Second-hand advice on single-cylinder roads

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Second-hand advice for single-cylinder road cylinders

Second-hand advice on single-cylinder roads
Old monoculture

Road single cylinders are not in vogue: too little power, no new engines. But the Honda XBR, Yamaha SRX and Gilera Saturno are still popular classics. Well worth buying an old mono?

Peter Limmert

05/02/2001

The renaissance of sporty street single cylinders with at least half a liter displacement in the mid-1980s did not last long. Japanese manufacturers set other priorities as early as the early 1990s. The Europeans hesitated. Exception: BMW F 650, which appealed to the beginner and travel clientele with its soft fun bike image. And MZ with the Scorpio model, whose sales did not get off the ground. An eloquent example of the unsuccessfulness of later attempts to place a modern single cylinder on the German market: the Yamaha SZR 660, which was only offered in this country for two years from 1996 and never got beyond an outsider role.
The Honda XBR 500, the Yamaha SRX-6 and the Gilera Saturno 500, which made their debut from the mid-80s. In spite of related clientele, of course, with very different levels of success. Of the XBR that was first launched, around 6400 are still running today, of the SRX around 1900 on German roads. And the Saturno is not even listed in the inventory of the Federal Motor Transport Authority. Connoisseurs estimate the number of units sold in this country at 300, around 240 of which are temporarily registered.
The Nippon stews that MOTORRAD moved for the photographer and impressions to be refreshed both have around 47,000 kilometers on the counter and are in good shape for their ripe age of 14 years. The Gilera Saturno, which still looks fresh from the store, was born in 1991, with an odometer reading of 9,300 kilometers.
Although the two Japanese machines appear small and compact, they look clumsy and old-fashioned next to the Saturno. The XBR with two silencers and its ComStar wheels, which have gone out of fashion, have the buck in terms of style, the SRX rather inconspicuously occupies the middle part. If you sit comfortably on them in spite of the clamped handlebars and could unwind at least one tank of fuel with a tank bag as a windbreak, the Saturno is certainly more of a sabbath when it comes to tours. The handlebar ends can only be directed in a strongly angled upper body position.
The music of the four-valve engines with different cylinder head configurations also differs significantly. The expressions of the XBR engine with a camshaft and radial valve arrangement are distinctively puffy, only at higher speeds do they become more expressive, the SRX with a camshaft exudes the chatter of a Lanz Bulldog from its curiously shaped silencer, only an octave higher, in the upper area it sounds good sonorous. The moderate sound of the double-cam Gilera is most reminiscent of ?? with registered 91 dB (A) standing noise ?? of a sound-of-singles machine, a single-cylinder racing class that has since faded away until the mid-1990s.
As standard, the water-cooled Saturno only delivers 38 hp, which it delivers at 7200 rpm. The XBR engine is nominally more agile with 44 hp at 7000 rpm. The SRX is content with 42 hp at 6500 rpm despite a 100 cm3 larger displacement. In a direct comparison, the Gilera engine also needs more speed for a research start, whereby the two air-cooled units of the Japanese are also rather listless below 3000 rpm. Nevertheless: In addition to the rather clogged and above, especially in the case of the SRX very sedate power development, the Saturno engine shines with significantly more temperament. Although equipped with smaller inlet valves, the pithy intake noise suggests more free breathing. In addition, the vibrations from the balancer shaft are reduced more convincingly than with Honda and Yamaha, which are annoying with the XBR and a bit coarser in the case of the SRX over 6000 rpm.
