XS650 cafe style build

sbaugz · Nov 27, 2012

So I picked up this 1981 special this past summer and have been slowly working on it here and there. My plan is to ramp up the work on it and finish by spring. I have appreciated all the help i have obtained from this forum. I have rebuilt a couple honda's in the past but this is my first yamaha. Here is a pic of the bike when I first got it. Cost me $150 and it came with title!

sbaugz · Nov 27, 2012

First off, let me share some of my other build pics for you.
First up was a 1975 CB360 honda. Finished it off in a brat style.

Second bike I finished off was a honda CB200 (1975) finished off in a cafe style with high pipes.

My third bike was a RYCA CS-1 based off a Suzuki Savage S40:

I sold all three of the bikes seen above so I could get one of my dream bike's- as shown below: A 2012 Triumph Thruxton.

sbaugz · Nov 27, 2012

So back to the xs650:
WHen I got the bike, it had 150 PSI compression on both cylinders and supposedly ran, although I never did try to run it before taking it all apart. The PO basically just spray painted the whole bike and the engine had about three coats of different colored paint on it. Despite the good compression, I figured I would tear it down and rebuild motor anyways so I could get it cosmetically looking good.

sbaugz · Nov 27, 2012

For the engine, I stumbled upon a website for a guy who does vapor blasting to restore motors to factory condition. http://www.vaporblasting.biz/
I thought I would check it out. For $80 plus shipping, he was able to get my engine looking better than new. I would highly recommend checking him out. The only downside is it took about 4 weeks longer than he said it would, but he had trouble getting all the paint off, which took longer.
Here are some pics of the jugs as they looked after restoration. I have not put engine back together yet- the pictures below just show the empty jugs. Its hard to appreciate due to the dark pictures, but it looks better than showroom quality. Its hard to believe but there is no paint or powder coating on those jugs, its just bare, polished aluminum.

sbaugz · Nov 27, 2012

Next I sent a bunch of parts to the powder coater.
I did the mag wheels, all the side covers for the engine, fork lowers, tripe tree, swingarm, and a bunch of misc parts all in the same color- Iron Glimmer. The wheels are currently getting new tires on them as I write this- Avon MKII safety mileage 500-16 on rear and 400-19 on front. The frame and remaining parts will be powder coated same color when I get that far. THe forks have been rebuilt, the front caliper has been rebuilt and the wheels have all new bearings and seals. I put brass bushings in the swingarm and I have a set of new bearings for the neck.

sbaugz · Nov 27, 2012

I did a little frame work, stripping paint and removing a bunch of tabs that I know I won't use. I picked up a XS750 tank for it. I also shaved the left fork lower (removing the caliper mount) since I am only using a right side caliper. Still trying to decide on a seat configuration. I really want to do a small little bump seat but haven't figured out how yet.
Marker lines on the front fender show where I plan to cut it down and ultimately have it powder coated. Today, I just ordered up some Tarozzi clip ons and once I get $200 burning a hole in my pocket, I will order some of durgam's mid rearsets.
hope you all enjoy my progress.

sbaugz · Nov 27, 2012

My next big project to tackle is getting the engine back together. Anyone have any good places you can recommend to show a tutorial on how to assemble the valves, pistons, and cam chain parts back together? Unfortunately I did not take very good pictures or notes when I was dissassembling things.

Johnt3 · Nov 27, 2012

Lookin' good so far. Your engine is going to come out really good. The finish on the aluminum is nice.Vapor blasting huh?
Never heard of that process before.

nj1639 · Nov 27, 2012

Very nice! Is this a keeper?

sbaugz · Nov 27, 2012

nj1639 said:
Very nice! Is this a keeper?

I am pretty sure this is going to be a keeper. I am putting way more into this than I can ever get if I were to sell it. I regret selling at least one or two of the other three bikes I did, but I only sold them all to get the thruxton. Now that I have the thruxton, i probably will hang on to this xs650.

sbaugz · Nov 27, 2012

Johnt3 said:
Lookin' good so far. Your engine is going to come out really good. The finish on the aluminum is nice.Vapor blasting huh?
Never heard of that process before.

