jims428
XS650 Enthusiast
Hi all. New guy to the forum here.
This will be a long post since it's my first and an intro.
Hopefully the rest won't be so long winded
I've got an 82 Heritage Special and I'll soon be getting it back from a total paint job.
My brother is stripping it down completely to the frame and giving it all fresh paint.
It's mostly stock looking and is being polished out including the engine cases.
While I'm at it I will be replacing a lot of the 30 year old fasteners with new stuff.
I already have polished allen head stainless hardware for the engine covers but I'm debating if I should go stainless or chrome on the engine hardware.
I'd like the chrome bling but I don't know how well it will hold up with use.
Any of you guys tried it and what have you found?
Does it get chipped up easily with use?
Does it rust if not polished often. (The bike is garage kept)
I'm thinking of MikesXS Chrome 56pc Engine Top Fastener Set.
Any thoughts on his kit or is there better out there.
Yea I know, 'Chrome won't get you home', so should I just go Stainless and polish it?
I got the bike from my younger brother. My brother and I both grew up in the muscle car era and learned how to work on bikes and cars early on. Now as a sideline my brother buys old bikes and cars, fixes them up and sells them.
Myself, I by old cars and bikes and tend to keep them. I have a 65 GT and 69 Mach 1 Mustang (hence the jims428 name) plus a 74 Honda CL450 Scrambler and now the 82 xs650.
A lot of people don't know the basics of how to keep a bike running. When their old bike eventually quits and they find out how much bike shops want to repair them (most won't even touch the older ones) they try to fix them themselves and usually makes things worse. My brothers been working on bikes enough so when he looks at ones like this he has a good idea of what's wrong. He gets them cheap, gets them running, cleans them up and sells them at a fair price for all.
My XS he found in a local junkyard. It had just been brought in and he got it for $150.
A new rectifier and some carb cleaner and it fired right up.
The previous owner had been a marine at the local base and been transferred out. It was obvious he liked the bike and had taken care of it but had to give it up when it quit and he had to leave.
(Here's a tip. Keep an eye out for great deals around military bases, especially nowadays)
I had a BSA 650 Lighting in my younger days so when I found out about it, I had to have it. It's since been restored to be safe and reliable. Now I'm having the emblems removed, areas filled in, and painted. I'm going with the original ruby red shade and some ghost striping. I've given my brother free reign to come up with some paint scheme. He's done paint before but is learning on ghost painting so I told him nothing too radical. Hopefully he will come up with something I'll like. It is 150 miles away right now so I can't see the progress but we do talk by phone a couple times a week.
Yes, I will post pictures when I get it back.
This will be a long post since it's my first and an intro.
Hopefully the rest won't be so long winded
I've got an 82 Heritage Special and I'll soon be getting it back from a total paint job.
My brother is stripping it down completely to the frame and giving it all fresh paint.
It's mostly stock looking and is being polished out including the engine cases.
While I'm at it I will be replacing a lot of the 30 year old fasteners with new stuff.
I already have polished allen head stainless hardware for the engine covers but I'm debating if I should go stainless or chrome on the engine hardware.
I'd like the chrome bling but I don't know how well it will hold up with use.
Any of you guys tried it and what have you found?
Does it get chipped up easily with use?
Does it rust if not polished often. (The bike is garage kept)
I'm thinking of MikesXS Chrome 56pc Engine Top Fastener Set.
Any thoughts on his kit or is there better out there.
Yea I know, 'Chrome won't get you home', so should I just go Stainless and polish it?
I got the bike from my younger brother. My brother and I both grew up in the muscle car era and learned how to work on bikes and cars early on. Now as a sideline my brother buys old bikes and cars, fixes them up and sells them.
Myself, I by old cars and bikes and tend to keep them. I have a 65 GT and 69 Mach 1 Mustang (hence the jims428 name) plus a 74 Honda CL450 Scrambler and now the 82 xs650.
A lot of people don't know the basics of how to keep a bike running. When their old bike eventually quits and they find out how much bike shops want to repair them (most won't even touch the older ones) they try to fix them themselves and usually makes things worse. My brothers been working on bikes enough so when he looks at ones like this he has a good idea of what's wrong. He gets them cheap, gets them running, cleans them up and sells them at a fair price for all.
My XS he found in a local junkyard. It had just been brought in and he got it for $150.
A new rectifier and some carb cleaner and it fired right up.
The previous owner had been a marine at the local base and been transferred out. It was obvious he liked the bike and had taken care of it but had to give it up when it quit and he had to leave.
(Here's a tip. Keep an eye out for great deals around military bases, especially nowadays)
I had a BSA 650 Lighting in my younger days so when I found out about it, I had to have it. It's since been restored to be safe and reliable. Now I'm having the emblems removed, areas filled in, and painted. I'm going with the original ruby red shade and some ghost striping. I've given my brother free reign to come up with some paint scheme. He's done paint before but is learning on ghost painting so I told him nothing too radical. Hopefully he will come up with something I'll like. It is 150 miles away right now so I can't see the progress but we do talk by phone a couple times a week.
Yes, I will post pictures when I get it back.