**The locO leoN XS650 MANX Cafe Racer- Team Build**

[locOleoN]

OK... So some of you know that last spring I got a 71 XS650 bike.
I spent the whole last season riding it around the city in its stock form to work out the kinks before I turned it into a barely respectable bike.. ;D

First of all I have to say that I did not build this bike...and therefore cant take any credit for this one...

The build was actually done mainly through the contribution of labour & parts from many DTT members and companies such as:

Roustabout - for his time and advice on the build & his donation of his build custom rear-set brackets & Clutch gasket!
Tony - All the labour in rebuilding the carbs and Tuning the Engine over the last season
Scratch - Donation of the Alloy Tank
Pacomotorstuff - Donation of the Manx Seat and seat foam
Michael Morse @ 650 Central - Donation of the Custom clutch cable & Clutch Bearing & Thurst Plate, & Carb rebuild kits!!
Big..Big! Thanks to LilBeast - For:
1 - more than once lugging all his welding equpt on-site + materials to make the seat bracket and tank mount system!
2 - Custom modifications to the exhaust mufflers
Vinnie, DJLing, Saucer & Lovehertz - for push starting it for me on many occassions over the season...LOL...
Saucer - for all the help cutting, hammering, general wrenching & posing on the bike for measurements.. ;D
- and the donation of the chrome Lucas headlight bucket!!
Lovehertz - for the funky new mirrors & for bringing breakfast & coffee every thursday morning!! ;D
Tim - for the inspiration.. his XS build post laid most of the ground work for this quick project!

So.. heres what we've been doing over the past few Thursdays :

The bike came in from London Ontario as last spring:

Like I said, I rode it for a few months then changed the bars to Telefix Adjustables:

REmoved the stock headlight ears, mounted the bars under the tripple:

Rode it like that for months till the riding season ended:

At the Milton swapmeet 08, I picked up a set of NOS Reverse Hammer Redwing Shocks at the advise of Roustabout:

And slapped them on...

 

[locOleoN]

Re: **The locO leoN XS650 - Team Build**

At that point, I wasnt sure what direction that I wanted to go with this build...
Tim's XS build was so intensive, detailed and pricey that there was no way that I could follow that project foot steps..

Then I came across a pic of a Triton that showed up at the ace cafe.. It was beat up, rusty, ripped manx seat, dirty, but all character.. then it hit me!!..
THATS WHAT I WANT...a beat up rough looking kick-ass work horse...(Im still searching for that pic again...I shoot myself for not saving it).. I also came across a Norton COmmando with a Manx seat/tank combo with very agressive upsweep peashooters pipes...

Those two bikes became the model to this build...
So I contacted a bunch of people and was very surprised at how they were willing to help out!!..

So it began..
Tony started working on the general tune ups and clutch adjustement, etc..etc.. with the parts donated from Mike and of course replaced the clutch cover gasket donated by Roustabout
We put in the Needle Bearing and Thrust washer and clutch plates
These xs650 are nortorious for having terrible clutch mechanism... Now its as smooth as warm butter.. ;D

LilBeast (Paul), started figuring out how we were gonna mount the tank w/o major mods to the frame:
Paul shaved the stock "cups" and other pieces off the frame:

I did not want to weld a plate across the top front of the frame as there are electricals that I wanted to access.
I did not want to relocate the electricals so Paul had an interesting challenge..How do we put a removable support for the rear of the tank so that the electricals are still accessible?

This is what he came up with.. A removable plate that bolts to the frame on 2 welded tabs and locks into place in the front:

That removable plate will ultimately hold the tank strap mount latch:

Paul also welded the top tab mount on the bike:

So we mount the tank to mock up the seating position and make adjustments:

Once the tank is properly set in position with the proper vibration isolator system, the latch and strap is mounted:
At the top:

At the base:

 

[locOleoN]

Re: **The locO leoN XS650 - Team Build**

Next comes the seat.

The Problem.. I did not want to remove/cut the rear frame base loop.
I wanted to keep the rear fender on, (similar to the older style manx) and put on a Lucas Tail-light...
SO herein lies the problem.. The manx seat from Pat will sit flat on the frame like on Tims build.
In addition to that.. I wanted to keep the seat latch any hinges so that it opens like a stock seat.!!..LOL..