Differences can also be seen in the chassis. The Marzocchi spring elements on the Saturno, relatively soft at the front, a little tighter at the rear, dampen excellently, while the Nippon spring elements both look too soft at the front and a little sucked out and spongy at the back. In doing so, they have certainly lost part of their original damping in more than ten years of driving.
At higher speeds, the front part of the Saturno becomes relatively light, but without showing any loss in terms of accuracy or a sure line. The XBR tends to oversteer in slow corners, which takes a bit of getting used to. And the Yamaha fork struggles to keep the front wheel in check on uneven terrain. The chassis with 17-inch wheels on the Saturno is clearly the most modern. The single-disc brake system from Brembo requires a lot of manual force, but it tames the excess inertia convincingly. The Yamaha with its double disc system may brake a bit more confidently, while the Honda pulls at the front with forceful grip on the left fork leg and the rear drum would have to be overhauled or at least the jaws would have to be cleaned of pad dust to be more effective.
If you are interested in one of the three oldies, you should know that a Honda XBR 500 or a Yamaha SRX-6 may not be found on every corner, but with a search advertisement you can still find it. Vehicles are offered between 2500 and 4000 marks, albeit in very different conditions. What do you have to pay attention to??
With the XBR, from around 30,000 kilometers, the front brake disc is often at the end, the baffle plates, primarily in the left silencer, have shaken loose, and the starter gear of the starter may be over. The mileage of the engine actually only gradually reaches the area where the pistons and cylinders, and less often the valve train, have to be overhauled only over 50,000 kilometers. The clutch cable that runs directly past the cylinder has then surely been renewed at least one or more times.
From year of construction 1987 the dethrottling of a 27 HP version is relatively inexpensive, only different intake manifolds, nozzles and a different pinion are required. The throttled version is not recommended for older models, as a new camshaft is required to activate the 44 hp.
The SRX engine was somewhat fragile in the first year of its existence. A shrinking piston was often exchanged under warranty, a membrane rubber in the register carburetor swelled up to inhibit performance, and the paintwork on the tank often peeled off. And gradually the transmission began to be loud and incessant. The tooth flanks of the fifth gear pair began to crumble. If you know the weak points, you should convince yourself that this has been remedied by Yamaha or the owner. Well-cared for copies are rarer than the XBR and may therefore be a bit more expensive.
What both Japanese oldies could do with a set of different struts would be. In the past, it was common to convert to Konis, which unfortunately are no longer in production. Progressive Suspension (Gotz, phone 07474/93 31 50) offers an effective replacement for Honda for 229 marks. For the SRX, drivers use French Fournales pneumatic shock absorbers (Moto-Spezial, phone 0 73 85/16 92) for 820 marks because of the special look..
The prices of the rare Saturno make a huge leap. Copies of up to around 10,000 kilometers now rarely go below 9,000 marks, even a rebuilt machine that has been harshly used in the SoS hardly under 6500 marks. The Gilera community expresses itself laconically, if at all, about weak points. The toothed belt drive of the two camshafts must be changed every 12,000 kilometers or within three years. “If it tears,” says the specialist company Volker Hein in Niederweidbach, Hesse (phone xxxxx / xxx), “nothing breaks in 50 percent of the cases. At another 40 percent, it just crumbles the two intake valves. Only the last ten percent are tutto completto. «Hopefully no new Saturno owner will belong to the latter.
The question of spare parts need not frighten fans of the sporty street singles. Honda and Yamaha promise to be able to order almost everything ready or quickly in Japan. And the Italo freak Hein has a lot ready for Gilera. Or knows where to get something in Italy.

