bhall1222
XS650 New Member
Hey there guys. This is my first post on here and I am ready to dive into this world of the xs650. Here's a little background on me: I'm 26, have never owned or ridden a motorcycle (only dirt bikes years ago). I've always loved the looks of them and finally decided to pick one up. I'm not a gearhead at all... so this is a learning process for me.
I picked this bike up from a local guy in Orlando, FL, off of craigslist. He built the bike himself this past year and just rebuilt the motor, only has about 30 miles on it. I went and looked at it yesterday and he kick started it up and let me ride it (first motorcycle ride ever). Took a couple minutes to get used to it and I'm looking forward to learning to ride. He delivered it to my house last night. This morning I woke up all giddy and ready to at least take it for a spin around the neighborhood but for the life of me I can't get it started. I did everything he said as far as turn gas lines on, open choke, turn electric on, and kick the hell out of it. After doing it for a while with no result I called him and he said I may have flooded it. I emptied the bowls of gas which there was quite a bit in there. Tried it again and after maybe 10 kicks I finally got 1 to start it up. Idled super high for a quick couple seconds but then died. Tried a handful more times and no luck.
So, couple questions:
-is there any tricks to the kick start that I should know? I'm only 165lbs and honestly just don't feel like I have enough power in me to effectively kick it.
-This bike has no electric start on it, but I'm very interested in adding one as I'd really like to be able to ride it (obviously). Is this possible? and if so, how easy, or how much $ to do it through a shop? Doesn't seem like the kick start is for me.
-the previous owner didn't use a battery on the bike, but has this rectifier system I'm not familiar with whatsoever. Thoughts on this?
I know I'm completely new to this so any advice is much appreciated. Pics below for reference. Learning process for me, so please bear with me! Thank you all in advance!
Brian
I picked this bike up from a local guy in Orlando, FL, off of craigslist. He built the bike himself this past year and just rebuilt the motor, only has about 30 miles on it. I went and looked at it yesterday and he kick started it up and let me ride it (first motorcycle ride ever). Took a couple minutes to get used to it and I'm looking forward to learning to ride. He delivered it to my house last night. This morning I woke up all giddy and ready to at least take it for a spin around the neighborhood but for the life of me I can't get it started. I did everything he said as far as turn gas lines on, open choke, turn electric on, and kick the hell out of it. After doing it for a while with no result I called him and he said I may have flooded it. I emptied the bowls of gas which there was quite a bit in there. Tried it again and after maybe 10 kicks I finally got 1 to start it up. Idled super high for a quick couple seconds but then died. Tried a handful more times and no luck.
So, couple questions:
-is there any tricks to the kick start that I should know? I'm only 165lbs and honestly just don't feel like I have enough power in me to effectively kick it.
-This bike has no electric start on it, but I'm very interested in adding one as I'd really like to be able to ride it (obviously). Is this possible? and if so, how easy, or how much $ to do it through a shop? Doesn't seem like the kick start is for me.
-the previous owner didn't use a battery on the bike, but has this rectifier system I'm not familiar with whatsoever. Thoughts on this?
I know I'm completely new to this so any advice is much appreciated. Pics below for reference. Learning process for me, so please bear with me! Thank you all in advance!
Brian