74 XS650 Brat-Racer

Re: Norwegian XS650

Good. then I have something to do while I wait for parts. polished alloy rims look ace imo.
Ill be ordering tonight hopefully.
ordering new clutch plates and a bunch of boring rubber seals and bearings.
anyone have experience with the clutch plates MikesXS sells?
My bike had the high friction plates, But I think Ill go with the OEM ones now


Will be buying new mufflers as the old ones where pretty beat up
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and probably going with black exhaust wrap for the headpipes as they are a bit rough as well
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Im considering this front fender from DCC
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and a few other bits
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and I need to get started on making a seat. Plan is to go bratstyle with it. about half the thinkness of the original seat, and make it follow the shape of the frame so it stays inside the rear hoop. Im eather going with dark brown or black not 100% sure. guess I need to see what the bike looks like to make up my mind

thanks for all the response guys
 
Re: Norwegian XS650

Still waiting for parts, but i did start work on the rims
Its taken me 3 days so far

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Just got a little bit of polishing to do on the front wheel and im done
Next i think ill start on the rear fender
 
Re: Norwegian XS650

I admire your patience !!! The end results are well worth your effort - spot on.
 
Re: Norwegian XS650

Thanks:)

think I came up with a name for what im trying to build here. as its mostly a bike for short trips it has to look good. but Im planing on some long trips as well so practicality is as important. so it will have to be a compromise i guess. adventure brat-racer is what Im calling it now.guess its a good thing its in the specials section



got started on mounting the rear fender today
test fit to see how it would look and if it would fit.
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decided to use the old bolts and nuts , so I cut of the top off, and rounded of the sides untill it fit in the hole from
the brackets that used to hold the front of the fender.
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put the nut in the hole and wielded it in place , not pretty but it should be solid
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painted over it and ready for the fender to go in tomorrow
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Will have to mount rear wheel before i can mount it properly but Im happy so far

hope I get the parts soon!!
 
Re: 74 XS650 adventure brat-racer

Real happy with how this looks now!
I need to make the batery box before i can mount the fender properly
But thats about the angle it will be in.
Pretty sure its high enough to clear the wheel, as its more or less the same hight as it used to be. I have to get the front wheel on before i can test it propperly

Oh and its my birthday today. 24 now , starting to feel old ^^

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Re: 74 XS650 adventure brat-racer

Happy Belated birthday.

On your clutch question, why do you think that the plates are worn, have you measured them? I know it takes a bunch of energy and time to wear those plates. Also I think you have the 6 plates on your bike right since it is a 74? I have some performance plates on my bike along with the stiffer springs, the reason I did it is because my clutch was slipping like crazy. I later figured that I could have just kept the stock plates and upgraded the springs because the originals were getting lazy hence my slipping. But I do like the new set up, it is a little stiffer but I have absolutely no slipping, I also did upgrade to a Hugh Hand Built hydraulic clutch though.

Nice progress though
 
Re: 74 XS650 adventure brat-racer

Bike is looking great. In regards to the engine have you considered soda blasting. Removes grease grime and corrosion and the excess just washes away. All you need is an air compressor an air nosel a hose and a box of baking soda. Ill try find the link

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
 
Re: 74 XS650 adventure brat-racer

http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-the-cheap/soda_blaster/

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
 
Re: 74 XS650 adventure brat-racer

I mesured the clutch plates and springs. When i got it it had mikesxs high friction plates that where below spec acording to the book. But the springs where high preformance springs, so they where a lot longer and i guess thats why it wasnt sliping much.
I ordered 7 new plates becous there where 7 on it now. And im planlng on using the regular springs. Might do half high preformance springs and half regular.
I do have an hydraulic clutch but i dont like the look of the reservoar


I havent realy considered soda blasting. Is it really that good? I have equipment for sandblasting alteady actualy. Not sure where to get that much soda in norway but ill look into it. Thanks for the advice

I havent really done much these ladt days. Started painting the lower front fork legs, but the paint didnt like the alu primer so i need to do it again.
 