So once again everyone in the shop comes up with a solution..
Build an H-frame to sit on top of the stock frame and weld the hinges and latch to it...
So off they went:...

Now it swings open just like a stock seat:

Mock up with the seat on:

 

[locOleoN]

Re: **The locO leoN XS650 - Team Build**

Pipes....

I wanted something completely outrageous and loud..
But I wanted to keep the stock pipes which were extremely quiet. I also didnt want to buy new pipes and unfortunately the baffles are not removable..

So Paul takes on the challenge of removing the baffles...
he cuts the top "cup off":

drills out the rivits holding it in place:

Yanks the baffles out:

Then rewelds the holes and top cups back on:

So now they are waiting to get rechromed...

But now.. I want them upswept to a serious crazy 45 degree angle!!..

MAN.. this is not gonna be a comfy ride:
Heres Saucer trying out the ride angle:.. Notice he's sporting the newest Simpson Bandit helmet..(the invisible model ;D)

 

[locOleoN]

Re: **The locO leoN XS650 - Team Build**

Gonna need the rearsets..

Thanks to Dave (Roustabout) Thompson, for the custom brackets...

Im gonna use GSXR shifter side and a 2002 R6 shifter side similar to what I did on my cb550f:
http://dotheton.com/index.php?topic=4495.0

Next thursday:
- On goes the rearsets
- Adjustments to the headder pipe
- On goes the new Lucas headlight bucket
- On goes the front number plate
- off comes the XS650 badges on the side covers
- On goes the foam for the manx seat
- On goes the Lucas Taillight & rearfender chopped...
- On goes the race number plate

All Done.. Ready for the first day above +5 degrees in Toronto...

So far.... All I can say is that this build was not an elegant or expensive, or well planned out project...
It was mostly on-the-fly, "lets try it this way... hmmm mabe that way would be better...", & as cheap as possible,.... Only made possible by everyone who though it would be fun to see how fast and cheaply we could make this thing come together in the garage. ;D

BIG BIG thanks to EVERYONE who threw in parts and their time for this build...

BTW.. if anyone has that pic of the rusted up Triton that showed up at the ace last year, could you post it up?...
Ive been looking for it again for months...

More Pics to follow... and soon off to Mondo's Studio for some professional pics with hot chicks draped all over it ;D

 

[matt365]

Re: **The locO leoN XS650 - Team Build**

Well Noel, you had me right up to the exhaust. Everything looks great, but the upswept exhaust looks pretty hokey to me.

To each their own

 

[byrdman76]

Re: **The locO leoN XS650 - Team Build**

Man please don't take this the wrong way. And just to note that I have never spoken up on other peoples builds when I don't really care for something they did mostly out of respect for their right to do what ever they want on their bike... but you are killing that sweet ass bike with those pipes. The upswept pipes are a great idea and the BCR and Norton pea shooters are some of my favorite looks and would look awesome on this build, but these just don't look right.

 

[locOleoN]

Re: **The locO leoN XS650 - Team Build**

I totally understand.. ;D

The pipes are not on there set.

It was funny.. when I put on the pipes everyone stood back and basically sad.."ummmm.. hmmmm I dont know....about that..."...LOL...
BHAHHA.. Then Paul was like.."Damn.. I think its growing on me..".." Lets make a few adjustments"....LOL..

So there is still some modifications to happen to the headder pipe and we'll see then...
It kinda grew on me over time...LOL...

Anyhow, this was the look I wanted:

I might change the angle to a 25 degree...but I havent decided yet. I'll chop a few inches off the headder end and see what happenes...

It is drastic isnt it??..LOL..

 

[locOleoN]

Re: **The locO leoN XS650 - Team Build**

the XS with a different Alloy Tank, (from the supply pile), on it:

I think this tank was far to "clean" and new looking for this project.

Yes/No?

 

[Kev Nemo]

Re: **The locO leoN XS650 - Team Build**

By comparing pictures, you'll need to cut out about 5-8 inches from the baffle itself and about 2-3 out of the bend where it meets the head pipe. That's why the proportions look wonky-check your reference pic again. I think it could look awesome, but it's going to take some fiddling.

It always suprises me how little thought people put into the thought of how an exhaust looks vs. just sounds. There's not a whole lot on a cafe to begin with, so the pipes are important.

