RemBrent
Artist & Farm-boy
Hey all. Pleasure to be here.
I joined XS650.com a few months back when I was doing some research, trying to decide what platform I wanted to build a custom bike on. I have been driving dirt bikes and my dad's cruiser since I was a teenager, but I've never owned one of my own. Young guy, no money, you know the drill. I could never justify the cost of a new bike when we have such a short riding season up in Alberta, and to be honest, I never really went for the new and shiny. I always wanted my own ride. But I wanted to customize it the way I wanted it
I definitely got the bug from my dad. He is a farmer who spends his spare time restoring Model As, Ts and old tractors. Here is some of the stuff he has done...
Needless to say, he's my go-to-guy for building, fabbing and anything else that is a little beyond me. I can't stress how much he's helping me with my build.
Anyway, after managing to save some dough the first thing I did was post an ad in the XS650.com classified forum looking for a project. Not two days later I made contact with forum member "realgone" who, besides being a hell of a fellow, lives only five minutes from me. He had exactly what I was looking for, a 1980 xs stripped down, but complete, and with the engine in great condition. This was especially fortunate because XS650s are actually a lot rarer up here then they are south of the border. Plus, they are so popular for choppers that they are constantly snatched up by the local bike shops to hoard for parts and their own builds. XS650.com definitely saved me the trouble of hunting on Craigslist or Kijiji for months just to find a piece of crap.
First thing I did was focus on rebuilding the engine, which really didn't need all that much work. It was pretty clean with low miles, it had just been sitting for a while. A minor honing, a couple new pistons/rings and a few other pieces and she was back in spec and ready to go. I upgraded to a PAMCO and have just ordered a PMA from Hugh to finish of the upgrades. I considered doing the rephase but couldn't justify the expense at the moment. Plus, I want to get this thing on the road for Spring so I can ride it over the summer before tearing back into it again next winter. Maybe I'll revisit the upgrade down the road.
After getting the engine all back together I brought the pieces back to my dad's shop and we started on putting pieces back together...
I did some minor frame grinding, removing some stuff I won't be needing (like side panel mounts) painting as I went along to keep the metal protected. Down the road I'll strip and paint it all properly, but my first goal is get it together and road-worthy for spring.
We fabbed up a set of drag bars out of some ⅞" tubing. I like them a lot better then the stocks. We made them over-long, but I'll cut them down later when I get my new controls. I also fabbed a new coil mount for the PAMCO ultimate ignition and got that all installed.
Next step, I think, is to figure out some wiring. I plan on running batteryless and I got some neat ideas for how I'm going to handle the wiring which came from reading ideas from lots of other folks on the forum. I can't really take any credit for most of what the bike will be cause I got pretty much all of them from you guys. Thanks for being amazing sources of wisdom and inspiration!
I think I'm keeping the stock tank for now, just to get on the road and insured faster. I'll be keeping my eye out over the summer for a replacement, though I am not sure what it will be yet. We'll see what fun things I find at swap meets.
This won't be a quick build, but that's fine. I want this bike to ride it, so my major work will wait till the off-season. I'm so stoked to finally be doing this!
I joined XS650.com a few months back when I was doing some research, trying to decide what platform I wanted to build a custom bike on. I have been driving dirt bikes and my dad's cruiser since I was a teenager, but I've never owned one of my own. Young guy, no money, you know the drill. I could never justify the cost of a new bike when we have such a short riding season up in Alberta, and to be honest, I never really went for the new and shiny. I always wanted my own ride. But I wanted to customize it the way I wanted it
I definitely got the bug from my dad. He is a farmer who spends his spare time restoring Model As, Ts and old tractors. Here is some of the stuff he has done...
Needless to say, he's my go-to-guy for building, fabbing and anything else that is a little beyond me. I can't stress how much he's helping me with my build.
Anyway, after managing to save some dough the first thing I did was post an ad in the XS650.com classified forum looking for a project. Not two days later I made contact with forum member "realgone" who, besides being a hell of a fellow, lives only five minutes from me. He had exactly what I was looking for, a 1980 xs stripped down, but complete, and with the engine in great condition. This was especially fortunate because XS650s are actually a lot rarer up here then they are south of the border. Plus, they are so popular for choppers that they are constantly snatched up by the local bike shops to hoard for parts and their own builds. XS650.com definitely saved me the trouble of hunting on Craigslist or Kijiji for months just to find a piece of crap.
First thing I did was focus on rebuilding the engine, which really didn't need all that much work. It was pretty clean with low miles, it had just been sitting for a while. A minor honing, a couple new pistons/rings and a few other pieces and she was back in spec and ready to go. I upgraded to a PAMCO and have just ordered a PMA from Hugh to finish of the upgrades. I considered doing the rephase but couldn't justify the expense at the moment. Plus, I want to get this thing on the road for Spring so I can ride it over the summer before tearing back into it again next winter. Maybe I'll revisit the upgrade down the road.
After getting the engine all back together I brought the pieces back to my dad's shop and we started on putting pieces back together...
I did some minor frame grinding, removing some stuff I won't be needing (like side panel mounts) painting as I went along to keep the metal protected. Down the road I'll strip and paint it all properly, but my first goal is get it together and road-worthy for spring.
We fabbed up a set of drag bars out of some ⅞" tubing. I like them a lot better then the stocks. We made them over-long, but I'll cut them down later when I get my new controls. I also fabbed a new coil mount for the PAMCO ultimate ignition and got that all installed.
Next step, I think, is to figure out some wiring. I plan on running batteryless and I got some neat ideas for how I'm going to handle the wiring which came from reading ideas from lots of other folks on the forum. I can't really take any credit for most of what the bike will be cause I got pretty much all of them from you guys. Thanks for being amazing sources of wisdom and inspiration!
I think I'm keeping the stock tank for now, just to get on the road and insured faster. I'll be keeping my eye out over the summer for a replacement, though I am not sure what it will be yet. We'll see what fun things I find at swap meets.
This won't be a quick build, but that's fine. I want this bike to ride it, so my major work will wait till the off-season. I'm so stoked to finally be doing this!