1978 XS650 Custom Build, The Dirty Dizon

[Shakey]

Looking good kent - loving the overall stance with that back end! Regarding the frame gussets, the original factory ones are considered by some to be barely up to the job of keeping things in order on the twisties. I'm guessing removing them completely is likely to exacerbate this as a potential problem - unless your clients riding is going to be very limited.
There was a magazine article many years ago (referred to I think in the Minton Mods write-up?) where the journos were able to remove the front end of a standard XS and push a broom handle down through the headstock, from where they were able to flex that section of the frame by hand... *gulp* Keep up the good work

 

[KentMoney]

Thanks for all the comments guys!

Honestly what I think may be the best of both worlds would be some clip-ons just below the upper tree. But then again the ergonomics would probably be murder with the current pegs. What kind of clearance is there between the tank and bars with them flipped up side down like that?

I too was considering clip ons for the bike, but now I feel that they may be a bit too modern. I think ultimately we are going to go with custom built bars that may use an inverted riser design, sorta like Hugh's posterchild build.

I probably would have at least used a skeletonized plate where the gussets came out. I don't think Yamaha just put them there to hold the tank, but I may be wrong. My personal preference I suppose. Seems like a ton of work on your end. Are you getting paid? Ya should be! It's looking pretty sharp. And how lucky are you that someone proposed a project to you that started with a decent runner! WAHOOO!

Oh, and Function over form, all the way to the point of FUGLY! I can't see the damn thing when I'm riding it!

Thanks! Yes, I feel very fortunate to be able to do something I enjoy and get compensated for it. Thanks again man!

you might suggest mid mounts from either lowbrow or pandamonium, I cant remember who has them. they are a little lower, but not all the way down to the bottom of the frame. then his bars would fit him a little better.
Is he a bigger guy? Im a bigger guy, and being cramp up for anylength of time equal muscle cramps

The bike is already lowered about 3" in the front and back, so turning clearance is a real worry, especially if I lower the foot mounts even more. My feeling is that I shouldn't go much lower than stock, if at all. I had actually bought the lowered mounts from Monster and ended up selling them because it was too low for my own XS650, and this XS is even lower.

The bike should reflect "you". It's a custom and I know
Not everyone will like it to look the way I do lol but oh well! Different strokes for different folks!

Absolutely Johann. You will have the final say in all this, but we will work to get the best possible look for the bike

Looking good kent - loving the overall stance with that back end! Regarding the frame gussets, the original factory ones are considered by some to be barely up to the job of keeping things in order on the twisties. I'm guessing removing them completely is likely to exacerbate this as a potential problem - unless your clients riding is going to be very limited.
There was a magazine article many years ago (referred to I think in the Minton Mods write-up?) where the journos were able to remove the front end of a standard XS and push a broom handle down through the headstock, from where they were able to flex that section of the frame by hand... *gulp* Keep up the good work

Wow, I think this comment may really be the final word on what I need to do: make some new gussets. Damn, that's a bummer to hear.

 

[visimpact]

After a few hours of tearing down and putting the frame on a weight-loss diet of cutting and grinding wheels, it was time to start prepping for the Brat kit install from Visual Impact. Johann had opted to purchase a pre-welded Brat kit which saved me some work but also made fitment a little tricky. Here is a mock up of the kit after I removed the seat rails from the original frame. I opted to keep about 3/4 of an inch extra on the upright portion of the install because this would improve the rear shock angle and also give a tad more leg room for the rider. You can also see where I had to remove the overlapping piece on the backbone so that the seat rails would mate perfectly with the backbone.

The overlapping piece is supposed to be removed when installing the pre welded kit. It's also built on a mock up frame in a jig so it's made to fit exact when the bottom rails are cut at the described spot and that top overlap is removed.

 

[KentMoney]

yes, I did indeed remove the overlapping portion on the backbone. The kit is installed and all parties are happy

 

[stuntdouble]

Looks pretty sweet. Think my next build is gonna be a brat. If I ever finish the first that is...

 

[KentMoney]

A little more progress. We discovered that the mounting tabs welded directly to the headlight bucket are a bit off-center. You can see the grid of the reflector is not completely vertical . It is also obvious from the top view because the highbeam indicator light is also off center. Gonna see about getting a replacement.

Also got the PMA swap done. Pretty painless these days! Back when I installed mine I spent a good hour just grinding down the woodruff key

I also completed the front mount for the seat today. We decided to hardmount it to the frame and skip springs. I wanted the mounting to look minimal, no hinges and I wanted to keep the gusset on the Brat kit untouched. This is what I came up with.

Here are a few mock ups at the moment with a fender lying on the rear tire. Right now we are trying to decide wether to mount the fender to the frame or to the swingarm. I am partial to mounting to the frame, but we'll determine exactly what's gonna happen once we get the new fender in our hands.

