Quick make over.......or so I thought.....The ubiquitous XS650 - UK

[lchris21]

As there's not enough meat on the fork after the brace is fitted, the recommendation is to go without dust seals.....I do not like that idea, so came up with a method fitting the dust covers, but I'm going to revisit this over the winter as its a bit carp and the tabs a bit close to the shiny new stanchions for comfort

 

[lchris21]

Rear wheel alignment time along with some spacers to suit.

 

[lchris21]

Made a rear brake torque arm from some aluminium I had lying around the shop.

 

[lchris21]

Ive been working on getting the back end sorted along with the foot controls. Knocked up a stainless brake rod and linkage pivot for the brake arm, along with a matching adjusting thumb nut.

 

[NoRiders]

I can only dream of turning out work like yours. Top drawer

 

[lchris21]

I can only dream of turning out work like yours. Top drawer

Nothing special mate, thanks for the compliment.........its all in the details, which largely go unnoticed, but I know they are there

 

[NoRiders]

Nothing special mate, thanks for the compliment.........its all in the details, which largely go unnoticed, but I know they are there

After 45 years of viewing custom/modified autos including car and bikes....I only see the details tbh. It's the small things that take the time, effort and forethought that impress me...anyone can paint a bike red/blue etc.
I'm even learning how stuff is done....your knurled adjuster...drill x6/7 holes on the radius, then turn them down to half so they look like notches....nice

 

[lchris21]

LOL im the same..........when I go to shows, I look past the fancy paint then see the cable ties visible, not trimmed, the odd rusty screw, the insulating tape, the chewed fasteners, the list goes on...........all by so called "professional" custom shops....ebay is littered with them!!!
Try explaining to someone you spent over 1000 hours on a build and you can see the vacant look on them

 

[lchris21]

I started working on the foot controls, so first job was to make up some bushes for the foot pedal hangers. the originals come with squashy rubber jobbies which have long since perished. These bikes originally built for comfort/commuting hence all the rubber insulators everywhere, including the actual feet pads. I'll not be doing much commuting on it.......

 

[lchris21]

Talk about agonising over the details.........

The original foot hangers came with domed nuts to fix them? I looked at my nut stash and was not happy with the options.............so I ended up cutting off the threaded portions of the fixing, making up a little drill jig then drill and tap them for something a bit more flush. Suppose I should have done this before powder-coating, but it skipped my mind at the time. Knocked up some fancy washers in keeping with some of the others on the bike, and used some CSK screws for a cleaner look.

 

[lchris21]

The antique looking gear selector and rear brake pedal were next in line for the treatment........
First up was knurling some stainless bar, which was a right pig..........I dont know what grade it was but it put up a decent fight before submitting

Bit of cutting, smoothing welding and grinding later. I'll be nickel plating them when the time comes.

I'll have to work on my picture taking though, cant believe how blurry some of them are

The light in the garage is pretty low, and phone struggles a bit, along with my shaking!!

 

[lchris21]

Revisited the exhaust slip on end can, as I decided to have a rethink regarding the angle of the dangle

. Also the reducing sleeve I welded in last season didn't quite make the quality control phase of the project! Where it butts up against the down pipes was a little untidy, even though it would never be seen with a band clamp around it. So out with the grinder, and tig for a bit of surgery.
First up was to chop off the spigot I welded on and change the angle. My custom rotary positioner came in handy for the cutting and the welding part, although trying to follow a moving 7.5degree butt weld was a bit of a challenge when it came to joining it all back up. Not the best welds, but should be strong enough when the brackets etc are fitted, and a bit of spit and polish should sort out the worst of it

 

[lchris21]

Much happier with the angle now, and just need to knock up a bracket off the rear foot peg holder I'd left attached to the frame. The but join at the down pipe is now weld free, as I planned ahead this time and welded the reducer up inside before welding it onto the slip on can. Looking back at the pics now, I might make an alloy finisher end piece for the can to tidy it up a bit

 

[lchris21]

on with the exhaust .........Simple jobs but just eat up the time. First up is a little hidden bracket to secure the silencer. Rubber mount to hopefully allow for some expansion and vibration insulation.

 

[lchris21]

You know when you convince yourself itll be a quick easy job.....

One thing which has been bugging me since I bought it the exhaust was the 2 into 1 collector. It's a pressing with a particularly ugly seam. Hardly noticable when the bike is on the ground and the foot pedal obscures most if it. Anyway after I thought would be a 5 minute job to grind it off and just seem weld it back flush

.....it was paper thin and sort of got away from me a bit

......like a scab it just got worse as I picked at it

.....so after several hours grinding, welding, polishing.....repeat......it's done and I can sleep tonight

 

[lchris21]

Few spring tabs, bit of scotch brite, and some copper flashed locknuts later it's all done. End of another weekend...

 

[lchris21]

Onto the fork dust seals.....
Last year I finished off "modifying" the seal retaining washers with some little tags welded on. Was never really happy with the look so spent all day racking my brain for a better solution.
Problem is the brace occupies the seal retaining groove so tried a few different combinations....

Eventually gave in and made my own from scratch.....
They are £8/ pair and two day delivery for the off the shelf ones...hand made exactly how you want them are a bit more expensive and time consuming

 

[lchris21]

Got the fork dust seals fitted. Much happier now

Next up the headlight mounting. It's an offroad type looking unit, small enough to get the proportions correct....in my opinion

Tried a few different types but settled on the rock guard look, its going to be a flat tracker/street-scrambler, so fits in with the theme...............bit marmite but hey...............I'm in charge here

As it was only mounted at the base, I wanted to add an extra month, plus break up the top fork stanchion area. I used a couple of bicycle seat tube clamps and then turned up some spacers to suit.

Used a couple of seat-post clamps off a bicycle, bored out and matched to some spacers. The light is only mounted at the bottom originally, so wanted to get away from the "bobber/harley" look

 

[lchris21]

Offered up the handlebars to see what its starting to look like.....
Went for the Steve McQueen "triumph" bend as they call it? They look wayyy too wide at the moment, as there is no ornaments fitted like levers etc, but should all come back into proportion when its fully populated..... The "ape hanger" look should also be toned down a bit when the tank is fitted

The XS650 engine is often mentioned as a copy of the Norton & Triumph styling at the time..............I suppose the Japanese designers back in the 60/70's are akin to the Chinese bike designers nowadays..

 

[lchris21]

Just a quick update from the weekends adventure in the man cave. Couple of simple jobs which like everything else on this build just swallowed most the build time allowance.
First up was a couple of locking nuts for securing the handlebar clamps to the top yoke.
Next up was a cover for the master cylinder on the front brake reservoir......another one of those 5 min jobs which took a few hours

..............my own fault

! There was some cast letters on the cover, and it was painted, so I decided to remove the paint with a little heat, and grind off the letters.......anyway cut a long story short, the porosity of the die casting came through, so I had to skim it, and skim it, until there was nothing left to skim

Had to make a new one eventually.