1972 Resto/Retro Project

Engine work:
Completely dismantled.
Parts cleaned, inspected and cataloged.
New seals and gaskets.
New crankshaft and transmission end bearings.
New cam chain.
Valves lapped.
Cylinders honed 1st over.
New pistons, rings, pins and clips
New clutch pack.
Transmission gear togs were undercut slightly to remove rounding and match slots.
Cases painted.
Outer case covers and valve covers polished.
New point and advancer covers.
Engine cases ready for build.jpg

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Looking good. Nice to see one being restored again. Sorry Bobber guys. Good luck on the gages. When I restored mine I ended up buying multiple gages until I could frankenstein a good pair together. Since then I have scored a set of NOS gages for my XS2. What shop in Minnesota did you get a quote from. I use J&D plating in St Paul.
 
Nice work Jones! Finally glad to see someone else in the STL area building bikes. I'm currently building my first cafe from an 1980 base. I'm out in Wildwood close to 109.

Are you painting at home? I'm gonna need some painting but just don't have the funds for a full on pro job. Maybe we could work something out?

Also, did you use a local shop for the engine and frame strip and/or blasting? So far Ive only been able to find one place that does Soda blast.

Keep it coming. Very impressive.

Sci85
 
I have read the horror stories about getting into the gauges but so far it has been pretty straight forward. I'm glad that these wont need any parts except faces.

Yes, I sent a bid request to J&D. They came pretty well recommended.
 
Yes it is good to here from somebody in the St Lou area! Been back here from Atlanta for about 7 years now and haven't had much luck finding guys that restore out of their garages as hobbies like me.
I do paint out of my garage and would be interested in seeing what you are planning. I have not learned the art work part of painting but have a pretty good knowledge for painting stock color schemes. I am good enough to know when I had better not take on a project.
I do my own chemical stripping and then I will detail strip with wire wheel. I like to hand sand frame and component. I think that it helps the paint adhere better.
I chemically clean my engine cases, cylinder and head and then glass bead the exterior
only for looks. I do this because I don't mind doing it and have the time.

Thanks for the compliments! Look forward to hearing from you again.
 
Carbs have been disassembled, cataloged and cleaned.
New seals and gaskets.
New jets and needles.
New float.
New diaphragm.
Top cover polished

Carb - Cleaned and ready for rebuild.jpg

Carb - Body cleaned.jpg

Engine installed in frame.
Battery box installed.
Carbs and air filters installed.

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Front end assembly work:
New tapered bearings.
New fork tubes by Franks.
New seals and rubber boots.
Outer fork tubes matte finished.

Front end assembly.jpg
 
Very nice job so far, but there are a couple things I see worth mentioning. Are those the original rubber/metal type washers on the outer acorn nuts on top of the head? If so, they aren't the best choice. They allow those nuts to lose their torque and constantly come loose. Common practice is to switch to copper or brass washers there. Also, are those the original grease nipples on the swingarm pivot bolt? If so, that was an old odd-ball Japanese design that today's grease guns don't readily fit onto. The threaded hole is just a common M6 so it's easy to swap on some modern type fittings.
 
5twins:
Thank you for the compliments and suggestions. The sealing head washers are brass. I think maybe the picture has a shadow and the quality of my phone/camera is not good. The grease fittings are also new updated brass. I wanted a little something there that had a little different color.
 
Well then, you're good to go as far as I can see. Keep up the good work. One more thing I will mention though is if you installed the points plate to a "match" mark you made before the tear-down, hoping the timing would remain good, it probably won't be. The new tight cam chain is going to alter it. I would do a static timing check before attempting to start it.
 
Seat:
I know that a lot of you will be scratching you heads and wondering if I rode the short bus to school after you see what I went through to construct my seat but it was a great learning experience and I actually had a good time doing it.

While searching for a seat it became evident that there were not very many out there that were in good enough shape to rebuild or the cost were to high.

I decided to construct a replica seat pan using fiberglass and seat foam using expanding foam.

I purchased an old seat and foam on-line because I wanted my finished product to be as close as possible to the original.

