Father's Day Hardtail Build

[alwaysmonday]

Well, I've been lurking long enough that I'm starting to make myself uncomfortable.

Now that's said, let me by saying hello and thank you to the active members of this site and those who maintain this site's integrity. I would have posted earlier but there is so much information already availible that many of my newbie questions were simply waiting to be searched.

Ok, on to my build. I received a Craiglist 79 XS650 Special from my wife and two daughters for father's day this year. It had 11,xxx miles and was in fine riding condition. I have since completed a full simplified rewire, HHB PMA, Pamco ignition, pod filters and re-jetted the carbs.

I've enjoyed putting approx. 3,000 miles on it this year and with colder weather starting to move into Indiana, I'm beginning to roam various websites to research what it will take to build the type of bike that I enjoy seeing others build.

So here's the plan...hardtail weld on frame, spoke wheels with 21" rims, HHB re-phase, general engine freshen up, probably another full re-wire before its over with and then some paint.

I expect this may take more than a year to complete but I'm okay with that. I enjoy the process as much if not more than the riding itself.

I'll post a few picture of the progress thus far as soon as I figure out how. Of course I plan to update this thread to as often as progress requires. Thanks in advace for your help.


Jon

 

[Paulrxs650]

Welcome from England! There are some very good people on here to help you! Good luck and get some pics up!

 

[alwaysmonday]

Thanks for the welcome. Here it is several hours after arriving home. Mods had already started by removing the windscreen the PO had installed.

 

[Johnt3]

Hey from Kansas! Good starting point you got there.Will be watching your build.
+1 on the pics and have a good time building your bike like you want it.

 

[Spades]

Jon,

It's always good to see another local guy on here. I'm just down the street in Brownsburg. I'm no 650 expert, but I have learned a lot over the past year. If you have any questions or are looking for something locally let me know. I have a build thread on here....and hopefully will have mine on the street this week. My painter is taking a little longer than expected. Keep us posted.

Posted via Mobile

 

[alwaysmonday]

Thanks Spades, I'm looking forward to the build. What is the link to your build? I'd like to see what you have done. I did some roadwork in Brownsburg a few years ago; if you drove SR267 north of I74, you may have cursed at me and didn't know it. Haha.

I got a couple of rides while waiting for the Pamco& high output coil, Sparx, and PMA to arrive.

I ordered the Pamco and PMA, started the install and things went really smooth. When it came time to wire everything in, I considered wiring them into the stock harness but knew deep down that it wouldn't go well. Locating and cutting the first wire must have released something deep down. Before I was done, I cut the entire harness out of the bike and was headed to the parts store for wire, connectors. Then I called my brother to let him know that I would be borrowing his soldering iron.

I am storing all the parts that I remove from this build. I hope to entice some of the folks reading this into bartering/trading with me. Right now, I'm in the market for a 36 spoke drum brake rear hub and a spoke front hub (drum or spoke (what do you have?)). I have mags (19" and 16"), swing arm, rear brake, and the various electrical components, side panels, stock air boxes/filters, wind screen seen below to start the conversations. Got something your looking for..., ask, you may be able to talk me into removing it trading it with you.

Jon

 

[Spades]

I've been down 267 many times. Lol. I don't have many stock parts left over from my build. I traded, sold, and gave away most everything. I know a guy in BBurg that has a lot of stock parts/ motor parts, but no spoke wheels. Jon Ard at Ardcore Choppers is a good local source too. He is off Pendleton Pike. Great fab guy and awesome welder. Talk to ya soon. Here is a link to my build:


http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16110

Posted via Mobile

 

[alwaysmonday]

I picked up a set of 36 spoke hubs with rain catcher rims and I really like the look of the rims. 19" front and 18" rear. How long a stretch and how much lowering can be done to the rear without fear of stress fractures? With 21"rims wheels i would like to get about 6" of stretch and 4" lowering. Sound reasonable?

 

[alwaysmonday]

The spoke wheel deal came with a front disk, caliper, swing arm and a set of 34mm forks and clamps. I installed the wheels only into my existing set up just so I could roll it around the garage. I quickly noticed that the offset for the 1975 wheels/disk/34mm fork must be different than my 1979 offsets because the existing (mag) caliper binds with the spoke disk and locks up solid when the front wheel is tightened down.

Can anyone point me in the right direction on the spacing. I know that I have parts made for the old fork mounted to the newer fork so is the difference in the hub width, disk offset, caliper offset or fork width, all of the above?

A little good news. I wanted to let it run for a bit just to cycle the fuel and it started 2nd kick after sitting for the better part of 2 months. Got to love that!

I'll hang up and listen to your answer.

Jon

 

[alwaysmonday]

So I did a little research and found the rotors on the older bikes have a different offset. I like the older smaller caliper so I am going to use it in the build.

 

[alwaysmonday]

So I am going to take more interest in this tread and attempt to embed photos along the way. I'm doing this in as much to help me when it comes time to reassemble everything as I am to make it more enjoyable to read for those of you who want to follow along.

So I took a bike from this

To this

I added a Hugh PMA, some pod filters, jetted the carbs, high output coil, Pamco and rewired the bike. I put about 3,000 miles on it this summer and had a great time.
By the end of the summer it looked like this.

Along the way I seemed to simplify the engineering of the bike and began to amass excess STUFF.

The bike took on several different looks along the way. Modifications were done in haste to maximize the riding time over the summer.

There seemed to be too much going on between the grips so a simplified dash was built from some spare aluminum (a.k.a. a old road sign, I don't think the County will miss it).

Winter rolled into Indiana and it sat in my garage like this for 2 months.

I traded off the mag wheels and some $ for some goodies purchased from the classifieds section of this forum.

