Dad's Bike: 1983 Heritage Special

My Dad is EXTREMELY proud of his XS650 and I wanted to start a thread about the bike so he can show it off.

What makes this bike special (other than actually being a Heritage Special) is that it was also my first bike.
My Dad rode many, many years ago. There was always a bike in the garage. Dirt bikes, Enduros, etc. He would never let me near them when I was young, saying they were too dangerous. He came form the days of Hare Scrambles, like you see on "On Any Sunday". It wasn't unusual for him to change the sprocket on his Yamaha or Hodaka, throw on an Army surplus bedroll, ride a few hours to an event, change sprockets, race and then ride back home again.

Here are some pics from back in the day:



Fast forward...decades...and I meet a girl who likes bikes. I've always been a VW guy and know my way around a project, so I pick up an old bike. My first bike is/was an '83 XS650. Found it on CL for $1,000.
I knew nothing about working on them at the time, so I took it to a local shop, spent a lot of money, but came away with some good parts and an excellent bike. Here's how it looked when I dragged it home.



I know what you're thinking! "Sweet lavender paint!". Don't miss the homemade sissy bar, two tone seat and handmade header that hit the front fender every time you used the front brake!

Stripped it down and had the shop get it tuned up for me. At this time, I was only good at polishing and fetching parts. I've since learned my way around these old bike (with help from Dad, of course) and have completed many, many Father/Son projects.


And the day I rode it home:

Good lookin' bike your dad's got there. Happy scootin'!

What's not easily visible in the pics are new Progressive springs in the forks, fresh fork oil, new tires, re-laced wheels with new spokes, etc., etc.




The engine ran great (and still does). I installed Mikes Commando exhaust and K&N filters in the stock air boxes. I also had a seat shaved down and re-upholstered.






I always liked the cafe' look, but was a little leery of Clubmans or clip-ons since I was a new rider at the time. I chose Daytona bars and Napolean mirros.
Fresh black paint covered the tank and MikeXS supplied new side covers.

This one is mine. I bought it new in 1983.


I'm resurrecting an SH with my daughter. Here it is.

It wasn't long before I had another XS650 in the garage so, along with my girlfiriends FJ600, that made three bikes.
Dad would come over, look longingly at the bikes, but that's about it. One day, he threw a leg over and sat on it in the garage. A short while later, he took it for a spin. Soon, we all three were riding together.
It had been 30 years since he was on a motorcycle! Dad was almost 70 years old at the time but, man, he still had it! He can ride that old bike like there's no tommorrow! All those years on the dirt must've helped.
One day, after a ride, I told him to just take it home with him. I signed the title over and he's been making it his own ever since.

The weather's nasty here right now, but I'll get some current pics soon. Here are some from last Summer.



As you can see, he's added Mikes performance 2-1, his cafe' seat and a small flyscreen. He also spent a LOT of time fine tuning the carbs.
Current pics will soon show a Viper fairing, shortened turn signal stalks, Progressive shocks (custom set up just for him by Mercury Mike Morris), and more.

Very nice, Marty! It's good to hear your daughter has an interest, too.

that tranformation is excellent. Although that 2-1 exhaust is interesting. looks like the stock pipes with the left pipe rotated over and cut in. Wonder how it ran when it was in good tune.
Somewhere there is a panda looking for that seat.
Is that your neihberhood? Or where you just freakin' out the squares?

These are crappy cell phone pics from inside the garage today. How about that rear wheel!?
Dad laced up Mikes 18 inch, 48 spoke rear hoop to a HS hub. He's not sure about the look yet, but I think it's awesome.
The Progressives (also in this pic) lifted the rear end up and left a gap between the fender and tire when the 16" rim was on there. The 18" hoop fills it in much nicer. I think it will sharpen handlilng as well, but he's skeptical. A ride will tell, as soon as weather allows.

Ive been trying to get this bike off a friend of mine for a couple years. He turned down 1000$ last year. This year Im offering 1500$.
It will be my dads.
I know its in good shape, because I re-ringed it, and did proper updates and maintenence on it. Friend scored it for 500$ at a g-sale.

When Dad isn't riding, he's either tinkering or polishing. I kid him that he's gonna rub through the paint one of these days!
One thing he did is XSJohn's air box mod.





He drilled holes in the side covers for a "ram air" effect. He says this is a mod that you can REALLY feel in the seat of your pants. It freed up breathing so much that he had to readjust the carbs (air screws and dead cylinder method synch).
Along with the K&N, exhaust and this mod, the bike pulls HARD. Plus, he's regularly getting high 50's MPG, with a few times in the 60-61 MPG range.
Spark plugs look great, too, so it's not just leaned out.

Yeah, the late model XS's are sort of the step-child of the group. Like all Japanese manufacturers, Yamaha was going for the chopper look with buckhorn bars, stepped seats, 16" rear wheels, etc.
I can't wait to get this bike out in the sunshine and get some good, overall pics. It's really a sweet bike.

angus67 said:

that tranformation is excellent. Although that 2-1 exhaust is interesting. looks like the stock pipes with the left pipe rotated over and cut in. Wonder how it ran when it was in good tune.
Somewhere there is a panda looking for that seat.
Is that your neihberhood? Or where you just freakin' out the squares?

Click to expand...

That's exactly what that pipe was! Dangerous, too. It would hit the fender under hard braking.
Not sure what you mean about freaking out the squares in my neighborhood, though....

Georgeous bike!

I've got that same 18" rear wheel - looks much better than the original 16" one. Also did a 21" in the front. You may have to extend the sidestand a bit - I'm gonna have to add about 3/4" to the pad on mine.

Hey finally the heritage special gets some respect, This bike moved on but I still miss it.




Some nice bikes you got there guys!

Just to clarify:
This bike...


...and this bike...


..and this bike....


... are all the same bike. It's just constantly evolving.

Love it!

Specials actually look good once you get rid of the god awful seat and bars that come stock on them.

CDNTX650 said:

Specials actually look good once you get rid of the god awful seat and bars that come stock on them.

Click to expand...

It depends who's looking at them. The Specials were introduced shortly after I graduated from high school. At the time, I thought they were the be all, end all. Those bars, and especially that big fat back tire under the short fender looked amazing. Sales figures show that I am not the only one who saw it that way. That is the perspective I see it from. Looking at it now, takes me back.

Thinking about back then, Harley Davidson had a very loyal following (that kept them in business), but the bikes had a reputation for being unreliable. They had a style all their own back then. The Specials moved right in. I do admit that the Special details are worn better on the XS1100 with its much longer wheel base.




That all being said, the subject SK seems to have metamorphosed very nicely. I'd be interested to know how the handling has changed with a more forward weight bias.

I'll give a ride report and some updated pics as soon as the weather and my work schedule allows.
I'm sure Dad will be out on the road as soon as the snow clears!