And last but not least, tonight I went through the carbs and checked everything out. Looks good, but I was a bit confused by the mainjets though. It was hard to read, but I think they had 137.5's in them.

 

[CoastsideXS650]

Looking good Kent. Don't forget to get paid son.

 

[Tron]

I vote t-bars and high mount frisco pegs


When is your goal to finish the bike by?

 

[cleoncleon]

I like what you did with the neck end of the frame, looks pretty clean.
How is the Wassel Tank fitting with the Upper- Motor Mount? I got a Wassel also, haven't mock'd it onto the frame yet, not till it's done gettin' the hard-tail section glued on...

 

[cummins6fiddy]

Is that the front half of the front fender you are using for the rear fender? Or back half?

 

[KentMoney]

I vote t-bars and high mount frisco pegs


When is your goal to finish the bike by?

I am aiming for a month for now to have this thing wired and running without finishing paint. Paint will likely come later after it's got some miles on it.

I like what you did with the neck end of the frame, looks pretty clean.
How is the Wassel Tank fitting with the Upper- Motor Mount? I got a Wassel also, haven't mock'd it onto the frame yet, not till it's done gettin' the hard-tail section glued on...

We like the clean look of the neck too but the comments here have lead us to decide to actually put a new gusset in.

As far as the motormount, I plan to fab one up to clear the wassel tank.

Is that the front half of the front fender you are using for the rear fender? Or back half?

I believe it was the front fender tip. but we have a different fender that we are going to use. I hope to have a build update this evening.

 

[XSJoel]

I always thought that spring mounting a solo seat would counteract the suspension and make for a crappier ride on a non-hardtail bike. Liking it.

 

[KentMoney]

Some progress.

After much debate regarding handlebars, we have finally settled on the perfect design. Heavily inspired by Hugh's first build, the handlebars mount from below the trees.

Here are some mock ups when cutting the tubing

and here is the finished product on the bike. turned out awesome

I had also fabbed up a speedo mount but then ran into issues with the speedo cable hitting the light. We decided to keep this area clear and we are going to relocate the speedo. Here it is with the speedo but it just didn't look right to us so it came off.

I also came up with a way to mount the rear fender and I was hoping to get some advice on this area. In an effort to keep clearance tight, we wanted to mount the fender to the swingarm instead of the frame, but we are also trying to avoid any struts to keep it minimal but I am a bit worried that vibrations will have the fender flopping up and down a bit What do you guys think? The fender is a pretty stiff aluminum, and the tubing I'm using for mounting is 1 1/8" wide and will be about 1.5" in length in the end. Do you guys think I need struts?

If this ends up working out this is how the rear area will look, very clean!

And lastly, I got to cleaning up the tank and adding a clear coat to it. This bike will have a lot of brushed metal for that raw look.

Before:

After:

 

[cummins6fiddy]

Looking good! As for your rear fender strut issue, I had a hard time with it as well. I didn't want to run one at all but the vibrations left me no choice. I ended up putting a upper brace about half way up and tried to keep it under the seat and out of sight as much as possible.I also paint the part of the strut on the fender the same coolor as the fender and the rest that mounted to the swing arm I painted black.. this helped with hiding the upper strut.

Keep up the good work!!

 

[KentMoney]

Thanks!

Progress:

Closing in on the home stretch with this bike. Still a little fabbing and welding to do and then its time to wire it up.

Here you can see the new gusset and the coil placement. it fits just perfectly inside the wassel tunnel. We had to modify the gusset a tad to allow the coil to fit but it worked out great.

Here you can see the seat rails I made for mounting of the seat. I used an adaptor in the front because the mounting point on the nose of the seat is elevated a bit. you can also see the round stock I bent that will run alongside the back of the seat. You can also see the key switch bracket welded in place behind the downtube.

Because of the xs650's tendency to have a finicky neutral it was important that a neutral indicator be used to avoid any unexpected stalls at street lights

I ended up finding an LED plug that fit PERFECTLY into the stock tree holes. I also found a micro button that fit on the opposite hole that I plan to use as the hi/lo beam toggle.

And finally, a walk around. Keep in mind we got new wheels and exhaust coming!

 

[Tron]

Hell ya kent. That looks rad.

The key switch location is genius. Im happy you pointed out the coil fits up under the tank. It was one of my worries for this winters build. Stoked I dont have to worry bout it now, just weld on a couple mounts under the tank.

Stoked to see it done man! Bet your buddy is hyped.

 

[jdizon]

I'm very hyped! Happy with the build thus far.

 

[GoldToothGarage]

sick build. you need fender struts i would say. you could mount them closser to the seat and have them almost dissapear in there.

 

[KentMoney]

Yup, have concluded that struts will be happening.

 

[WickedKlown2]

Here is how I connected the fender struts to mine so that the fender still floats with the swingarm utilizing the bottom shock mount bolts...

I hope that helps give you some ideas