XS500E Brat winter project

[GRIFFITHXS]

Hey guys as spring approaches here in Toronto, I am getting closer to finishing the XSbrat. ill be sure to post all of the progress pics from the build later on. Let me know what you think thus far.

 

[xb33bsa]

the seat looks REALLY stupid as do all flat bratarded seats and it will hit the rear tire, a great way to spoil an otherwise sweet looking bike
carry on

 

[GRIFFITHXS]

the seat looks REALLY stupid as do all flat bratarded seats and it will hit the rear tire, a great way to spoil an otherwise sweet looking bike
carry on

Tell me how you really feel! Rear tire clearance is fine. I just like how brat seats offer up a clean light look. Its obviously not for everyone, so no reason to hate ??? . Sometimes you have to sacrifice comfort for style!

 

[Tim]

First off, welcome to the site, and I'm looking forward to seeing your bike on the streets of Toronto this season! 1574 Dundas St West - Black Dice Cafe.

Anyhow - the seat is a little long and you're likely going to have clearance issues with your rear wheel. Are those shortened rear shocks?

There's a reason most bike frames have a hump shaped brace between the seat rails over the rear wheel - it's because the wheel travel allows the tire to come above the rails. In your case, that means hitting your seat which could not only be a nuisance, but more than likely bounce you head first into a streetcar.

 

[Tim]

Maybe we're wrong - have you confirmed the rear at full compression still clears the seat?

 

[GRIFFITHXS]

Maybe we're wrong - have you confirmed the rear at full compression still clears the seat?

Hey thanks, I have heard of your spot and am looking forward to checking it out!

As for the shocks they aren't stock. Came with 12.5 eye to eye, which I have switched out for 14.5 stiffly adjusted. The seat also isn't mounted yet hence why you can see light through the frame rail and seat. I zipped off the original tank mounts to allow the seat to sit slightly underneath the tank, eliminating the ugly as hell rubber stopper mounts.

Ill post a pic of the rear hoop mounted with the seat in tighter.

 

[DeanJ]

Welcome GRIFFITHXS ,

I have had several of these bikes over the years and still have one as my daily rider.

( the stock 12.5" shocks are pictured on the bike is why everyone is concerned about the tire clearance. I can tell at a glance. )

You really need to re-think the seat options. Please don't take the half baked way out buy installing extra long rear shocks. Crazy long 14.5" shocks will kill otherwise fine geometry and result in very twitchy handling and the chain will scrape along the top of the swing arm at pivot to boot !

 

[DeanJ]

ps- Do the TON is an awesome community and the place to be, however if you need some XS500 specific help, there are a bunch of us at: http://www.xs500forum.com/ There is no fun , but you can find tech info and get answers to most everything ... ( unless it has to do with pod filters )

 

[Tim]

Hey thanks, I have heard of your spot and am looking forward to checking it out!

As for the shocks they aren't stock. Came with 12.5 eye to eye, which I have switched out for 14.5 stiffly adjusted. The seat also isn't mounted yet hence why you can see light through the frame rail and seat. I zipped off the original tank mounts to allow the seat to sit slightly underneath the tank, eliminating the ugly as hell rubber stopper mounts.

Ill post a pic of the rear hoop mounted with the seat in tighter.

Black Dice is a friend's place - belongs to Hideki who has an awesome SR500 and his wife Kristin who rides an XS360.

 

[98kellrs]

Welcome mate,

Nice little project you've got there! Sorry to say but I'm with the others; the seat and suspension changes aren't good for function or form in this case. A thicker seat will firstly be more comfortable, but it will also balance the "visual weight" of the tank a bit better. In addition to that you can recess the pan slightly to give extra tyre clearance to allow stock height shocks to be used.

That said, if you're hell bent on the skinny seat then knock yourself out, it's your bike and your form of expression.

 

[two-smoker]

I can speak from personal experience (and if you look at my build thread you'll see) that long shocks don't really work on the TX/XS500 without serious issues. If you really want the look of a high rear end, you'll end up raising the seat instead of the suspension, if you don't want the chain to saw through the swing arm pivot.

