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Hey All, Long time, no ride. Almost exactly three years ago I limped home on my XS650. I had only a 6 mile commute, and it died several times on my way home, any time I let the rpms drop. Every time I thought it might not start back up, but the old girl did not leave me stranded and I made it...

I have been working on this top end rebuild for months (making time for it has been hard), but I'm nearly there. Before I rivet the cam chain together, I want to know if this is a normal amount of air leakage (you can hear the hissing of air as I turn the crank): I am turning the crank with a...

I'm in the middle of a top-end rebuild. Measuring my valve-spring free length, they are a little short. They meet the pre-77 spec, but my bike is an '81 Special. Is the manual correct; am I due for new springs? Clymer manual lists pre '77 lengths as 1.638 for the outer and 1.614 for the inner...

I've been riding my bike for the laat seven years without having to do any major repairs, but at my last oil change I noticed small chunks of plastic in the oil. So I figure its time to replace the cam chain guide. While I'm at it, I'm going to fix the leaking gaskets and the clutch pushrod...

I'll be finishing school here in a couple of months and moving to CA (bay area) to start my first grown-up job. I'm planning on using my 650 for my daily commuter. In the past its been dead reliable - no issues there. However, a quick search of the forum showed that people occasionally have...

Spotted this little gem on my way to church a couple of weeks ago. Finally connected with the owner and bought it off of him - happy birthday to me! The frame is a '79 but the engine and most of the parts are (I believe) off a '78. Haven't decided if I'm going to keep it or flip it. It does...

I've been waiting a long time for this. I finally got the bike back on the dyno! I did an initial dyno run a few months ago as a baseline before I started doing any modifications. The attached .pdf file shows the results. The bike is a 1981 Special. It previously had no modifications. Over the...

Hey ya'll! Picked up this Kawasaki last night. It's been sitting for a year and a half, the owner had moved away and left this behind. Saw it while out strolling with the wife, did some detectoring and tracked down the owner. Let me have it for a song. Title and keys will be coming shortly...

So, I've finally convinced myself I can afford to make some performance upgrades. Basically, I don't need go-for-broke top end. I just want a little extra torque in as wide a range as I can get. I also realize that just bolting parts on willy-nilly probably won't get me what I want - I have to...

Found this on the local classifieds, a buddy helped me bring it home. The goal is to fix it enough to sell it and make some money, or if it runs good enough I might keep it. At $50 for a mostly complete bike, I figured I could take a chance on it. It's been sitting outside tipped over...

First, let me say that I know that this proposed project would be very difficult and expensive, and that if I just wanted power I would be better off buying a new sportbike. I've been reading a little about race teams that built custom heads to get better flow/combustion efficiency, etc. It...

With the cold weather, I can't keep my glasses from fogging up inside my helmet. It only happens at stoplights, but its very annoying and potentially very dangerous. Anyone out there find a good coating or something that prevents fogging?

I recently got a GS 650 from a friend of mine. It wasn't running, but a new battery, clean carburetors, and replacing the missing main jet it eventually started. Now I'm trying to get it in better tune to make it easier to sell. So I wanted to see if I'm going about this the right way. So...

My friend is selling his bike. He's graduating and moving away. The carbs need work, but otherwise I don't know too much about the bike. (I was going to clean them for him, but he never had time to get them to me). PM me if you want his number, and you can make him an offer.

Heritage Special I don't know the seller, but it looks like a good deal. Thought someone here might like it.

I'm taking a class this fall in my Masters program that involves a design build project. I've got an idea for a new kind of rear suspension. My professor likes the idea, and I've got at least one team member to help with the design, but we need a bike to put it on. This need not be an XS frame...

I want to build a custom bike. I thought I wanted a cafe or tracker, but looking at different examples, they don't fit how I ride. Bobbers and choppers aren't my style either. So I started thinking about what I want in a bike, more than just how it looks. I use my bike mostly for commuting...

This problem doesn't make sense to me: Bike starts up after sitting since September on first push of the starter button. Idles fine, everything sounds good, except for a slight tapping that I think is one of the valves. Take it out on the street, ride to the store, less than a mile. After...

So I think this problem has been developing, or it could be a couple different problems. It started on the freeway at about seventy miles an hour. The engine lost power and felt like it was running out of gas, but then gained power back, and went back and forth. It felt like when you are bad...

I did a cursory search and didn't find much on this, but it seems like it could be important. I normally live at 4500 ft, but I'm visiting family 800 miles away at 2000 ft. More oxygen here means I'm running lean, right? So should I be worrying about adjusting my mixture as I go through...