New to me xs650

Hi everyone, I used this forum quite a bit leading up to my purchase and I finally pulled the trigger on a 1980 xs650, not the exact year I was looking for but its great. For the most part I believe it is stock, the exhaust definitely isn't and the rear shocks are koni's, however it did come with the stock ones as well, the seat isn't original either but otherwise I believe the bike to be original. My goal is to keep it fairly stock looking but I also want to put my own spin on it without changing anything that can't be changed back.

The plan is to replace the bars, the stock master cylinder and to add a new flat style seat without removing any of the original tabs or locking mechanism. I'd also like to have the tank painted and to put new shocks and a new exhaust on it eventually. Before I do all that I'd like to clean it up and give it an oil change. If there are any other must do's or should do's before riding or before changing other cosmetic elements, I'd definitely be interested to hear. I've read about new swingarm bushings, steering bearings, front fork springs etc. but will need to check that they havent already been replaced before doing that. Anyways any help or tips are greatly appreciated and I understand a lot of this has likely been covered in previous posts.

Nice looking bike. The seat may be a custom cover and rework of the original. I like it. You won't do much better than Koni shocks without spending hundreds of dollars. I'd keep them. I see the spring preload adjustment is cranked all the way up on them so maybe the springs are a bit soft. You might look into just replacing them if that's the case. Or maybe the P.O. was just a really big guy, lol.

For handlebars, my choice is the Euro bar. Besides being very, very comfortable, the way they droop down slightly on the ends will allow the stock angled MC to sit on there quite nicely .....

Thanks for all that! With regards to the shocks, I'm definitely happy to keep them, but I'm not sure of the condition or if they need to be rebuilt, I was thinking paying someone to rebuild them would almost be the same price as buying some progressives or something.... if replacing the springs makes sense I would definitely do that to, any recommendations for springs? The Euro bar is exactly what I had planned to get. The reason I wanted to replace the MC was because it appears to have leaked and the paint is all flaking off, I figured replacing the whole thing made the most sense but is there a better option for me? What part would cause the leaking?

I can't really recommend a spring. It depends on your weight and what's on there now. Like I said, what's on there may be fine. You'll just need to try them out and see. I'd turn the preload adjusters back down to the minimum setting and start there. The original springs were painted black or chrome plated and had colored paint dots on the coils to I.D. the spring weight. Yours look like they've been redone, painted or something, so I.D.ing them will be difficult. Koni quit making bike shocks years ago but sold the rights and all the tooling to Icon. They make them now and they're pretty much still the same. They even still use the same part numbers for most of the shocks and springs. Your pic isn't close up enough for me to see if yours are the 76 or 7610 series shock. The 7610 has an external dampening adjustment wheel up near the top eye. The 76 series has internal dampening adjustment - you have to remove the spring, push the rod all the way in and turn it. If the shocks aren't leaking and there's no rust or pits from rust in the chrome rods, they shouldn't need a rebuild.

The MC can leak from the top or from the piston down inside. A rebuild kit might fix it if it's the piston but you'd have to weigh that against the cost of a replacement. The stock MC is actually a bit too big for best brake "feel" and modulation so many of us get one slightly smaller (11-13mm, stock is a 14mm). There are lots of cheap Chinese ones out there but I prefer getting a used one from some other Yamaha model off eBay. If you're patient, you can find one in good shape and cheap eventually. The two I got for my bikes were less than $20 each. The nice thing about a Yamaha one is you can usually fit your old brake lever to it so it still matches the clutch lever, fit your existing brake light switch, and it takes the same reverse thread mirror like the original.

Thanks again for that, I've posted some photos of the shocks, the one looks like there has been some damage to the top eye that was repaired. In your opinion are these salvageable?

And thanks for the MC tip, ill do that.

As long as that top eye isn't (or doesn't eventually) split, it should be fine. I think those Konis have been fooled with. I never saw an alloy top eye on an older 76 series Koni, only steel ones. I think maybe someone swapped those on, I have no idea why. Konis don't have that plastic sleeve under the spring either.

The part number for the shock should be stamped into the body below the spring adjuster. You can look it up on the Icon site and see just what shock it is. That will tell you the specs like the eye to eye length and stock spring weight.

Well, I take that back. Here's some on eBay that appear to have that same top eye .....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Moto-Guzzi...3dd5:g:xwgAAOSwfvtcEinT&LH_ItemCondition=3000

Welcome to the site Twenty2.
Looks like the bike has had some good care in the past, I like the looks of the exhaust.
Hamilton, Ontario?

Is it possible that someone added those plastic sleeves? I'm going to take the shocks off this weekend and get a better idea of what I'm dealing with. I wasn't able to find the part number so hopefully I'll find that too.

Hey Lakeview, yeah I don't hate the exhaust but condition wise its seen better days, i'll clean it up and it'll be one of the last things I change. And yes hamilton ontario.

Up at the top of the page you will find a TECH button. This leads you to the tech section where there is a list of topics. Scroll down and you will find a section on new to me bikes. Reading this will give you a good idea of things to check and watch for when you first start riding it.
It may answer a lot of your question.
You may find a lot of other things in the tech section that inters you.
Leo

Yes, it's possible someone added the plastic sleeves, maybe when they took the springs off to paint them. But, I was wrong about the top eye, maybe I'm wrong about the plastic sleeve too, lol. Maybe this particular Koni model came with them.

