New member with a shed find 1975 XS650

Just catching up here....

Anyhow - Casey - welcome, from Canada's sunny southern coast in Windsor, Ontario!

Ahhhhh.....the beautiful 1975 XS650B - my second bike back in the mid-1970s. Truly one of the handsomest factory paint jobs ever put on a Japanese motorcycle.

One small piece of advice...before you buy too many parts - ask here on the forum. As Lakeview said above, there are A LOT of us XS650 people here in Southern Ontario and several folks ;) have....shall we say....substantial stashes of parts which may be available at a reasonable price. Also - some aftermarket stuff is good - but some is simply crap.

Having done several bikes already, you likely know this, but just in case....

If nobody has what you need, the best way to get parts is to simply Google the original Yamaha part number. To get that - go to Partzilla and view the OEM parts fiches that they have on-line. In fact, Partzilla often has some pretty useful OEM parts themselves, but if they do not, you can still win.

Once you find the part number - simply copy it into your search window (do not use ANY words or any other descriptors) - and Wah-La - you will be surprised how often an NOS part will come up at low cost.

Anyhow, welcome, and on with the show (and I do mean show lots of pictures)....

Pete

PS - I may have slipped my trolley, but doesn't that odometer show 1389 miles....and not 13,000 miles? If so then that bike is a treasure!
 
Last edited:
As well, some of the fiche sites have a feature that tells you what other models have the exact same part and while it may be NLA for an XS, it still may be used and available for a newer model.
Example, a brake cam for XS is same part number for early 2000's VSTAR.
 
lakeview said:
As well, some of the fiche sites have a feature that tells you what other models have the exact same part and while it may be NLA for an XS, it still may be used and available for a newer model.
Example, a brake cam for XS is same part number for early 2000's VSTAR.
Click to expand...

Indeed - many things like nuts and bolts, seals and certain specialized mechanical parts were / are used on a huge range of other bikes.

So, If you walk into the dealership and ask for something for a 1978 XS650, the parts guy will almost certainly say that they don’t stock parts for 40+ year old bikes, but if you ask for the same part on a 2012 Yamaha VStar, they’ve likely got a box full of them - UNDER THE SAME PART NUMBER.

The key thing is to have that part number. it is golden information.
Pete
 
MaxPete said:
Indeed - many things like nuts and bolts, seals and certain specialized mechanical parts were / are used on a huge range of other bikes.

So, If you walk into the dealership and ask for something for a 1978 XS650, the parts guy will almost certainly say that they don’t stock parts for 40+ year old bikes, but if you ask for the same part on a 2012 Yamaha VStar, they’ve likely got a box full of them - UNDER THE SAME PART NUMBER.

The key thing is to have that part number. it is golden information.
Pete
Click to expand...
I've used the Partzilla site to find a LOT of parts from elsewhere (thank you Partzilla !)
 
I May be a bit partial, but I think the pant scheme on the 75 was the best of any year.
The white and gold striping on the black is a work of art.
My first two XS650's were 75's. The one I have now isn't much left as a 75 but it still has that paint scheme.
Leo
 
Thanks for the info,
I will be shouting out for some parts
I have started a build thread.
I have been googling part numbers
It shows 13000 miles on the odometer.
I am pretty sure it is accurate
I did replace the battery box and clean the tank
XS650 9.jpg
XS650 15.jpg
Xs650 13.jpg
 
I went back and looked closer at your Speedo. It reads 1389.6. The last number is tenths of a mile.
When I got the 75 I have now the speedo read 1236 miles. I didn't think it was right. Wear on the foot pegs and shifter rubber parts indicated more miles than that. The tach was wrong on it too. It had a 9,500 rpm redline.
I think it may have been damaged and a PO just swapped the dash off some other bike.
On your bike looking at the overall condition it may be accurate.
Leo
 
Mailman said:
A lot of the early bikes only had one mirror on the left side that clamped to the handlebars.
Click to expand...

true - but I think that the ‘75 came with two mirrors - one mounted to the master cylinder (NOTE - LEFT HAND THREAD ON THE STOCK M/C) and the other mounted on the clutch lever perch (conventional right hand thread on this one).

