Do people think your XS is a Triumph

[smokenjoep01]

I was at Myrtle beach this weekend and I cant tell you how many people called my XS a triumph, Norton, BSA etc. I figured I would of prevented most of that by going with a vanity tag that says "XS650". Did Yamaha copy one of these engine designs? Do riders of XS"s often get this?
On a side note. I placed second in the burnout contest Saturday night at the Suck Bang Blow. The winner was on a VRod and had to pop his tire to beat out the ole XS. I did some some standing next to the bike, but skinny XS tires dont smoke much. Crowd response was in my favor till I corrcted the anouncer and told him my bike was a Yamaha not a Triumph. Then the Harley crowd suddenly hushed.

 

[dqnjuan]

Sounds like you had some fun. Hell Ive had my xs called a harley before people just dont know.

 

[XS1961]

Harley riders know f*** all about other bikes !
Mines often mistaken for a Trumpet...

 

[suiteo]

Yep. Happened to me before. Pulled into a tavern one night and a Harley guy comes out of nowhere asking "Wow, that's cool! What is that, an old Triumph?" I say no its a Yamaha, and he said "oh, f#@#" and stomped off in disgust. I don't understand what the aversion to metric bikes are. Elitists....

Jay

 

[jayel]

just ask what part of the YAMAHA on the gas tank they don't understand

 

[jayel]

most people around here are sharp enough to know the difference

 

[suiteo]

Mine was off when I bought it, but still. It's right there on the clutch cover....

 

[Travis]

That happens to me with the XS650 and the FZ1. I'd had more than one person think my FZ1 was a Buell since is has the euro headlight on it instead of the front headlight and fairing.

smokenjoe, to answer your question, yes Yamaha did design the motor to look like the old brit twins except with an overhead cam. I don't know all the details, but I'm sure someone else knows more on the history.

 

[fancyketchup]

I get that a lot, of course the british racing green paint, pedestrian slicer, blank stator cover, blank derby cover, triumph tank knee pads, lucas taillight, and yamarumph(650 central) decals dont help.

 

[Travis]

I think when people ask if it's a triumph or bsa, I'm going to start saying yes... and if they ask about the Yamaha on the engine, I'll tell them I put that there so it wouldn't get stolen.

 

[72XS2]

The few "harley" guys that already saw my bike had good comments about it. I suppose it's because it's an old bike. Not sure if I will have the same comment with a newest Yamaha. Anyway, I don't pay attention to that. The other day, I said to my brother-in-law, who own a Harley, that it must be great to clean oil spot every now and then under his bike and pay almost the double of the price for a part that have "Harley-Davidson" written on it. He did me a little smile which means that I was right.

When people ask me what my bike looks like, I try to explain it looks a bit like a Triumph or a Norton and most of the time, they don't know what I'm talking about. We don't see many old bikes on the road around here.

 

[CDNTX650]

All the time. And that how i tell people it looks. (74TX)

Some guy just bugged for like 10 minutes convinced my Ducati 999 superbike was made by Buell......hahahahaha right..

HD is the be all end all and owns evey other. bike maker didnt you know...

 

[Teebs]

When I was about 12 (like 4 days ago) I heard that Yamaha basically reverse engineered the XS650 from the late '60s Bonnies. Then of course, they did what they do; they took a good design and made it better. (No hate to the Trump.)

Even my torn down XS has been mistaken for a Triumph, and I was even asked if it was an Indian by one old fella.

1968 Bonneville vs. Yamaha XS1; it's easy to understand why people who aren't bike enthusiasts would confuse the two:

Off-topic, but I always love looking at the pics on the ORIGINAL Bratstyle site:

A sweet Trump hardtail and maybe the tightest, most bad-ass XS brat I've ever seen:

 

[XS1961]

Only two types of Harley riders around our way - The R.U.B.S (Rich Urban bikers)who think Yamaha only make Virago's ...And the Chopper Club/Wannabe Angels who are so far up their righteous arses they dont aknowledge any other brands

 

[smokenjoep01]

Only two types of Harley riders around our way - The R.U.B.S (Rich Urban bikers)who think Yamaha only make Virago's ...And the Chopper Club/Wannabe Angels who are so far up their righteous arses they dont aknowledge any other brands

Were do I fit??
Keep in mind I was at a bike event. These were motorcycle "enthusists"

 

[jay760]

Teebs the guy who thought it was an Indian was probably getting confused with the model they brought out using the Royal Enfield motor, which has similar valve covers though it was a pre-unit.

 

[emzdogz]

that's like if someone asked if a Miata was an MGB, lol

 

[73novaguy]

Boy, I don't understand all the hatred for the HDs? LOL. I mean sure there are goobers that are all "HD is the best and nothing else matters", but don't let em spoil the view of all of us! Not all HD guys have brand news HDs with only HD parts on em, heck I have a 24 year old Sportster that I love! And I have a 2009 Custom that I built from the frame up and it has right around $23,000 in parts alone in it and the only Harley part, is a transmission sprocket seal. But I call it a Harley cause its "based" off a V-Twin design. But I love my XS just as much, its not as loud, it doesn't get stares from an entire parking lot of bikers like my Hardtail or Sporty or past Custom Sofatil, but doesn't mean us "Harley" guys don't love all bikes. I'll have prolly under $6000 in the XS when done doing the tracker, but I might just have more fun than on my $23k hardtail.

Ya, in stock form my XS used to get the "wow, haven't seen old Triumph for awhile" I think a lot of it has to do with the fact most of the newer cruiser bikes that have been around last couple years are all based on the V Twin style so people see the parallel twin as an old design and relate that to Norton's, BSA's, and Trump's!

 

[grizld1]

Yamaha didn't engineer or reverse engineer the engine to look, sound, or act Brit. The basis of the engine design was German: a 500 cc. SOHC 360* vertical twin brought out by Horex in the 1950's. When Horex failed the design was bought by a Japanese firm that called itself Hosk (probably as close as Japanese phonology could get to Horex). When Hosk failed, the design was acquired by Yamaha and modified (mainly in displacement) to produce the XS650. This is the main reason why the XS650 engine bears no resemblance to Yamaha's own 4-stroke twin designs with mechanical balancers, 180* phasing, cartridge oil filters, etc.

 

[XS1961]

Just jesting didnt mean to offend, I dont hate Harleys, I like the motors, I was really taking the piss out of Harley riders over here in the UK...We do that to BMW riders too
Did I read somewhere once that the XS engine was derived from half a Toyota block?