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

This weekend gone, was mostly taken up making lots and lots of mess
:rolleyes:
.................That aluminium swarf gets everywhere, and I mean everywhere
:laughing:


Id previously bought some off the shelf switch gear at the end of last season with a view to using them on the build. Unfortunately they looked a bit too bulky when they were mounted, so another plan was hatched!

A few years ago, on my previous build I bought some nice CNC switch gear with some small push buttons, they were very nicely made but at £80/pop they weren't cheap
:doh:
. At the time I was casually looking about and came across the small push buttons from China for £3/each, so ordered a few and forgot about them. I stumbled across them so set about making my own version. Not used a rotary table in anger for years so it was a good refresher and nice to get my hand back in. I'm chuffed the way they turned out, but in time and labour would cost about 3 x the price of the £80 ones
:whistle:

Undecided at the moment whether or not to anodize them black, as I'm itching to give it a go.......
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This weekend I've been mostly concentrating on the following............
:D

Making a swing arm chain guide/guard. The original swing arm had seen some chain wear, and a bit of research shows that the XS650 one is non existent? Anyway, I designed my own rather than cut down some odd one which seems to be the norm. Little bit of CAD (Cardboard Aided Design) to get the idea then went at a bit of random plastic I had lying about.
When the suspension is loaded up, the chain should clear the swing arm with ease, its just when I land from jumping those double decker buses Evil Knievel style I'm worried about
:laughing:

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Whilst the back wheel was off, I tackled a self inflicted problem I gave myself at the end of last season........
:rolleyes:

I'd managed to put a nasty chip in the powder-coated rim, and due to the depth of the coating a few attempts at filling and colour matching it failed, so as a last resort before completely stripping the wheel down and re doing it, I manged to blag some powder off the coating company and set about filling it in with a little bit of heat and some crossed fingers. Little bit of leveling and polishing and it turned out a treat......plus saved myself £40 and a lot of headache!!! Its not perfect but doesn't make me want to choke on my tea every-time I sit next to the bike having a break

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finished up by getting the front sprocket fitted, and securing the sprocket bolts with some stainless lockwire...
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Managed to get the levers and perches painted and cleaned up, rebuild the master cylinder, made some stainless pivot bushes, fitted the cap I made a few weeks back which I think I'll now leave bare ali finish.
Also fired up the Nickle plating kit to do the foot controls and some other bits and bobs, including a neglected petrol cap I rescued from the scrappys deepest darkest recesses. Had to strip the chrome mechanically as I didn't have the chemicals to remove it, bit of a pain in the hoop, but after 3 attempts at plating it came out ok....
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Had another of those weekends, which just ate up the time with very little to show for it....
:laughing:


Spent more time than necessary, thinking then making a couple of 4mm stainless Tee fittings. Wanted to keep the ubiquitous Mikuni pink pipe drain tubing, but could not get it to look half tidy, and didn't want it ooozing paint melting petrol over my nice shiny cases if it started to give problems. Manged to get some silocn hose which I had left over from the last build and tidy it up a bit. Drain lines should now tuck in behind frame down tube out of the way.

Also had to make some adapters to get the Mikuni VM34's to fit the standard XS650 intake rubbers. Took the opportunity to drill some vacuum ports into them which should come in handy when it comes to balancing them.
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Spolier alert.....the colour scheme revealed
:laughing:
Getting there.....
:drunk:

Had to get the tank in place for some fuel system head scratching.....first time its been on the frame for 2 years
:whistle:

Still lots of engineering to do......then its wiring time
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Ha thanks....just going through the archives....its the work over the last 2 winters!. Should be up to date soon as I've just finished wiring it.
 
I've been connecting the dots.....first up getting the throttle connected to the carbs. It's a 2into1 setup, so rescued a splitter from the local bike scrapped and set about mounting it and making up some cables using bicycle brake cables and some home made brass nipples out of some old wood screws.
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Then onto the fuel supply..........first up a quick job on a rear rubber mount for the tank.

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Then the shut off valves...........unfortunately Id painted myself into a corner on this one when I was working on the tank last year. I forgot how close the outlets were to the valve adjustment covers? In hindsight I should have welded in some female threaded plugs instead of male, and also positioned them further back. Unfortunately I didn't want to risk my lovely new paint so got hold of a few different valves before eventually finding something I could work with? Ended up using some random ebay find, meant for a quad or mini moto type of thing. Didn't want to have anything too obtrusive with lots of bits hanging around....Only problem was having to make some tank connectors from scratch

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Seemed to be a lot of fiddly jobs, which just eat up time. Plus I ran out of Tig Gas last weekend, so had to wait to finish the fuel distribution system. Made up the manifold to connect both carbs, got that mounted, plus flushed out the tank. Bit of a faff getting the plumbing into a tight space neatly, but its there now, and probably wont be seen when the bike is on the floor
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Ordered a smaller Lithium battery in place of the original setup, free's up some extra space in the battery box, and weights a 5th of the lead/acid one. Ill be getting on with some of the electrical work over the Xmas period, start tying a few things in......
Got an M-unit box of tricks as the brain of the electrical system. For those unfamiliar, it does away with things like fuses, relays etc. Should simplify the wiring and cut down on cable runs etc. Got that mounted with s couple of washers off the lathe.
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Whilst I was under there, I changed my mind on the seat securing idea. Concerned with the screw I was going to use vibrating loose, I came across a couple of old Dzus fasteners, so set about extending one and making a catch for the font of the seat...............It looks a bit messy with all the holes now......, but will not be visible when the seat pad is in place

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I have been mostly concentrating on the wiring. Its not very photogenic or interesting to picture lost f wires, but nonetheless needs to be done. Finally got it finished yesterday, with a few odds and ends to check and test when its running. Good news is nothing's blown up electrically, there's no magic smoke emitting from anything, and the engine turns over and spark. Got to say I'm impressed with the Motogadget M-unit, the sheer simplicity and features make the price tag well worth it.....forgotten where I was prior to this...
First up get the tank on to see where, and more importantly where I couldn't run the cables.

Then I decided to relocate the speedo sensor to the back wheel rather than having to try get the power cable looking neat running from the original location on the front disc. Rigged up the lathe with some spokes to see if the sensor would be able to cope looking for them. All good had to make a new bracket, and hide the cable in the brake drum torque arm, which was a right pain in the hoop....though
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Fiddly job was getting the switch gear I made all soldered up then run through the bars. Also trying to get it all neat, packaged, in place where its needed and prevent any issues with future maintenance or cable damage issues. Always use the "proper" furry loom tape and sealed bullet connectors where possible. I'm no sparkey but I cant stand wiring looms wrapped in builders electrical tape, it turns into a gungy mess very quickly on automotive applications.

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