The $100 Wonder: Cafe build....

Tintin said:
Always nice to see the work of professionals. Worth every penny.
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Quite true Tim, quite true. But sometimes you just need to do it yourself to get the satisfaction of doing it yourself. That being said....

Damn nice job there man! Thats gonna be one sharp looking bike when you have it back together. Still love these Yammie 650s in any variation! Are you gonna do anything for a tank badge?
 
rudy said:
Quite true Tim, quite true. But sometimes you just need to do it yourself to get the satisfaction of doing it yourself. That being said....

Damn nice job there man! Thats gonna be one sharp looking bike when you have it back together. Still love these Yammie 650s in any variation! Are you gonna do anything for a tank badge?
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I've (well, my Dad and I ) have done everything on this bike except mount the front tire on the rim and spray the paint. I actually stripped the parts for paint, had them primed and then I sanded/prepped them to be sprayed. Oh, and I paid to have the engine cases polished, but that's it. We even fixed the faulty kickstarter and electric start, changed leaky seals, adjusted cam chain, fabbed the seat and tank mounts, etc. etc.

I am considering a tank badge. I want to go to the Yamaha dealer and look at some of the enamel badges on the new bikes and see if I can find a Yamaha tuning fork badge that might work.
 
SO CLOSE! And yet so far.... :(
Today, my Pop and I hooked up a vacuum gauge and an "IV" bottle and got the bike fired up and adjusted/synched the carbs. It was running pretty darn good and I'd say we've fixed 99% of the leaks. It looks like there may be an O-ring on the starter that "might" need replacing.
We noticed that the headlight wasn't working. I had verified that the wiring and light was good when Pamcopete was here by "tricking" the light to come on. I can still do that, but there's no light on when the bike's running. Maybe something to do with the reserve lighting unit?
Oh well....I wasn't gonna let that stop me from getting it back together and riding it around the block today! We installed the seat and tank...had to fiddle with a couple of fuel leaks around the petcocks....got all that fixed and got the bike running again.
That's when the Mysterious Electrical Sh*t started. :mad:
Even though there's a full charge in the battery, I can't get the electric starter to do anything. I tried kicking it over many, many times and I've come to the conclusion that there's a short somewhere, possibly in the on/off switch or in the headlight bucket. When it started cutting off, I noticed that bike rocking the bike or wiggling the wire from the starter switch would help sometime...but eventually, nothing. I'm not getting spark now for some reason.
At any rate, here are some new pics. I still have a couple of minor things to tidy up and have the side covers made, but I think she looks pretty damn sexy! Now....if I can just get her cranked again....
P3090031Medium.jpg

P3090034Medium.jpg
 
Well, since the $100 Wonder needs a top end inspection to stop an annoying leak (which has gotten better, BTW.....now that there are OTHER issues to deal with!) and to find the cause of the top-end noise, we pulled the engine out this weekend.
It wasn't hard at all. I did a little prep work yesterday and my girlfriend helped me today. Had it out in no time.
P3300029Medium.jpg
 
A buddy at work built me an engine stand a couple of months ago, using the specs on 650motorcycles.com. Worked out pretty well.
P3300031Medium.jpg

P3300032Medium.jpg
 
Im going to go ahead and request you slow down the progress. You are doing too good of a job and in far less time than most of us can dream about.

So on behalf of 98% of forum members, slow down and "on accident" could you please drop a wrench on your tank?
;D

Just kidding, great job. Amazing attention to detail!
 
Fear My Twin said:
Im going to go ahead and request you slow down the progress. You are doing too good of a job and in far less time than most of us can dream about.

So on behalf of 98% of forum members, slow down and "on accident" could you please drop a wrench on your tank?
;D

Just kidding, great job. Amazing attention to detail!
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+1. that is a wicked lookin bike, man. you're makin the rest of us look bad.
 
Every time i look at your bike i can't help feeling that" Betsy" has a long lost relative ;D

http://picasaweb.google.com/xs850nut/MyPictures/photo#5124738493048658402
 
Tripler said:
Every time i look at your bike i can't help feeling that" Betsy" has a long lost relative ;D

http://picasaweb.google.com/xs850nut/MyPictures/photo#5124738493048658402
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Don't know about the "Long lost relative" more like a "Hot and Sexy" little sister!!! ;D

I just went through every page, really nice step by step (pretty much) photo diary of the build.
I thank you and commend you on a fine job, WELL DONE!!!
 
Wow! Thanks everybody! I can't wait to get the engine freshened up so I can ride it over to the hot-rod shop and have the side covers made. Only then can I call it finished. I'll be sure to keep you posted as to what we find in the engine. Cross your fingers that it's minor.
 
IT LIVES! Again....
After a top-end refresh (new cam chain guide, 2nd overbore pistons/rings, new valves and adjusters and some new seals all around), and some tweaking of the carbs (Thanks, PamcoPete for the mixture screws), SHE LIVES!
She fired right up, some very minor twiddling to the idle and a clutch adjustment (that still needs a little tweaking), I was able to ride her around the neighborhood. No leaks, no popping or backfiring, plenty of power...at least in 1-2-3 gear at low rpm's around the neighborhood.
Now all I have to do is make some final adjustments and tuning, get it registered and take it to the local Hot Rod shop so he can make me some custom side covers. I'll post new pics as soon as she's done...YAY
 
Wow!!! now that's what this cafe building is all about. Take a very cheap neglected bike and turn it into something that everybody wants.
 
IT LIVES! Again....
After a top-end refresh (new cam chain guide, 2nd overbore pistons/rings, new valves and adjusters and some new seals all around), and some tweaking of the carbs (Thanks, PamcoPete for the mixture screws), SHE LIVES!
I picked up the bike from my friend Busters shop today. He hand fabbed these side covers from 18 and 20ga steel. It's hard to see in the pics, but there's a piece on the front of the battery with louvers as well.
I plan on having these painted in gloss black to match the tank and seat. I'd like to do some pinstriping but I'm undecided on just how to do it right now. Maybe just a few small gold stripes on each louver? Or, I thought about a "C" shaped stripe, sorta like on the early XS side covers.
I wonder if the chrome trim from an early side cover would fit? Hmmm.....(scratches chin).
P6270001.jpg

P6270002.jpg

P6270004.jpg
 
When you paint the sidecovers, you should drop the wheels off and paint them to match.
 
This is such an awesome and inspiring thread. Thank you for keeping such a great record. I have a few questions if you dont mind.

Paining the frame... how much bleed/overspray did you experience when you just tapped and masked off the engine. And what exactly did you remove (fenders, lights etc.) in order to get this done righht?

Polishing the engine case - What did that run you?

Painting the crank case... did you do that with the twin in the frame?

Aircraft Stripper - is that available at like Home Depot or did you have to go to a specialty spot?

Thanks again.

RT
 
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