.

I picked up this stuff as part of the transaction.

It sat a little while longer before I at least put the spoke wheels on just so I could move it in the garage.

I have been talking a lot with my youngest brother who is currently neck deep in building a LSR (Land Speed Record) Bike. He got the motorcycle obsession bad after completing this build last year. I did a photo shoot for him late last year so he could have some proper photos of this pride and joy.

All the work he is doing on the LSR bike got me thinking the only way to get MY project completed is to actually take the first step and get it started. So I have many more photos yet to be posted of the tear down. I just about have the cases split so you know what that means... Yep, another crank and cam soon to be sent to Hugh. I have to help the guy out, I don't what the electric company to turn off his power...right? Well there is more to come but alas I have spent enough time behind the computer for this evening.

For all of you who love a one of a kind build, I would encourage you to keep an eye on my brother. His LSR bike is a Honda cb350 that will be turbo charged and fuel injected. He is tapping the expertise of some very talented friends to help him along the way. As soon as I can break into his photobucket account, I'll get some pictures posted of the LSR project just for eye candy and to keep everyone coming back to see what's new!

If your looking for some inspiration, please visit the facebook page http://www.facebook.com/MondayLsr?fref=ts or the forum page http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=114700.0 that is updated pretty regularly.

I hope this format will entice more of you to comment along the way. I am sure I'll need your expertise to answer questions as I move forward.

Jon

 

[alwaysmonday]

As promised for those of you who are interested in the LSR Bike my brother is building.

clowning

Oh yea and here is a CB with a Ducati single sided swing arm that's being put together.

Ok enough with the other brands bike's. I promise the next post will be of a Yamaha product!

Jon

 

[alwaysmonday]

Anybody have experience removing Hugh's PMA magnet? Looks and feels like I may need a pulley remover.

 

[alwaysmonday]

I need to buy another tool to remove the PMA Magnet. Thanks to this forum for helping identify the tool I need here.

I removed the swing arm and engine from the frame. I took the advice of several other forum members and laid the frame on its side. Removing the engine using this method was much easier than trying to clear the oil pan from the frame rails while bumping the valve cover into the top engine mount frame support.

Photobucket will help document the things I am likely to forget once its time to put things back together.

I was able to remove the cam without breaking the cam chain as suggested in the manual. Will this come back to haunt me later? We will see.

Removed the cylinders. So far things are coming apart without to much trouble.

So this is what my work space looks like so far. It's a little small but it works well. Spring weather should move in for good here in Indiana any day now so that should allow the garage door to be opened and let some natural light into the work space.

Jon

 

[alwaysmonday]

I should have the crank and the cam back from Hugh in a week or two and I have started making a list of other items I need to buy in order to get things back together.

I have been on the fence lately about cutting the rear end off the bike. I guess I'm afraid that a hardtail is not my style even though I love the look. So for those of you that may be keeping up with this to see another hardtail completed ... I am going to upset you. I have decided to keep the swing arm after all.

Maybe a hardtail will be a future build but for now riding country roads in Indiana I have decided to keep some suspension after all.

Jon

 

[retroLS1]

Great looking build. Hardtails aren't for everyone. I love the look so went with one, but there are some pretty awesome builds on here keeping the rear suspension.

 

[alwaysmonday]

My Grandpa passed away several months ago. He was a great man who took the time to be a father, a teacher and a friend to me. He was a very hard working man who made his living working with his hands. He didn't make it through 4th grade because he was needed to help work on the family farm. He couldn't read or write but was still probably the smartest man I know.

He was raised as a child in eastern Kentucky during the great depression. The son of a blacksmith (look for his fathers 80lbs+ anvil in the photos below) and farmer. He never threw anything away. He recycled because that is what he could afford, not because it was trendy. Both he and my Grandma (who passed before him) moved to Indiana to find work shortly after they were married. Here is a few photos of his old dairy barn with 65+ years of acquired treasures.

He was a farmer, a carpenter, a sheet metal worker and a welder just to name a few of many jobs he had to support his family. As a result, he had a natural curiosity for how things work and how to make things "better". He aquired lots of tools over 80+ years. I would guess more than 90% were given to him by someone when it became to worn out. As has his health began to fail him he asked me and my 5 brothers to visit the farm with him and take anything we wanted. At first this felt strange because you don't take another man's tools. PERIOD. But he wanted to know that they were going to be used. I gathered up just some of the tools I found laying on the work benches and put them into a millwork tool box.

It nice to have his continued guidance and helping hands (his tools) help me on this project.

Jon

 

[plane_ben]

Spent all morning reading this and your brothers thread on the LSR 350 Honda. Good stuff. My condolences on your father's passing. I went through the same thing a few years back with my dad. Yours and mine were cut from the same cloth. Cleaning out my dad's shed was hilarious for me because my brothers were wanting to throw out everything. I'm saying nooooo! I can use all this stuff.

I just finished my build of an XS650.http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23725 I too re-phased. You are going to love it.

 

[alwaysmonday]

Spent all morning reading this and your brothers thread on the LSR 350 Honda. Good stuff. My condolences on your father's passing. I went through the same thing a few years back with my dad. Yours and mine were cut from the same cloth. Cleaning out my dad's shed was hilarious for me because my brothers were wanting to throw out everything. I'm saying nooooo! I can use all this stuff.

I just finished my build of an XS650.http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23725 I too re-phased. You are going to love it.

How do you like your hard tail? I love the thought of it but... I have never rode one before.

Jon

 

[alwaysmonday]

This was an old post but it should have been included in this thread. It will help all of you who are about to ship something to Hugh.

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28900&highlight=Hugh+ship

Jon