2015 XS650 Calendar VOTE HERE!

Update 12/22/14:
The pre-order has started! Don't miss out! http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39231
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Update 11/12/14:
The poll is now closed. See who made it into the calendar.
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Vote for the XS650s you'd like to see in the 2015 XS650 Calendar!

The XS650 Calendars were a huge success the last couple of years and Shawn (samoran1) has offered to put together a 2015 Calendar! Plenty of XS650's were nominated for the 2015 calendar and the ones that were nominated, seconded, and accepted are ready to be voted on. Click here to see the nomination thread.

This is the voting thread. There will be 13 bikes in the calendar (the calendar will include January 2016). The bike with the most votes will be on the cover and also have its own month (like last year). Voting will end on November 11th. You can vote for as many bikes as you want. Only one bike is allowed in the calendar per owner/builder, so if a person has more than one bike up for vote, only the bike with the most votes will be included.

For the top 13 nominees: to get these Calendars printed and shipped on time, samoran1 needs all of the pictures for the calendar by Sunday November 16th. You will need to send 3 or 4 high quality photos of your bike with no logos or watermarks (min dimension to be posted later) and your name, location, bike year/model, and SHORT bike bio via email to Shawn. He'll post his information when the voting is done. You need to be the owner of the photos or have permission to use the photos for the calendar. In the event that people are unable to supply photos in time, the next runner up will be included instead. So the close runners up (14, 15 and 16) may wish to have photos ready to send in.

Nominees, feel free to post more photos and details of your bike in this thread. For the photos below, I used what was supplied in the nomination thread. If you want me to replace any of the photos in this post, let me know. I will post up to two photos of each bike below.

After the voting is complete and the calendar is put together, a thread will be created with the final product and a link to an ordering page. There will be a limited time to order, so check back often for the ordering thread. A link to the ordering thread will be posted in this thread as well as on the main page.

Thank you to everyone who has helped make this calendar happen so far.


Here are the nominations. Vote using the poll above.

gbobst



sparky4123


DIRTY DOG - not a triumph


DIRTY DOG - bike 2


bt24 - blue bike



bt24 - black bike


grepper


XS1961


inmotionphotog


RFLIVES


dilbone



livingdeadmc


pat_in_the_hat



Monty



Slide


retiredgentleman


Airwolfie


jdizon



Rd51


sbaugz



dj_elite



olddude13



beyondtrout



JK Racing



v8-914


HAPPY DAN



Retrospeed

We had a ton of nominations this year so thank you everyone for participating. Some bikes didn't make it to the voting thread because they were already in the 2013 or 2014 calendar, or didn't get seconded and/or accepted.

Don't forget that you can vote for as many bikes as you want. Vote for just one to give it an edge over the others or vote for all except one if there is one you absolutely don't want to see in the calendar. Once you submit your vote you can't change it or vote for additional bikes.

Figured I'd write a short little story about my bike. It is my first XS, and my first street bike. It is still my only street bike. I saw a picture of a flat track bike from Ron Wood Racing in one my dirtbike magazines when I kid. I saw it and thought it was the coolest thing on two wheels, if only I could have one that was street legal someday. That was the main inspiration, along with a love of cafe racers.

I bought the bike when I was 22 after returning from a military deployment, it was 800 bucks and in rough shape. After removing the engine from the bike in the parking lot and lugging it up two flights of stairs, I started rebuilding the engine in my barracks room with a very limited set of tools. Fast forward three years and several moves later, the bike was finished. It took me much longer than I planned on, but was worth it. I slowly acquired tools along the way, and towards the end I had access to my fathers tools when I temporarily moved back to Colorado after my Army time was up. It has its flaws and is far from perfect, but I'm glad it is that way. It shows I built it myself. Although, I couldn't have done it without this forum. I did a ton of reading on here and learned a lot from everyone. This place is awesome.

Here's a link that shows 140-some pictures documenting the build:

http://metalman1011.smugmug.com/Motorcyles/My-Bikes/XS650/

My bike was seconded. Don't you accept european bikes ? I don't understand.

It's unfortunate, but your bike and many other great looking bikes aren't included for voting because we felt the rules were pretty clear in that bikes needed to be nominated, seconded, and accepted. I also reiterated the point in post 24 of the nomination thread:

Travis said:

This may seem weird, but we need the owners of these self-nominated bikes to come back and accept (after they've been seconded). By accepting you are agreeing that if selected you will send your name, location, bike year/model, SHORT bike bio, and high resolution photos to samoran1 via email after the voting is done.

Keep the nominations coming! Owners, start accepting so we can get the voting list starting.

Click to expand...

In reviewing the nomination thread, you will see that plenty of people that self-nominated their bikes waited and watched for their nomination to be seconded, and then came back and accepted. With the rules written in the first post, what I posted later in the nomination thread, and many people following those rules, it is fair to stick to them.

