XS 650 Street Tracker Mod-Style

[JAGspeed]

I Started My Tracker project about 6 months ago, and posted it on XS650 but never posted it to this site. So I wanted to share my progress here as well.
I am pretty far along so I will get caught up with my progress over several posts.
I started with a 1979 XS650 special. My concept was to build a street tracker with a more modern twist.
I am using a R6 conventional front end and a single shock design. My swingarm is from an XT550 and a shock from a Buell XB12. Here are a couple of pics with the forks mounted and the swingarm. I had to modify the arm a bit to get the right leverage ratio for the shock.

 

[guernz]

Looks cool. We need some more pics. 8)

 

[JAGspeed]

Ok here are some more pics. I cut the rear section of the frame away. I bent some tubing to strengthen the frame and tacked it in place. Similar to an MX bike design. For front rotors I am using Ducati 320mm discs with custom spacers. I had to make a special bracket for the brake caliper as well.

 

[JAGspeed]

Some more pics, Here is a pic of the removable subframe I made. Also a side shot shows the bike with the Suzuki GN400 tank I am using and the Hotwings Glass street tracker tail section. Another pic of the bike after I trimmed the tail to give it a sleeker look. I cut out the gas cap from the Yamaha tank and welded it into the Suzuki tank. Here is a pic of the tank after I filled in the badges, smoothed out the cap area and hit it with some primer.

 

[MJPriceisright]

that's a sick ride right there my friend.. nice work!

 

[JAGspeed]

I made a seat for the bike. I laid fiberglass to make my seat pan so it contoured to the bike. I got a piece of seat foam from Hotwings Glass, cut and shaped it to fit my design. I still need to make a cover for it. I found a tail light from a mid size pocket bike that fit nicely. Also did a little more cutting to the tail just for style.

 

[Getnjgywitit]

This thing is looking pretty freakin sweet!

 

[CBJKing]

When posted like this, the mono shock conversion and front end swap seem so easy! If only that were the case...

 

[pablohoney]

That think is awesome! Nice work!

 

[Rich Ard]

That'll do a lot to tie the seat and tank together - looking forward to seeing more on this one, nice work.

 

[JAGspeed]

When posted like this, the mono shock conversion and front end swap seem so easy! If only that were the case...

I know what you mean. I'm sure other builders can relate. I was not that detailed about what had to be done to make it all work. Like the forks, I wanted a fairly specific rake and trail angle, but did not want to pay a fortune for custom triple clamps. I also wanted my bars to be rubber mounted. Took a lot of research to find a cheap triple from another bike that fit all the criteria. found a Yamaha TT600 clamp that fit the bill....Almost, but it also caused other challenges. The width between the fork is a little narrow so I had get custom spacers. modify the steering stem, modify the axle, clearance the calipers.........you get my drift. One great idea turns into a 12 step program.
Same was true for the swimgarm. When I got the arm I thought it was going to almost bolt right up. It has the same size pivot bolt and was only slightly wider at the pivot. 3 days later I was still cutting, welding and grinding. The shock mount had to be in a specific place so the leverage ratio was the same as the XB12 that the shock came off of. The rear axle was a different size and the XT swingarm was offset to one side and had to be modified. OK here I go again with one of my great ideas???
So here are a couple more pics these are of the front fender that I made custom mounts for and also of the gauges and headlight mounted.

 

[JAGspeed]

Now for the Exhaust. I decided to build 2 separate pipes. Kinda MX style routing. I started with 2 YFZ450 head pipes and a header from a CBR1000RR. As for the mufflers I used a couple of cobra cruiser units and cut them down, made my own end caps and welded it together. I used the resonators from the CBR pipe to make my own powerbomb header. Basically making use of some parts I had lying around. After cutting all the pieces and tacking it all together I am happy with how it turned out. The only issue was the oil dip-stick would not work so I cut it down to just an oil cap. I located a side cover from a newer XS that has a sight window, problem solved.

 

[JAGspeed]

Here are more pics of the exhaust.

 

[tron97]

How did i miss this!

Looks great.

Mind lending some info on the brake swap? Im assuming thats a 35mm front end.. Any clearance issues with the spoke wheels?

I went the brembo route, but the caliper body is too wide, and rubs my spokes..

 

[JAGspeed]

How did i miss this!

Looks great.

Mind lending some info on the brake swap? Im assuming thats a 35mm front end.. Any clearance issues with the spoke wheels?

I went the brembo route, but the caliper body is too wide, and rubs my spokes..

The forks are the 43mm R6 forks. Everything is really tight clearance wise. My triple clamp is from a Yamaha TT600 so it is fairly narrow. My rotor spacers place the rotors only a couple of mm from the fork sliders. I used the 320mm Ducati rotors instead of a 300mm Yamaha rotor because with the extra 20mm it placed the back side of the caliper more toward the center of the spokes and gave me a little more clearance. even with all this my spokes only clear by a couple of thousands of an inch. So i am going to shave down the caliper to get some additional clearance. MJPriceisright was asking in his thread how much a spoked wheel flexes because he was having the same clearance issue. Hopefully someone has an answer.

 

[MJPriceisright]

The forks are the 43mm R6 forks. Everything is really tight clearance wise. My triple clamp is from a Yamaha TT600 so it is fairly narrow. My rotor spacers place the rotors only a couple of mm from the fork sliders. I used the 320mm Ducati rotors instead of a 300mm Yamaha rotor because with the extra 20mm it placed the back side of the caliper more toward the center of the spokes and gave me a little more clearance. even with all this my spokes only clear by a couple of thousands of an inch. So i am going to shave down the caliper to get some additional clearance. MJPriceisright was asking in his thread how much a spoked wheel flexes because he was having the same clearance issue. Hopefully someone has an answer.

still waiting... lol. probably going to start bringing down the back side of a caliper tonight.

 

[JAGspeed]

Ok ,these pics will get me up to date with my build. A couple of shots of my pegs and modified mounts. I used some CRF450 pegs. I started with the stock bracket and made it wider to accept the pegs. Also cut and re-welded the rear part of the mount since I hacked off the original mounting point on the frame.
The last pic is side shot of my progress so far.

 

[1fasgsxr]

man that thing is nasty...but the good nasty....this is my next build...love the street tracker look

 

[CBJKing]

Nice work on the exhaust. It looks great.

 

[JAGspeed]

I started to attempt to re-wire the bike. I am trying to eliminate all the BS stuff from the XS harness. I also wired in a newer style fuse block from a XJ600. To make matters worse I am using newer R6 switches and the wiring is very different. I decided to do the banshee flywheel PMA swap at the same time. Using a ZX600 stator and CBR rectifier. I ordered one of the new Pamco Ignitions w/electronic advance, should be getting that soon so I can wire it all at the same time.
Some pic of the whole mess and the PMA swap.