Central Texas XS650 New Build - Q1 - Wheels and Tires

[NDSinTX]

Greetings. This is the first post in this thread - it pertains to a 1982 XS 650 Heritage Special that I acquired last Sunday. It had spent the past 25 years in a storage warehouse in Llano County, Texas, and is now residing in Wimberley, Texas.

The bike has 13.2K miles on it and other than cosmetics and a dog-eaten wiring system, it is a very nice donor. My intention is to turn it into a street tracker, but on the advice of some in this forum (I'm a retiree and first-time "builder"), I'm going to take it down and try to get it operational in more or less its original form, minus some of the unnecessary weight.

As I go through my check list of things to do, I'll come to this forum for advice. The first topic has to do with wheels and tires.

The tires are both flat, and seem to be tubed. I'll pull them both off and get them fixed enough so that I can at least roll it around. I have no intention of riding it with the existing tires.

For the eventual street tracker build, I had intended to replace both the wheels and the tires, probably with 18's. However I like very much the odd lacing style of the existing wheels, and am going to use them both now, and possibly for the full build later. A photo of the front wheel is attached - you can see why I'd like to keep it, it's about 60 percent through a clean-up and it will come out with very little permanent damage.

My questions are:

1. The tire is a 90H19 Avenger, made in USA. Looks to be original. Assuming I stay with the present wheel/rim, what is a suitable tire to be used as a replacement?
2. I cannot use a tubeless tire with this rim, is that correct?
3. If I wanted to go with a 100x19, can that be done without other adjustments? (I am not putting the front fender back on, though I'm likely to reassemble with a fork brace.)
4. The brake rotor photo shows little tabs that stop the rotor from coming unbolted. In order to remove the rotor, I'll have to bend the tabs up. Will the tabs be reusable, or will I have to replace them with new ones? If so, where to get them?

Tks,

S.

 

[XSLeo]

If the tabs don't break off you can reuse them. They came with two tabs on each end. If there is only one on any, then the rotor was taken off and the tabs broke off. You might find new ones through a Yamaha dealer, local or online. If they do break, just replace with lock washers.
The stock tire was not an Avenger. They were Yokohama, I think anyway. Either way I doubt it's the original tire. Probably they were changed at least once, maybe twice. Tires made 25 years ago didn't last very long. 5-7000 miles was good. Even now some tires don't last that long.
Yes, I agree on the get it running and ride it idea. This lets you find out if anything major needs to be done to the engine. Hate to get a bike all redone then find out it still needs a bunch of money invested in the engine.
Leo
The front was a 3.50/90-19, the rear a 130/90-16.
The 90/90 is a good size, a lot of us run a 100/90. Either fit fine.

 

[Brassneck]

I dig your find...and that original look of the Heritage Special is something that definitely grows on you. I use to hate the styling of the specials, and of the HS espeically, but now I totally dig it.

You're wheels are indeed special. In order to get the Tracker look/feel, as you noted you'll want to get a taller rear rim. Unfortunately, they don't make that rim you have in an 18 with those lace patterns...or as far as i know...you could try to get a custom one made?

for your questions:
1) You should be able to get a 100 on the front without any problems. I'm pretty sure I'm running a 100 on my 19 front...(Not a HS rim, but I think the properties are the same).
2) Nope, you need to run a tube with spoked rims (No other way to keep it air tight).
3) See #1...you could probably still use your fender too if you wanted.
4) The tabs can be re-used...assuming they're not rusted,brittle, etc... if you need to replace them, lots of bike shops carry them...or order through Mikesxs. They aren't expensive.

 

[weekendrider]

If you like the multi spoke but want a larger rear look at the 18" 48 spoke rim at Mikes.
A member's (Scott S I think) dad did the rear rim swap with Mikes cafe seat and it looked pretty nice.

 

[5twins]

For right now, you can probably just blow those old tires back up to make it easy to roll around. It's kinda normal for tubed tires to slowly lose air as they sit. That's probably all that happened to yours from sitting so long. Once you do get fresh tires and start riding it, you will need to check tire pressures like once every week or two. That's just part of normal tube tire maintenance. They lose air over time, some worse than others.