Accepting was acknowledging that you read the rules and agreed to send high resolution photos and info to samoran1 after the voting was done. We didn't want people to just pop into the thread, post a low resolution photo of their bike without reading or following the rules or ever coming back to the thread, and expect that photo to make it into the calendar.

The nomination, second, and accept process originated with the XS650 of the month contest. In the beginning you couldn't nominate yourself, but you could post a picture of your bike to solicit a nomination and the rest of the process stayed the same. We tried to be more lenient for the calendar in allowing people to self-nominate, while still using the same nomination, second, and accept concept.

I hope to see all of the bikes that didn't make it this year in next year's voting thread as there really were some good ones.

Ok Travis. No problem. Just be more clear next time.
I still don't understand a word of the rubbish process
Anyway I'm on the front page of the biggest french XS forum
http://xs-passion.activebb.net/forum

Forgot about the calendar.... Lol next year.

Just thought I would post a little backstory on my bike "Hanky Panky"


This is my first bike that I can actually call mine in a long time. I took bits and pieces and leftover parts and built this bike with what little bit of money that I had at the time. The engine has been completely rebuilt by me it is a 277 re-phase. It was the first 277 crank that I ever built and it turned out really sweet, it also has one of Hugh's Hot rod cams in it. What you wouldn't be able to tell from the pictures is that this bike is ALL RAW no powder no paint. All the parts that are shiny have been polished by hand. There are countless hours just in polishing.
How it come to get it's name is that I found myself working on this bike when I should have been doing things that were more important but when I would look at it, it would call my name and I would say ah "I'll just work on it for a minute" well those minutes turned into hours. So I figured the name Hanky Panky was fitting because It means you were usually doing something you weren't supposed to be doing. I got to take it out a few times this summer and it is a blast to ride! I love this bike!


DSC04733 by pandemoniumc2, on Flickr


DSC04739 by pandemoniumc2, on Flickr


DSC04589 by pandemoniumc2, on Flickr


DSC04521 by pandemoniumc2, on Flickr

Here are a few more photos of our XS650







Here's a link to our gallery of before, during, and after photos for the build:
http://www.retrospeed.net/yamaha-xs650-gallery.html

This bike was custom built on the TV Series 2 Extreme Motorcycle TV for Jason Bonham-drummer for LED ZEPPELIN'S last tour. The motor is a full race 750 built by famed XS tuner Jerry Heiden. Just like Led Zeppelin this bike is LOUD and it ROCKS! From the diamond cut head and cylinder fins to the custom hand tooled leather seat this bike displays an attitude worthy of the Worlds Greatest Rock n Roll Band!

Should have read directions... haha... whoops..

A little background on my bike.

Bought it in boxes, never EVER having done anything mechanical apart from changing the oil and air filters in my car! I have been building for almost two years now, it is so close to done, I just need to finish off the wiring. Maybe getting nominated will force me to finish her off, but it is tough as I am a dad of a beautiful little baby girl now, and you guys know how much free time you get with that!!







Here are a few pictures of what was added since that last picture was taken. Hopefully I will have a complete piccy when I get to have her in the calendar!!

Titanium wrap with brass ends




Front mudguard with custom mounts






Rear mudguard with brass tail light




Thanks for the votes either way, it means a lot!!!

Here are some more pics of my tracker during the build. The entire motor and wheels and brake calipers were beadblasted, VM34 carbs with K&N filters, Shell 1/2 mile exhaust, Avon Distanzia tires, Champion tank with an XR750 seat/tail, bates front headlight, #10 bend bars, frame was cut with new motor mounts fabbed, braced neck, Radian swingarm, Koni shocks and reworked front forks, all new gaskets, new brake components, new wiring. All of the electrical and rear inner fender pieces were hand made and polished. I did all of the graphics and had a friend paint each portion and had 3 coats of clear coat applied. This bike was built in 2005 and has been a daily rider ever since. It really likes to be let loose on the dirt fireroads in our area where there are no cops for miles. It keeps me very happy between flattrack races where I get to ride the Champion 250MX and Yamaha XT540. Thanks.
....Mel....

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A couple more pics to help sway your voting.

Thanks for voting guys, I appreciate the support!

As can be seen in the pic that Travis has shown in the original thread, I built "Thor's Hammer" in the living room of my second story apartment.

It was a three year journey from start till it was registered on the road, however it certainly isn't finished with the last 7 months being one very long and frustrating shakedown.

During the last 7 months it's been off the road for close to half of that, but I've still managed to clock up over 5,600klm of riding to work daily, rain, hail or shine.

Here's some more pics and a video of me treating it like a ski boat during a two week wet weather spell in Sydney.


