anyone recognize this front end?

[mason s]

having trouble figuring out what the front end the previous owner put on my 76....
heres a few pictures..









front drums off a xs-1 i believe. (not sure about the fork or top tree)
any ideas/help would be much appreciated. thanks!

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

It all sure looks like '70 XS1. But, to be sure about the triples, would need a closer/crisp/clear pic of the front of the lower triple. Very subtle clue in the two front protruding mount ears, between the forks. Also, the XS1 upper triple risers will have conical rubber dampers, not straight wall...

 

[gggGary]

What he says. "looks like" 70 parts. There would have to be some mods, the 70 stem is shorter than the 76 neck. Those early triples are narrower fork tube to fork tube than the later disk brake triples. The damper knob/parts are MIA.
70 was the only year with external springs and chrome steel lowers. Some value in those parts.

 

[mason s]

that's great help. i've been scratching my head over it, but seems like it all came off a 70. i'll try to take a couple better pictures here soon when i free up. thank you gentlemen!

 

[mason s]

heres some (hopefully) better photos of the trees....

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

OK, mason s, great pics. The lower triple tree has the '70 XS1 plate-type threaded holes that are used for the headlight bottom mount. In the '71 XS1B, those mounting holes are ear-type protrusions on the triple's forging.

I'm not aware of any XS1-specific external 'tells' for the upper triple, so can't positively identify it. I'm only aware of the cone-shaped riser holes, that were changed to straight-wall cylindrical holes during the '71 XS1B's production. As such, some early XS1Bs have the conical riser holes.

 

[mason s]

thank you twomany. that's great information. this is my first xs, (& first motorcycle at that). i believe the upper tree has straight-wall cylindrical riser holes. sounds like it was all frankenstein'd to some extent. anyways, sorry for the late reply, & thanks again for your responses.

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

You bet, mason. Frankenbikes are dominant players here. And, like gggGary mentioned earlier, there's also the possibility that the lower tree's steering stem was swapped for a longer stem to fit your neck...

 

[mason s]

yeah i bet.. pretty cool to know there is some early year parts on the scoot. i love the drilled front drum too. & yes i think ya'll are right about the steering stem. i initially started looking into the forks with intentions of lowering it, but i'm not too sure how that goes over with external spring forks. can't push them through the trees because of the top triple setup either. regardless, happy to have some more info, & glad i finally spoke up on here.