New Guy with my first xs650 project

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09classic650

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just recently got a deal off craigslist for a 1980 XS650 special, building this bike for a buddie of mine who nearly lost his legs in Iraq in 2006 and in a weak moment his wife talked him into getting rid of his bike, and has fought 3 medical evaluation boards to stay in the military, any help will be greatful, pictures are worth a thousand words as im not to good at comprehending written word without pictures.

Plans are to hardtail, spring seat, simplify the wiring, and fab some forward controls with pegs and heel toe shifter (most of his damage is to right leg, he can push but has trouble pulling up on his toe)

please any and all help to get this thing rolling would be gratefully appreciated to help get this soldier back on two wheels again
 
Well man you can check out my build. It's basically the same thing. You going on the cheap or what? Pics of the current bike? I'm guessing he's going to have to keep the electric start and kick isn't an option?
 
yeah pretty much, gonna need a good wiring schematic with push button hidden somewhere, doing away with the key ignition and all that, mostly because the bike didnt come with a key
 
Well, with all due respect, will your buddies physical condition allow him to suffer the rough ride of a hardtail? Does he want to risk serious back injury?
 
Ok well for the hidden buttons. I would opt for the 1" bar upgrade here:

http://xs650temp.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=Frames&thread=13666&page=1

That gives you the options of doing some easily hidden micro switches. I would ditch the kicker then it's unneeded. Realistically is he going to need a trike?

I would give you my wiring schematic, but it really won't help you at all. I'm running a permanent magnet rotor, pamco ignition, no battery and kick only. lol let me look around to see if I can find the original schematic I had before I modified it.

Man give us more info on the project. We want pics. Does it run? Does it run well? Is it a special or special ii?
 
pamcopete said:
Well, with all due respect, will your buddies physical condition allow him to suffer the rough ride of a hardtail? Does he want to risk serious back injury?
Click to expand...

Pete I was typing that question right after I wrote trike, but then realized that if he wants a hardtail; he has earned it. I left the trike question though b/c he might be more pleased with that.
 
it did according to the PO, he was a gear head said that it ran when he brought it home but he is on a BSA kick and never got around to it, compression checks good at 145, havent tested spark yet but does kick over easily enough,

my buddy Jeff, well he can walk fine and jog even just doesnt have much pull up on his leg, I have let him ride my V-Star 650 up and down the block a few times but he doesnt like to ride someone elses bike so i am doing this for him, having to keep it cheap, i am just a specialist with a wife 1 son and a girl that will be here around the beginning of may

i think he started in on the wiring but i can tell someone else has been in the wiring in this thing pretty heavy and they loved red wires and electrical tape so i am ripping it all out and starting from scratch, i think i may have found the diagram i need here on the site
 
he wants a bike for cruisin around town and short trips not much of a long distance rider like me, i take off on a saturday and clock 3-400 miles before i make it home
 
I actually never even cut into my stock wiring. I still have the full harness unmolested. I started from scratch. The one I used was originally a different one that I just heavily modified for my uses and for me to work off of. I hear you man I'm a college kid on ramen and have 2 dogs I inherited when my dad died. Since they both almost weigh as much as I do each... It gets costly.

Glad you found a schematic to start working with. If I come across the one I'm thinking of I'll bookmark it or save it and post it up for you.

Still wondering about those pics though!!
 
That's no bueno! Sorry to hear that man.

This is the schematic that I started off with. And then modified it HEAVILY.

xs650.jpg
 
Last edited:
- classic, dont forget that this last wiring diagram is not for the original XS alternator...see post #5 in this thread
 
- the different alternator?...not difficult at all and much more reliable...with all the bits on hand, including wiring, a morning...needs either points or a cam based ignition like a pamco
 
- also, if running an e-start, you will need to replace the capacitor with a battery, like in the previous diagram-also no big problem
 
yeah been thinking about running the pamco or the probe and a different stator/alternator, shouldnt be too hard to do as long as i can get a good idea of what i already have now
 
Classic, always heed the warnings of INXS. I only gave you my schematic b/c you asked how I modified it. The first schematic I put up though would work. Anyone know if he'd have to do the nylon screws? I never looked into it b/c I took the whole damn thing out.

I have no complaints about it. At first it seemed like a bigger undertaking than it really ended up being. After all was said and done. It was pretty easy. Worse case scenario though man. I'd be more than willing to answer any questions you have about it. Hell I'd even donate one of the left over banshee stator plates I have laying around for the job for the cost of shipping. That's only if you really do go that route. Also I love my pamco. However, I'm thinking your bike would be running on TCI and you'd have to buy the whole pamco setup from Mikes or scrounge for the remaining points parts that you would need for the ignition conversion.
 
bigjimmyw13 said:
Classic, always heed the warnings of INXS.
Click to expand...

- thanx for the vote of confidence BJ, but hey, i make plenty of mistakes-sometimes, on a good day, i even learn from them :laugh:...anything i say should be taken with a grain of salt...although i rebuilt my first bike, late 20's norton 500 single, 40 odd years ago, ive only been playing with XS's for about 120 months :D
 

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