Mine 1980 XS650

My buddy has been sitting on one of these bikes for years. When I saw one that is running for sell for cheap how could I pass up the chance to rub in his face what could be, ha. The best part is that we used a Dodge dually to pick it up and I figured I would just ride it up the ramp like my dirt bike. nay nay, it high centers and breaks things. lesson learned.

and here she blows:



So far I have striped the seat, sissy bar, fenders, speedo, tach, new front and rear blinkers, chain guard, passenger pegs, and the tank. If anyone is interested in any of this stuff everything is for sale.

Then I pulled the front end off and am giving it a repaint. The kid I bought it from rebuilt the forks with new seals and they seem ok. They do feel pretty squishy, is this normal?

The top triple clamp came off as well. I don't plan on running the OEM tach, speedo or key so I clean (some would say chopped) it up and gave it a respray.

stock:



Half way:


and sha-boom:





Oddly enough all this cutting and grinding was enough to shrink up the opening for the forks. I measured 34.78mm inside dia. and the forks come in at just under 35mm. interesting.

So far so... far.

lookin good so far sky

Nice!


Have no idea what "squishy" would be in your mind.

Has potential. Get a sandblaster if you don't already got one. Strips paint and rust in seconds but creates a mess so use it outside. Check out http://www.mikesxs.net/ too. Great website. Can't wait to see what you make out of it.

Makr said:

Nice!


Have no idea what "squishy" would be in your mind.

Click to expand...

well when i brake it dives like a whore diving for whory things... and there is almost zero road feel.

why is my front wheel so off center? here is a pic... it looks like this with the top triple clamp on as well.

it is making me sad... :'(

Dual front discs



Ebay clip-ons and head light mount




Smallest battery ever for $13


new ebay old skool wanna be speedo


my wiring plans, care of http://limeybikes.com/ and a 45 min phone conversation with my electrician dad.



Question:
there is a big cast post on the engine case just behind the sprocket. As far as I can tell only serves as a place to bolt the cover to. lets pretend I want to chop up the cover, can I cut off this mounting post?

http://xs650temp.proboards.com/index.cgi


There is a great article that was written for a magazine years ago where the writer tidies up an xs. I cant seem to find it, but it is out there.

Some times you have to really work at getting he forks to settle right. Put the upper triple on. Loosen the triple clams, and axle, and then proceed to tighten, shake, loosen, shake, until everything settles. Maybe someone here has a better way. You could really use a fork brace too.


I spoke with the god of Cafee, and he informed me you are allowed to lop the shit out of any bit casting as you see fit.

Nice to see another XS over here!

I like the look with clip ons and light mount. I heard that handling improves a bunch with bronze swingarm bushings... may be worth a look at yours...

long day today in a few pics.

Neutral switch, high low and turn signals.


Before


After, 3" shorter tail and lots of missing brackets.


And more stuff to remove, before


And goner


And the new rear set mount


2001 R6 rear set and break actuator

Love what you have going so far, especially the new switches. What are the specs on the batt? Are you loosing the starter?

CresentSon said:

Love what you have going so far, especially the new switches. What are the specs on the batt? Are you loosing the starter?

Click to expand...

The battery is a 12 volt, 5 amp rechargeable. I think it's out of a battery back-up.

got rid of the starter,relay, star button, kill switch, key, blinker switch and high low switch.
I took this originally from limeysbikes.com. Hope he doesn't mind.
Then chopped things out. I hear the relay needs to be there or the stock start button will burn out but I upgraded to a 25amp 2 pole on-off switch.


Here is the new wiring



Capped off starter hole


moving the battery so I am building a new battery box.
old battery box


new box with strap




total weight lost in the last 2 days


My bike next to my friends stock XS650

Looks really good. I have read that about the relay, somewhere on the www, but I know jack and squat about wiring. It is kinda one of those things that looms out there in the future, and is gonna be bitter sweet once I have to tackle it. Looks like a pretty straight forward diagram at least.

Thanks! It's too bad my day job isn't as much fun. ha

Bad news, the speedo I bought has the wrong diameter threads for my cable. anyone know of an adaptor?

Also, looking for shorter clutch cables. anyone seen those around?

Mounted the left side rear set and kinda worked out where the shifter will go. How does the the shift linkage look? does it look like it will line up ok?


mounted the fuse block, the kill switch and ignition under the seat.



Tiny battery box installed.


here it is with the battery in it.

It's there, look close.

Not much tonight.
cleaned the carbs. They was dirty! DIRTY!
I did figure out where all the weight that's been slowing me down has been hiding. So i drilled holes in it!



Then I chopped the chrome off the stock pipes so I can chop em up.

woah, lookin good sky

Its coming along nicely

so, will this thing be ready for the vintage bike event at MMP on sept 4th? or what?

Where'd you score the speedo from anyhow? You might want to look into the proper cable for the speedo - it might mate up with your front hub speedo drive (probably not, but it might).

Otherwise you migth be able to get the current 'nut' off the speedo cable and replace it with the proper sized one. Either way you probably need the matching OEM cable for the Smiths gauge and combine an XS cable with it to connect.

Then you need to worry about ratio's of the speedo. Might not read the right speed.

It looks awesome regardless - I want one!

GRHebard said:

so, will this thing be ready for the vintage bike event at MMP on sept 4th? or what?

Click to expand...

I hope so. started it up friday. just waiting for some more new old parts to get here.

I found a stock speedo cable and will have to do some chopping but i think it will work.

Zost is wrapped and back on, and it is LOUD! I might have to make a silencer but it shoots flames right now and I don't know if I want it to stop...
<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/14259756" width="400" height="300" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/14259756">Untitled</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1789568">Sky Fleming</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>