Bike too low. Kickstand up touching the ground

RFritz79

XS650 Enthusiast
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So ran into a huge problem. Bought a 78 a few months go. It was just the frame/motor/and rear wheel
Everything else i had to piece together. It was previously hard tailed (quite badly done it looked like)
Anyway i put it all together and the bike sitting straight up is 1-2 inches off the ground. I can't even put the kickstand down. Im thinking they didn't measure properly from the hardtail. Because the downtube was cut and welded
Is my best plan for a fix just to get longer fork tubes? Thats the only thing i can think of besides hacking the bike up again. At the moment its unridable
frame.JPG
 
those welds look sketchy AF, not to mention the transition to the tail with that pieece cobbled in there. be safe and cut it off and redo it.
 
Yea its pretty ugly. I had a welder go over it and reinforce everything, make sure its safe. While building i never thought to question the ride height. Im thinking longer fork tubes will raise it up enough
 
I think you're going to have to re-work that sidestand. The foot shouldn't be hitting on the exhaust mount like that, only the tang should. The stand and foot should tuck up behind the frame rail.

SidestandTang.jpg


SidestandTang2.jpg
 
Now that I'm looking at it. The kickstand looks modified. Not sure if the length is correct. Looking at the new stands on MikesXS. They defiantly look longer
 
Yes, that stand has been modded, although poorly. You have to shorten them with a hardtail because the bike sits lower and the stock stand is too long. That can be tricky because the return spring hook is pretty near the ground already. You can't take much off the bottom before it hits the ground. Sometimes it requires switching to a shorter spring and making two cuts on the stand. Take a little off the bottom and some out of the middle. Here's a stocker compared to mine that I modded to be a little longer because of my longer rear shocks. You can see the spring tab is pretty close to the ground .....

ModdedSideStand.jpg


On one I modded for a guy with a hardtail, I cut the spring tab most of the way through and bent it to the side. That provided a little more room under it. I only did one shortening cut on that one, at the bottom below the spring, and it was barely short enough. It could have used the shorter spring and second cut.
 
I suppose longer fork tubes might work. Prop the front wheel up on wood blocks and see how it sits.
 
Would the best way to fix my ride height to just get longer fork tubes? Or just scrap the frame I have?
Hi RFritz,
seems you bought somebody's orphan stepchild after they realized it's problems and dumped it.
Lifting the frame by the 3" it needs will take 6"-over fork tubes.
Will 6"-over fork tubes lift your frame? Yes.
BUT
It will also make the bike steering super-slow and make the bike look all wrong.
AND
You'll still be stuck trusting your life to a poorly designed hardtail with bad welds.
I'd suggest you bite the bullet and go with a reputable propriatory hardtail instead.
(Well, I'd look for a titled swingarm frame to swap the running gear into because my old bones don't take kindly to hardtails no more.)
 
The mount that has the brackets to the backbone isn't even close to lining up. The closer I look the more fucked it is. I need a new frame bottom line
 

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Hi RFritz,
Alas that the frame is FUBAR, it'd be a nice looking ride if only it was rideable, eh?
Recent posts about the possible existence of an XS650 Midnight Special make me suppose the builder was trying for an XS650 Midnight Hardtail.
Hopefully the frame's front end can be salvaged with a good weld-on hardtail.
Speaking to my sidecar addiction, there is an alternative to re-working that frame if you reckon the welds are good enough.
The thing is too low to lean over anyway so convert it into a sidecar rig.
Anyone with a few feet of square tube and a trailer stub-axle can make an unsprung rigid sidecar frame.
Add a plastic cartop luggage torpedo painted to match the bike for a sidecar box and only ride it on smooth roads.
 
Man, that could have been a nice looking bike! Junk the frame.

I would cut off the neck and get a proper frame welded up for you, to suit your wants and needs. I hope you do have the title, otherwise get a new frame with a title.

Everything else on the bike can be stuck on the new frame, so not a complete disaster!

Keep us updated, I'd love to see this done!
 
Ebay auction !!!!!!!!! Let someone else worry about it, seriously.

Scott

To sell that unsafe bike with questionable welds on Ebay, would be unethical and fraudulent. What if you sold that bike to some novice, and while he drives it down the freeway, it breaks into 2 pieces, and the rider is seriously injured or worse! The only right think to do is to remove any good parts, and sell the frame to a scrap metal dealer.
 
Found it on Craigslist. It was just the frame, motor and rear wheel. The front end was missing. Said he put it on another bike. So without the front I had no idea of the ride height issue. He said he rode it before he took it apart. Which now I know to be a lie. Cuz if he had the stock front end. He'd be in the same position as me. Or he realized how fucked it was and sold it to me. I paid 800 for it. So the motor and the rear wheel I figured were worth the 800. So I got shafted but my ass doesn't hurt too bad. Rushed to build it for a memorial ride. And here I am
 
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