Recent content by bparsons

Are the brown ears (light mounts on forks) and/or the screw-in mirrors still available? Thanks

5twins - thanks for the tip. Will let it soak. Here is a pic of the unit, think this is original to the bike?

I feel like I'm losing my mind... I can't get my master cylinder cap to unscrew. The master cylinder is off of the bike and off of the handlebars. I believe this is the original front master cylinder and has the round cap (versus the rectangular kind with the screws (4)). Is this reverse...

Thanks for the feedback... seems like powder coating is my best bet. Planning to go with the glossy black that you guys are saying. Will post a pic of the frame pre-blasting.

Need advice on how to refinish my frame - paint or powder coat? I'm nearing the end of the teardown phase of my 1974 650 and am getting ready to do the frame. Engine is out, everything if off of the frame and I'm planning to send it out to the sandblaster. After the sandblasting, should I...

Just got the Oil filters out and found them to be in good shape. Side Oil filter: [/ATTACH][/ATTACH] Sump Oil Filter: [/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH] The sump was brutal to remove. The six screws came out easy but then had to hammer and pry the filter cover off. Any suggestions on how to...

Thanks for the feedback. I'll test the battery as you suggest MVLUV... hoping this fixes the starter. If so, will go with the AGM battery. MVLUV - yes on the cobra, good eye! I'm actually a car guy and this is my first bike.

Here is a pic of my plugs: Oil Fouled or OK? Thoughts?

So here's the latest (following the steps in 650SKULL's thread - thanks for the step-by-step, Skull): http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=367 - Oil change didn't raise any new worries... oil didn't show any odd colors, debris, smells. Just dark and old, but nothing to worry me. -...

Ha... the color is pretty bad! I've had a day to poke around and so far, so good. The bike is very straight and is running pretty good. Lots of petina (read - super dirty) and standard road wear, but I think it has potential. Here are my notes so far: 1 - the bike fires up pretty quickly...

Well, managed to pick up the bike and trailered it home. It fired right up (kick starter, e-start doesn't seem to work) and sounded good. The bike looks pretty straight but has definitely been sitting for a lot of years. See pics below. Hope to get some better ones.

Thanks for the feedback. I will look into the rest-mod approach. Machi - thanks for forwarding... very cool bike.

Hi... new to the forum and getting ready to start a new project with my 5-year old son (a bucket list item for me). Planning to pick up the bike this morning... anxious to start diving into it and documenting the process. Will post pics shortly. The bike is a 1974 650 that's been in storage...