1981 Yamaha XS650 chopper build.

Yes, I have a problem where I am always starting new projects before finishing others. So, while waiting for some parts and supplies to come in for the cb650 chopper and my xs750 cafe racer I have separate threads for, about a week ago GV1390 brought a buddy over that was looking to get into a chopper. I had this pile of parts that make up an xs650 stashed in a corner and we struck a deal for me to build it into a chopper for him. He loved the cb650 chopper and wanted something similar, so you'll see a lot of the same type of geometry and methods applied here.

He gave me some money, I ordered a ton of parts, and immediately got to work.

I apologize for the quality of a few of the pictures. that ballast for two of the fluorescent ceiling lights in the shop have both blown out.

pile of parts pulled out from the corner



oh yeah, theres a tank here too



had the bike back as a complete roller with the motor in it by thursday and went and grabbed some DOM tube from the local metal shop, and got right to measuring/bending/cutting/welding. By 11pm thursday we had a mocked up hardtail all tacked in place.









https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/11042968_1607277056153089_3022007021748153253_n.jpg?oh=1592242e60bbb141435abae5c97914f9&oe=55B99E16&__gda__=1434569377_0d0d37cafcb98cec3889e529af724795/img]

really a big fan of this fender I found on ebay for $56. I'll be using this again in the future for sure.

[img[https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/1510643_1607277096153085_7797890443551808986_n.jpg?oh=0b073378c3086e86a8a4d52f67f629a9&oe=5583C75B&__gda__=1435210093_36e9a86819682faefd051ae23e51d079





I wanted the fender mounts to be inconspicuous, so I hammered these out of some flat stock so they wouldn't be visible from a side view





Then I swapped out the front end for inverted suspension. I got extremely lucky, as the axle diameters were the same so all I have to do to retain the stock wheel is make a set of spacers to center the wheel and hold the speedo drive in place.









So that's where we're at one week in. I'll be back at it today modifying the kick lever for a bicycle pedal, mounting up handlebars, making some headlight mounts, and making some gussets for the hardtail (and cutting the swingarm out)

I may not get time to update this thread until monday or so, if you want to stay up to date you can keep an eye on my facebook shop page as we update that via phone as we go.

facebook.com/AngerStreetKustoms

Yank the motor out of that thing man! make life easier. Be sure to set the rev limiter to two beers also

Been at it with quite a few projects lately so I'm trying to get all of my build threads caught up....

Handlebars and mini gauges came in, so we mocked those up. worked out great, with the frame level to the ground the bars fit perfect above the triples. I also welded studs to the rear fender to mount it with stainless acorn nuts but I forgot to take pictures.



riding stance test.



gauges roughly where they'll live



nice and tidy up front (headlight ears coming soon)



made up some gussets for the neck joint



Tank and exhaust now have permanent mounts



I've been waiting three weeks for the seat to come in so I know where to weld the crosstube to mount the springs for it.....still not here. been in customs over a week now. Once that's in I'm down to just some finish welds, paint, and final assembly. Only fab left is battery/electronics box

got a whole bunch done on this over the weekend here. We were stuck for a while because the seat we ordered three weeks ago still hadn't come in from india.....and I didn't want to break the bike down for final welding until I knew where the springs would need to mount for it.

that said, for $50 shipped this seat was worth the wait. extremely well-crafted and the leather is of top notch quality. very rich color.



Got straight to it and whipped up some mounts and a cross tube with gusset.



Luke (shop-mate) has been dabbling in powdercoat for a bit now and since a few of the parts we ordered in gold all were different shades, he remedied that with some fresh gold powder.





decided to also use a semi-gloss black powder and do the muffler tips, peg mounts, mag cover, brake lever, front engine mount, and the access covers for the valve adjusters and cam end covers.



covers mounted here, rear wheel removed, finish welding taking place



Now to the point where all that I have left fab-wise is to make the brake-stay mount and then I can flap-wheel some of the welds and paint the frame. Then it's wiring, battery box, lights, and paint.

really happy with how it's come along thus far.

Good build so far... keep the updates coming

I snapped a pic of the pipes with the black header paint cured.



Last night I spent a good bit of time cleaning up the rear axle mounts and the parts of the frame where the original triangle shaped bits lived with a flapwheel, and made up a brake stay using an arm from a GS550 rear disc carrier.



need to figure out a battery/electrics box and then it's just paint and re-assembly.

man, you guys work pretty fast.

we get a lot done when the weather is crappy.....riding them is just as fun as building them so when it's nice we ride!

that said, we live in buffalo, NY.....recently known as the coldest part of the world when the world had the warmest winter on record. It's still below freezing here 4-5days out of the week. Bad for riding, good for "business" I suppose.

maybe someday I can move to a climate better suited to riding more....but then, maybe I'd just never get anything done

stay tuned, aiming for a shakedown ride friday or saturday before breaking down for paint.