 

[byrdman76]

Re: **The locO leoN XS650 - Team Build**

The norton in the photo looks great but I'm guessing you would be miserable riding it due to the location of the foot pegs. With the exhaust they have on there I don't see how they would add rear sets to that bike - the angle of the pipes is too steep. When you do the rear sets on the XS keep them as high as possible. I ran into the same problem you are trying to copy the BCR pipes on my Superhawk - I wanted that "look" really bad. Look at the BCR Armadillo bike, and look at the angle of his pipes. Also look how high he had to raise his rear sets and keep this in mind when you mount yours up. I eventually just said screw it and went for high pipes on mine since it was too crowded on an already small bike.

 

[autoguy]

Re: **The locO leoN XS650 - Team Build**

the XS with a different Alloy Tank, (from the supply pile), on it:

I think this tank was far to "clean" and new looking for this project.

Yes/No?

very nice build, yep the alloy tank looks too clean, send it to me instead ;D

 

[Drewski]

Re: **The locO leoN XS650 - Team Build**

I would have to agree with the general sentiment in the last few replies. Right now it looks like it needs some Ape Hanger handle bars and a Sissy Bar back rest!! ;D ;D (Just pokin' at ya Noel!! ;D )

The mufflers need to be shorter, ending somewhere around the bottom of the seat pan/frame rail and the head pipe needs to be shorter so that the muffler angle can be reduced some.

Like most customs, there will be compromises when it comes to many things. Foot peg location vs. exhaust location, fuel capacity vs. reach to the bars, one up vs. two up, etc, etc.

I like the concept though! Good stuff! 8)

 

[locOleoN]

Re: **The locO leoN XS650 - Team Build**

I would have to agree with the general sentiment in the last few replies. Right now it looks like it needs some Ape Hanger handle bars and a Sissy Bar back rest!! ;D ;D (Just pokin' at ya Noel!! ;D )

The mufflers need to be shorter, ending somewhere around the bottom of the seat pan/frame rail and the head pipe needs to be shorter so that the muffler angle can be reduced some.

Like most customs, there will be compromises when it comes to many things. Foot peg location vs. exhaust location, fuel capacity vs. reach to the bars, one up vs. two up, etc, etc.

I like the concept though! Good stuff! 8)

yeah...
Next thursday, Im definately cutting the back of the headpipe by about 4 inches...( Ive got the pipe cutter right here on my desk..)
Then I'll put a 20degree adptor pipe, (instead of the 45 degree pipe), take pics then compare...

 

[thebronze]

Re: **The locO leoN XS650 - Team Build**

Dude...Bike looks great...EXCEPT FOR THE PIPES

 

[HerrDeacon]

Re: **The locO leoN XS650 - Team Build**

Nice build Noel. Cool idea to have a group project like that. Nice to have good talented friends as well.

 

[DrJ]

Re: **The locO leoN XS650 - Team Build**

Okay, I wouldn't quite put this in the same boat as Tim's build but it has it's charms. Don't want to beat a dead horse but that pipe setup is hideous. There's just too much pipe. Yes, a shallower bend would help but those mufflers are too long. More often than not, what makes or breaks the look of a bike are many small details and if one is out of whack with the rest, the look of the entire bike goes off the deep end. Please continue.

 

[c]

Re: **The locO leoN XS650 - Team Build**

The XS has good bones. I'd like to see the upswept exhaust axis align with the subframe tube and go about as high as the spark plug boot. Nice and compact.

I've also illustrated a sleek low fastback seat, vinyl rear section, black suede rider portion, Lucas tailamp mounted fairly high on the fender against the seat, trimmed rear and front fender (no braces) and sat the tank horizontal. I'm wondering how hard it would be to sink the instruments in a bit closer to the headlight.

If it were a long term bike the case could be blacked out, contrasting against the chrome pipes and polished cooling fins.

I'd keep the XS sidecover with the flying horseshoe. That's a cool part.

c

 

[DrJ]

Re: **The locO leoN XS650 - Team Build**

I've gotta fever, and the only prescription is, MORE PIPE!

 

[Tim]

Re: **The locO leoN XS650 - Team Build**

Ok, I gotta ask - that tank (not the painted one, the much nicer IMHO first one) - is that my old tank?

Also, maybe I could convince Roustabout to make me some of those rearset brackets too? Those should bolt right up to my frame.