Ground up XS650

[TheRealSpinner]

Pardon for the mess. Not bad for day 1. Made a cradle for the engine so its easier to move around, and it'll also hold the motor when I give it a refresh. Also played with a few configurations.

I think I'm gonna try something funny. Build a springer front end, and mono-shock rear, or possibly try to use a leaf or two for the mono-shock.
I think I finally decided... I am doing a single down tube (as opposed to double). I may split it under the motor, but we'll see.
The motor and frame will have 6 inches clearanceñ but the exhaust will go under the motor and enter a hand made muffler. I haven't decides where to have the final exit.
Intake will need to be separated from the exhaust. I'll need to mark some sort of heat shield or something.

What do you think? Any suggestions?

 

[TheRealSpinner]

Got the top tube, down tube, and head tube all tacked up. Tomorrow, I'll get the lower part of the front bent up and tacked. Let's hope it doesn't take as long as the progress so far.

 

[Tron]

This should be exciting. I vote girder rather than springer!

Ill be following

 

[itrguy]

Lookin good so far!

 

[TheRealSpinner]

Why girder instead of springer? I've never seen one up close, and I've already set the rake for the springer I'm gonna build. I wonder how the two compare in regards to trail.
Do you know how do they compare in ride quality?

 

[TheRealSpinner]

Also, I should be updating this page fairly often, but not more than once a day. I try to update my Facebook page as it happens.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/ErisWerks/251617208213282?ref=hl

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

I would love to see someone come up with an alternative top motor mount system. Maybe a narrow plate design that would bolt to the top tube from the bottom, give clearance to narrow tunnel tanks. I'll be following this build thread...

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

The girder is very torsionally rigid, assuming upper trunnions/bushings are good. Doesn't flopsy/mopsy like long narrow springers. But, it has the most unsprung weight compared to other front ends.
There's a really nice 8" over girder in this forum, great pics...

 

[Yamaha_chop]

Springer with a mono leaf style rear suspension? I think Hank Young made something like that on one of the old biker build offs. Regardless, love your start so far, keep the updates coming!

 

[jdizon]

Just checked out this link. Diggin the style of your builds

Also, I should be updating this page fairly often, but not more than once a day. I try to update my Facebook page as it happens.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/ErisWerks/251617208213282?ref=hl

 

[TheRealSpinner]

Thanks jdizon.

I didn't get as much progress as I would have liked today. Did some fine tuning this morning, but then sat around the rest of the day trying to plan the rest.

Right now, I'm trying to decide on a seat design. Here's what I have so far.

I'm not convinced this it it, yet.

 

[TheRealSpinner]

I got some more progress done on the bike. Finally decided that I needed to go soft tail. I picked this up off of craigslist. It came off a Ducati 999 with 1500 miles on it. I figured it'd do fine for this build, and got it for a pretty good price.

A little back story: When I bought the bike, the front end was obviously off another dirt bike, and it had a larger than stock rear sprocket. Come to find out, the back wheel was not stock either. Don't know what it came off of, but it had a smaller axle, and the sprocket mount was totally wrong; so I bought a REAL xs650 rear wheel (but didn't come with an axle). So I bought an axle assembly off ebay and made a spacer to use the current smaller axle with the XS650 wheel while I waited. I also had to grind down the width of the sprocket to fit the 520 chain it had on it (temporarily until the build when it would all get replaced anyway).

Back to the build... So, I thought about making a swingarm and bushings, etc. from scratch, but realized that the swingarm that came on the bike was not stock-the axle slot was not large enough to use the correct . Since I knew it fit the stock frame, and I wouldn't be able to sell it since I didn't know how to describe it, i cut the pivot tube out and started a new swingarm.

I thought the swingaxle looked a little long... so I shortened it a bit . I'll see if I can find any pictures of the dropouts. Since the original ones weren't going to fit, rather than mess with cutting them out and machining them to fit and reweld them to the new legs, I drew up a new set and had them waterjet (luckily, there's a waterjet place at the end of the building-no charge for this pair, we have a symbiotic relationship.)

So here it is. Everything is welded to this point. Today I'm gonna make a couple upper mounts for the shock. That way, I can change the ride height by just swapping out the upper mount. This pic shows 8 inches of clearance with at full extension. I'm playing with the upper mount so that with a rider on the bike, it has 4 inches of clearance.

What do you all think?



If anybody lives in or near San Diego, feel free to come visit. You can email me beforehand to make sure I'm there SPiNNeR@ErisWerks.com or drop by on your way home from work: 5171 Santa Fe St. 92109 I'm trying to put lots of hours in at the shop, but not necessarily consistently. For instance, Wednesday, I got there about 11am, but didn't leave until 8am the next morning. So, Thursday, I wasn't there at all. I'll be there today, though, and probably tomorrow (Saturday).

 

[TheRealSpinner]

In Case anybody is interested, here is what I started with.

It had a 21 in. front wheel, which I ultimately wanted, so I wasn't concerned that it wasn't stock. Basically, it ran fine and had all the components I would reuse, so it was the perfect donor bike.

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

Gotta say, that's the first time I've ever seen a backbone mounted monoshock like that.
Do you expect any twist/flex in the swingarm?

 

[TheRealSpinner]

I think that the important aspect of the lateral rigidity of the rear suspension has more to do with the pivot end the swingarm. I'm not sure how much the shock mount has to do with it.

I will say, that the setup in the picture was NOT working very well. It was WAY too soft. I thought I could just adjust the shock, but with preload maxed out, and compression and rebound screws tight, I could bounce on it and touch the frame to the ground. And that was with 8 inches clearance to start!

I messed around with it, and think I came up with a solution. I'll post pics when I get it all dialed in.

 

[TheRealSpinner]

Took a few days off to catch up on some much needed sleep and wifey-time. Back at it again today and I'm not leaving until the rear suspension is DONE!

Convince me more about the girder front end. I'm still not convinced. I just love the look of a springer. Also, the frame's got a 37° head angle, designed for a springer (with a final trail of right around 3 inches). Is that gonna work with a girder too?

 

[Tron]

I think the real convincing way would be for you to see one in person. they are really stunning. You can also use an air shock off a mountain bike for a really unique look.

I feel building a girder would probably be a bit easier as well but I cannot speak from experience..

 

[jdizon]

If I were go with a girder, I'd want it to look like one of these.

 

[TheRealSpinner]

That second on is weird looking, but I really like the whole look overall. I was thinking of using a leaf spring, but haven't worked with one before (nor have I any experience with a traditional springer, but I feel that they are more straight forward), and wouldn't even know where to start. At least with springers, there are kits with all the parts (well inner, outer, etc.).

 

[jdizon]

well I decided to go springer myself with my bike. Outer wishbone upgraded to not look so boxy. This is a sketch I made of what I have planned. I like springers but If I had the skills to build one of those girders up above I'd go that route in a heart beat.