I had never heard of it before either. Basically, its like a cross between a pressure washer and glass bead blasting. If you check out the website link, you can see more details. My parts really do look brand new. The price is cheaper than powder coating, the finish won't come off because its bare metal, and its supposedly more durable and stain resistant than the finish that came from factory. To me, it almost looks like it was powder coated gloss aluminum- its that shiny and perfect looking.
He also usually has and ebay auction going for vapor blasting too.

scabber · Nov 27, 2012

Looks great. They all are very nice bikes. :thumbsup:

sbaugz · Jan 20, 2013

Some more pics
It's so dang cold here in Wisconsin that I decided to mock it up in the basement

Tires are Avon 5x16 MKII I'm rear and 4x19 MKII in front

Still having trouble with kick starter so the side covers are still off
Engine was vapor blasted and either left bare or powder coated.

Clip ons are tarozzi
Tank is xs750

Still undecided on rear seat and or cowl

Also unsure about shock length so as you can see I have a scrap piece of metal holding swing arm to height

I was going to chop down the stock front fender at the black lines as seen but I may not be able to even use it because the front tire is so big

I appreciate advice, criticism, compliments, etc

emzdogz · Jan 20, 2013

love the pics of your other bikes, too. I dream of someday having a CB200 to cafe. Had a stock one way back that was stolen. The little Honda that could. Looking fw to seeing the rest of your progress on this XS.

sbaugz · Jan 20, 2013

emzdogz said:
love the pics of your other bikes, too. I dream of someday having a CB200 to cafe. Had a stock one way back that was stolen. The little Honda that could. Looking fw to seeing the rest of your progress on this XS.

The 200 was a great little bike. I sort of regret selling it but that was the only way i could afford my new triumph. The best part of the cb200 is that all the parts are so light. I could pick up the engine like nothing. The 650 is not so easy to lift around.

JP50515 · Jan 21, 2013

Looking good. What headlight is that? I have a similar one that I scrapped off a cheapo chinese moped that throws light sideways lol. Would be nice to see at night and that light looks almost exactly the same....but i'm sure yours works ha

Tron · Jan 21, 2013

Im digging this bike and build for sure! Have seen some of your other bikes over at DTT..

Removable seat cowl would be rad..

Any clue what shocks you plan to use?

sbaugz · Jan 21, 2013

JP50515 said:
Looking good. What headlight is that? I have a similar one that I scrapped off a cheapo chinese moped that throws light sideways lol. Would be nice to see at night and that light looks almost exactly the same....but i'm sure yours works ha

Got the headlight from demon cycles on eBay. Hope it casts a straight beam!

sbaugz · Jan 21, 2013

Tron said:
Im digging this bike and build for sure! Have seen some of your other bikes over at DTT..

Removable seat cowl would be rad..

Any clue what shocks you plan to use?

Probably some mikesxs shocks- all black without any shroud on the top. Haven't decided on length yet. I wanted to really drop this bike down low but it seems like maybe 13.3" shocks look best. The front tires are really big and even with my shocks raised up a couple inches in triple tree, it still seems like it needs taller rear shocks to even things out.

sbaugz · Jan 21, 2013

Tron said:
Im digging this bike and build for sure! Have seen some of your other bikes over at DTT.

I haven't been on DTT in a while. I really got soured over there by some people. There were some serious "haters" over there. That little cb200 you see really got slammed- people loved it until I mentioned that I was going to sell it and all of a sudden I was a sellout. I will admit- I don't see any of that nonsense over on this forum, so thanks guys!

By the way, look for a book to come out in march called "how to build a cafe racer" by Douglas mitchel. You can find it on amazon for pre order. My little yellow and black cb200 and my copper colored Ryca bike are being featured in that book.

http://www.amazon.com/Build-Cafe-Racer-Doug-Mitchel/dp/1935828738/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358775677&sr=8-1&keywords=How+to+build+cafe+racer

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