Thanks! Well about me more, I'm a software engineer for over 20 years. Owned a few bikes, 4 before this one - but never felt comfortable working on them. I feel mechanically inclined, but wanted something stylish, affordable and easy to work on.
After botching up a simple relay job on a 2007 Triumph I owned with a resulting $500 repair bill, I realized I needed to start with something not filled with specialty parts and high-ticket items. Not to mention, I love the look of older bikes (who doesn't.. come on!)
Pretty much all signs pointed to the XS650. Such a great looking machine and everything seems so accessible on it.
I found one on CL for $2500 here in Los Angeles. It's an '83 Special and has a laundry list of problems and is in very rough physical condition, so got it down to $1900 which for Los Angeles is a good price. Elsewhere, the bike shoulda been south of $1500.
It's got mild clutch slippage, misfires like a bastard from RPM 2000+ until it warms up (which sometimes it never does...), leaky forks and lots of other goofy stuff going on but I have to say it's an awesome little bike and I am looking forward to tearing it apart and putting it back together again.
I'm on the fence whether to go a mild chopper hardtail route with it (I got an old crusty special just cause I feel less guilty slicing it up) or do keep it the Cafe look it has now (looks pretty cool actually) - but my plan is to "simplify" it to make it a bike that I can repair anywhere and rely on. Remove the starter, probably a battery delete, probably yank the speedo/tach and signals, etc. primarily in the name of simplicity more than looks, although the looks are a nice bonus
I'll get some more pics up shortly, for now I've only got the one in my avatar
