well.

Your YBR is worth around £1300-1400 depending on mileage and condition (going on average of ones that actually sold on eBay recently, private sales no dealers).

His Divi is worth less than £1000, unless it is literally pristine in which case maybe £1100 tops. Plenty sold for 500-600 quid with MOT and Tax (Again worked out same way as above).

Say the YBR is reasonably clean and his average I'd be wanting at least £400 notes my way with the swap and he would still be getting a good deal.

[napalm]

My first bike was a 97 divvy. It was a great bike for a first one as I could get used to the handling and weight of a big bike without the 'pride and joy' factor. Yes, I dropped it in car parks, yes I slid it down the road, yes I was hit by cars on it, but it didn't matter so much as it wasn't really that important to me, if you get my meaning. At the end of the day I had it for about a year before part-exing for a new sv650. Got about 500 quid for it, maybe less, but if i'd screwed up my sv in the same way i'd have been distraught.

The divvys aren't much to look at but they're bulletproof and use simple technology which is easy to work on if things go wrong, so perfect if you're on a low budget. At 14k they're barely broken in, if looked after well. Just check for rot in the zorst as the original was mild steel and the collectors where the zorst goes 4 - 2 are prone to rotting. I would expect most of that age should have been replaced with a motad stainless aftermarket full system. Tyres should be fairly cheap as they're not massive supersport hoops, and should last as you're not pouring huge HP through them. IRC, the continental road attacks were well regarded.

They're comfy, stable, very forgiving and powerful enough for a year or so before they will leave you wanting more. I learned a lot about bikes and engines through having that bike as I tore it down and put it back together a few times.

There's also quite an active diversion owners group in the UK: http://diversionclub.proboards.com

Don't expect to be the fastest or pull the ladies on the divvy, but if you do all weather riding and / or distance riding then it'll be good.

There are other options out there that might be more fun for a similar price though, if you can get a similar swap deal going. early 2000's bandit 6, honda hornet or suzuki sv650 would all be good fun compared to the Diversion. (Bandits of that age will likely be streetfightered and trashed though!).

Good luck!

[theoldbaldone]

Thanks, I try to remind my self that I don't need it I want it

[theoldbaldone]

thanks for this, as I am new to all this.

[theoldbaldone]

thanks I have read lots of good this about the diversion, I have a wife 2 kids was being a head turner is not a big thing.

[Swanny]

I'd swap but I'd expect cash as well.

+1

[Florentine]

I would sell the YBR for as much as you can get for it and then buy something like the divvy for about half the proceeds of the YBR sale. People are saying that after a while you will want something bigger, but we are not all the same, and going from a 125 to a 600 is quite a jump, even with the DAS under your belt. It may be that you are quite happy to stay with it for a while, while you save up for your dream bike. (Although if your kids are anything like mine, that might take some time.... ).