75 XS650 B What next !???

[xsmoley]

Hi everyone. Santa came early for me as yesterday after sorting out my carbs (thanks 5twins, gggGary ,xsLeo for all your help) I put my big boots on and pushed the kick start and she came alive !!! What a rush. Ok she is running hot on the left side but I havent done any fine tuning at all just wanted to get her going.
Im going to do a full restoration and my question is ... Has anyone got any tips or sequence of operations that i should stick to before I start to strip her down and label everything and send parts off to the powder coaters and Chromers ?
Hopefully I have attached some pics of her as she was when i found her.
Thanks all.

 

[Dusty]

Merry Christmas to you. Nice looking bike,and I'm sure it will look great when done.
My 2 cents is for you to start with the big bits (frame,motor,forks,wheels). It's like building a house. Foundation first,and move up from there. It's the details that take the time. The little things show the least amount of progress. One bolt at a time and it will get done. Good luck.

 

[XSLeo]

I agree. Take your time, do it right the first time. Doing things twice slows you down and costs way more.
Leo

 

[cra-z1]

Nice looking bike. Glade you are doing a restore on it. Agree with XSLeo about taking your time. I spent almost two years on mine but yours looks to be in far better shape. Good luck and post some pictures

 

[hotdog]

nice to see your not chopping a sweet 75

 

[cra-z1]

Hotdog I was going to say the same thing but didn't want a deluge of bobber responses.
LOL

 

[stacks99]

very nice bike, have a 650B myself and thinking about doing the same restoration in a year or two so am anxious to see how yours turns out! Good luck.

 

[tonyc]

Moley If you are going to do the whole bike it does not matter which order. I do recommend that you work from a check list and bag and mark every thing. Also take plenty before pictures as you tear down components. I have taken well over a year not solid time. I have made my own wiring harness and soldered every joint. Very time consuming. Good luck.

 

[xsmoley]

Thanks for the advice guys and will definitely take time doing it ! couldnt chop the bike she just screamed restoration !

 

[Shipper]

Thats my bike (soon to be anyway) would love to have that tack.

Nice job

Shipper

 

[Rick1450]

Wow,...thats clean!!!

 

[wannarat]

Moley, Newbie question, what is the B in xs650B designate?
I agree with the others - pretty sweet bike

_wannarat

 

[retiredgentleman]

Oh wow, finally someone who is not going to "hardtail" their newly found bike Great looking bike.

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=367

 

[XSLeo]

wannarat, The letter suffix references the model. Yamaha 650's started in 70 with the XS1, in 70 it was the XS1B, the B designates a seperate model even though just the year changed.
In 72 it was the XS2, first of the electric starts.
In 73 they came out with the TX series of bikes. A 500, our 650 and a 750. The 500 and 750 were remarkable in their failure. In 74 The 650 was the TX650A.
They discontinued the TX line because of the 500 and 750 failures but kept our 650's In 75 and called them the XS650B. The B continueing the series from the TX650A.
Then from then on every year the upped the letter to the next one in the alphabet.
In 78 they came out with the Specials and added the S to designate them from the standards. As in the 78 XS650E and the XS650SE.
For a few years they had a third model, the Special II. It had features of both the standard and special models. This was designated like this, XS650-2F.
Leo

 

[wannarat]

XSLeo,
Thank you for the history. Guru is an understatement. Do you have a picture of your xs650B? I know I'm jumping on Moleys thread- but you're here. I'm stoked to begin a xs650 bobber, love the stock but I will give an old worn xs650 new life in a custom skin. I like the looks of a f18" r18" chubby tired, tight small fenders etc. with some marine green or such. Taped pipes or chrome I don't know- I have a lot to learn. Like the looks of the drum front and backs. Ya think drums (maintenance/rebuild) are worth the look? Is there a significant stopping power difference in the discs? Can you talk about the differences in wheels and drums. How to change from drums to discs?

 

[XSLeo]

Converting away from the stock front disc brake is IMHO a big down grade.
Converting the rear from drum to disc is a good upgrade.
Both can be a bit of work. The disc brake forks nave no provision to hook the drum brake to, to keep it from spinning while applied.
The rear you need to swap everything from the brake pedal back.
As far as pics, yes I have some.
Here is one with the front end off a 79 so I could use the 35 mm forks and the later style dual disc brake. 750 kit, these are the 76-77 carbs with Uni-Filters behind the side covers. Mike's 1.5 inch headers, Emgo mufflers. The rear wheel is a mag so I could use the disc brake. Seat cut down and a ugly job of recovering.
Leo