New here, just wanted to say hello.

simmie

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Hello,

I would like to introduce myself. My name is Simmie Kelly. I'm from Mobile, Alabama.
I have been tooling around the forums for a week or so reading as much as I can about the XS650. I have to say that I really enjoy the info and pics! I don't have a bike as of yet but, I have been digging through CL and Ebay looking for a nice project thats within driving distance and one that I don't mind chopping up. Not much luck yet though...

My biggest concern is my size. I'm 6'3" 225lbs. I want to build a hardtail bobber/chopper but, I'm not sure how much strech I would need to feel comfortable and not feel like a big gorilla sitting on a moped.

Pics and info would be great!! Thank you guys and gals in advance.


-Simmie
 
Welcome Simmie

Well there's not much chance you won't feel a little large on one these when it's chopped. Count on a minimum of 4" of rear stretch. If I were you I would go with 6" of rear stretch and rake out the neck. I'm 5' 10" and with 4" of rear stretch, I'm comfortable with the length... barely. With a hardtail you are lowering the seat position by a significant amount, shortening the distance between the seat and footpegs, even with forwards it can feel a little short.

I know a couple of guys over 6 feet that went with less than 4 inches on their first chops... it didn't take long for them to want a change.
 
Thanks Teebs for the quick reply!! Thats the exact info I was looking for. I thought that the long stretch would be what I needed but, I guess I needed to hear it from you guys with experience.

Now, I need to look around for a hardtail section. I have read about a few companies that offer different stretches. I'll take a look and get back with you guys about the pros and cons of the ones I like.

Thanks again,

Simmie
 
Then you have guys like me that are also 5' 10" and ride a bobber with stock mid controls. In fact I had forward controls and replaced them (wanna buy them?) with the mids because they are, to me, more comfortable.

I think a lot of it is how you plan to ride. Long rides or bar hopping? What kind of bars, seat, suspension, etc. all play into the formula. You have to know thine self what makes you comfortable and what causes a pain in the neck (literally).

Try to Zen yourself into the ideal riding position and have yo mama photograph and measure everything so you can get a sense of whether, from your elected seat, suspension and handlebars, that translates into forward or mid controls.

My two. Welcome to the forum.
 
:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:"Thine self"? Truly? Art thou daft? :laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

Incidentally, it should be "thy". The same rule applies as when using "a" and "an". The latter form only applies when preceding a word beginning with a vowel or "h"; "thy self", or "thine own self". In this particular case thy self is actually "thyself", just as "yourself" or "myself".

Sorry, couldn't resist. (OK, I'm not really sorry.) :D

Also, I can be fairly confident in saying that for a dude that is 6'3", mids on a chop are not going to be comfortable, no matter how he plans to ride, and regardless of seat, suspension, or handlebars. Just by hardtailing it, you drop seat height. If comfortable is having your knees under your armpits, then yeah it would be totally comfortable with mids.
 
Oh, a wise guy, eh? Why I oughtta...

Maybe the guy wants to look like Rat Fink. I know lots of people that do. Knees under arm pits would be just about right!
 
I'm 6'2" and my bobber has a 6 inch stretch. I'm also running mids and find it comfortable enough to ride 500 miles in a couple days.
 
I'm 6'6" and my xs is built with a TC Bros hardtail, and a raked girder fork. I went with mid controls, but they are lower and slightly forward of a stock xs. Felt real comfortable to me when I rode the mockup around the neighborhood. It looks like a small bike in the vidio though. I've been riding undersized motorcycles all my life. My friend tells me I make his Goldwing look small.:bike:
 
My biggest concern is my size. I'm 6'3" 225lbs. I want to build a hardtail bobber/chopper but, I'm not sure how much strech I would need to feel comfortable and not feel like a big gorilla sitting on a moped.


lol Kent, I actually paid attention to Simmie's original post... just playin'... but really... :D
 
Man, you guys are killing me...lol

I really like the way mid controls look. All of the bike's I've had in the past have had mid controls and they were comfortable. With that said, none of them were hardtails with really low seats.

I did a search for xs's with a 6" stretch. I found a couple but, I wasn't too happy with the way they looked. From the pics I've seen, the difference between a 4" stretch vs. a 6" stretch is huge. The extra 2" leaves a lot of open space behind the engine. They still look cool none the less. I may want to split the difference and go with a 5" stretch.

Inked Monkey,

Do you any pics of your bike that you could post or a link?

Plane Ben,

Where can I checkout your video?

Thanks again for all the help.

-Simmie
 
First of all, WELCOME Simmie

Kent, I am interested in your forwards

I am 6ft tall and 250ish and my XS650 is lowered 2 1/2 inches with no stretch (yet) and stock controls... I like it, but plan some major changes this winter.

I plan on doing about 8 inches of rearward stretch and a seat drop of about 4-6 inches a set of drag bars or clip-ons and a few other changes ( including a cross-over merged exhaust for a smoother exhaust note )

here is a pic of my scoot as it is right now, and believe it or not, the seat is more comfortable without a pad than it is with a pad... for me.
 

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- interesting perspective

- is it my imagination or a trick of the light ? ... is there a wheelspray-cover mounted on the front frame tubes ?
 
man it looks like your riding one of those kicker bikes!

very nice girder!

i'll try and get the wife to snap a pic of me on the bike i'm building.
it has mids in roughly the same position as stock and a tc bros. 3" stretch with low rise bsa bars

it's comfortable for me and i'm 6' and 240
 
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