Welcome Nicholas,
XR's are a pretty special bike. 90hp (rated compared with 70 hp rated for stock XL1200 Sporties). Unique heads, stage 1 cams, dual TB's vs single TB's on regular Sporties, oil cooler, rear sets, unique alloy swing arm, better Showa suspension c/w stock Sporties, and better stock brakes, by Nissin actually. In fact the front brakes & pads are compatible with Fireblades of some years ago. The end result of these and numerous other upgrades over the stock XL is a faster, better handling, better braking, and in my view, much better looking bike.
The down side is that it's still overweight at ~ 550 lb, the tank capacity is disappointing at 13.5L (I think that's 3.5 US gallons), the stock riders seat is pretty rubbish and the pillions is worse, the stock exhaust is something like 34 lb of performance stifling boat anchor to put it simply, and the stock air filtration arrangement sucks. Well, all induction systems suck, I know, but our stock airbox/filter set up robs power and imposes needless frustrating heartburn on owners attending to simple maintainence.
However, as a 10 year owner now I remain deeply in love with my orange '10 and have no intention of getting rid of it. I have done many mods to deal with the more obvious shortcomings I mention above, as have many here. These have cost me but I really don't give a toss because the thing is just fun plus to ride, attracts admiring attention pretty much everywhere I go and marks me and all the other XR owners as real individuals. To which I have absolutely no objection.
It's been sometimes said that XR's are too Harley for most sportbike riders and too sportbike for most Harley riders. And I find that's a fair comment. Question is, are you in that slender overlap region (with us here) that can appreciate a genuinely sporty Sporty? If so, you're in good company and you'll find, like me, that the forum is a super resource for information, advice and further directions eg. modding, that you might want to go in.
As to the immediate future, I'd take that sharp black non x XR for a test ride and unless there's some glaring fault, snap it up. I believe they're a gem and hold great potential for satisfying long term ownership. You'll find they are a much more brawny, maybe even gnarly proposition than a CB600, or really, any UJM four from Japan with the possible exception of the more growly Kawasaki's, the ELR's/GPz's/the modern supercharged H2's and so forth. Note that I'm speaking of character & personality, rather than point to point speed which is measured on a drag strip or race track. In virtually any simple speed comparison with modern machinery of similar capacity, the XR will be miles behind. Yet they can give an excellent account of themselves on the street (& roads) and that's where most of us spend most of our time. Case in point: I'm far from the fastest in most of the group rides I go on, but it's rare indeed anyone on 2 wheels passes me in traffic. It has happened but it's rare. I commute most days on mine and it's never quit on me, doesn't leak and keeps on making all the right motorbike noises. So I'd be pretty confident in that black example. Just be warned, XR ownership will likely cost you but it's a fine obsession.
Cheers,
J.