Christmas tree

Xmas_greeting-large by inmotionphotography, on Flickr



Dis-assembly

Thors Hammer 00944 by inmotionphotography, on Flickr



Final assembly

image by inmotionphotography, on Flickr



Taking down the stairs

1506561_744064985617095_1017194700_n by inmotionphotography, on Flickr



First ride




Before and after

image by inmotionphotography, on Flickr


image by inmotionphotography, on Flickr


image by inmotionphotography, on Flickr



Ski boat




Thanks guys!


Cheers


Steve

Here's a little background info on my build that no one may want.... And some additional pics. I wanted a badass looking bike and the xs650 looked like the easiest one to make look like what I wanted. I found a pair plus spare parts for pretty cheap and sold off one to help finance the build.

I wanted to do this as cheaply as possible but still have it look good. The intent was to fab as much myself as I could and only purchase aftermarket parts for things I couldn't figure out how to make.
Items made from scratch:
Turn signal brackets front and rear
Headlight bracket
Seat pan
Seat hinge/bracket/gusset/bungs
Leather seat upholstery hand stitched
Battery Box
Rear brake light switch mount
Rear brake stay bracket
Electronics tank and mounting bungs(purchased caps from Tcbros)
Gas tank mounting bungs
Fender struts/bungs
Exhaust calmps/mounts
Exhaust headers
Baffles
Choke pull rod
Wiring harness(with 2 Tcbros connectors for alternator/regulator)

Items made/modified from old parts:
Peg mounts(old peg mounts)
Spring tensioner(old drivers peg)
Rear brake lever pivot(cut out of old frame)

I prep'd, primered , painted, cleared, cut and buffed it myself. It could be better, but overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I think I like the rough fabrication work better than the finish work. I'd do it again if someone else would paint and polish. I almost took it to a place to have them clear it for me just so I wouldn't screw it up. At that point lacing the wheels and sandblasting the frame were the only things I hadn't done myself so I figured I'd better go ahead and clear it and check it off the list. Motor had 14,000ish miles on it so I didn't bother opening it up and it runs well enough that I don't see me needing to get into it any time soon.
Here it is with a guitar I built...they were supposed to be matching color but I couldn't find the copper metal specks duplicolor anywhere locally that I used on the guitar...but I think I like the bike better the way it is.

More details on olddude13, I'm curious about that kickarse tiny tank.

A few more details on my bike.

Hardtail is a Voodoo Vintage MK21 With the mono shock spring seat setup first to have the Biltwell solo seat.



Front end is a 2005 GSXR 600 front with XS front wheel



speed metal clip-ons off a Ducati with a slimline master and Magura throttle and YZ clutch perch. Highway dirtbikes kill/headlight switch finishes out the controls.



Electronics are all there including a Ballistic battery tucked into the void where the starter once was. Hughs Pma, Pamco ignition and a dual output coil mounted to the head gets her going.





Engine was treated to a top end job and cleaned up and detailed

alanlep said:

More details on olddude13, I'm curious about that kickarse tiny tank.

Click to expand...

olddude13 posted the following in the nomination thread:

olddude13 said:

I accept.

Btw the tank is custom made out of aluminum

Custom aluminum tank, custom triple clamps, 03 gsxr forks, custom made rotor carriers calipers and hot wing glass seat pad is custom master cylinder, custom made exhaust, barns style hubs, radian swing arm, stainless steel bars, LED tail light, Piaa eye ball lamps, custom rear brake hanger, sun rims, Buchanan spokes, Maxxis tires, Mikuni carbs, Braille batterie, Progressive shocks.

Click to expand...

He posted several pictures here: http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?p=386250#post386250

1978 XS650. Truth behind this bike. Me and my buddy built a nighthawk bobber that came out really nice. We were supposed to make a side business out of it. His wife got in the middle after seeing the profits and killed that dream. We didnt talk for a while. I went on my own and built this bike to kind of to spite him. Blood sweat and tears went into this build. It was a budget build that I built for about $2600 minus paint. I knew I could do it on a small budget. Needless to say while building the bike I found out my wife was pregnant with our first son. This drove me to make the bike even better for the reality was, after it was built it would need to be sold. No time to ride with a newborn, and daddy needed funds to support a human life. The bike was sold after being built and only ridden by me several times. It sucked to sell, but was fun to build. I sold her for a good profit and the money went to a good cause.

About the bike:

Kickass pod filters
lowered front end 1"
tc bros hardtail
peanut tank with custom tabs
drag bars
custom aluminum mirrors
custom grips
chain roller
custom rear fender w/chain cutouts
false oil tank for electronics w/key switch
Biltwell seat with 2" springs
kickstart only
custom headlight and bracket
harley cateye tailight w/custom mounting bracket
many other mods

Engine was never opened. Only had 5,000+ original miles with excellent compression.

All welding and fabrication by me an my Miller 212
Paint by Cutting Edge Industries Candia, NH

Paint is a burgundy w light gold metallic.