78 XS650 Enduro Conversion - Project Yamasaki

[RockingThePartyDJ]

Hello Everyone, I'm Dave aka "Rock" and have been wanting to Chop and Modify my own motorcycles for a long time and have always liked the XS product line since the late 70's, I actually had my room plastered with sales brochures for every XS in the product line up, and especially wanted a XS650 but didnt have the money to buy one back then. I've owned and ridden motorcycles since I was 14. I'm finally was getting back to looking for an XS650 over 2 years ago and got messed over on my first deal for one and then posted an ad on Craigslist and rescued one from being crushed at the scrapyard, I'll tell more about that in the build thread i'll be starting of my Brat (to begin soon, along with a build thread for a 81 special thats got an 11" stretched Hardtail, a 72 that will be a Street tracker, and my most recent addition a 75 Restoration canidate I picked up from Cafefill on this Forum) and then soon after I found a 78 titled frame and motor that was nearby that i picked up for $350 and that is the one that will be used in this build thread until i come up with a better name lets just use "Yamasaki" so I basically have 5 projects right now 4 of which are titled and 1 i'll have to deal with eventually, I also have a total of 7 engines, which include the ones in the XS's only one is hopefully running condition (the Resto, I just got a battery and will try to fire up in next few days but the rest will need rebuilding "Yay" ) So i've been collecting all sorts of parts for these and tools and after lurking here for the last couple years of which 15 months as a member I gotta get crack a lackin and get something rolling so here we go.

My Plan is to convert or build this into a combination of my second motorcycle, I owned a 1974 Kawasaki F7 which seemed to have some KE 175 parts on it. That bike was alot of fun, I actually owned that same bike twice, I eventually traded it for a car to a friend who was moving to Arizona, I needed a car more than the bike at the time so it needed to go. But I plan on building my own combined version of that bike with the XS at the heart of it. Call me crazy but I'm gonna do it! LOL

Here's what I'm starting with:

 

[RockingThePartyDJ]

I Built myself a sturdy table/bench to build it on and picked up a less expensive wheel chock from Harbor Freight to mount on it.


I started cutting off tabs with the ol handy sawzall & test mounted some Moose Racing handlebars I picked up cheap i think it was $32, and I set the MX100 fuel tank on that I got on the cheap like $25 also.
I know its a small tank but I like the slimness of the tank and overall look hopefully it will look right as I progress. Most of what I'm doing at this point is for a visualization of the overall look.



I picked up a front end from a 1980 KE175 its has 35mm forks that are about 2 inches longer than a stock XS, I have some KE triple trees on the way from ebay $29, but until i get them to see if I can modify them or if I need to actually fabricate new triples or not. Has anyone disassembled or separated the bottom of the triple tree from the shaft? So until i figure out whats happening there I just used some rod stock in place of the actual axel and mounted the forks n wheel to the original triples to see the stance.


I really like the 21" front wheel even though my F7 had a 19" I like the 21" better. I'm thinking about putting a Shinko 244 series dual sport 2.75-21 on the rim, it looks like i can get one for $33ish on ebay. Has anyone used that tire, if so what did you think?


I got a KLT250 headlight with grill that I really like the look of for $24 which i thought was a good deal since many of the ones i saw were over $50 for just the grill. I'm also checking to see if i need to modify the neck mounting to accommodate the front fender from an F7. but I think it looks good.


I picked up a good 18" wheel from theblackassassin (member)in chicago last week, he's a great guy to negotiate with man he gave me some great deals on a bunch of parts, I don't think I need them all and will probably put some up for grabs soon on the Pay it forward thread. I'm also thinking of going with the Shinko
3.50-18 244 Series Dual Sport for the rear, i can get one for about $43ish on ebay too.


