A ripp'n hardtail bobber build from a seized, desert rat: CALLING ALL DESTROYERS

thank you
the license plate holder is a three part system
here are some photos:

IMG_1622.jpg


IMG_1628.jpg


IMG_1623.jpg


IMG_1626.jpg


IMG_1624.jpg


the three parts are:
1) a license plate hinge
2) a license plate back plate by joker (flat black- got it from debris)
3) a black license plate trim (goes in the front)

the hinge needed to be modified ie the bracket was cut with a V shape to match the frame. the frame itself got drilled and tapped for the bolts that attach the mount to the frame:
IMG_1625.jpg


now i noticed when the license plate is visible from the front, it catches wind and get pushed back meaning it sits at an angle:
IMG_1627.jpg


if the license plate hinge was spring loaded i think this wouldnt occur. however i do think it can be fixed easily with some sort of stop system. but i dont mind riding with it closed and im sure cops will love it!

All I can say is wow! Your attention to detail is amazing!!

The bike is unique and clean, congrats

Can you show some close ups of the License plate holder?
 
saga continues:
my bike is a lot of fun, so much so that now my dad and my girlfriend both want to build one. we are going to do a brat tracker for my girl, as planned, and a braty hot rod bike for my dad.

as a result we went out and picked up another xs650. this time we did it right and bought one with a title, registration, and a bunch of extras:
photo-24.jpg


the extras are for sale here:http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21681&highlight=rpnsht

please email me if interested. i dont want these parts sticking around all that long
 
mikes xs sucks ballz again:

well when i rebuilt the motor i ended up using the elephant foot valve adjuster screws that mikes xs offers. why you? why not? i thought i could trust a supplier of xs650 parts. turns out there is a lot written on this forum about how sh*tty these parts are. i had no idea. and have learned the hard way.

the part in question is this:
http://www.mikesxs.net/product/01-9096.html

turns out when i went to do my valve adjustments after breaking the motor, i was missing the plastic housing. thankfully i was able to find them before damage occurred. upon further investigation the feet fell off very easily. i was missing one but was able to recover it. confused as to what i was experiencing, i searched the forum and found out all about how cheap these parts are and what the upgrade is to fix the problem.

the issue:
http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25440&highlight=elephant+foot

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18000&highlight=elephant+foot

remedy:
http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22235&highlight=porsche+adjusters

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19403&highlight=elephant+foot+ajusters

http://www.650rider.com/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=5105&highlight=elephant

i will be doing the porsche elephant foot adjustment mod. not sure if i will take the extra material off of the feet or pop my head off and mod the rockers. im really pissed about this and want to avoid removing my head at all costs....but maybe in the end it will save time.

im going to look into this technique:
http://xs650temp.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=EngineStock&action=display&thread=12269

but will probably end up doing this:
http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8530

i cant believe mikes xs gets away with selling BS like this. if i lived in FL i would find 'mike' and puch him
 
mikes xs suck balls continued....

after the discovery of the faulty, piece of sh*t elephant foot valve adjuster screws that disintegrated, i decided to spend some more time checking things out. i combed through as much of the engine i could and gathered up all the pits of the elephant feet i could, most of which was in my sump filter and bottom of my motor.

i inspected the cam chain adjuster and it seemed good. i then took a look at the valve settings. in order to do so i needed the motor at TDC so naturally i used a wrench on the stator to move things a long.

i discovered this.....noise or clunk rather:

(click to play)
[URL=http://s1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee419/rpnsht/calling%20all%20destroyers/?action=view&current=IMG_1282.mp4][/URL]


WTF is that clunk?!?!?! the noise was coming from one valve (right intake) and the way it was acting was almost if the lobe was missing a chunk. well i thought with all my brain power and deduction skills, long and hard, imagining an elephant foot wedging itself in between a lobe and the interior of the head causing something to bust.

and then i realized that if this was the case the only way i could really see things was to pull the top off!

MOTHER F*CK MIKESXS and their cheap sh*t!

...................................

Saturday i woke up and finally got over the frustration of what i was about to do, i grabbed a cup of coffee and got started on the removing the head.
Sure enough i was right! with the top of the motor torn apart and cam exposed, you could see the cam was indeed broken and looked like a wedging elephant foot was the problem:





this is it not how its supposed to move:
(click to play)
[URL=http://s1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee419/rpnsht/calling%20all%20destroyers/?action=view&current=IMG_1695.mp4][/URL]

UGH!

defeated, helpless, frustrated and simply angry, i emailed hugh immediately with my discovery seeing if he had any guidance for me and if my cam could be salvaged. hugh actually wrote back within a few minutes, agreeing with the assessment. he also said that hes spoke to mikes xs about their cheap elephant feet (which they have ignored-im adding that part). he went ahead and offered to help me out as much as he could because my cam is TOAST and because hes an awesome stand up guy who stands behind his customers. im waiting to hear back from hugh hoping that he has a cam that i can purchased and that can be rephased and sent to me. in the meantime im just chill'n, without a bike to ride in high 70 degree weather, hating mikes xs with every breath but thankful its not worse and thankful that some people do still exist the value virtue (hugh) over making a quick buck (mike).