Conclusion

Anyone shortlisting one of the three models can only hope that one of the approximately 240 owners in Germany will decide to sell their model at the Gilera Saturno. With the XBR 500 (around 6400 pieces) the chances are already bigger. In addition, after the demise of the XBR in 1992 and 1993, Honda officially offered the remainder of the GB 500 Clubman originally intended only for the USA. The XBR in the black Clubman dress quickly became a collector’s item in the Honda singles scene, although it only has 38 hp and a single seat. At the same time, Yamaha offered the SRX 600 in a new design, albeit only through Grau imports. Instead of the 18-inch RD 350, the 17-inch wheels of the TZ 250 with larger tire dimensions were used. In addition, the stronger swing arm no longer damped two struts, but a central one. And finally the SRX got an electric starter, the lack of which on the first model might have turned off many buyers. Unfortunately, Yamaha Germany could not bring itself to import this successor model. Anyone who wants to buy a new street single-cylinder today can hardly ignore the MZ Skorpion. Or the Sachs Roadster with the Suzuki DR 650 engine, which has been available since the end of last year.

Technical data: Gilera Saturno 500

Gilera SaturnoTechnical dataMotorLiquid-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke engine, two overhead, toothed belt-driven camshafts, four valves operated by rocker arms, one balancer shaft, wet sump lubrication, Dellorto constant pressure carburetor, 0 40mm, contactless ignition system with speed limiter, displacement at 281 kW / 38 hp min, five-speed gearbox, O-ring chain, electric and kick starter. Chassis lattice frame, telescopic fork, stanchion diameter 40 mm, two-arm swing arm made of sheet steel profiles, central spring strut with lever system, adjustable spring base, front disc brake with four-piston front caliper, 300 mm, rear disc brake, cast aluminum wheels, Suspension travel front / rear 120/130 mmDimensions and weightsSeat height 790 mmTank capacity / reserve 20/2 litersWeight fully fueled 167 kg Total weight 255 kgService intervals every 4000 kmTest valuesMaximum speed solo 176 km / hAcceleration 0-100 km / h solo / 6.6, secConsumption 5.1 litersFuel SuperTest in MOTORRAD1Test 9/1989Test 1 / 1990Footnotes: 1Tests can be ordered from the publisher, phone see box on page xxx.

Technical data: Yamaha SRX 6

Yamaha SRX 6Technical dataMotorAir-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke engine, an overhead, chain-drive camshaft, four rocker arm actuated valves, a balance shaft, register carburetor, 0 27 mm, contactless ignition system, displacement 608 cm ³, rated power 33 kW (42 HP) at 6500 rpm, five-speed gearbox , O-ring chain, kick starter. Chassis double-loop tubular steel frame with screwed down bars, telescopic fork, standpipe diameter 36 mm, two-arm swing arm, two spring struts at the rear with adjustable spring base, double disc brake with double-piston caliper at the front, 270 mm, rear disc brake, cast light alloy wheels, spring travel front / rear 140/100 mmDimensions and weightsSeat height 780 mmTank capacity / reserve 15/3 litersWeight with a full tank 175 kg Total weight 380 kgService intervals every 6000 kmTest valuesMaximum speed solo / with pillion 170/140 km / hAcceleration 0-100 km / h solo / with pillion 6.2 / 7.7 secondsConsumption 5.7 litersFuel normal Test in MOTORRAD1Comparative test 13/1985Test 7/1986Comparison test 9/1986 Test 18/1992 Footnotes: 1 Tests can be ordered from the publisher, telephone see box on page xxx.

Addresses: Gilera Saturno 500

For Gilera Saturno two-wheel technology Heim Telephone: 0 64 44/18 52 Dieter Schmeink Telephone: 0 22 07/23 44 Importer Piaggio Telephone: 0 82 38/30 08-0IG on the Internet: www.gileraclub.de For Honda XBR 500 Company Emil Schwarz, Telephone 0 71 81/99 57 90 Importer Honda Motor Europe (North) Telephone: 0 69/83 09-0 Internet: www.xbr.de For YamahaKedo, Telephone 0 40/40 17 02 00 Wunderlich, Telephone 0 26 42/9 79 08 Importer: Yamaha, Telephone 0 21 31/1 64-0 Internet: www.srx.de

Technical data: Honda XBR 500

Honda XBR 500 Technical DataMotorAir-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke engine, an overhead, chain-driven camshaft, four radially arranged valves operated via rocker arms and rocker arms, a balance shaft, dry sump lubrication, a Keihin constant pressure carburetor, 0 39 mm, CDI ignition system, displacement 498 cm³, rated power 32 kW (44 HP) at 7000 rpm, five-speed gearbox, O-ring chain, electric and kick starter. Chassis: Single-tube frame made of tubular steel, telescopic fork, stanchion diameter 35 mm, two-arm swing arm made of steel at the rear, two spring struts, adjustable spring base, single-disc brake with double-piston caliper at the front, 280 mm , Rear drum brake, 140 mm, ComStar or wire-spoke wheels with aluminum rims, front / rear spring travel 140/100 mmDimensions and weightsSeat height 785 mmTank capacity / reserve 20/4 litersWeight fully fueled 182 kg Total weight 363 kgService intervals every 6000 kmTest valuesMaximum speed solo / with pillion 174/152 km / hAcceleration 0-100 km / h solo / with pillion 6.6 / 8.6 secConsumption 4.7 litersFuel normal test in MOTORRAD1Test 11/1985Comparison test 13/1985Comparison test 16.17 / 1985Long distance test 26/1985Comparison test 9/1986Comparison test 19/1988Test 18/1990Used purchase 21/1993Footnotes: 1Tests can be ordered from the publisher, phone see box on page xxx.

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