anyone know where I can get one of these

[MaxPete]

Thanks! It’s very...1970s - just like avocado coloured fridges, plaid bell-bottomed pants and clog-heeled shoes.

She really is a pretty thing but still some rough spots...room for improvement.

What really blew me away was what an amazing colour match the Windsor Public Library gal did on the three stripes. They are virtually indistinguishable from the OEM stripes on the fuel tank. The major problem now is the chrome on the engine cases. I really need to buckle down on those but my knee hurts and the garage is just too danged cold.

Spring will come. ...I hope.

 

[5twins]

Yes, polish up all the alloy bits and these bikes turn into real "lookers".

 

[peanut]

She really is a pretty thing but still some rough spots...room for improvement.

.

you wouldn't say that about your favourite GrandMother would you

 

[MaxPete]

OOooohhhhh....I don’t know. My grandma was a tough customer....

 

[Paul Sutton]

Peanut, the SH covers are plastic - approximately 2.5 mm thick. The inside of the left cover has some interesting data:

Note the two oil specifications for different temperatures.

 

[5twins]

Interesting - regular gas but with a 91 octane rating. Maybe it was rated that high back in the day but it isn't now. If you want 91, you'll need to get high test. I've always run high test in my 650, all my bikes for that matter. The couple times I was forced to put regular in, it didn't like it, it pinged.

 

[MaxPete]

Peanut, the SH covers are plastic - approximately 2.5 mm thick. The inside of the left cover has some interesting data:
View attachment 113418
Note the two oil specifications for different temperatures.

Now THAT is very interesting! I have always thought that the XS650 used 20W50 oil - and that is what I have been using in mine.

Hmmm....

 

[Bodger200]

Hi Peanut
Have you tried yambits ? I got a load of bits for my 75 XS from them and they are a UK based company.
Or I have these if your interested ?.

One set of old ones or a new set that came with the bike

 

[peanut]

Peanut, the SH covers are plastic - approximately 2.5 mm thick. The inside of the left cover has some interesting data:
View attachment 113418
Note the two oil specifications for different temperatures.

thats really interesting Paul, I have the same label on the inside of one of my covers too. Someone had rattle canned the cover with matt black and I was only scratching it off with my fingernail earlier whilst posting in this thread . Spooky !

Plastic makes perfect sense it doesn;t rust or rattle like metal and saves some weight too

 

[peanut]

Hi Peanut
Have you tried yambits ? I got a load of bits for my 75 XS from them and they are a UK based company.
Or I have these if your interested ?.
View attachment 113419
One set of old ones or a new set that came with the bike

wow thats an amazing offer Bodger thank you. I have used Yambits a lot over the past few years whilst restoring my 79 special.
In an ideal World I'd like to find a used fastener if I could, to match the existing one I already have.

I would like to buy one of your original knobs if you would be prepared to sell it . Don't worry if not as I ordered a bucket of bits this afternoon to make some DIY knobs which will do the job until I find a used one.
Whereabouts are you based in the UK ?
Johhny

 

[5twins]

The only 20w-40 I ever saw was Yamalube being sold at a Yamaha dealer - and it was expensive. I think they tried to corner the market here, being about the only seller of the stuff. People have been running 20w-50 in their 650s and many other Yamaha models forever with no ill effects.

 

[ThatXS650Guy]

I used a Rivnut and 6mm bolt.
I had Mike's but they were terrible. The springs were too long and cutting them made them stiffer. Still had to use pliers to get them on and off and eventually they just fell apart.

 

[5twins]

I like that rivnut idea, maybe combined with one of these ? .....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/M6x30mm-Ca...384997&hash=item5b3ebc8324:g:o3cAAOSwvTpaR5Oq

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

Try an eBay search on "wing knob"...

 

[Bodger200]

Peanut I'm based in Stoke-on-Trent. If you want the old ones you can have them both as I won't be using them on my build, Just make me an offer .
PM me and I will send you my contact details for you so we can arrange something.

 

[peanut]

well what are the odds of this ?!

After searching ebay almost weekly for 2 years and posting on here last week ,....this little gem showed up the other day on ebay.
I bid £10 and won a NOS panel knob .....yeeeeeees
probably the last one in the World

 

[MaxPete]

Great find Peanut!! It never ceas3s to amaze me what stuff comes up on the web.

Someday - the giant warehouse that is full of all the penknives that were confiscated from all the air travellers over the last 15-18 years will be discovered, opened and people will be reunited with their childhood birthday presents from their grandfathers.

 

[aldo5468]

Interesting - regular gas but with a 91 octane rating. Maybe it was rated that high back in the day but it isn't now. If you want 91, you'll need to get high test. I've always run high test in my 650, all my bikes for that matter. The couple times I was forced to put regular in, it didn't like it, it pinged.

I see that the 91 octane value on that sticker is identified as the Research Octane Number (RON), which is widely used in other countries as the posted value. In the US and I believe also in Canada, octane values posted on pumps are the average of the RON and the Motor Octane Number (MON) values, also know as AKI (Anti Knock Index). RON and MON values are derived from different test protocols. I don't recall at the moment what the exact RON and MON values are for US regular-grade - Wikipedia says MON generally runs 8-12 points lower than RON. Just doing the math, a MON of 83 and a RON of 91 (an 8-point spread) would yield 87 AKI.

 

[peanut]

Great find Peanut!! It never ceas3s to amaze me what stuff comes up on the web.

Someday - the giant warehouse that is full of all the penknives that were confiscated from all the air travellers over the last 15-18 years will be discovered, opened and people will be reunited with their childhood birthday presents from their grandfathers.

did that happen to you pete ? there are probably traumatised middle aged men the World over mourning the loss of their pen knives lol.
My Father decided to sell my entire much loved Corgi model car collection back in the early 60's whilst I was away at boarding school. When I returned home he shoved £12.00 in my hand and said 'there you are I sold em for you.'! wtf.....

I never forgave him ,when he died last year I was still harbouring that grudge against him 50+ years later.

 

[MaxPete]

Yup - I had not left home without a penknife since I was probably 7 or 8 years old.

Then this ban happened (and with good reasons IMO) and I forgot and went to the airport several times over the course of a couple of years, until my precious collection was gone. Dammit.