F U MIKESXS

i guess this is whats meant when you learn the hard way
 
i ended up finding the porsche 911 adjuster screws at a spot not too far from me. their elephant feet, by reputation, seem to be very high quality. ill be using them to swap out with the sh*tty mikes xs elephant feet.

heres whats left of my mikes xs amateur feet:


heres the porsche 911 elephant feet:
photo-26.jpg


the mod is fairly simple. it took about an hour or so to drill out the rockers the correct depth so the new elephant feet would fit. 4mm is about whats needed for them to fit correctly.

the rockers are hard material and get hot fyi and very easy once your head is off or your rockers are exposed.
 
speedo disassembly :

ive painted my speedo three times. of course i was using high quality spray paint and clear coat, but despite the quality of the paint, the quality of the job wasnt all that great. the third time i painted it i thought it was good enough but after about 125 miles on the road, my speedo was beat up...already

im getting some other things powder coated and since my motor's head is torn off i decided to throw some other bike bits into the lot.

at first i was intimidated by the idea of taking the speedo apart, but after a minute of inspecting it, it appeared just how easy it was to take it apart:





retainer clip:


clip off:


clip and washer off:


clip, washer and gear removed:


it actually only took about 2 minutes to disassemble it and is very basic. if youre going to powder any parts and want a clean speedo, dont be like me and waste your time. just take it apart and get the cover powdered.
 
before the elephant feet from mikes X(tremely) S(hit) destroyed my cam, i was able to get some miles in on the dual 21" rims. i was running two avon speed masters.

the bike was a lot of fun, especially splitting lanes, but when it came to bumps it didnt offer much (obviously due to the hardtail but rubber plays some role right?)

anyways, with the cam out and a replacement on its way to hugh, i started looking into other 21" tires that offer something a bit wider. turns out there are a handful of them but they all call for bigger rims. mine if i remember correctly were 2.15 x 21" which would only allow a 3" wide max.

after speaking with my tire guy, i took the plunge and ordered up a 3.5 x 21" rim from buchanans for my rear. surprisingly it didnt cost all that much and i was able to use my spokes, though they needed a 1/4" trim.

once the rim came in it was off to powder coat, along with some other bits, dropped off with my tire guy, who then wrapped it in an avon cobra 160/70 21. the rim looked huge by itself but once powdered and tire installed it looked great.

i also went ahead and replaced the front tire with a matching avon cobra tire on the 2.15" rim.

i was able to pick the tires and rims up saturday morning and quickly installed them first thing.





dont be like me. if youre going to run dual 21's or whatever combo, get a rim from buchanans. it will end up saving your time, wallet, and back.
 
while installing the new rims, the mailman came ....

with only once piece of mail.....

a box...from hugh.....




with my new rephased cam in it....


hugh is the man and killed it and totally bailed me out helping me reach a deadline of having my bike back on the road by saturday evening. saturday was a full day of putting the motor and rest of the bike back together. it was a long day but worth it in the end.

THANKS HUGH!
 
with my bike back together, tuned and synched, i got on the road headed to the event that was expecting my bike. twenty minutes on the road i was in west hollywood. at a red light between two cars i watched a motorcycle cop pull up and point at me and then point to the side of the road.

I HADNT EVEN HAD THE BIKE ON THE ROAD FOR 30 MINUTES AND I WAS ALREADY GETTING PULLED OVER!!!!

the cop asks me if i knew how many infractions my bike was breaking and if i would like the list. i appreciatively said "yes please." after 5 minutes of discussing details he looked at me and said "listen you seem cool and i dont really want to spend the time to write you up because its over two pages worth of fix-it tickets. im going to let you go but consider yourself warned." i thanked him and his partner and with that they road off.

I COUDLNT BELIEVE IT! I MEAN REALLY I WAS STUNNED THAT I GOT OUT OF IT AND I BARELY SAID A WORD.

infractions:
non-dot rear lights: they dont reflect
illegal license plate mount: since 2012 in california license plates need to mount horizontally
non dot front lights: i guess the piaas arent dot
no front blinkers: the one big flasher light that i employed doesnt count as a signal light
open pipes: baffles needed
no headlight indicator dummy light: ???
expired temporary registration
not having permit on me

thats all he mentioned. it doesnt seem two pages worth but i was not going to fight him on that.

i got points for having a speedo and for having a mirror and that my brake lights are turn signals as well. i also got points that the lights turn on with the bike and not run through a switch.

wether i go legit or keep the bike how it is, at least i now have an idea of what they will be looking for...and im still amazed i got out of the tickets....
 
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