First bike build - xs650 1980 / going to be a long one.

CMJ

New Member
UPDATE 8/5/18!!!
Well life happened and the project got put on hold for 6 years. We just moved to a new house and I've decided it's time to get this bike back together. I need to make room in the new garage and I'm tired of having parts stored everywhere. More picks added below. This is just a mockup, there is still a ton of work left.




Hi Guys,
I've been lurking here for about 5 months without posting, so I guess it's time. After a few years of working on my car, I finally have where I want it, now I'm project-less and going crazy. I picked up a XS650 that was in bad shape. It ran like crap and there were a ton of issues with it. No lighting, no key, no fuse box, no air filters, broken tac, harness hacked in the fuse box location and bare wires twisted together for hot wiring. It was in bad condition, the carb boots were cracked, so were the diaphragms. The only thing that really bothered me were the missing air filters, I'm not sure how long it was run like that. I checked the compression and got 150 on each cylinder, so it can't be that bad. This is going to be a long process, but that's ok, I'm addicted to projects. About the only time I can work on it are the weekends, when the 3 year old and the 5 month old are napping.

I decided to get the bike running so I could drive it around the neighborhood and see if there were any obvious issues I might have missed. Started by cleaning the carbs and jets and rebuilding with JBM Industries diaphragms and JBM carb holders. With new air filters, oil, carb holders and rebuilt carbs the bike started right up. It ran a little rough until it was warm, but seamed ok on my trip around my neighborhood. I've never worked on or even heard a running xs650 before, so I have nothing to compare it with. I sounds like the timing chain guide will need to be replaced. After I rode it for 15 minutes I began the tear down.
 

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Re: First bike build - xs650 / going to be a long one.

Looks like a great start. Look forward to seeing the progress. And welcome!
 
Re: First bike build - xs650 / going to be a long one.

When I went to pull off the left side engine cover I realized the shifter was welded to the shift shaft. The shaft is pretty worn down, not sure what I'm going to do about this yet.
 

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Re: First bike build - xs650 / going to be a long one.

Started using electrolysis on the tank to remove rust. Also got the frame sand blasted and started grinding off big seat mounts.
 

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Be careful grinding near your car like that.. The sparks will put permanent pits in your glass windows and such,. Just a heads up.

XS650 is sweet bike. Great start!
 
Caf'd Out said:
Be careful grinding near your car like that.. The sparks will put permanent pits in your glass windows and such,. Just a heads up.

XS650 is sweet bike. Great start!

I almost never grind by the car. I was messing around with my new phone and found that it had a built in delay timer, so I set it up and took a quick pic. My wife about laughed me out of the house for taking a picture of my self, I thought is was a cool pic.

I made a bad mistake, using fiberglass for the first time. I wanted to try and make a fiberglass seat pan, but I did not cover the frame with painters tape. In the area I was fiberglassing, I only used aluminum tape. I should have put down painters tape first, I could barely get the aluminum tape off after I was done and it left adhesive all over the frame. I ended up using a torch to try and burn the stuff off, then I hit it with my grinder and a paint removal wheel. There is still residue is some areas, I've tried carb cleaner and Xylene, no luck. Anyone have any ideas? It will be sand blasted again before powder coating, hopefully that will work.

The pan came out ok, it still needs a lot of trimming. I left a little relief area at the back for the fender. I will still need to dent the fender under the seat, but not too much.
 

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Seat pan came out clean. I just tried my hand at fiberglass yesterday.. ehhh not pretty but not too bad either. It really is an art form, working with fiberglass. What are the plans for the pan?
 
After I drilled the rear rotor I started working on the caliper. I was just going to clean it up, and paint it black. Now I'm not sure, I think I like the bare aluminum look, too bad I don't have a buffer. I hate it when I don't have the right tool for the job. Right now I need a bench top mill, a mig welder and a buffer. Buffers are cheap, but the other two are a little pricey.
 

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Caf'd Out said:
Seat pan came out clean. I just tried my hand at fiberglass yesterday.. ehhh not pretty but not too bad either. It really is an art form, working with fiberglass. What are the plans for the pan?

I'm trying to emulate the seats below. But I also like the cafe style seats, I might make two versions that I can swap depending on my mood. I just picked up an XS750 tank too. Trying to figure out how I can swap that back and forth with the stock tank too. I still don't have a complete vision of the bike, but I'm pretty sure I will be powder coating the frame matte bronze.
 

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Looks like you're making some good progress. That last pic of the 1100 is one bad mo-fo.
 
Everytime I see a pic set up like those three (especially the last one) I think BEAST! They look so mean. I like your idea with two seats that can be swapped out. That last pic is almost like a mix between the two. You could always run something like that with a smaller "bump".
 
Caf'd Out said:
Everytime I see a pic set up like those three (especially the last one) I think BEAST! They look so mean. I like your idea with two seats that can be swapped out. That last pic is almost like a mix between the two. You could always run something like that with a smaller "bump".

If I do end up making a cafe seat, it will be a fiberglass bump. As of right now, I'm not into the leather covered bump.

I agree that last bike is a beast. When I was looking for my bike I wanted something very narrow, so I went with a twin. After seeing that bike, there might be a 4 cylider bike in my future.
 
Yeah I'm building a 350f right now. I like the fours but I want a 550 next. Fiberglass is a beotch if you dont have good prep. I just tried my hand at it. Turned out kinda crappy. You can find my thread in the seats section, or just search my profile.
 
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