Wrapping up the XS transformation

Roustabout

Roustabout

Been Around the Block
Received the rear sets and made up some mounting brackets at work. The levers look nice but are a bit "bulky". Cut off the existing foot peg studs and drilled & tapped through the portion that was welded through the frame. Clip-ons were an Ebay acquisition as was the seat. Nice glass though I'll have to take the heat gun to it to make it match the lines of the frame rails. The aluminum Rims were pretty oxidized but a thorough sanding, polishing and new spokes made them look like new. Installed new wheel bearings and machined up aluminum bearing & wheel spacers. I fabricated an aluminum battery box that is less than half the weight of the stock unit and attaches to the existing rubber mounts. I'll mount all of the electrical components on the rear and bottom of this.
The tire distributor had no stock left on Avon skins so I found that Pirelli has started making Demons again. I remember the guys racing RZ cup back in the day were using them. We'll see how they work.

Still waiting on an alloy tank that is in the mail. Once I get that I can finish monkeying with the frame and get it stripped and painted.

I'll leave the motor alone for now but it won't be long before I start in on that.
 
Re: Beginning of the XS transformation

Looks good! BTW, I fucking love you avatar. I have that same picture on my garage fridge at home. ;D

Steve
 
Re: Beginning of the XS transformation

Lets see a pic of the alloy tank - our bikes might end up looking similar :)
 
Re: Beginning of the XS transformation

Did some more work on the XS.
Didn't like the stock gauge cluster so I found some mini gauges and fabricated a dash with LEDs. I'm looking for some aluminum fork tops to replace the ugly(and heavy) stock ones. You can catch a glimpse of the tasty alloy tank. I fabricated a strap for the tank out of polished 1/32" aluminum sheet and attached some self adhesive weather stripping foam under it to protect the tank and help isolate it from vibration. I'll have to get a photo when I put it back on the bike. Lightened up the rear brake cover and shaved some weight by going to a cable system from a T500 grafted to the Yamaha cover. I fabricated an aluminum lever as the stock one had too much offset for my cable assembly and it was a boat anchor. You can just see part of the new Redwing aluminum bodied shocks with the oversize oil reservoir.
I have all the material to start on the seat cushion upholstery(not looking forward to that task) and I have an exhaust system on it's way from Omar's.
 
Re: Beginning of the XS transformation

looks good man...i like that tank! and your fab for your gauge pannel is nice too...im TRYING to get one to work on my GS but im not a great fabricator...it seems it would be simple...but its not...might wanna take a look at the trip on your speedo...looks kinda broke??
 
Re: Beginning of the XS transformation

Good eye ;) It was indeed broken ... I had 2 speedos - 1 that worked fine but had road rash and one that looked mint but with a broken trip handle. It is fixed now ;D
 
Re: Beginning of the XS transformation

I love that gauge plate where did you get the little colored covers for the LEDs? looks great
 
Re: Beginning of the XS transformation

The LEDs and covers are integrated and the units are sealed. They fit right into a 1/4" hole and are held in place with a jam nut on the back side. I picked them up at an Industrial electronics supplier - pretty standard item on machinery control panels. Some of the "tuner" shops carry flashier ones for car dashes but I'm not sure how weather resistant they would be. Marine suppliers sometimes carry weather resistant units.
 
Re: Beginning of the XS transformation

What do you mean by 'fork tops'? Looks great - lots of material gone from the rear brake. Looks great, any concerns about strength?

What sort of seat are you going to use? I'm also interested in seeing more on that rear brake setup - I'm using the same Tarozzi rearsets, and have been thinking about how to set up the brake side. Finding the right rosette for the brake pedal spindle is tough, and I like the look of the cable setup you're running.
 
Re: Beginning of the XS transformation

Tintin said:
What do you mean by 'fork tops'? Looks great - lots of material gone from the rear brake. Looks great, any concerns about strength?

What sort of seat are you going to use? I'm also interested in seeing more on that rear brake setup - I'm using the same Tarozzi rearsets, and have been thinking about how to set up the brake side. Finding the right rosette for the brake pedal spindle is tough, and I like the look of the cable setup you're running.
Click to expand...

Fork tops = fork caps, the stock ones are socket head steel with a black plastic cap. I'd like to investigate matching up an aluminum set from an old motocross bike or just machine some up.

