74 XS650 Brat-Racer

dstrax

Active Member
Right! first Bike project!

Highrez pics on flickr http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/dstrax/sets/72157631943408573/


I was trawling the interwebs for a bike for a few months, In norway the market is pretty small, and prices high..
Some time in September I found what looked like a fairly good Yama xs650. Called the guy as soon as I saw the bike, and told him to hang on to it until I got there.
After a 5 hour buss ride I met up with my dad, and we drove the remaining 2 hours to get the bike.
It was -4°C (24,8°F) when we arrived, we talked to the guy a bit an he fired up the bike
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When I talked to him on the phone he said there where some spare parts
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Everything seemed to be in order so we put the bike and parts on the hanger and drove home
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Here it is standing in my dads driveway,
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I went trough the parts, and it tuns out I have 3 almost complete spare engines ! :D
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heres a little video from when we went to see the bike and the last ride before I put it in the workshop for winter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFZ_zvGlzZQ
 
Re: Norwegian XS650

Nice score dstrax ............... sometimes forget how lucky we are in the UK, from the Midlands nowehere's more than a few hours away [ England ] !

Something so basically "right" about XS650s.

Waiting with anticipation to see what you're going to build.
 
Re: Norwegian XS650

Now Just before cristmas I moved out of my apartment in Oslo, and moved down south to where my parents live.
My dad set up a Motorcycle workshop In the cellar so I could finaly get started!!

First of, that terrible seat and exhaust had to go. I think the PO had knocked out the insides of the exhaust, becous I could see straigh trough them..
so new ones are needed
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A little while later
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The starter was grinding when i got it. and after some research I found that Its this clip that slips
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To get to the starter gears on an xs650 you have to remove the clutch, thanks to who ever stipped the philips heads on the clutch bolts..
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Impact driver sorted it out eventually
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Form what i can tell the springs that was on the bike must be preformance springs. I found a box among the parts with some originals.
Im going with the shorter ones as there still within spec, and The clutch was really hard before I started working on it so this will be a lot nicer
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Looks like the clutch plates might need replacing.. Ill add it to the list I guess. would like to see how it feels with the shorter springs though

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Got the gear with the spring on it out, and ispected it. the teeth where a bit grinded down, but no problem I think

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dremeled of some bits that where in the springs groove, then put it in the vice and tightened it up quite a bit.
Before I could turn the spring easily, and after it was really hard.
Put the gears back togheter and tested it with the battery, now it kicks in nicely and every thing seems to be in order. No grinding at all :)

decided to put the clutch back together with the worn plates, Ill replace them If I need to later on.
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Fixed the bolts :)

Now its all bolted togheter again. and this morning I started cutting of things

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Here is and Illustrative picture of what that looks like


More to come soon
 
Re: Norwegian XS650

Very nice, man. I'm on board.

Oh, and the Teddy Bear hitching a ride on the spare motor is a fantastic touch.
 
Re: Norwegian XS650

Thanks guys, Its not as clean as it looks on the pics:)

Im not 100% sure on what to do with it, thats why I posted in the Specials section.
The plan is to make a brat seat of some sort, Im keeping the tail loop and bobbing the back fender.
Think Ill keep the side covers for this season, but they might go next winter.

The idea I have is that I want it to retain some of the 70's look, but make it more elegant and practical. hard part is finding the balance I guess
 
Re: Norwegian XS650

Hi
The problem with the startergear on the XS 650, is not the clip but the basic design. There are so many gears and axles on the path from the starter motor to the crankshaft, which makes the whole assembly very slow to adapt to the variable speed of the crankshaft. When the pistons rise on the compression stroke, the cranks rotating speed goes down, but when the pistons pass TDC the speed increase, due to the compression. That makes the crank revolve faster than the starter gear, which makes the starter gear rotate on the Bendix and disengage from the crank. Then the starter gear picks up speed and engage again, also because the crank has lost some speed. This results in continous engaging and disengaging of the starter, and rapid wear of the starter gear.
So, my advice is to use the kickstarter as often as possible, to lengthen the life of the starter gear.
 
Re: Norwegian XS650

@harrydahl Thanks for the explanation, I heard that they added the starter as an afterthought. so it was bolted on an engine not really designed for it.
Im not planing on using it at all, But its nice to have it working if I stall in traffic :)


So, time for another update.
I cut a few things of the frame, Not sure if im keeping the handle for lifting the bike up on the center stand. depends on what im doing with the rear fender and break light.
Ill be using the bike for long trips and things, so it might be nice to tie things to as well.
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as a result of the cutting all my screwdrivers have grown beards..
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after the cutting there was some ceaning up to do.
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test fit of the fender. I'll be moving it so the mounts that are the furthest back will be where the front mounts are. looks pretty good I think
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stearing head of, will be changing the ball bearings for rollers
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I was trying to read the sticker on the neck to find out when the bike was built, but obviously the bit with the build date was damaged. But it looks like 6/74 to me.
would that make it an xs650A or xs650B? PO said it was adn xs650B
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Highres http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8086/8373929445_07f225b62d_o.jpg

anyways, got he wiring harness of, tried to lable things, but Im guessing Ill make a new one. advice on what to do about that is welcome
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now its down to the frame and the engine
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I wasn't planing on taking out the engine, But its so close so I might as well do it now. and then I can paint the whole frame in one go instep of fixing spots. Its going to look a lot better for it I think.

would be wonderful to bead blast the engine, But I dont have the gear for it, and money is tight, so we'll just have to see
 
Re: Norwegian XS650

74 or 75 --- the vin according to this list is 75 by the year on the sticker looks like 74, manufacture vs sale date maybe... you're in the ballpark anyways..
 

