77' D Drooling Time

100% mechanical and cosmetic restoration done to exacting specifications by a picky 55 year old Commercial Pilot.
Click to expand...

No where does he say anything about restoring any parts in the motor and it has 33,000miles so how is this a Fully restored bike. he has done no more than a few cosmetics and brake pads a few gaskets and shipping :poke:

Admittedly the bike looks nice, also says you can see the faults in the pics but doesn't show the pics of the faults :shrug:
 
Hi Blue,

Cool! It may not be (as Skull noted) a 100 point resto, but it's certainly one beautiful bike, and I'd love to have it. It has less than half the mileage of my '77----and looks it! Although--I should admit, for that money I'd be looking for a Commando or 650SS....

I like that color---mine was the dark blue before I painted it after an argument with a barbed wire fence....:doh:
 
This is not any semblance of a restoration . it is a very good original condition 77D That in all likely hood will have to have a new cam chain and guides and the seals could be hard and start to leak and the head gasket will possibly develop leaks. this is what could be waiting for a new buyer, (who knows nothing of the XS), and they think they are getting a restored bike. The guy is selling under false pretenses
 
ouuuuuuuuu... Broken fins. Total fail on "restoration".

http://picasaweb.google.com/MillerRonK/1977YamahaXS650Gallery#5440805576790447826

A really bad seat pin... Also some rust...

http://picasaweb.google.com/MillerRonK/1977YamahaXS650Gallery#5440805738832446050


You can see some seepage from a bunch of gasket surfaces. I'm totally baffled how he could get it that clean without rebuilding though...

Normally, i wouldn't pick on this so much - but he didn't mention the fins in the ebay article (and that's *major*), and he claimed he's a "very picky" guy... And it's a little (personally annoying) that he's claimed shipping costs in his "parts total". I mean.. C'mon. (plus $675 of that was just the seat.)

On the other hand, it seems he's done everything *but* the engine. Meh. Not worth the $5k, but someone will buy it for that.
 
You know that whoever buys it is probably going to be all excited about their new bike, search the internet, find this site, then eventually find this thread.. sad day for them when they read all the shit talk about their new expensive "restored" bike :(

Soooo.... I'll say something nice about it!

Dear new owner,

Your new bike looks really damn clean! I like how it all shines. The bike will look great when you're riding it. :thumbsup:
 
A very nice bike, but starting bid should be about $3000 US$, not $4500. He's a smooth talker, but smart buyers would not bid on that price. With that milage, engine needs to come apart for inspection/parts replacement/carbon cleaning/valve grinding/new gaskets etc. etc. Calling it 100 % restored is an outright lie. Tank has a nasty ding in it. Saddlebags look like they will be burning on th exhaust if anything is put into the bags.

A super clean up job, but caveat emptor.

Still I wouldn't be surprised if someone pays that much:yikes:
 
An answer to a couple of questions i put to the guy, he is posting all questions so feel free to ask

If you actually would care to take the time to READ my description you'll see that there are THREE broken fins that I disclosed - along with other minor cosmetic issues. Long before the cam chain guides self destruct they start shedding tiny black pieces that are easily visible with a magnifying glass - after you strain the oil through a woman's nylon stocking - which I did when I got the bike. Nothing there on that oil change and nothing there after TWO more changes in 400 miles. I also pulled the oil pan and inspected the sludge for those pieces and any metal flakes in bright sunlight. Ditto with the oil "screen". I also pulled the paper pleated filter apart and examined it as well. Nothing there except the expected "fines". An EXPERIENCED mechanic can tell a lot about an engine's internals by simple careful inspection without tearing it down. The cam chain guides DO NOT fail suddenly (unless you are brain dead and not paying attention) and certainly NOT worth pulling the motor to replace when there is nothing wrong with them. The main cause of premature failure is over or under tightening the tension along with excessive wear due to infrequent oil changes. Under tightening or no adjustment to take up the slack over time (which is the reason for 95% of the failures) causes the chain to "slap" against them and cause micro fractures. The cam tensioner spring can only do so much - and they tend to lose their temper due to heat and weaken over time. I replaced this $4.00 part as a precaution - which hardly anyone ever does since they just look at the spring and think that its OK. Over tightening causes a deep groove in the middle which prematurely weakens the entire guide. There is absolutely no reason to go into these motors on a witch hunt until called for. To do so would be a waste of time and money. Regardless, a new owner could easily do this if they wanted since it's a simple afternoon low expertise job for about $75.00 worth of parts.
 
650Skull said:
An answer to a couple of questions i put to the guy, he is posting all questions so feel free to ask

If you actually would care to take the time to READ my description you'll see that there are THREE broken fins that I disclosed - along with other minor cosmetic issues.
Click to expand...

No he didn't. He's added that since i made note of it yesterday. i *specifically* looked for that in "damage" after i found the other pics.

Which brings us back to "how can it be fully restored with broken fins", but whatever. I'm getting a large scent of "sketchy". Which would be okay if the bike was ~2k.
 
Yes he answered to me, i opened my ebay account just before i posted my post. these are an answer ha gave me since your post
 
No, i'm not bitching at you d00d. I'm annoyed with him because he's playing it like the "broken fins" note has been there the entire time.
 
Sundie said:
No, i'm not bitching at you d00d. I'm annoyed with him because he's playing it like the "broken fins" note has been there the entire time.
Click to expand...

Ah, i'm with you now...........Yur right because after he answered me i thought, "i don't remember that in his list" and when i reread it i saw he had mentioned the broken fins and thought i had not read it properly first time
 
I had seen that in my daily ebay XS email search results. He has spent some money on parts if he has bought all he says. I've got exactly the same XS and probably have spent $750 + on a lot of the same parts. But I only gave $550 for the bike. And rode it home. It (the ebay one) has a ways to go and for sure is not a complete cosmetic or mechanical restoration. I hope he gets the $4500 cause that'll be good for me! I doubt he will though. I probably wouldn't give him what he has spent on parts, but that is just me. I think I could get $1500 for mine. Maybe a little more.
 
parts of *any* description never pay off. Because at the end of the day, it's still a 30 year old bike that is really not all that rare. You *never* get the money out that you spend on it, if you go nuts like that. The *best* you can hope for is a bike you'll enjoy riding for many years - something the XS650's are excellent at.
 
For what it's worth, I also don't remember anything about the fins being broken in the original description.. The whole ad looks a lot different than it did when I first read it.

Also where the hell is the close up picture of the broken fins that Sundie linked to???! I think he took it down! Also: "3 broken fins on right jug near exhaust" .. Nope, they're on the head, not the cylinders...
 
Yeah I saw that other picture too.. that's how I confirmed it was broken fins on the head and not the cylinder.

Wow, that's a lot of revisions!!! I didn't know about that list of revisions feature on ebay. So thanks for that!
 
Yeah, sadly, it won't tell just anyone *what* was edited - ie see the actual revision.

I dunno if the guy is OCD (recent revisions include marking in red everything that's an "engine" part - like air filters and oil) (he missed the big foot shifter - that's as much an engine part as the air filters ;) ) or what. But, as i said earlier - to me it's sketchy.

I don't feel bad making comments like that here - i'd never do them on his actual ad. Those who don't research are welcome to their results.
 

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