I think that Yamaha was the only company to put a left hand thread on the RH side mirror stalk

Anyhow - she is shining up very nicely indeed!
Pete
 
I checked mine.
It also has provision for the mirrors on the clutch lever and master cylinder.
Has one clamped mirror on the left side though.
XS650 18.jpg

Regarding the mileage
The foot peg rubber and shift rubbers have no wear.
It could be true.
I have no history on this bike but do have a name of the PO before the guy that gave me the bike.
He had not changed the ownership.
Thankfully he did not start cutting either
The frame is rock solid and cleans up nicely .
The wheels and fenders need some love.
Need a standard seat or at least a pan to build one.

Casey
 
XSLeo said:
I went back and looked closer at your Speedo. It reads 1389.6. The last number is tenths of a mile.
When I got the 75 I have now the speedo read 1236 miles. I didn't think it was right. Wear on the foot pegs and shifter rubber parts indicated more miles than that. The tach was wrong on it too. It had a 9,500 rpm redline.
I think it may have been damaged and a PO just swapped the dash off some other bike.
On your bike looking at the overall condition it may be accurate.
Leo
Click to expand...
Hey my names david and im haveing a problem with the reg. Rec. Unit on my 79 xs650 cafe racer its not charging and i seen your post to a guy about useing later unit on older bike i was wandering could pm u sum pics and maybe u could tell me wat ive done wrong its a simple chopper style harness with a combo reg. Rec. Unit
 
MaxPete said:
Just catching up here....

Anyhow - Casey - welcome, from Canada's sunny southern coast in Windsor, Ontario!

Ahhhhh.....the beautiful 1975 XS650B - my second bike back in the mid-1970s. Truly one of the handsomest factory paint jobs ever put on a Japanese motorcycle.

One small piece of advice...before you buy too many parts - ask here on the forum. As Lakeview said above, there are A LOT of us XS650 people here in Southern Ontario and several folks ;) have....shall we say....substantial stashes of parts which may be available at a reasonable price. Also - some aftermarket stuff is good - but some is simply crap.

Having done several bikes already, you likely know this, but just in case....

If nobody has what you need, the best way to get parts is to simply Google the original Yamaha part number. To get that - go to Partzilla and view the OEM parts fiches that they have on-line. In fact, Partzilla often has some pretty useful OEM parts themselves, but if they do not, you can still win.

Once you find the part number - simply copy it into your search window (do not use ANY words or any other descriptors) - and Wah-La - you will be surprised how often an NOS part will come up at low cost.

Anyhow, welcome, and on with the show (and I do mean show lots of pictures)....

Pete

PS - I may have slipped my trolley, but doesn't that odometer show 1389 miles....and not 13,000 miles? If so then that bike is a treasure!
Click to expand...

Pete
Just a follow up on this conversation.
I think the low mileage is accurate.
Every thing I take apart seems like has never been touched.
The small drive sprocket has zero wear.
Who knows the real story for sure.
I have the bike running and took it up and down our dead end street.
The engine seems solid - no noises or smoke.
The conversation about parts is interesting
I have a few things I could use.
My trips across the border are on hold due to covid and shipping across the border is crazy.
I made an exception and order a seat on Ebay for $50 which I hope is as good as it looked.:umm: $80 American shipping - Ouch
The tach is stuck.
The frame that holds the tach and speedo has a chunk missing.
The exhaust is not leaking but is pitted so if someone has a good stock exhaust system left over from a custom build I am interested (I think this might be a big ask;))
Just throwing it out there.
My job has me traveling across most of Southern Ontario at times and I am always up for a road trip to pick up parts.
Thanks for the feed back.
Casey
 
Casey, I’m in Oakville and have some spare parts, not the ones you’re looking for right now, but lmk if I can help with anything. Good luck with the build!
Shoot me a pic of the frame that holds the tach and speedo. Might actually have one of those.
 

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