So I got the rear wheel temporarily in place and also the rear fender and rack in place, It's also looking like i'll need at least some 15" rear shocks.
Like I said this isn't a mockup but more of a visualization to see if this will all work together, personally I think i like it. What do you think?




when I actually get into mocking up and mounting all of it i'll need to remove the rear frame loop just behind the top shock mounts and bend a new longer skinnier loop to properly mount the fender and rack to. Also when I get to the seat i think i'm gonna make my own seat pan out of fiberglass, I saw a great how to video. Anyways this is what i'm thinking.

 

[smokedyerstang]

Lookin good. I've seen some xs enduros that have turned out awesome. Should be a pretty fun bike.

 

[RockingThePartyDJ]

Thanks Smoked, Yeah its all held together with little bungee's (for now) and the more i look at it, the more i like it, I plan on completing it as a roller this summer and this winter i'll be rebuilding all 6 engines at once, one of which is for this baby. man i'm just jumping in the deep end and i'm hoping for some fun trail riding with it.

 

[tadd442]

As a matter of fact, I HAVE separated a steerer tube from a lower tree. All I can say is TAKE YOUR TIME!

 

[tadd442]

The front end on the pic I emailed to you....The trees are from an XS400 with a steerer tube from an XS650 put on in it's place. The shaved fork lowers are from a KZ400, the uppers are for an XS400 and the 21" wheel is from a Honda XL125.

 

[jdizon]

Man I love that tanks! I like where you are going with this build!

 

[RockingThePartyDJ]

Here's a better Pic I took outside yesterday once I slipped the 15" Shocks on that were off of a 2011 TU250X with low miles, The nice thing is they keep to the Retro 70's Look i'm going for.


I'm pleased with the overall look it's going to have, I'm gonna enjoy riding her eventually LOL.
I think the Visualization is a success at this point, the next thing to do is Figure out the best way to modify the KE175 Triples to work on the XS


You can see that the KE175 Triple is significantly shorter and 4mm smaller or thinner in diameter overall, but the diameter and threading of the KE Stem is the same as the upper portion of the XS Stem.

So what i'm thinking is grind weld off on bottom and press them both out of their respective lowers and take the XS650 Stem and have a machine shop shave off 2mm off the outer perimeter of the shaft but only as far as it needs to be for pressing back into the KE175 Lower then weld them together.

Whats the concensus out there regarding this approach?

I figure If it's necessary to add strength to the stem I thought a rod could be pressed into the stem most of the way up leaving enough at the top for the Bolt that goes into it and before insertion drill holes through stem at various angles then once the rod is inserted the holes could be welded, producing a much heavier but much stronger triple stem.
Personally I don't think it would need the strengthening but i'm not an engineer so looking for opinions.

 

[tadd442]

You seem to headed in the right direction concerning the stem. I personally don't think adding material will be needed, but that's just me. I guess I don't understand why you need to use the KE175 trees when you can just use 35mm XS650 trees. Something to consider about swapping tubes...how much material on the casting will remain after the weld has been ground away? Will there be enough to make a safe weld to the new tube? You won't really know until after you actually get the tube free. You may want to look into just making new wheel spacers on the axle using XS trees. Far less risk, and work. JMO

 

[jdizon]

This could be you! J/k! Like the current mockup!

 

[RockingThePartyDJ]

Thanks jdizon I appreciate the Props

 

[jdizon]

Welcome dude! Love the profile and lines here! That tank is perfect. I might try and find me one to use on a future project.

View attachment 32206

 

[RockingThePartyDJ]

I like the lines too its a MX100 tank, I know it was obvious about the MX part but that's the size bike i got it off of.

Question for you, how do you make the pic's full size within the thread?

 

[RockingThePartyDJ]

Sweet I just got my Muffler from a DR650 from Ebay $40 shipped that i'm going to use on this build and I just ordered a bunch of 1.5" Exhaust tubing from Summit Racing and I'll be making my own 2 into 1 Exhaust pipe to hook into this baby.



I plan on making my own heat shields for the exhaust out of aluminum and may or may not use the one that's on there now but its a good example to mimic.