What have you done to your XS today?

Mocked up the 2007 GSX-R 1000 forks, Cognito top triple + bar risers, and Pro Taper dirt track bars today. I love where the stance is headed...

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My plan is to shave all the unnecessary mounts off of both fork lower castings, but specifically off of the right side so I can run one brake on the left side + then repaint to cover a multitude of wrongs likely to be committed with the roloc discs while shaving.

I don’t love the mess in my shop though! Need to clean really well before I keep going. I’m in wait and see mode now anyway until spokes show up and I can build the wheels.

I really do think I’m going to build a new subframe and upper shock mounts. Now I just need to find someone with a bender + the right dies who wants to make a few quick bucks. Gonna be way more work to make the stock subframe match up right with the Knight tail...
 
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Took my cylinder head, head top, pistons n rings to me machinist yesterday. Tappet faced v. good, brought home to disassemble. Even though I will lightly polish out the (75mm/std.) piston skirts, he said " I don't care how you think those rings look...long as that things been a sitting, get new rings". Told him while he's at it, scratch around those intakes and exhaust ports and maybe find me a couple of hp. Only thing I saw disturbing was signs of another silicone freak. Put the stuff under every nut, washer, around the gaskets. bought a couple of cans of Rust-oleum Stops Rust/ Automotive Primer Spray: #2089830 Dark Grey 12 oz cans. Looking for and will special order the top coat: Black Semi-Gloss Protective Enamel. # 338944 12 oz cans. Both of these are high in zinc phosphate and zinc oxide. The primer is sandable. The semi-gloss will best emulate the original finish. I did do something stupid. I ground the head off a cam chain rivet and tapped the rivet out rather that just sliding the end bearings off. The chain was perfectly tight, snug. Made a mental note that by not powder coating, those savings can go towards a proper tank painting.
 

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working on seat, taillight/ brake/ signal lights, battery/ electro box plus side covers with the recess for the pods, the tail light with the blinkers is he same I had on my CB750 back in 1978!
 

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Today I got the swing arm welded up and put it on the mock up frame. Wheel looks centered and the sprockets line up. I came to the conclusion the stance of the bike stinks out loud!:poo: This mock up frame has to go. There are too many unnecessary tabs and brackets and center stands etc. Chinky shocks will probably get the toss too. On a lighter note the headlight mounting spacers worked out great.:thumbsup:
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Good. thing about going to sleep @ 8:30 PM is I can get up @ 4:30 AM, be alone with a good cup of joe, do some reading and measure the big end crank bearings' free play....now that the pistons are off and 3 head parts at vapor blaster. Measured 0.018" each big end lateral. Maybe 1 mm full movement up to on the little ends. 0.05 mm rock ?? In Florida here, it's raining, raining, raining.....so, can't take a dry walk. Inside engine work today...pics to follow. Order yet more parts from Mike's. Oh, found out why my advance side flat head screws were so damn stubborn to get out and now wasted. Under the bottom one with the lock washer were two tiny washers crushed in. Pivot pin washers! OK, back to reading and making my shopping list for in the rain errands. I've reached the point whereby I can assume a clearer picture of the last owner who rode this about 20k mi. bike in the early '80's....a DIY silicone leaky engine fixer (who forgot to put back some Cyd.Head top o-rings) and just stopped riding the bike.
 
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Mailed my cylinder off to Hoos Racing for a 700 kit. That'll fix the damage from a failed circlip.
I have a plastic garbage can top that I will put Evapo-Rust in. When I remove my chrome rims, let them sleep in that I before I start scratching at them...use # 000 steel wool or work up from least invasive grit that wont scratch.
 
Today I got the swing arm welded up and put it on the mock up frame. Wheel looks centered and the sprockets line up. I came to the conclusion the stance of the bike stinks out loud!:poo: This mock up frame has to go. There are too many unnecessary tabs and brackets and center stands etc. Chinky shocks will probably get the toss too. On a lighter note the headlight mounting spacers worked out great.:thumbsup:
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Halfmile, what frame will you go with...your builds are all so special and well performed, will this build be different than others?
It seems like you have already cornered the market on different and bitchin builds, with my favorite being your Scrambler build.
 
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Mocked up the 2007 GSX-R 1000 forks, Cognito top triple + bar risers, and Pro Taper dirt track bars today. I love where the stance is headed...

View attachment 168824

My plan is to shave all the unnecessary mounts off of both fork lower castings, but specifically off of the right side so I can run one brake on the left side + then repaint to cover a multitude of wrongs likely to be committed with the roloc discs while shaving.

I don’t love the mess in my shop though! Need to clean really well before I keep going. I’m in wait and see mode now anyway until spokes show up and I can build the wheels.

I really do think I’m going to build a new subframe and upper shock mounts. Now I just need to find someone with a bender + the right dies who wants to make a few quick bucks. Gonna be way more work to make the stock subframe match up right with the Knight tail...

Buzzword, is there an individual thread for your tracker build?
I really like your choice of seat / rear fender glass, I prefer that model vs the widely used "XR" copy.
 
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After managing a walk and pulling weds in the flooded back yard, I told the collective parts of my bike:" see, nobody bid on that '72 xs 650 on Ebay yesterday...but, someone adopted you!" Picked up my head from my 'powder coating guy' who vapor blasted the head parts. Coated in some??? oxide to keep the ferrous parts from rusting up. That made blue and orange hues in the steel. Bores were smooth, Awful bumpy port areas. Tried to get some light into the bores..see pics. I thing I can *at least* brush out the garbage in the intake and exhaust ports. Took a bit of spay and lube to get the grit out of the tensioner wheel.
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I have weighed a later disc before and after drilling, and the weight savings wasn't much, only about 1/4 lb. There is a weight advantage to your earlier disc though. With it's aluminum carrier, it's nearly 1/2 lb. lighter to begin with compared to the later one piece discs. Even though the weight savings isn't all that significant, I still think it's worth drilling them because it improves the braking, both wet and dry.
 
Seems like a good day to bag/tag all of the misc. nuts/bolts shiny parts that have been in the evapo-rust and are getting cleaned/ brushed off. Chrome head, dome nuts and machined top chrome bolts look good enough to reuse....more worried about the studs. Chain(s) slept in some 87 octane. Will take a brush to them, measure, see if drive chain is original? 530? 520?...count the links, See if I can master link the cam chain. Start making the spare bath room int a paint booth (50 yrs old. going to re color the old iron tub and rip the plastic splash wall off anyway). Won't be able to paint outside till Jurassic Park closes prob. Nov. Going to paper, mask off the shower.
 

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