 

[xb33bsa]

besides IF and this is a big if because he seems totally ignorant on what suspension is supposed to do...
if the 2" longer shocks are fitted and permitted to move through their stroke the amount of chain slack that will be required is a joke,it will be flapping much like my jaw on the subject
but it is the typical of the ignorance that you find with the brat builders :-\ "fix" an issue by creating a much bigger PROBLEM
REALLY FOR A POSER BRAT BIKE A FELLER IS JUST BETTER OFF WELDING IN SOLID STRUTS INSTEAD OF SHOCKS ANYWAY

 

[coyote13]

Ignorance is only solved by education boys. I won't restate what everyone else has said because they are 100% correct.

 

[xb33bsa]

you can't educate the bratarded :'(

 

[GRIFFITHXS]

Whoa! this blew up quick lol.

Thanks for all the tips guys! I can see how the longer shocks wouldn't be a solution now. I actually saw another xs500e done by cool kid customs with a similar brat seat set up. I cant really tell but it appears to be using the stock shocks. Any idea on how he makes this work? I see the seat is obviously thicker but it doesn't look like there is any tire channel or anything?

Much appreciated....education mode on

 

[GRIFFITHXS]

besides IF and this is a big if because he seems totally ignorant on what suspension is supposed to do...
if the 2" longer shocks are fitted and permitted to move through their stroke the amount of chain slack that will be required is a joke,it will be flapping much like my jaw on the subject
but it is the typical of the ignorance that you find with the brat builders :-\ "fix" an issue by creating a much bigger PROBLEM
REALLY FOR A POSER BRAT BIKE A FELLER IS JUST BETTER OFF WELDING IN SOLID STRUTS INSTEAD OF SHOCKS ANYWAY

Haha ouch! Any knowledge here is gold thanks guys, but that's just harsh lol.

 

[DeanJ]

Whoa! this blew up quick lol.

Thanks for all the tips guys! I can see how the longer shocks wouldn't be a solution now. I actually saw another xs500e done by cool kid customs with a similar brat seat set up. I cant really tell but it appears to be using the stock shocks. Any idea on how he makes this work? I see the seat is obviously thicker but it doesn't look like there is any tire channel or anything?

Much appreciated....education mode on

If you look at the cool kid bike, the seat is much shorter than yours so the "kick up" at the end actually provides a bit more clearance between the seat and tire. He also has cheap emgo shocks that are overly sprung so they can cheat on fitment ( and market identical shock for a 100kilo or 400 kilo bike ) and barley have any travel at all. The result is crappy suspension and it may actually hit the seat over big bumps anyway.. ask him. He doesn't really make it work. Although it may possibly half work with a compromise in handling.

As Tim mentioned, your seat is too long for what you are attempting to do. Look at the inset of your photo below. The yellow line shows the clearance between the tire and seat.

Within the photo inset I added , ( see green clearance line ) I made your seat shorter to take advantage of the "kick up" at the end. Even with this, the tire might still hit the seat.

 

[GRIFFITHXS]

If you look at the cool kid bike, the seat is much shorter than yours so the "kick up" at the end actually provides a bit more clearance between the seat and tire. He also has cheap emgo shocks that are overly sprung so they can cheat on fitment ( and market identical shock for a 100kilo or 400 kilo bike ) and barley have any travel at all. The result is crappy suspension and it may actually hit the seat over big bumps anyway.. ask him. He doesn't really make it work. Although it may possibly half work with a compromise in handling.

As Tim mentioned, your seat is too long for what you are attempting to do. Look at the inset of your photo below. The yellow line shows the clearance between the tire and seat.

Within the photo inset I added , ( see green clearance line ) I made your seat shorter to take advantage of the "kick up" at the end. Even with this, the tire might still hit the seat.

Right on, thanks for the taking the time. I do see what youre saying.

 

[smarsh]

Whoa! this blew up quick lol.

Thanks for all the tips guys! I can see how the longer shocks wouldn't be a solution now. I actually saw another xs500e done by cool kid customs with a similar brat seat set up. I cant really tell but it appears to be using the stock shocks. Any idea on how he makes this work? I see the seat is obviously thicker but it doesn't look like there is any tire channel or anything?

That's the unfortunate thing with bikes built to look good in pictures on the internet, there is no guarantee they necessarily work at all. A lot may be never ridden, and if they are, they probably handle like crap, and eat seats & fenders (if they're fitted) like no tomorrow.

Great looking bike you've got to base a project off, doing it right will be worth it, when it comes to actually riding it. Look forward to seeing how it goes.

 

[GRIFFITHXS]

Alright, so I shortened up to rear hoop to allow for a bit more tire clearance. I can jump on it pretty hard now and doesn't seem to touch.