Can I build a bike? Opinions on skills required

Thanks for all of the great info! I found this one on Facebook. Is it the type of bike I should be looking for?
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/707303603120853/

Yup - for $400 you've got yourself a ballgame.

As for the charging system - I would go with the stock rotor, stator and brush assembly (all the stuff that sits on the left-hand end of the crankshaft) and use a modern rectifier/regulator unit (all the stuff that lives up under the left-hand sidecover).

Don't bother with nonsense like capacitors to replace the battery and I would leave the front brake and the electric starter in-place, if I were you.

If that thing stalls in traffic at an intersection, you do not want to be faffing around with the kicker - as a concrete mixer is bearing down on you, or be struggling to get it stopped when some phone-yakking numbnuts hipster @sshole blasting rap in a BMW pulls out in front of you. You can still "look cool" by kicking it whenever you want and as for the front brake - I've tried safe and I've tried dangerous - safe is better.

Nobody looks cool in an ambulance - or a coffin.

If you are concerned about saving the weight of the brake and the starter - skip lunch for a couple of days and you'll have saved the same amount of weight.

Otherwise, get yourself a manual (downloadable for free) and start posting photos and asking questions.

Pete
 
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Yes! That is exactly what you're looking for! And the prices sounds about right. If you ask the owner, nicely, if there's "anything else he wants to get rid of...", he might throw in some "freebies", just to get them out of his garage. Somebody will snap it up if you don't. Good luck, and keep us updated (we're nosy!).
 
I asked the seller what he meant by "the engine has been gone though" and he told me all the gaskets and seals, new rings,valves have been cleaned, cylinders have been honed. New cam chain link. If you guys are saying it's a good deal I might try to get it.
 
I asked the seller what he meant by "the engine has been gone though" and he told me all the gaskets and seals, new rings,valves have been cleaned, cylinders have been honed. New cam chain link. If you guys are saying it's a good deal I might try to get it.

Well - if all of that was done properly, then you'll be getting a pretty good deal even if the rest of the bike is junk. A good solid XS650 engine is always worth some dough.

Pete
 
What we are saying is at $400 for a titled bike it's a project, the PO didn't have the skill OR funds to complete, much of what looks done will need to be redone, correctly. If you want a hardtail that's a good price, IT WILL NEED LOTS OF LOVE.
Example; bike I'm working on now "has new steering bearings" (said the PO) well except there is no bottom race. For kind of complicated reasons, it wouldn't fit so they left it out! Multiply that about 15 to 20 times for all the places where the PO got to a; Huh that isn't going to work! OK let's do this while we think about that. But that's what it's like working on old bikes. And why as others have said a complete "shed bike" that hasn't been "fixed on" by amateurs is often an easier project. Finally the weight of all the oopsies stalled the project, til he dreaded seeing the thing in the garage and put it up for sale.
Getting a neglected bike that has all the exact parts you need into running condition is pretty big project if done right and you do what to do things right, right? Getting it all in proper reliable working condition Is the best motorcycle mechanics school you will ever enroll in. THEN think about customizing, one thing at a time. The good news is that because it's an XS650 everything you will run into has happened to others present and past on this forum and answers are here on XS650.com, if you don't find them ask and others will show you where they are.
One more nugget of advice; ignore face book and chopper forums as much as possible, you are more likely to be sent down blind alleys than the path to enlightenment.
 
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I didn't read thru all this thread but my input, GO FOR IT! Learn, cuss some, it's an art. Haha! Most importantly have fun. It's taken me years to accumulate tools. Welder, lifts, etc. You said you have a crew with tools to help, hell yeah, that's awesome! If you're going to keep this bike, spend away. If not, be cautious. There's really no profit margin in these by the time you calculate in labor hours. I recently transitioned into vintage Triumphs and even that market is tough. Good luck and post progress please! There are some smart mofos on here for sure.

Hardtails, short runs. In town. I would suggest going thru and getting a solid motor and carb set-up with the right air filters. Don't time crunch. Have another bike to ride. Don't get involved with "build off" competitions.
 
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Well like any good deal.... turns out the title for the bike isn't as clear as the seller made it seem. I told him I might still be interested if he drops the price a little and he told me "thanks for your time" and deleted the listing. I guess I'll wait for the next one. I've had a bike with title issues before and I'm not interested in dealing with that headache again. I guess I don't understand why you would buy a bike from someone with a legit title and never take the time to update the title and register the bike under yourself, thus removing the "legit" part of the title when you go to sell it.
 
