What have you done to your XS today?

[gggGary]

Or find buy used later model Yammie rotors that you still have to clean up "a bit" and make or buy spacers, light, cheap, and old school hotrod, cuz that's kinda how we roll.
Going from this

To this

cut about 10 pounds of unsprung weight.
those are used yammy rotors that got the flap wheel treatment about 5,000 miles ago.

 

[fredintoon]

Or find buy used later model Yammie rotors that you still have to clean up "a bit" and make or buy spacers, light, cheap, and old school hotrod, cuz that's kinda how we roll.
Going from this
View attachment 177715
To this
View attachment 177714
cut about 10 pounds of unsprung weight.
those are used yammy rotors that got the flap wheel treatment about 5,000 miles ago.

Hi Gary,
I dual-disked my XS650 Heritage Special with a left-side caliper off an XS850 Standard & a second XS650 brake disk.
The second disk makes the stock front brake piston the perfect area because it was sized to operate dual disks.
Drilled the disks full of holes. The extra un-sprung weight don't notice on my sidecar rig's handling
but if I had to do it over I'd swap in the thinner slotted front disks off an XS11 Special.

 

[azman857]

I finished replacing the swingarm bolt/axle. Used the bolt and spacer that I had i my parts stash. Didn't take any pics.

 

[Paul Sutton]

If the rotor is not too bad and time is not an issue then the following method worked well for me. I bolted the rotor to the bench so it was free to rotate but not rock. I took my India oil stone with lots of oil and systematically ground the rotor by hand. It took about 2 hours each side. I rotated the rotor in 8 steps. At each step I rubbed the rotor gently 8 times with the coarse side of the stone then rotated the rotor 1/8th turn and then another 8 rubs etc. I kept track of the rotor thickness with a micrometer and in total removed 1/10th mm. The disk came out nice with just a few deep marks remaining.

If you switch the radio on it is quite surprising how fast the time goes by.

I have seen a camshaft reground on a lathe in an outback workshop. The grinding was done with a disk grinder strapped securely to the cross slide. This may work for the rotors?? I would have tried this method but the rotor is too big for my baby lathe.

 

[xjwmx]

Polished the headlights on my new SaabBlazer so light will come through. Obviously this has nothing to do with the XS650, but it is mechanical slash transportational. Very exciting. This is my first car in over ten years, and my first car made in the 21st century. Feels like I'm driving an app.

 

[Paul Sutton]

MIG welded a patch over a small hole in a muffler. Then I welded another patch over the newly created hole. Thankfully it stopped at this point rather than going on for infinitum .... I bet I'm not alone on this one!

 

[lakeview]

Ultimate Overdrive!
Went to buy an axle spacer/collar and it came with this 30 tooth sprocket. Did not know that small a sprocket was ever made.

 

[MaxPete]

I rode my 72 up to the Iron Horse with a friend. I guess the few that were there were out riding. Saw a 73 and 78 I think. I did the the Oakie Dokies BBQ truck, but didn't see Steve. My friend was never there so we went to Deals Gap and as I went to park near the gas pumps, I stopped and fell over on my right side with my foot under the clutch case. All was ok as 3 or 4 big guys pulled me and the bike up in seconds. Boy did I feel stupid. Limped around for a while then did the Dragon, out and back. Ate lunch and drove home via rt.28. Had my foot x-rayed today. It's broken.

Geeezzzz - just saw this Marlin. I hope you are feeling better now.

Crapity - broken foot.

Pete

 

[MaxPete]

I will cherish it always. Thanks guys!

Yeah, I remember that Jim - sad, but in a funny sort of way....

Pete

 

[member28833]

Harbor Freight, not my usual shopping trip destination, turned up a nice surprise while searching for a taller jack to do some Ford F150 suspension work.
Found this compact rolling scissor screw transmission jack. Not only did it work well for the truck.. Its going to get a modified top plate to become a XS650 jack/stand ! This is will sure help the 78E get its rear suspension and wheels back on one of these wintery days. I think a guy could secure an XS on this and have the ability to roll or turn it a bit too.

