What have you done to your XS today?

Almost Half of the interstate between Iowa City and Quincy has rain grooves. This rear tire is HORRIBLE in rain grooves, and let me tell you, at
In 86 I rode from northern IL to CA. When I got to San Diego rain groves all over the place. Never saw them before. Bike felt like a wet noodle. Harder I held onto it the worse it felt. Guy passed me with just one hand on the handle bars, looked like he was just holding on with his finger tips. Found out if I relaxed my grip bike was just fine. Took a bit to get used to the feeling.
 
Painted my pitted aftermarket headlight brackets with the last bit of truck bed liner I had from my car rim painting and it’s a perfect color match to the new directionals. Pulled the headlight ring (also pitted) and sanded it down to paint but was out of paint. Went and picked up a different brand of bed liner and it’s not a good match, but here’s a pic to see what the front end looks like currently
8E32B095-A820-41D3-860D-28D7EF67E4C5.jpeg
 
I bought some used Triumph Bonneville shocks on eBay last week. They were take offs from a late model and in very nice condition. They arrived today and made short order or replacing the Emgo units that came on the bike. The Triumph shocks are about 13 1/4” and the top mount was a perfect fit. I had to shim the bottom mount a little with a kit I had leftover from years ago. They look similar to stock xs shocks too. I like them so far and can tell they have more spring in them than the old Emgo units. Hopefully get to test ride them later this week.
EE7C446A-54CD-49BA-A73F-5740AEAEF34D.jpeg
 
Went to the battery place and tested the rewatered battery. The guy said I only had 38 cold cranking amps, I said good thing this battery don't need to crank. Came home and stuck it back in the xs1, kicked it_it kicked back, I kicked again and so did it, I kicked again_thub-thub, I kicked again_ITS ALIVE! warmed it up_shut it down. Next weekend I guess I'll check the advance and the timing and go for a ride. By the way, the kick back is on the OE knee side so discomfort but no tears. john
 
20190412_100554.jpg

Sold the 79F to a very attractive Australian gal last nite. Her boyfriend owns a 75 XS650 & an 80 Special. They liked my 79 very much
I lowered my price of course as she intends to use the e start regularily so a brand new battery is needed. ($2600) That and her smile and accent could have talked me down even further...
So, Im back to this, my favorite one !
20190423_053157.jpg
 
It’s a “Texavina” seat off of ebay. They’re a small operation out of vietnam. Took about 4 weeks to get here, but it was worth the wait and the price. They have composite metal seatpans designed with threaded holes for the stock hardware and fasteners, so it is a direct swap for your stock seat. I just took the mounting brackets and latch off my stock seat and screwed them into the new one.

How’s this for a pic? This is my bike right this minute, on the side of the interstate, waiting on a gas can as I write this post to kill time. It’s only the second time I’ve done this. View attachment 139493
Thanks for the info on the seat. I love the look!

Hope you got home okay.
 
View attachment 139655
Sold the 79F to a very attractive Australian gal last nite. Her boyfriend owns a 75 XS650 & an 80 Special. They liked my 79 very much
I lowered my price of course as she intends to use the e start regularily so a brand new battery is needed. ($2600) That and her smile and accent could have talked me down even further...
So, Im back to this, my favorite one !
View attachment 139656
Sposed to be a sale pic with the new owner!
 
Tucked her in the corner on her centerstand until I get back home on Monday. Still might tidy up some loose ends tomorrow after work but it’s looking like the wrenches are gonna get some r&r over the weekend
 
Sold the 79F to a very attractive Australian gal last nite. Her boyfriend owns a 75 XS650 & an 80 Special. They liked my 79 very much
I lowered my price of course as she intends to use the e start regularily so a brand new battery is needed. ($2600) That and her smile and accent could have talked me down even further...

Randy.....our new West Coast wheeler dealer and purveyor of fine vintage motorcycles! Good on ya mate! :)
 
Randy.....our new West Coast wheeler dealer and purveyor of fine vintage motorcycles! Good on ya mate!
Just a bit of both luck and fun with these XS's. One unexpected surprise of selling the 79F was a reply to my ad from a man in eastern WA . Turns out he bought my Blk/Gld 78E slight cafe a few years back. You may remember the bike. Anyway he went on an on about how well that bike has ran. :) He offered $2500 for my 79 just cuz his other has made him so happy as a back up offer... These bikes are very good for sharing amongst friends !
20170415_140930.jpg
 
Well, I actually got the battery to hold a charge and fired up the XS650 for the first time all winter....
she ran like a top and purred like a kitten..... seams the chainsaw gas I put in it actually helped stablize the gasoline
quite a bit.... as it ran allot better than last time I ran it it acted like the fuel was bad ..but this time it started on the first revolution of the starter
and ran like it is supposed to !
I put about 1/2 gal of 40:1 chainsaw gas in the tank just to freshen it up a bit and rocked it back and forth
maybe I just got lucky but all I know is that it started and ran very well...again !
....
Bob........
 
FINALLY warm enough to work on transferring the orange sidecar onto my Heritage Special.
Sub-frame & upper rear frame clamp attached. Upper front attachment built & installed
Sidecar removed from the XS11 with help from my son Eric.
2 days of effort & vile language to get the lower attachment bolts in place and the rear diagonal strut mounted.
Now the rig will stand up on it's own and I can check the toe-in which should be between
1/2" & 3/4" but it is 5-1/2". WTF?
No problem, slacken the adjustment clamps.
After I'd cut an el-cheapo 15/16"A/F wrench in half so it'd swing under the subframe.
Then adjust the toe-in with a BFH. & now it's 5/8"! Do the lowers up real tight and lug the
car battery & it's box up from the basement.

And that's the back of the job broke. 2 or 3 day's worth of tiddling around and It'll be ready to legalize the plate.
 
Back
Top