barn find 75

[srust58]

Picked up this 75 XS650 for $300 that had been sitting for 20 years. Complete bike a little rough on the cosmetics but only 10K miles. Tank is a bit battered but completely rust free inside. Put in some fresh oil, cleaned and set the points and plugs, carbs not gunked up so I just pulled the bowls and cleaned out the jets. A little gas and she fired up on the third kick and idled, revved, and shifted through the gears.

 

[neanderthal]

Damn nice to find. Come with a title as well?

 

[srust58]

Initially I had no room at my house for the bike so it stayed in a friend's garage. My two other bikes have priority in the garage. A 76 Honda CB750F and my 79 XS650 Special that I bought new. The Honda was another 25 year storage "barn find" though in much better shape and is unrestored and original. Payed $500 for it and had 6700K on the clock The 79XS has taken me on many long road trips, the longest being a solo 6000 mile trip to California and back.

 

[5twins]

I can't believe you never changed those handlebars, lol.

 

[srust58]

Yeah, a title too.
Anyway with no room for a complete bike I took off bits and brought them home. Rebuilt the caliper. These old style ones are twin piston and a bit of a challenge. I came up with this....spin them 180 and clamp down one piston and pump it out nearly all the way. Then clamp it in that position and pump the other one all the way out...then there is enough sticking out on the first one to just pull it out. Pulled off the exhaust..not to bad of shape but a big dent in the bottom of the right muffler.

 

[srust58]

I can't believe you never changed those handlebars, lol.

Well I am thinking about it now. I found them to be comfortable on my long road trips as I could lean back against my sleeping bag or pack stacked up behind me with my feet up on the highway pegs (no longer have those) and still have a hand on the bars....or as I did across much of Nevada, throttle locked down leaning back on the pack and no hands on the bars.

The story on the 79 is I had some new friends who had bikes and after a few rides as a passenger they convinced me to buy my own and join them on a trip to Montana/Wyoming in the summer of 1979. So I walk into the dealer, plunk down the cash, and ride the bike home...never having been at the controls of a motorcycle before. Two months later I was out in Yellowstone.
Catus Flat SD....97 degrees that day.

 

[srust58]

I don't have much of a budget for this bike so I will do all the work myself and reuse as much as possible. I am not going for a picture perfect resto and don't mind a little patina.
Both gauges had issues...the tach was lazy and the speedo had a loose screw under the glass. Used a paint can opener to carefully pry them open. Speedo works but my old Makita could only manage 30 mph. tach is working too after a cleaning and lube. Cleaned out the speedo hub and thankfully it wasn't all rusted up.

 

[srust58]

Fork seals were shot so tackled that next. Seal puller worked great for pulling the seals. They were really stuck and it took about 10 whacks with the hammer. You can see how distorted the one is. The copper pipe is a tool I made to fit the head of the damper bolt. I was able to get one apart and used that to cast a socket using JB Weld to get the other one apart. Then I used a pipe clamp and something round (hole saw) to press the new seals in . Replaced the springs with progressive ones.

 

[srust58]

So the project stalled out for a year will I was busy with other stuff though I did small things like rebuild the carbs. I finally got the bike home putting the forks back on and using a spare front wheel as I had already taken the tire off the rim. Took the engine out and dismantled the bike and brought it all into the basement. Made this engine stand from scraps lying about the basement. Stripped the old paint off and primed with two part epoxy...the tank and side covers are for the 79. The helmet is an original M1916 Imperial German Army WWI vintage helmet. I found it stuffed in the attic after my inlaws had passed away....the original paint long gone. My new lid...maybe???

 

[srust58]

used a pipe clamp to press in new swing arm bushings.

 

[5twins]

You should add a better way to grease them. Their swirled grease grooves are designed to receive their grease supply from the rear, not the side as the originals were set up to.

 

[srust58]

You should add a better way to grease them. Their swirled grease grooves are designed to receive their grease supply from the rear, not the side as the originals were set up to.

I did not mention it but I added a grease fitting in the middle of the swing arm making sure it did not conflict with the pivot tube. Also changed the end zerks to ones that fit my grease gun.

 

[srust58]

Slacked off some more and winter arrived and it got too cold to spray paint so I got some Por 15 Hardnose and brushed it on. I put a heater out in the porch and also left a window open. This stuff is a two part paint and even brushing the fumes were a bit nasty. I did use a respirator too. The stuff goes on and lays down nice, has a high gloss, and gets hard after about a week. It was a bit tedious so next time I will get my ass in gear and get it done when the weather is nice. I also used some JB Weld as a filler and smoothed out the visible welds. I used one of the small 1 oz tube sets for the whole frame.

 

[srust58]

The rear alloy rim was in tough shape the front not nearly as bad. After sanding with 220, 400, 600, 800 and polishing I put new spokes in both. Made this fancy device to true the rims. The wood dowels would squeal when in light contact with the aluminum so the objective was to get a nice even squeal on a full revolution. Painted the inside of the hubs with some Hardnose.

Polished a few other parts while I was at it.

 

[Johnt3]

Wow! Those wheels came back real nice srust58. Damn nice work on your frame,looks great!

 

[cra-z1]

Nice looking bike. Good work. Well is the snow going to melt around hear?

 

[srust58]

It sure was flying around this morning....now this week looks pretty lousy too...it will never end.

 

[srust58]

I was looking for a few small parts on the local CL ....seat latch and lock to replace the broken one on my bike. Got that but this stuff came with it plus a caliper and rotor, ignition, and indicator pod all from a 76. He wasn't getting much response to his ad and wanted it to go to a good home. Made me a good deal so I took it all. I thought it might be nice to have a second set of mufflers and tins to swap out now and then for a different look. Tank is solid but has a Kreem liner that looks fresh...I am no fan of liners but I guess I will live with it till it starts to fail.

I also need the space in the basement for a big woodworking project so I put a few things together to get it to a rolling stage and moved it all to the porch.

 

[srust58]

Having the second caliper and disc got me to thinking.....I drilled both discs and disassembled and cleaned the 2nd caliper. I am not completely sold on this yet....more weight but better braking....more expense. I will need a rebuild kit, at least one new piston, additional brake line, and most likely a different MC adding $120+ to the cost. I know there are modern calipers and discs that can be made to work but I am not going there...I will use what I have in one way or another. I am not committed to this yet as I have not order anything and the minor cost of the disc, caliper, and time to drill the disc are my only investment so far. Any opinions good or bad appreciated especially if you have done this.

I do like the balanced look of the whole affair. I suppose getting the wheel off is a bit more hassle...

The cockeyed badge on the caliper is due to the 76 mounting behind the fork leg. That is another option...to swing it all around and mount them behind. It looks like just a few minor alterations would do that. Flipping the forks around and from side to side I would need to add a stop for the speedo hub on the now left side fork. The tabs for the line brackets would swing to the front is the only other thing that changes that I could see.

 

[srust58]

delete...