The first part of the process was to learn about fiberglass and foam. I want to thank Fibre Glast Development in Ohio and BJB Enterprises in California for the support, training and technical advice. These are two great companies and they really went out of their way to understand what I was doing and advise me on the best methods and products. They even called to say that some products I had chosen might not be correct and made alternate suggestions. One even saved me some money. Kind of unheard of in todays world.

Stock seat pan - bottom.jpg
Original seat pan
Original pan covered with Bondo.jpg
Covered seat pan in Bondo to eliminate pitting and rust through
Original pan sanded and primed.jpg
Sanded and primed. Ready to make plug
Plug of original seat pan.jpg
Layed up glass over original pan
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Trimmed and mounted plug on base for working
Plug primed and sanded.jpg
Sanded and primed plug ready for lay up
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Took measurements of original foam
Two piece foam mold.jpg
Constructed a 2 piece mold to pour foam into. Used my seat pan plug for bottom and used the original foam for the top.
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Mixed foam, poured in mold and closed for cure.
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De-molded foam
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Original foam and new foam top
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Original foam and new foam bottom
 
Seat (2)
Mold gel coated and fiberglass overlaid.jpg
Gel coal, cloth and mat overlaid on plug. I inserted steel reinforcing for the hinges, lock and grab bar as I laid up the glass. These will be drilled and tapped for these items to be mounted.
New pan released from mold and trimed.jpg
Seat pan trimmed and released from plug
Seat Pan 3.jpg
Seat pan with attachments test fitted to bike
Seat Pan 2.jpg
Bottom side opened
Seat tack strip attached.jpg
Tack strip added
Seat underside cover attached.jpg
Seat cover installed. Bottom
Seat with cover attached.jpg
Seat cover installed. Top
Finished seat.jpg
Finished seat with trim and hardware
Finished seat on bike and open.jpg
Finished seat on bike open
Finished seat on bike closed.jpg
Finished seat on bike closed
 
Absolutely fantastic work on that seat restoration! :thumbsup:
No, you weren't on the short bus.
But, there may be a room waiting for you, with padded walls. :D

Definitely save those molds.
Like saving bacon grease, you'll be instructed later on what to do with it.

When I 'rustored' my seat, I found a weak, hi-stress area that you may want to address.
The seat's front hinge carries much of the rider's weight on the right side, but has no complementary bumper directly across from it. The seat base simply hovers, unsupported, above the frame on that left side, and can flex down and crack. This is also the battery vent zone, and acid/rust attacks the seats there, which doesn't help the integrity of OEM metal pans. Well, anyway, here's a picture to consider.

XS2-Seat-BumperMod.jpg

I hand-carved replacement foam for mine, original was far too rotted. But, the cushioning was too hard. The original foam had strategically placed holes in the bottom to soften the seating, as you can see in your original foam. I had to disassemble mine :doh: and 'core-out' similar holes in the foam bottom to get that softer cushioning...
 
2M: Thanks for the info. Would be very simple to add a bumper in that area in the future. I have not noticed any stressing in this area yet.

As to foam, This is where the people at BJB gave me some of the best help. They actually had me ship them the old foam and the came up with a solid mix that would simulate the feel of the old foam with holes. They said that back 40 years ago they didn't have the technology or recourses to make a solid foam so they just molded in holes to soften the feel. It probably was a cost thing also. Less foam = less cost.
 
Sci85: Thanks for the compliment. Yes, I am posting previous work. I spent about a month learning, making molds, experimenting and making prototypes. My final seat construction (start to finish) took 12 hours with about 4 hours of that being wait times between applications
 
I agree with two many about the weak spot on the seat pan. Both my pans were cracked in that area and was re-enforced before powder coat. Nice job on the fiberglass construction. Pans are almost non-existant. There would probably be a small market for them. HVCCYCLE has started offering reproduction pans but I don't think I saw one for the 650.The man has talent.
 
Going to finish up this thread today with some final assembly pics. Thanks to all of you who have viewed. I appreciate all the good tips. As this was the first time to post on in a forum I, wasn't sure how it was going to go. I had fun and I hope you enjoyed it as well. Please keep in touch!

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