1978 XS650 Special Project

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Melnic

XS650 Addict
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Delivered today was the 1978 Yamaha XS650 Special. I traded an AR upper I had collecting dust for past 4+ years.
Last Winter to get back into riding, I got a 1983 XJ650 running (carb rebuild, tank, MC/Caliper rebuild, brake lines, valve shims). I got it running great now.
This one was originally Burgundy but was custom painted at some point in its life. The custom painting is in pretty good shape and I think once I polish it up some will look even better. I will get it running first before I decide if I want to restore original paint and seat. I have the badges for it. Tires will need to go shortly after getting it running. Cranks with the kick start but need to get battery for it. I pulled the cap for the Master Cylinder and the brake fluid is reasonably clean (enough to see the holes in the bottom). Brakes seemed to work and it was rolling pretty good once I put air in tires. Seat is in great shape so even if I put a stock seat on it, it has some value maybe to someone. white crud on the engine side plates cleaned off after I took the pics. Pipes are not all rusted out at the tops like the XJ 650 I have is. Tank definitely needs to have rust removal done like the other one I did.
Next going to get a battery to see what electrical is working or not working and see if it will want to start at least with sprays of starting fluid.

Fall/Winter project.
 

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Melnic said:
Delivered today was the 1978 Yamaha XS650 Special. I traded an AR upper I had collecting dust for past 4+ years.
Last Winter to get back into riding, I got a 1983 XJ650 running (carb rebuild, tank, MC/Caliper rebuild, brake lines, valve shims). I got it running great now.
This one was originally Burgundy but was custom painted at some point in its life. The custom painting is in pretty good shape and I think once I polish it up some will look even better. I will get it running first before I decide if I want to restore original paint and seat. I have the badges for it. Tires will need to go shortly after getting it running. Cranks with the kick start but need to get battery for it. I pulled the cap for the Master Cylinder and the brake fluid is reasonably clean (enough to see the holes in the bottom). Brakes seemed to work and it was rolling pretty good once I put air in tires. Seat is in great shape so even if I put a stock seat on it, it has some value maybe to someone. white crud on the engine side plates cleaned off after I took the pics. Pipes are not all rusted out at the tops like the XJ 650 I have is. Tank definitely needs to have rust removal done like the other one I did.
Next going to get a battery to see what electrical is working or not working and see if it will want to start at least with sprays of starting fluid.

Fall/Winter project.
Click to expand...
Welcome aboard.
 
One filter is missing but found one on ebay. I understand people buy Unifilter material? What exact material do I use and where to get it?
I have gasket material at work I can use to rework the gaskets on this filter.

Pulled tank tonight, gonna see how bad the carbs are and if it will start using my plastic aux tank. I'm expecting a carb rebuild however.
 
Don't even attempt to start it until you at least drop a float bowl and have a look inside it. If it's all gummed up and you were to try and start it, you'd suck that crap deep into the carb and plug it up big time.
 
ok,
Can I drop bowls in place (looks like there is room to drop it but may be awkward to work the screws w/o stripping) or need to remove carbs first?
I rebuilt the carbs on my 1983XJ650 and removal of that carb set is not that hard after warming up the rubber.

I will still want to pull carbs and rebuild even so as well as change seals/fuel tubes, I've been searching around for Carb removal procedure. All the vids I see people already have pods on them and I have Stock airbox which I plan to keep. How do I remove airbox?
 
Never mind on air box. Looked at it again. Each side has a 10mil bolt on top and 2 on the sides. Remove ring clamp on carb and just gently wigle out each side. Piece of cake. Now i can rust reform/paint the air boxes while they are out. Much easier than an XJ650 :)
 
Be sure to test the floats after cleaning (dip in hot water and watch for streams of bubbles). Sitting for a long time covered with that gas varnish can eat holes in them. If you need new ones, no need to pay big bucks from some 650 specialty place because they are just a common VM24-171 Mikuni float. The retail on them is only about $15 but you can find them a few dollars cheaper at many places .....

Mikuni-VM24-171-Genuine-Brass-Float-Dimensions.jpg


Compared11.jpg


Installed2.jpg
 
Almost done with carb clean. several blocked passages and the worse was the 2 for the fuel enrichment (long brass tube). I had just the smallest size pick to get in there and clean out after getting carb cleaner to flow. MikesXS carb rebuild kit coming in.
This morning I cleaned up some of the chrome on the fenders and headlight and it came out really good under there.
Assuming I'll get this running I need to look at retro looking tires. Friend has tools to mount tires to rims, What's out there I can order?
 
Uni has several grades of filter foam. Coarse, medium, fine, finest? A number of online sellers offer it. Search this website as I remember some posts here about foam.
 
I used a black foam sheet that is normally sold at the big-box for a secondary window unit filter. After some research it is made from the same material as the uni product, polyethylene IIRC. A Large sheet was only a few dollars.
 

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