Firerunner
XS650 Addict
- Messages
- 148
- Reaction score
- 8
- Points
- 18
So here is the story- a few years ago, while undergoing a long-term Harley Ironhead bobber project, I felt the desire to have a little bike to run around with. I found a '72 XS650 in an old hardtailed Triumph frame for a good price, running well. I bought it. I then found out that the previous owner had just moved to California, and that he brought the bike with him from New York... and for some reason, California wouldn't let the transfer go through. I tried to get in touch with the PO, to no avail. I rode the bike until the registration was up. I then ended up trading it for a significant amount of work that I needed to farm out on the Harley.
The Harley IS almost done... but after playing with the 650 for a while, I actually prefer that powerplant. It is much lighter than my old Ironhead, and offers plenty of torque. I started looking around for another XS. I found one on craigslist which is local to me. It is an 81, which means TCI, 34mm carbs and an electric starter. It runs, and the current owner recently rebuilt the transmission. He started to chop it... but that is about it. It has no title, but has been off the record with California DMV long enough that I should be able to get a VIN verification and register it with a salvage title. I took a look at it today and we got her running. The bike idled fine. It hadn't been started for about a year, so I wasn't too surprised when there was a thick blue tint to the exhaust. However, after letting it warm up for a few minutes, the left cylinder cleared up considerably. The right one didn't. It also appeared to be leaking some oil near the spark plug. I figure at least a top end refresh is in order. It could be driven down the road if it had a plate, but it is ugly. Side plates and rear fender are gone. I would be putting a TC Bros hardtail on it eventually, so the visual aspects don't bug me as much as the mechanical ones do. The forks are from a 750, and have dual disks.
The fellow who owns the bike was asking $800, but when we discovered the oil/exhaust leak, he mentioned that he would lower his asking price to $600, but even then seemed open to an offer. The price includes the bike, two extra XS650 frames, and a lot of old Yamaha, Kawasaki, BSA and Truimph parts of unknown condition or origin.
Here is the one photo that I have.
My question is this: What would YOU pay? Would you even bother? I'd rather have an earlier, simpler motor, but this MAY end up being a cheap deal after I sell all the spare parts and so forth. Thoughts?
The Harley IS almost done... but after playing with the 650 for a while, I actually prefer that powerplant. It is much lighter than my old Ironhead, and offers plenty of torque. I started looking around for another XS. I found one on craigslist which is local to me. It is an 81, which means TCI, 34mm carbs and an electric starter. It runs, and the current owner recently rebuilt the transmission. He started to chop it... but that is about it. It has no title, but has been off the record with California DMV long enough that I should be able to get a VIN verification and register it with a salvage title. I took a look at it today and we got her running. The bike idled fine. It hadn't been started for about a year, so I wasn't too surprised when there was a thick blue tint to the exhaust. However, after letting it warm up for a few minutes, the left cylinder cleared up considerably. The right one didn't. It also appeared to be leaking some oil near the spark plug. I figure at least a top end refresh is in order. It could be driven down the road if it had a plate, but it is ugly. Side plates and rear fender are gone. I would be putting a TC Bros hardtail on it eventually, so the visual aspects don't bug me as much as the mechanical ones do. The forks are from a 750, and have dual disks.
The fellow who owns the bike was asking $800, but when we discovered the oil/exhaust leak, he mentioned that he would lower his asking price to $600, but even then seemed open to an offer. The price includes the bike, two extra XS650 frames, and a lot of old Yamaha, Kawasaki, BSA and Truimph parts of unknown condition or origin.
Here is the one photo that I have.
My question is this: What would YOU pay? Would you even bother? I'd rather have an earlier, simpler motor, but this MAY end up being a cheap deal after I sell all the spare parts and so forth. Thoughts?
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