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Re: Norwegian XS650

thank you montessa172, owner said it was a 74 xsb. but its nice to know for sure. apparently it was imported from kansas some time in the late 90's. But Ill have to check the papers

I checked the parts engines I have as well

447-500872 (eropean model 1974-75)
5v4-102884 (1983 XS650SK)

and this strange code I cant find any info on anywhere??
8L1-023117

could it be a police model?
Its not important but It would be cool to know if its something rare or special
 
Re: Norwegian XS650

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Finally got the engine out of the frame, and washed it down.

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cut of some more things and wielded up the holes in the frame and the hole after the steering lock. there is a groove in the hole so there is no way it will interfere with the steering
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And while dismantling the front end we noticed that one of the clips that holds the fork seal in place was really rusty, so we decided that those need changing as well. The shopping list is growing :p
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The rusty one really didn't want to let go. The other one came out without any problems
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The forks seemed to be OK But had to take them apart to check. everything was fine, so I just put them back together again
improvised tool for opening the forks
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now we are getting ready to paint the frame and some of the parts.
I still had one bag of blasting sand left from My Lada Project so we got the most difficult parts blasted, and the other bits I sanded down by hand
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and last night me and my dad built a redneck paint booth in the garage. it was -15 outside, so Im a bit worried about getting paint to dry, But we have heating fan, and if we close it up reall good I think it might be fine
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painting the first coat tonight, so wish us luck :)
 
Re: Norwegian XS650

Will do Justin :)
The frame and parts just got a second coat of paint, by tomorow they'll be dry enough
To move so I need to get more parts soon so I can keep working.

But I have a few questions
I was planlaning on canging to a modern regulator rectifier,
But I am pretty green when it comes to electrics. So how do I do this?
Apparently mikesxs.com has two alternatives
http://www.mikesxs.net/product/24-2089.html
http://www.mikesxs.net/product/24-2085.html
Or are there other cheaper alternatives? I'Ve read about people
Using radioshack parts?

And an other question. It would ofcourse be wonderfull to get the engine
Beadblasted. But as funds are low that will have to wait.
But is there any good way to clean of the oil and grease?
Ive been using paraffin so far. But im intrested in other options
 
Re: Norwegian XS650

paint is dry and it looks pretty good. our diy paintbooth worked pretty well
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the rims are flaking a bit, so I'm wondering how to fix it? advice is welcome :)
 
Re: Norwegian XS650

If your rims are flaking, it's probably because you didn't do a good enough job in prep work Your probably going to have to strip that paint off and start over. Make sure you sanded the rims with the correct grit sandpaper. If its too fine the paint won't stick. The label on the paint should tell you what to use. When your done sanding, rinse off with soap and water. After that, use lacquer thinner (non petroleum pain thinner) that evaporates off on its own, this will remove any grease or oils left from you handling the rims with your fingers. When you are on this step, wear gloves 1. lacquer thinner isn't the best for you and 2. because your fingers have oils on them and you don't want that on the rim. Don't be stingy on the cleaning with the thinner, better use more of that than having to re paint. And lac. thinner is relatively cheap. Good luck!
 
Re: Norwegian XS650

Thanks for the advice:) i guess I should have spesified that I ment the nickel coating on the rims. I havent got around to doing anything with them yet, but I would like to keep them shiny

Might sanding them down , and then polishing them up again work?
Maybe some clear coat on top of that?
 
Re: Norwegian XS650

If your talking about nickel chromium (chrome) flaking off, sanding won't help much as the chrome is coming off for whatever reason.. Might need to be re chromed.. Or sand it well and paint it. But unfortunately nothing will fix flaking chrome except rechroming.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
 
Re: Norwegian XS650

There is an option to rechroming - if you don't want a chrome finish !

I've had several complete wheels blasted and powder coated [ Gold ]. Just remove the bearings first - job's a good 'un [ and cheap ].

Gold would look ace with your Black coachwork.

Whhhooooa back there - the rims in the pix have alloy rims ? Any "flaking" on them will be a lacquer that's been added after.

If it's the spokes that are flaking that's not such an expensive deal to have them re-spoked.

Still - they WOULD look good in Gold !
 
Re: Norwegian XS650

I had to go down to check, and it turns out its clear coated :D
With some work the aluminum got pretty shiny,
So Im going to get some paint remover and polish them.
Spokes are a bit rusty but will deal with that when I change the tires.

Gold sounds tempting I must admit. But hopefully soon me and my dad are buying
An XT 500. Hope it has gold rims atleast

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Re: Norwegian XS650

dstrax said:
I had to go down to check, and it turns out its clear coated :D
With some work the aluminum got pretty shiny,
So Im going to get some paint remover and polish them.
Spokes are a bit rusty but will deal with that when I change the tires.

Gold sounds tempting I must admit. But hopefully soon me and my dad are buying
An XT 500. Hope it has gold rims atleast

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That suggestion was only a Plan B - you CANNOT beat polished alloy rims.

You may find you need some specific lacquer remover - car accessory / wheel shops normally sell it.

The flanges will polish up dead easy - as for the well and in between the spokes - that takes dedication !
 
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