My new scoot! 1981 Yamaha xs850

A

AdrianVall

Active Member
Hey guys,

Just picked up a new scoot! :) Well, new to me at least. Definitely 30 years old, but still new to me! Muahaha!

Its a 1981 Yamaha xs850. Has 26,000 miles on it. Doesn't run at the moment, but has compression. Kick start and electric start! :) Needs a new alternator, pet cock, clean carbs, and a couple other odds and ends.

Best part of all of this.. I paid $150 for it with a clean title! :) I am sooooooooo stoked right now. I've been scanning Craigslist for the last few months for an inexpensive project bike, and this fits the bill PERFECTLY. I'm going to make a cheap-o cafe racer out of it (hopefully!). We'll see how it goes, but this will be my first build/restoration type deal.

Anyway, here are some pictures. Enjoy!

Tell me what you all think, please. I had my mind set on an older Honda CB 550 or 750, but I couldn't pass on this.

It has a 3 cycliner motor, which I've never seen before. Its shaft driven, which I thought was pretty cool. Anything I should watch out for this model? Did I buy myself a pile of sh!t or what?

DSCN6376.jpg


DSCN6377.jpg


Cheers,
Adrian
 
pugeyed said:
well done matey love the xs850 am turning one into a cafe on here.


check this out for a manual, saves you the money of buying one


http://xs850.minek.com/
Click to expand...

Thanks man. Unfortunately I already purchased the Clymers manual.. haha! Oh well. The pictures on that online manual aren't all to great anyway. Thanks for the tip!

tweakin said:
Adrian,


That should be a good first "non harley" ride. Good to see you over here.
tweakin
Click to expand...

What up tweakin! I had no idea you were on here man. I'm super stoked to get this thing running and all decked out. It'll be a fun, CHEAP build.. (hopefully)
 
I'm still undecided what I want to do with the tank. I like the 'squared' CB style looking tanks. Does anyone know what tanks would fit this bike?
 
ooh hell ya! hit me up if oyu need parts i have a ton of shit laying around! you going to build a solo ripper or somethign you can take the lady out with? i think that is the decision you need to make before planning out the buidl brother... the lady can go out wiht you on the HD, this one should be your late night mistress... hahaha... i would keep the tank looks pretty good and strait, mags are nice cause they look dope when they are all painted up, and shaft drive is so smooooooth and one less thing you ahve to worry about, i have never seen one go bad...
motor looks alot like a XJ750 motor... i have never seen the 3cyl but have heard of them so i do not know much about the motor man, but if it is free and clear (spins) she will fire it is a yamaha that is what they do!
something that helps me to always get a direction with a vintage bike is to strip the back end of it, pull the seat, fender, and grab bars or any shit back there... will leave oyu the tank and the frame to plan out your lines... take some pics of that... if you have your left over fender parts from your Dyna you can use the back end of the fender to make your seat bump, we did that exact same thing on the CB750 turbo build we are working on... ok i have typed enough! STOKED FOR YOU MAN!!!! be sure oyu link me to your build thread!
*ooh ya if you ahve not seen tweeks CB750, FIND IT.. simply a work of ART!
 
JRK5892 said:
ooh hell ya! hit me up if oyu need parts i have a ton of shit laying around! you going to build a solo ripper or somethign you can take the lady out with? i think that is the decision you need to make before planning out the buidl brother... the lady can go out wiht you on the HD, this one should be your late night mistress... hahaha... i would keep the tank looks pretty good and strait, mags are nice cause they look dope when they are all painted up, and shaft drive is so smooooooth and one less thing you ahve to worry about, i have never seen one go bad...
motor looks alot like a XJ750 motor... i have never seen the 3cyl but have heard of them so i do not know much about the motor man, but if it is free and clear (spins) she will fire it is a yamaha that is what they do!
something that helps me to always get a direction with a vintage bike is to strip the back end of it, pull the seat, fender, and grab bars or any shit back there... will leave oyu the tank and the frame to plan out your lines... take some pics of that... if you have your left over fender parts from your Dyna you can use the back end of the fender to make your seat bump, we did that exact same thing on the CB750 turbo build we are working on... ok i have typed enough! STOKED FOR YOU MAN!!!! be sure oyu link me to your build thread!
*ooh ya if you ahve not seen tweeks CB750, FIND IT.. simply a work of ART!
Click to expand...

I haven't decided as far as single or solo. I wanted single at first, with a seat cowl hump type deal, but I saw an XS850 with a flat leather, low profile seat all the way the other day and it looked DOPE. Flowed very nicely with the bike. I'll shoot you the picture when I get home to see what you think. But dude, I may very well be hitting you up for some parts, or questions as to where I should some things. I have been doing a crap load of reading up on this thing, and it seems like I have gotten the perfect year for this bike. The engine has compression when I kick it, so I'm glad to hear that. Hopefully I'll just be able to rebuild the carbs and throw on a new battery to get it running. The previous owner said that the right petcock is leaking, and that the battery isn't holding a charge.. so I'm thinking that it may be the alternator or the regulator/rectifier?? Who knows.. we'll see when I tear into it. But I'm not going to do much to it just yet, other then taking it apart. I may just buy the basics to get it running so I can ride it around a bit, but I am trying to pay off my car so that will take me another couple months before I finish. Once that's done, ITS ON!! :) :) :) But yeah man, I'm going to need some trick PC'ing done bro.. so you better believe I'll be hitting you up.
 
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