Custom WWII Military Theme XS650 Project

TerribleTabo1

XS650 Addict
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Location
Franklin Lakes, NJ
Let me just say that I am not the builder for this project. The inspiration for this project came surprisingly from a Bloomingdales catalog with a vintage World War 2 motorcycle on the cover. Something about the look really appealed to me. After doing some research on the military motorcycles from that era & realistically evaluating my riding environment, I decided I wanted a modern interpretation of a wwii military motorcycle with a more modern engine & modern disc brakes.

I wanted the bike to be a combination of different elements of the various motorcycles from that era. The sprung seat of an Indian 741, and a Harley UA or WLA style springer fork. I chose the XS650 as a base, partially because it was cheap & partially because I liked the more symmetrical look of the engine. After a long search, I settled on the guys at CycleServiceSales to build this project for me. Bill has a lot of experience with very old school motorcycles, and I really needed someone that was familiar with the motorcycles of that era to pull this project off.

We ordered a high ratio gear set as well as had the MikesXS HP billet camshaft & crank rephased to 270 degrees, by Heiden Tuning in the Netherlands. The port work was done by Gary @ Hoos Racing using 2mm oversize inconel Alloy valves I purchased on ebay. We also used the MikesXS 750 big bore kit & myriad of other parts from MikesXS. Various engine parts both internal & external were sent to Performance Coatings for ceramic coating.

The bike is almost finished now, and we need to add the hydraulic brakes as well as ceramic coat the rest of the engine as well as the header pipes.
 

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I'm having a hard time finding neutral. I was debating mounting a very tiny inconspicuous green neutral indicator light around the springer fork area without ruining the look of the bike. I see 2 spots that might work.

https://www.dimecitycycles.com/black-bezel-snap-in-indicator-lights.html (This one might look a bit goofy with the N on this style of bike)
or
https://www.dimecitycycles.com/vintage-cafe-racer-caferacer-bobber-brat-chopper-custom-motorcycle-electronic-lighting-parts-chrome-7-16-inch-pre-wired-12v-led-733.html
or
https://www.dimecitycycles.com/green-mini-led-indicator-light-with-chrome-threaded-body.html
 
Try biulding a kawasaki when the kamakaze birds had kawi engines in them . Hard sell
 
Excellent take of a military unit. A tan tommy gun scabbard on the forks would be a nice touch, period bags. Ck the web for proper military markings... units.. tire pressure.... you could go above and beyond and have your own nomenclature plate made. Next... spats, duster, etc etc etc.
 
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I want to drop a few teeth in the rear sprocket. It is currently 49 teeth. I was wondering if getting a custom sprocket in the rear might work with this setup? I'm pretty inexperienced with this and was wondering if someone with more knowledge could give me some advice whether or not this would work.
http://www.rebelgears.com/vintagesprockets.html
BTW I know this is huge but I have High Ratio Gear Sets from Heiden Tuning:
Stock:
27t primary
69t secondary
2.556 ratio

vs
Heiden Tuning High Ratio gears:
32t primary
69t secondary
2.156 ratio
 
The stock primary is 27t to 72t clutch basket, a 2.667:1 ratio.

Stock sprockets are 17t - 34t

To get equivalency to stock, you'd need 17t - 42t sprockets,
Or 18t - 44t sprockets,
Or 18t - 45t sprockets.

Being a hardtail, an 18t front sprocket is an option, and may get you the new ratio you want...
 
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