Hi. New XS650 owner

[nlovern]

Hi,
My name i nathan Lovern. I live in Rural Retreat,Va. Im soon to be the owner of a 82 Yamaha XS650 Heritage Edition. I have to got to Farmingdale,Ny to get it. My brother got it for me.
It has 11,000miles on it and the only problem is first gear is out of it. The last owner would pop itin first to get it going. UGGG. It comes with a spare motor and lots of extras.
i have never rode a XS650 before and was wondering how it does with a passenger. My wife is 220 and im 175 pounds. Will the bike have enough power to pull us well?
Is there anything i should know about the XS650 thats a weak spot?
On the motor thats on the bike when i switch motors is it hard to get to the gear sets to change them out?
Thanks for the help. My 71 Yamaha DS7 is gonna be lonely now. It doesnt handle long trips and doubling well :-(
Thanks
Nathan Lovern,Va

 

[hotrdd]

Welcome to the board. Using the search option you should get most of the answers that you need. Are you planning on keeping this stock or modifying it? The weight you mention is pretty heavy for the little 650. You’ll see that the majority of owners here have heavily modified their XS650’s.

 

[retiredgentleman]

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=367

 

[xjwmx]

It'll work with the weight you mention, but I might call it borderline too small for it, depending on what you have in mind. In any case it's less than ideal, imo.

Also, the short wheelbase makes it so responsive that if she leans over to look at the ground for some reason, you'll make a sharp turn When I'm riding someone I make sure to tell them not to look down at the ground. The bike will swerve suddenly and sharply if they do it if you aren't prepared for it, hopefully not off the shoulder or into an oncoming car.