YAMAHA XJ700X Maxim
From the April 1985 issue of Cycle

You know the policy book on cruisers: celebrations of form. Function missed the party or never got an invitation. Now Yamaha rolls out its new five-valve Maxim X, and this bike says form and function can unite Peacefully in Coexistence. Make that High-Performance Coexistence.

Sporting purists beware. It is no longer possible to soft-pedal cruisers as mechanized cosmetology, two-wheeled pompadours as debased of functional integrity as they are possessed of garish filigree. Yamaha's new XJ700 Maxim may sparkle with ornamentation and shimmer with stylish curves, but don't let its luminosity blind you. As a cruiser, it is extraordinary in its ergonomic sensibility and functional leanings, exceptional in its speed and acceleration. The new Maxim's five-valve, liquid-cooled engine delivers performance that absolutely flattens anything in its class and makes it as hot as any sporting 750 ever, save Yamaha's own five-valve FZ750.

The Maxim X lays to ruin the dichotomy of style and function: More significant even than its 20-valve technology and high-performance numbers is its demonstration that trendy fashion need not preclude comfort and versatility and that power and high-style need not be at odds. With the Maxim X, Yamaha has rounded the corner and headed back with function as the central issue, back to the virtues of solid engineering that remain long after the glitter has lost its sheen.

What's more, the Maxim provides an engineering perspective of cruiser evolution. Yamaha's original Maxim, introduced four years ago, marked the end of cruiser adaptations-the practice of bolting high bars and low seats to existing standard models-and the beginning of Japanese cruiser engineering from the ground up. The resulting 650 Maxim emerged as a huge marketing success even though it manifested distinct handling disabilities and set new lows in spatial deprivation. The 650 was a novelty- a bit of style in a single pictorial flash-but its 12-second engine screamed motion loud and clear.

Four years later we have the Maxim X, more stylized and in every way a more accomplished piece than the first-generation Maxim. Five-valve trickery aside, Yamaha trumpets no breakthrough technology in bringing about this metamorphosis, a quick scan of the essentials reveals precious little change from the original article-twin-shock rear suspension, leading-axle fork, full-cradle frame, stepped seat, and a shaft final-drive, crankcases and cylinder block that remain unchanged. So where are the big improvements in the Maxim?

In truth, Yamaha engineers have made drastic changes, visually subtle yet significantly effective. In choosing to improve the Maxim while preserving the traditional cruiser look, Yamaha encountered the single most difficult problem for anyone who makes such an attempt. How do you maintain a profitable silhouette when the components most in need of change are the very ones that dominate the picture? (Could Dolly Parton become an effective sprinter without losing something along the way?) Sweeping handlebars cramp the riding positions, stretched front ends tend to flex, and low seats impose severe limitations in wheel travel. Cruiser engineers concerned with ride quality. cornering ability, stability and general comfort face formidable and unique problems.

Look at the new Maxim's handlebar and see the previous buckhorns wrestled into a more sensible shape: lower, flatter, angled to position the rider's palms down: look at the seat and see a more comfortable perch that places a rider even closer to the ground- look at the footpegs and see them moved forward and down to provide more leg room. Simple enough, but what you don't see are the complex chassis alterations fundamental to the Maxim's reshaping. Yamaha engineered an entirely new frame for the X, one that plays visual tricks with the front end. The steering head is located considerably higher than the old Maxim's to offset the lower handlebar. Since the fork is much longer than the 650's, Yamaha increased the diameter of the stanchion tubes from 36mm to 38mm and linked them with an aluminum fork brace. In addition, the front end kicks out two and a half degrees farther, up from the 650's 29-degree rake figure, and trail has dropped four millimeters. To regain any steering agility lost in the additional rake, new aluminum triple clamps carry the fork with less offset.

Given the additional fork length, Yamaha was able to increase wheel travel to 5.9 inches, up from 4.7. The extra travel also provides more latitude in suspension calibration: spring rates up front are lighter than before, and rebound damping is slightly increased. To keep the lighter coil springs from bottoming, Yamaha has provided a single air-valve which links and balances pressure in both fork tubes and makes adjustment easy.
Yamaha engineers also worked style-engineering tricks on the rear. The tail section of the frame is lower, bringing the seat height down, and the dual rear dampers are canted forward. Though shock travel dropped l0mm, wheel travel is up three millimeters. We suspect this change in shock position has more to do with styling than rear-suspension performance; we also suspect the improvement in ride quality is a reflection of more sophisticated damping components and knowledge gained in coordinating spring and damping rates.

Yamaha first sought to control heavy shaft-drive components in limited travel suspension systems with heavy compression damping, light rebound damping and light springs: In the original Maxim, the result was an alternately squishy and harsh ride with enough shaft-induced spasms to initiate high-speed wobbles. In the XJ700X, Yamaha has moved away from heavy compression damping, relying instead on heavier spring and rebound damping rates to control the shaft. The XJ700X's rear suspension is far more responsive than the old 650's-more linear, plusher, and more effective at muting the shaft drive's up-and-down antics. Yamaha's stylists made the job of recalibrating the rear suspension more complicated by fitting the Maxim with a heavier rear wheel. The 16-inch cast aluminum hoop is solid but for five narrow slots and carries in its hub a drum brake. Tire size and rim width are identical to the old 650's and put a good deal of rubber on the ground. Up front, we see function gaining clear advantage-in place of the 650's narrow 1.85-inch wheel is a cast aluminum five spoke, 2.15-inch unit which wears a correspondingly wider tire. With a bigger footprint up front, the Maxim rider can now take advantage of the XJ's additional front disc brake.

Powerful and linear, the dual front brakes do an admirable job of stopping the Maxim but we' d prefer less lever travel. Coupled with a long travel throttle mechanism, the high-effort brake can swell your forearm quickly doing swift backroad work. It is precisely here-on snaky, torturous rvery, that the Maxim divorces itself from the traditional cruiser crowd. While the Maxim may be visually linked to its back contemporaries, its handling cues enable it to keep more sporting company. Its accommodating ergonomics, suspension balance, grippy and ample cornering clearance puts it in the same handling league as Honda's snappy Nighthawk S.