Re: 74 XS650 adventure brat-racer

Thanks mikewerx

Progress is slow, Need to get those parts before i can really start doing anything again
but I did get the fork legs painted and clear coated
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Might make some stickers to put on them

here is the battery box mockup
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Im plaining on putting all the electrics on one side leaving room for a tool kit on the other.
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and an idea for how to place the instruments, Im buying one of the 2.5" speedometers from DCC to put one the left side.
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could be cool to make some kind of iphone holder for the other side so i can use the gps
 
Re: 74 XS650 adventure brat-racer

Finally got the parts in the mail!

While waiting we started work on the seat and battery box, had to take the parts so my dads job to get them wielded properly.
Really wish we had a mig or tig wielder in the workshop

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And then the parts finally came! so had to stop the work for a while and put on the front wheel.
heres a pic of the old mufflers compared to the new ones. there about one third the size of the originals. really wonder how loud they are,
becous there is pretty much nothing inside them^^

and got the tapered roller bearings mounted. managed to cock it up a bit by putting the wrong one in the top so we had to cearfully get it out of there.
but we got it, and put it together the right way around.


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And now FINALLY a propper side view of the bike :D Looks real clean now, Need to keep it that way as much as possible
got the side cover latch things mounted as well, Its probably hard to tell from these pics but it really helps clean up the overall look

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when I got the bike it was really hard to reach the choke leaver on one side, both carbs where the same side, But this little thing should sort it out

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finally a teaser picture ;)

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Re: 74 XS650 adventure brat-racer

Thank you guys! Glad to hear you like it. I don't think its to bad for a first bike

Got the Handlebar rubbers ordered, and A bunch of stuff from DCC.
Decided to skip the alloy front fender for now to save some cash. Ill try to cut up the old one and make it look less terrible, or I might
run with out it.
Rubber fork gaitors look nice but are waaay to big in the top so will have to make some sort of spacer there, suggestions are welcome as always !!
Footrest rubbers are not really right, might be for a later model, but its strange becous it said they where right.
for seal clips and washers where for 35mm forks, so to big. and the spring for the side stand was to short, But I got it to work by stretching it out a lot.

and it seems like the clutch plates I had were the same thickness as the ones I ordered.. so I guess I have a big bag of spare clutch plates.
Other than that it was all good. Should probably write them a mail and notify about this


Finally got the seat pan done and painted, its drying over night now with the battery box.
painted it with 2 coats of black to make it extra strong
as allways Ill let the photos do most of the talking

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Here you can see how the seat is bolted in place.
The flap on the front goes under the plate for the tank mounting stud, and there's a bend going over the stud to so it'll be easier to upholster.
In the back I put a bolt trough the seat pan, and it goes trough the rear fender wich is held in place by the battery box, wich again is bolted to the frame.
so now everything is super stiff, the seat snaps in place and is kept down by a clip going trough the bolt in the fender.

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Looks nice in black, Right? :) keeps it from rusting and hides some of my ugly wields
Today I changed the rubber seals in the break caliper, One of the pistons gave me a lot of trouble bit it came out in the end. Im pretty sure it must have been stuck when i got it.
Wont bother painting the caliper, Paint looks pretty good and is only flaking a little. witch I think looks kinda good
 
Re: 74 XS650 adventure brat-racer

Wow. Nice job so far.I thought it looked pretty good when you bought it.can,t wait to see it finished.alot of inspiration on this Site. Gonna have to step up my game to keep up with this stuff
 
Re: 74 XS650 adventure brat-racer

I didn't see an answer to your regulator/rectifier question?
It's an EMS rather than PMS so Radio Shack parts won't work
It's very similar to CB500/550/750 so wiring diagram and parts will work but you have to work out Honda/Yamaha wiring colour 'translation'
 
Re: 74 XS650 adventure brat-racer

thanks :) I decided to postpone the regulator/rectifier swap to save money for now. but thats good to know.

We got a new bike!
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Its a xt 350 from 1987, and its in pretty good shape, wont idle yet, but we'll clean out the carbs and see if that does it.
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Back to the XS

Got the shape down for the seat now. ended up saving off a lot of foam, so might have lost some of the comfort but its still surprisingly ok.
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New rubber arrived! Put one pair on the XT and they feel great
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and nylon hose things for wires to help clean up the messy wires
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