Honestly there is no reason to be scared of a bike without a title. For $6 you get a new one. I've done it a handful of times.. I actually prefer bikes with no titles because you can buy them much cheaper. All you need to do is go online and do a free Vin check to check if it's stolen.
 
Shhh don't tell anyone but I'm OK with an open title on non running low value
"project bikes". Here in the land of wisco. they aren't big deal. Actually asked DMV one time (aren't I brave? LOL) they were pretty much meh, "We mainly worry about registered dealers that don't report transfers".
 
Here you have to report is as abandoned on your property or side of road! DMV will check if stolen and for previous ownership! If PO is found in database they give me a letter to send out to it! Then they have so many days to pick it up! I think it’s 15! If not then I can go through the process of registration! If no owner is found then still have to wait so many days before I can do something with it ,I have to say that I’m going to destroy it and give it to junkyard with proof, or register it and put it in my name! Can’t remember how much ,wasn’t too much ,will have to look at my paperwork! Had to do it a couple times for some dirt bikes , a couple of scooters, and a Kawasaki 750 that I bought in Michigan! I checked the vin to see if stolen before I bought! If the bike hasn’t been registered by anyone in years then DMV will not find owner! If the seller owns the vehicle that’s not titled,he really doesn’t want to report it because they will get him for back taxes! And a bill of sale won’t do! And I believe it’s illegal to sell an untitled vehicle here too! So it’s better to say it has been abandoned!
 
Michigan wants to see bill of sale & print out of KBB or NADA value. If the numbers come back clean just fork over $15 (title fee) & 6% (sales tax) of value or purchase price, which ever puts more of your money into their pockets. Done it with the last 2 bikes I've bought.
 
No title doesn't scare me off. I have a relative in Michigan that can get them. The way she explained it to me: run the vin to make sure it's not stolen. Then a tax is paid on the estimated value of the bike. Michigan title is made, signed off and notorized and mailed to me. Hopefully this made sense. There are several states that don't require a title for vehicles so old. Why my great state of Ohio has to be a bitch? Who knows. What is a Buckeye? I'll tell ya, a worthless inedible nut! Haha!
 
Strewth, all the fuss & bother you American cousins seem to have over this title thing?

It's only an issue in the UK like, well almost never. New motor vehicles sold within the UK are supplied with tax already paid and are registered in the name of the first owner by the dealership. The V5 ownership document arrives on your doormat a few weeks later. When you sell the vehicle, you pass the new owner portion of the V5 to the buyer and send the rest back to the Driver & Vehicle Licence Agency. They send a new V5 out to the new owner within a few weeks. None of this costs you anything.

An exception is if you privately import a vehicle, new or old. Never been through the process but told it is pretty straightforward, though you need to pay any tax due.

We pay an annual road tax, and DVLA checks that the vehicle is insured and annual inspection has been carried out. Oh, and for vehicles over forty years old, the rate of the annual road tax is 0. Happy days for owners of 1978 or earlier XSs.
 
Our annual fee is <I think> the same regardless of the age of the vehicle.

The issue of ownership (aka the “title”) is a concern if the ownership of the vehicle is unclear, but there are ways of dealing with the matter involving afidavits and legal certification of documents by lawyers etc. (Fortunately, I know one of those....;)).

Once you have a valid ownership registered with the provincial government, all you need is a mechanical fitness certificate from a licensed mechanic and then you get proof of valid insurance (which in Ontario is bought commercially and varies widely in cost according to your driving record and the type and age of vehicle). Then you take your fitness cert and proof of insurance to the provincial license bureau pay the annual fee for the license plate sticker ($85/year in Ontario, I think) and you are good to go. If you don’t operate a vehicle for a year - you simply don’t pay that years fee and you can start up again in a subsequent year with no formalities beyond buying insurance and paying the sticker fee.

It sounds like a lot of running around...and it is.

There is no annual vehicle inspection - the only safety / roadworthiness inspection is done when / if the vehicle changes ownership from one person to another.

There was an exhaust emissions inspection every two years for cars (not bikes - mercifully) that were less than <I think> 25 years old, but that was discontinued in Ontario when we tossed the last provincial government (a bunch of raving commie looneys who spent us into the frickin’ poor house) last year and exchanged them for the present bunch of far right knuckle-draggers. Now all the poor garages are stuck having spent a pile of dough on emissions measuring gear that no longer is of any use.

Oops - no politics....sorry, my bad.

Pete
 
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