XS650 R, built from scratch

I will keep the fzr option in mind, quite a few of those seem to be parted out on kijiji around here. Few more pics. I'll replace the stator so no worries there I guess, but there is certainly more corrosion on this side. Rotor looks nasty.......

Also the bottom of the engine is really nasty. Not sure what to do here. Would like to clean up the hardware but Im going to have to take the whole bottom end apart then right? The bike was sitting with no front wheel and no rear shocks so pretty much flat on the frame. Hence the small pieces of grass on the underside. Hmmmmmm.....................

if your not going to do a PMA swap I have a couple stock charging systems if you need.

The plan is to do a pma but for different reasons, I need to be a little budget sensitive. how much for a stock setup from you prosimex?

If you have tue top end apart already, take the rest down. Soda blast (after a good scrubbing with degreaser) the cases and side covers. From there you can polish, or paint/clear with a good engine enamel. Just keep in mind that the engine enamel needs to bake on or it stays soft.

If you can find an FZR front end (I forget how much more common they are in Canada) it should he just as simple to swap onto the XS frame as an SV setup. Possibly easier. Yamaha kept their numbers pretty close on a lot of parts.

Oh, and before I forget... No matter what modern front end you use, the axle is likely to be larger in diameter than the one from your XS. Keep that in mind. You may be able to just use different wheel bearings, but you may need to have some machining done. Again, there are a few guys on the board with 1000x more practical knowledge on the subject than me so search away. BradJs RD350 has an FZR front end, and I know there's at least one or two other XSs with modern forks.

oh i dunno, shipping+beer money. PM me an offer if you really want, personally Id just save your money and get a PMA. Im sure I can flog it to some XS purist on the XS650 board. Either way, no biggie.

Ya, getting to that point of the engine build is a ways away so I probably should just save it up and bite the bullet on the pma

Little update before I hit the sack. Recieved a few emails back while on the tractor today. The first from the owner of the sv. One fork tube is bent, will sell the triples for 50 bucks. Ah, no thank you. But! Then the guy parting out the fzr emailed back and he still has the front end. The bad news: Rotors and calipers were just sold :-( Good news: I can have the STRAIGHT forks and triples for 20 bucks! They'll need new seals and some touching up cosmetically but I would be happy with that! Can source the brake parts later hopefully without too much trouble.

Haven't gotten any farther into the engine. I do however, have a set of fzr forks on the way to me in the mail. I also found a link to a fzr swap on the french xs site. http://xs-passion.activebb.net/Monter-une-fourche-de-FZR-h14.htm One of our neighbours has a really nice lathe he bought from a machine shop that sold out in Saskatchewan and he said he can show me how to use it and make the adapters! Haven't used a lathe since I worked with a wood one in high school. Pretty excited about it. Hopefully this isn't a stupid question but is there any specific stock that wheel adapters should be cut from?

Shooting for a finished project like this on the front end!

Great to see another Alberta builder. I hear the snow is supposed to leave by late next week. But then... I hear a lot of things....

Cheers.

Canuck Plumber said:

Great to see another Alberta builder. I hear the snow is supposed to leave by late next week. But then... I hear a lot of things....

Cheers.

Click to expand...

Are they voices and what do they tell you?

As far as the wheel spacers, you can cut them from just about any metal as they arent under much stress. Most times you'll find them made from high grade aluminum or stainless for corrosion resistance. I love stainless personally, but it tends to he pricy unless you can find some good scrap pieces to cut.

Use aluminium for your spacers, it's easy to work with and light weight.

I'm going to see what scraps I can find like Von mentioned but I will keep aluminium in mind I think. Lighter the better even though these are tiny pieces. Plumber!!, where are you at? I like snow when I have time to go skiing but I hate having to trudge though it all day. Here's hoping it melts down a bit. Are you headed to Red Deer for the swap on Sunday by chance?

Not too many XS's get the full GP treatment and it's great to see your plan.
I know its down the road a bit before you need them, but I'd love to supply some bodywork for your bike when you're ready!
I manufacture handlaid fiberglass parts right here in Canada, mainly for the older bikes and a lot of my product line is applicable to your build.
Back here in Ontario, the full fairing XS's I've seen have used either the CR750 or TZ700 fairing (I make them both) or if you prefer the half fairing, my Norton Manx, Triumph Dresda and K.King half fairings have all been mounted on 650's.
I make several different front fenders that would work for you depending on your final front fork and wheel choice as well as seats and a few other fiddly bits.
Canuck Plumber is in Airdrie and you're in Cereal, so 350 km apart - and I'm in the Halton Hills in ON so maybe 2000 km?
No worries about shipping though - I ship anyplace the customer will pay for - last spring I was "big in Japan" - and if I can figure out how to get my customer's freight costs down a bit more, I've got a bunch of stuff headed for Australia.
You can email me for a price / parts list which is mostly up-to-date - got another reissue coming in a month or so - and a few photos of stuff I've built or am working on.
Great start to a great project and also love your ranch house!
Pat Cowan,
Vintage Motorcycle Fiberglass
905-873-3171
pacomotorstuff@cogeco.ca

Buy from Pat!!!!

Some of the best glass on the market and one hell of a guy!

Pat that would be awesome!!! I actually had you down as one of the people I needed to contact just from reading your input on other builds. Obviously the 650 has been cut and modded into just about everything but the fact the GP rout is as uncommon as it is really drew me to it. Initially I was thinking a street tracker a la Mule Motorcycles (but with drastically poorer build quality probably haha) which I think I mentioned earlier.

I am hoping to go with the fzr front end and run the xs wheels. I'm definitely going with a full fairing. I had looked at airtech but if I can go with someone within the community, especially avoiding customs, I'm all in. Do you have any pics of your stuff mounted?

So, things have been a little crazy. Trying to finish up stuff before the long haul of cold weather sets in. The motor is half torn down, and the parts needed are mounting! A contract I had is slow on commencing so the money I was planning on using for the motor is yet to be in my pocket. However, I may be selling the thruxton on saturday so we shall see! Might be a quick influx of funds. Pics of the forks i picked up will follow tomorrow.

On the down side, I found a crack in the case. It is right above the rear sprocket. Any suggestions? It wouldn't cause any problems as far as the motor goes, just cosmetic I believe. Are vibrations going to be the downfall of any welding or epoxy fixes?

Wish the pictures were better. I am a terrible photographer and am really stuggling with the lighting in our basment. Yes, when it hit -26 last week, my wife allowed the build into the house

Some people cut away chunks of the area covering the sprocket on both the engine case and the side cover for a more 'exposed' look. Not sure what purpose it serves, but this might be a good excuse to give it a try.

Or weld it up from the underside if you can but this is all cast aluminum so you might get some discoloration etc.

Engine is completely torn down as of last night. I was extremely happy with the shape everything was in. I was unable to find any gears our bearings that showed wear. Springs were in good shape. All in all a nice surprise. However, both drain plugs are frozen tight. An impact should fix that though. Also the rotor is on crazy crazy tight. Used a gear puller on it to no avail. Any suggestions?