My seat is a fiberglass unit with a fairly long tail so I won't run a fender. I'm not worried about the strength of the rear brake cover. The areas that were hogged out don't carry much stress. I barely use the rear brake anyway... it's kind of like having oars in a motorboat. I put a spotface on the brake cover centered on the location of the brake pad pivot and drilled and tapped the steel pivot. The cable perch(identical to the one mounted behind the foot peg) is bolted into the pivot. I would be curious to see if the Suzuki T500 brake cover would fit on the XS hub. The T500 brake has the return spring on the cover acting against the lever. I may use that style of setup instead to the return spring on my system-the brake switch would go well where my spring is-it's just kind of monkeyed up at the moment make sure it works. The T500 cable comes with the clevis. The photos will show the setup pretty clearly.
 
Re: Beginning of the XS transformation

That all looks great - out of curiousity, why do you need the small return spring on the lever end? Don't the springs in the hub pull things back when you release the pedal?

If you end up machining some billet fork caps, I'd be interested in buying a pair for my bike :)

What sort of fork brace is that up front - did you make that too?
 
Re: Beginning of the XS transformation

Roustabout said:
My seat is a fiberglass unit with a fairly long tail so I won't run a fender.
Click to expand...

Any pics of the seat? Did you make it yourself? I'll be glassing one over the winter so just doing a bit of research. How are you attaching it to the frame?
 
Re: Beginning of the XS transformation

Got the seat on Ebay-good quality but a little on the heavy side. The seat will not fit over the outside of the frame rails but sits on top. I used thin walled square aluminum tubing as mounts with angle pieces to lock the mounts between the frame rails. High density rubber pads are bonded at the contact points. The seat gets a vertical bolt at the front and a horizontal at the modified rear loop to keep it secured. Your ass and your feet are the most critical to road feedback - Make sure your seat is well fastened.
 
Re: Beginning of the XS transformation

Tintin said:
That all looks great - out of curiousity, why do you need the small return spring on the lever end? Don't the springs in the hub pull things back when you release the pedal?

If you end up machining some billet fork caps, I'd be interested in buying a pair for my bike :)

What sort of fork brace is that up front - did you make that too?
Click to expand...
The fork brace is a Tarozzi. I got it from the same guy that sold me the rearsets. It has a similar finish. I wanted to make my own but the Tarozzi was just too cheap to let it go. The rear brake will require some sort of return spring whether you go cable or stock. The springs on the shoes won't do the job alone. The stock xs setup has a return spring on the pedal near the center stand mount. You want that brake to release instantaneously. I remember running a front drum in my racing years with 2 additional return springs on the drum cover to get the damned thing to release properly. I eventually switched to a disk setup- not for more braking power - but to eliminate the constant fucking around to get the drum setup to work properly.

If I make the fork caps, I'll be getting them done on a CNC machine so it won't be a big deal to make some extra- I'll let you know.
 
Re: Beginning of the XS transformation

I finally got around to getting everything mocked up and all of the frame mounting points for seat, tank, exhaust, etc welded. Blasted the frame this week and then took it to the paint line at work today. The painters did an excellent job (I'm usually the prick who is all over them about the quality of their workmanship). I received my exhaust from Omar's. It's a flat track exhaust that has both pipes exiting low on the left side of bike. The workmanship is top notch. The jury is still out on it though. Now that I have a mig welder in the garage I may modify it.

I had picked up a Ducati front fender at the Milton swap meet from that Paco dude from Georgetown and finally mounted it to the fork brace with an aluminum stiffener plate. You can probably spot the braided brake line and Ducati master cylinder. I ended taking the seat to a pro to get upholstered - well worth the money! I still need to add a thin strip of aluminum around the hump where the
vinyl ends. The photo shows the tank and seat together. There are a few dents to be removed and some polishing to do - not too bad for a 40year old tank. My welder will do thin gauge aluminum as well if I need to drill the tank to use a slide hammer.

Found a cool compact handle bar control that you can wire everything into. It really de-clutters the clip-ons.

I have the material and CNC program done for some billet fork caps but just need to squeeze them into the schedule. I'll be making a few sets. Things will be crazy at work for the next month so I probably won't get too much done on the bike before Christmas :(
 
Re: Beginning of the XS transformation

Lets see that control pod (the electrical switches). I've seen one on eBay that has everything in one pod - black resin housing for about $50 or so. Not sure which way I'm going.

Nice guitar collection too!
 
Re: Beginning of the XS transformation

Jealous of: The Tank, The goldtop les paul and the black tele (body) ;D
 
Re: Beginning of the XS transformation

Found the switch assembly on ebay from PeakMoto. I went with the unit that has the high beam led built in as my mini gauges don't have the high beam indicator lamp. It's a bit smaller than the stock unit. Made by K&S Technologies. This frees up the right bar for a quarter turn throttle like the Gunner-Gasser models. It's a little modern-looking for my taste but it was the best I could find.
 
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