Decided while I was still trying to come up with something for a battery box that has character......that I should button up the front end swap. Had to make two spacers for the axle, rotor needed a spacer, and the caliper needed a spacer. I usually make my own rotor spacer/adapters, but I discovered on the XS forums that a shop called MotoLanna makes a 10mm hubcentric spacer for big brake upgrades on the xs650's.....as it turns out, cheaper that me ordering a blank puck as a average joe consumer and I didn't have to spend half a day on the lathe and drillpress. Worked out beautifully and I've saved the bookmark because it's also the same bolt pattern as ealy honda 6-bolt....

anyways, two axle spacers, MotoLanna rotor spacer, YZF750 rotor, XS650 wheel, VZ800 forks and caliper......all playing nice after last night's lathe and drill press session.









Oh, I put the bike pedal-kick lever back together now that the powdercoat had a few days to sit



tonight or tomorrow I'm gonna make up some headlight ears and I think I'm just gonna cut down and re-weld a vintage ammo box to shorten it to a size I can use if I don't find something cool at the thrift store on lunch. Then I just have to paint or powder the headlight ears and battery box and I can mount the harness and take a shakedown ride.

Nice work. Can't wait to see it finished

Maritime said:

Nice work. Can't wait to see it finished

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Thanks! It'll be fun to take around the block....and then let someone else have it lol. I do enjoy getting to build something on someone else's budget.....it's great to be able to just order everything you want to use on the bike, and then just get into the fab and get it together. I set out to build the bike in 30days and I think I'm gonna make that deadline for delivery. Pretty happy.

Yep, I been doing that for the last 3 months for someone, not this level but a complete new paint job with some small custom touches and it is nice to just go buy whatever you need and get the money back right away. When it is my bikes I have to decide what to buy this month or next etc. LOL.

Sounds like you have the skills and tools to shave the old tabs off the fork lowers. That would be cool.

canyoncarver said:

Sounds like you have the skills and tools to shave the old tabs off the fork lowers. That would be cool.

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I do but I didn't discuss that with the guy who will own the bike once I finish it....he hadn't decided if he wanted a front fender yet so I figure leave them alone for now and if he hates getting stones or water kicked up at him then he can just order a VZ800 front fender on ebay and have me paint it.

so I'm down to wiring. my least favorite part of a build yet it usually means we're almost done. I think I'm going to adjust wire lengths to get all the connectors to sit underneath the tank so I can just loom all this crap into one harness along that backbone.

Doesn't look as bad if you spread it out right? RIGHT?? lol



[spongebob voice-over] EIGHT DAYS LATER [spongebob voice over]



just kidding, about 2.5hrs got us here. all that's left is turn signals and brake/tail light.





Probably going to whip up the headlight ears/mounts today, and have Luke powdercoat them and the rear brake stay.....and I'm thinking about spraying the wheels black....then sometime early next week I'll fix the dent in the tank and paint tins....then it's good to re-assemble and hand over to the new owner after some proper photos of the finished bike....

Good news and bad news.

My grandfather passed away after really battling illness for quite some time. He went into the hospital with a lung infection, then went septic, they pumped him full of meds which then made him diabetic, and his body just slowly shut down. It was hard to lose him but took comfort in knowing his suffering is over. Laid him to rest tuesday morning, and because of my union contract had the rest of the week off of work. I used this build to keep my mind off the loss of my last remaining grandparent and got it nearly finished.

started out making up some headlight ears





Then I spent an hour digging through my boxes and totes to find the correct carb mounts and the coil for this thing and got it set up for a test fire.






short vid of it running.

https://www.facebook.com/AngerStreetKustoms/videos/vb.1430634777150652/1622651184615676/?type=3&theater



then I moved on to the tins. Pulled and filled the dent in the tank, and sprayed down some high build primer





wetsanded that out a few hours later and sprayed white and matte clear. Came out really cool, first time I used matte clear.....looks very white-board-like.





Then I started re-assembly process, and sprayed the back wheel with black plastidip (buyer wants the wheels black but they were in such good shape I couldn't bring myself to actually paint or powdercoat them and ruin factory finishes)



here you can see the gold powdercaoted brake stay in place



plate mount and tail light installed



then I made up a little bracket to use the VZ800 gauge mounts to hold the xs650 ignition cylinder and the aftermarket mini-gauges



just need to shorten the bolts a bit



got all the controls on the bars and such



sprayed front wheel black, down to detail work



Just a few things to button up for the finished product.

-wrap exhaust and mount turn-out tips
-front brake hose is about 7" too long, either take to hydraulic shop for shortening and new banjo end crimped on, or replace.
-tach cable is about 2" too short
-speedo cable is about 3" too long
-headlight ears are too shallow with the cables mounted to the gauges. rookie mistake overlooking that when I made them. have to re-make
-throttle cable is about 6" too long
-waiting on the turn signals to arrive so I can wire/mount those

hopefully finishing up over the next few days....and then taking some good pics of it....my g/f might do some pinup posing with it ;D

Sorry to hear about your grandfather, my Condolences. Bright side, the bike looks great though.

Maritime said:

Sorry to hear about your grandfather, my Condolences. Bright side, the bike looks great though.

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I appreciate that, on both accounts

Nice tidy scoot, sir.

so sorry about your lose sir. you have a beautiful bike. I have the same speedometer on my build. you make bending tube look easy. great job.