 

[member28833]

Well, dug back to the 78E and pulled the wheels out for a quick wire brush prep cleaning and then some spoke "tone" checking. New rim strips, tubes, and a fine set of used Dunlops to wrestle on there.
Started with the toughest one, the rear. Used my spoons, powder, soapy water too. But dang it This rear ended up popped
Takin a break to tube shop and maybe even allow somebody else to put it on there...

 

[thuban]

Well, hell, there's your problem right there! You can't do wheel work in the front room! How can you concentrate on the work when one eye is looking behind you for a broom up side the head?

 

[Paul Sutton]

I have had trouble changing tires using diluted dish washing liquid. The best homemade tire lube I have used is to take a cheese grater to a bar of soap and then add water and boil up in a pot until clear. When it cools it goes super thick and the soap content is only about 10% or less. But I recon you just got that one in a hundred bastard of a tire....

 

[thuban]

Yep, Paul. maybe "tire slick-um" would be a good thread? ( Can't believe it ain't already been done!) I use my knees to keep the lower tire edge in the spoke groove and it goes right on with straight Dawn and just a bit of water. My problem is getting the bead seated. I'm too chicken to put enough air in it to seat the bead. Too many aircraft wheel accidents! Sometimes I get lucky. Sometimes I take it to town and duck around the building before it goes "PONG!"

 

[willis]

Tonight, in honor of Halloween, I decided to resurrect my dead tracker project. I’ve had this bike for over ten years and never had it run. It’s mostly a collection of parts, but I’ve got some good ones! I figured it’s a good time to pull it from my long term storage and into the shop now that the 75 is almost done. To recap, it’s a 1978 special that’s been stripped and de-tabbed into a tracker/scrambler project. The motor is fully rebuilt and most of the wiring is redone. Brakes and wheels are fully rebuilt. Today I installed a used Mikes ignition and coil since I robbed the Pamco system for my 75. I also tidied up the wiring a little. I will probably end up selling this one in the spring, but hope to get it a bit more together and running this winter.

 

[bosco659]

View attachment 178240
Well, dug back to the 78E and pulled the wheels out for a quick wire brush prep cleaning and then some spoke "tone" checking. New rim strips, tubes, and a fine set of used Dunlops to wrestle on there.
Started with the toughest one, the rear. Used my spoons, powder, soapy water too. But dang it This rear ended up popped
Takin a break to tube shop and maybe even allow somebody else to put it on there...

I gave up mounting tires myself. It’s so infrequent that I do this that I don’t mind paying someone. Always fear I’ll damage the wheel. The worst tires are the really small ones like dolly wheels or lawn tractor front tires.

 

[azman857]

Retorqued the head. Checked the valve clearances. Took her out for a short run afterwards. This was a few days back.

 

[Mailman]

Tonight, in honor of Halloween, I decided to resurrect my dead tracker project. I’ve had this bike for over ten years and never had it run. It’s mostly a collection of parts, but I’ve got some good ones! I figured it’s a good time to pull it from my long term storage and into the shop now that the 75 is almost done. To recap, it’s a 1978 special that’s been stripped and de-tabbed into a tracker/scrambler project. The motor is fully rebuilt and most of the wiring is redone. Brakes and wheels are fully rebuilt. Today I installed a used Mikes ignition and coil since I robbed the Pamco system for my 75. I also tidied up the wiring a little. I will probably end up selling this one in the spring, but hope to get it a bit more together and running this winter.
View attachment 178250 View attachment 178251

You do have a lot of nice parts on there! I’m looking forward to seeing it finished.

 

[willis]

This one may help funding my step-daughter’s first car. I’m happy with riding just my 75. If I could get a reasonable amount for my Fatboy it will be gone too. These bikes are fun, but it may be time to thin the herd some. I’ve came close to parting this one out a few times, but I’d much rather see it sold as a running project.

 

[timbeck]

Love the hammerheads.....

tim