Twenty2 said:

Hi everyone, I used this forum quite a bit leading up to my purchase and I finally pulled the trigger on a 1980 xs650, not the exact year I was looking for but its great. For the most part I believe it is stock, the exhaust definitely isn't and the rear shocks are koni's, however it did come with the stock ones as well, the seat isn't original either but otherwise I believe the bike to be original. My goal is to keep it fairly stock looking but I also want to put my own spin on it without changing anything that can't be changed back.

The plan is to replace the bars, the stock master cylinder and to add a new flat style seat without removing any of the original tabs or locking mechanism. I'd also like to have the tank painted and to put new shocks and a new exhaust on it eventually. Before I do all that I'd like to clean it up and give it an oil change. If there are any other must do's or should do's before riding or before changing other cosmetic elements, I'd definitely be interested to hear. I've read about new swingarm bushings, steering bearings, front fork springs etc. but will need to check that they havent already been replaced before doing that. Anyways any help or tips are greatly appreciated and I understand a lot of this has likely been covered in previous posts.

Click to expand...

Hi 22,
your bike has an '83/'84 shape stock seat. The '80 thru '84 seat pans are identical.
The flatter stock '80 seat will drop straight on or you can trim your seat foam flatter and put an '80 Saddlemen's cover over it.
Check the list's classifieds for an '80 seat.
Alas that I gave one away Stateside this Spring to a list member who's '80 turned out to be a hinge-seat Special II.
The "usual" upgrades are stainless brake hoses instead of fabric, a smaller than stock front brake lever piston & drilled brake disks.
I'd advise buying an O-ring chain & new sprockets and also adding a ScottOiler to extend their life.
Note that XS650 parts swap like LEGO. For instance, the 1 gallon larger XS650 Standard tank will drop straight on.

fredintoon said:

Hi 22,
your bike has an '83/'84 shape stock seat. The '80 thru '84 seat pans are identical.
The flatter stock '80 seat will drop straight on or you can trim your seat foam flatter and put an '80 Saddlemen's cover over it.
Check the list's classifieds for an '80 seat.
Alas that I gave one away Stateside this Spring to a list member who's '80 turned out to be a hinge-seat Special II.
The "usual" upgrades are stainless brake hoses instead of fabric, a smaller than stock front brake lever piston & drilled brake disks.
I'd advise buying an O-ring chain & new sprockets and also adding a ScottOiler to extend their life.
Note that XS650 parts swap like LEGO. For instance, the 1 gallon larger XS650 Standard tank will drop straight on.

Click to expand...

Hi fredintoon, thanks for all that! I will likely take a shot at trimming the foam on my seat and recovering. I'm trying to find a good MC to buy but haven't had much luck yet but will keep looking, once I find one i'll do the hoses at the same time.

XSLeo said:

Up at the top of the page you will find a TECH button. This leads you to the tech section where there is a list of topics. Scroll down and you will find a section on new to me bikes. Reading this will give you a good idea of things to check and watch for when you first start riding it.
It may answer a lot of your question.
You may find a lot of other things in the tech section that inters you.
Leo

Click to expand...

This is great Leo, thanks! I hadn't noticed that part of the forum yet.

Yes, it can take some searching and time to find a reasonably priced used MC in good shape. What can help is to look up the rebuild kit for the MC you're searching for. That will give a list of all the models that size MC was on and you can search them too. I put an 11mm MC from a Yamaha XT/TT225 on one of mine and a 1/2" (12.7mm) one from an '82 Yamaha Vision on the other. Both work well, improving brake "feel" and modulation, but I prefer the 1/2" one because it gives less lever travel. The 11mm one pulls in quite a bit, like halfway, before it does anything. But like I said, both work well and are an improvement over the original 14mm one. Take what you can get I guess. Here's a parts listing for the 1/2" rebuild kit showing all the models it will fit. I shy away from the Virago and Route 66 ones because they're angled .....

https://www.partzilla.com/product/y...?ref=ce80711d70a38f5beff87c6308e74055482ddca6

Hey 5twins, you said you had the euro bars, which is the same as I'll have, do you know what length of a one length ss brake hose I'll need is? I'm assuming mikesxs will be too long with the euro bar so ill order from elsewhere but any idea on the length ill need? Ill do the rear at the same time but that will be the stock length.

Yes, a line 90cm long works well with the euro bars (or any low bar). That's about 35 1/2". Many of us have been using the low cost Chinese lines the last couple of years and so far, so good. They're dirt cheap, less than $10 .....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/50-120cm-M...e-Pipe-/153456943132?var=&hash=item23babf201c

5twins said:

Yes, a line 90cm long works well with the euro bars (or any low bar). That's about 35 1/2". Many of us have been using the low cost Chinese lines the last couple of years and so far, so good. They're dirt cheap, less than $10 .....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/50-120cm-M...e-Pipe-/153456943132?var=&hash=item23babf201c

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When you say 90cm, does that include the banjo fittings or just the brake line? Also, from what I've read I need a straight banjo for the MC end and a slightly angled, say 30 degree banjo fitting for the caliper end?

I'm not sure how they measure them, just the line or including the fittings, but what they call a 90cm line fits perfectly. Here's one on my '83 .....



You want at least one end angled, the end you're going to connect to the caliper. It provides more clearance for the bleed nipple. But having an angle on both ends won't hurt anything either, it will also work just fine .....

Sounds good, ive been looking for a used MC but not finding much so im wondering if I can use the stock MC and just sand and repaint it. Clearly some brake fluid has wrecked the paint but I really don't know if it was from a leak or a spill or even if it did leak but was fixed, from what I can tell it is not actively leaking, looking at the attached pictures do you have any thoughts or opinions? Thanks in advance!