Let's See The XS's

[interacts]

Thanks they are two nice Bikes but they wont be just sitting there in the Garage they will be taken out and run on weekends and club day events .
A XS650 was never made to sit still they were made to ride.
The Blue bike was purchased from a very well know Top USA Pantry Chief from your City.
That's all I can say and I know he is happy to see it is going into a great collection.
The other Black D was from the Parts Planner of Yamaha USA and was originally owned by one of the Yamaha Engineers, I think maybe from new.
It was going to be made into a Kenny Roberts style Tracker but they realised it was just to nice to cut up and of course I just happened to come by and flash some money.
I will list up a couple of more XS650 I have purchased from around the States.
On price I have paid retail because I'm not a reseller they are for my collection .
When you see a good one you can't sit around you must look at what it would cost to restore which as everybody knows is becoming so expensive.
So you grab the good ones that don't need a lot of work to bring up to new condition and with what you save you can justify to your lady to go out and buy a few more.
It would be nice to have a line up starting from a XS1 and every model of XS650s made but the Aussie dollar would have to improve to achieve that.

 

[jsmith1107]

Glad to see you are riding them. Yeah, and you are right about restoration, not a cheap thing to do but the reward is huge. Cost depends a lot on condition when you get the bike, how much chrome is on it, and availability of parts. I have restored two Honda CL77 305 Scramblers and those are very expensive---LOT of chrome for one. I have also restored other bikes that are not so expensive and have actually made money if you take my labor per hour out of the equation, which I do because I love doing it. In fact, I have two little things to finish on my CL77 I am currently working on and it is done and then I can put full attention to the 650 sitting in pieces in storage bins in my garage.

I would love to see more pictures of bikes you own. Are you just a collector of Yamahas?

 

[interacts]

Yamaha XS650B I picked up of Ebay in Dec 2012 from Stockholm NJ it is sitting in my brothers shed in Maryland waiting to be shipped here to Penrith Australia.
This will be completely restored to show room condition. First Bike purchased in the USA paid too much for it but its all original low mileage.
Start up when my brother picked it up after sitting for 30 years plus.

 

[XS650_Bobber]

I picked up this Clean XS650D of Ebay Last week .
It is from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
It is on its way to join my collection of Yamahas in Penrith Australia.

This is a nice XS... Good find...

 

[interacts]

No I also picked up Three Honda CB750k one a nice 69 K0 the engine is half sandcast and the cases Diecast all original a lucky find from a deceased estate in San Francisco.
The other two are K3. I was only after one K3 but when I purchased the first one I was scammed and left high and dry by EBay and PayPal so thinking I had no chance of recovering it I purchased another very nice one from a friend in Ohio.
After 6 weeks of tracking the seller all over Indiana I got a tip off on two addresses in Marion Indiana. With a flip of a coin and the help of the Marion Police they did a sting on a Crack House and found the bike in the lounge room.
With the Help of the Guys from Brandt's Harley Davidson Marion with their pieces strapped on they recovered the bike.
Brandt's Harley Davidson held the bike at their shop until it was shipped to Long Beach where it was prepared to be shipped here. This Bike has got history.

 

[interacts]

One Owner Hardly used XS650SF 1979 Special.1450 original miles.
This is from a deceased estate from Omaha Nebraska that a good friend found for me. This bike is in great condition chrome is like new paint is showroom condition with the engine cases have gone a bit of a yellow colour from sitting covered up.
The reason this bike is still like new is that it has always been stored in the Late owners house. I'm just trying to decide whether to take the Queen seat and fairing off and replace with a brand new seat and also put the front indicators on to make it completely stock.
Now somebody out their will know the history of this small run that Yamaha did to get the sales of Specials moving with the threat of Kawasaki releasing their LTD Range.
They did a small run of these with the colour matching fairing and crazy queen seat.
I have been told this small batch was done by Yamaha USA and was only done in red.
If any body out their knows let me know.
This Bike is sitting covered up at Long Beach waiting to be shipped to Penrith Australia.
That is my small collection I have so far purchased in The USA .I'm looking for a Original Green and White XS1 so if somebody has one for sale let me know.
Thanks for checking my Bikes Out.

View attachment 30828

 

[interacts]

wow, nice bikes. is that all you do is purchase nice bikes and store them? I didn't see this one in Minneapolis and I live there, guess I didn't watch close enough on EBAY. Roughly, what did you have to pay for it? I have this bike in my garage in pieces and keep thinking I want something original and change it up a hair and then I see this picture and it makes me want to go back to original. DANG it.

As you can see they look nice when they are in good condition.
A good project for you to do next Winter at putting that one you have back together.
Don't cut it keep it original. I like Trackers and Bobbers but do the cutting on a basket case that is too expensive to restore.
I hope this has spurred you on.

 

[smalls]

Wow, quite the collection you've scooped up interacts!

 

[smalls]

Here's some shots of my 99% completed 79 XS.

 

[interacts]

Glad to see you are riding them. Yeah, and you are right about restoration, not a cheap thing to do but the reward is huge. Cost depends a lot on condition when you get the bike, how much chrome is on it, and availability of parts. I have restored two Honda CL77 305 Scramblers and those are very expensive---LOT of chrome for one. I have also restored other bikes that are not so expensive and have actually made money if you take my labor per hour out of the equation, which I do because I love doing it. In fact, I have two little things to finish on my CL77 I am currently working on and it is done and then I can put full attention to the 650 sitting in pieces in storage bins in my garage.

I would love to see more pictures of bikes you own. Are you just a collector of Yamahas?

Two of the Hondas I'm waiting to have landed with the Yamahas.
I will get shot for putting these on this site
The Red K0 will have a full resto back to show room condition.
$2000 worth of new parts arrived today from the USA.
The Brown K3 Had been restored in Ohio with the tank and side covers still original.
The owner had the two fenders and rims powder coated black . Metro look.
As soon as it gets here brand new rims, guards plus a brand new seat will be installed .
This bike will look brand new. Just those parts alone cost $1800 so you can see what I mean about the cost of restoring.
The Hondas are just in the collection so the Yamahas have something to growl at.

 

[interacts]

Wow, quite the collection you've scooped up interacts!

Thanks I can't wait for these to land in Australia so I can get them home.
Four of them are somewhere on the high seas between The USA and Australia the rest are waiting at Long Beach CA to be packed.
As soon as they all arrive I will post a Picture of them lined up.

 

[interacts]

The ol' 78

Nice original bike.
These are getting hard to find.

 

[interacts]

Good looking bike Gazont.
Here's mine so far. Just a few little things left.

Nice looking bike .
XS650 Bobbers are starting to off here in Australia.

 

[jsmith1107]

Here was mine before teardown. And after.

 

[interacts]

Here was mine before teardown. And after.

Bike looks all there before strip down.
It looks like you have a good start on the bike.
The worst part is always stripping down the bike and going through all the parts condition and what needs replacing etc.
If you are looking at replacing the mufflers here is a good reproduction made in the Uk that go nicely with Mikes XS front header pipes.
All the mounts are correct to bolt the original brackets as well.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/37078665512...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_2307wt_1402



View attachment 30860

 

[jsmith1107]

Honestly, the bike wasn't that bad, just really dirty and needing some TLC. The tires were about as bald as you can imagine, can't believe the guy rode this on a daily basis. The compression on both sides is almost 155, the engine was clean as well. I really honestly can't find any pieces that are missing that aren't supposed to be there. I have one broken blinker arm from the front so would need that. The seat is a mess as far as the vinyl. The two mufflers had dents in them but no holes at all and no rust. I would need a new speedo and tach as that was done and broken. The front fender was dented up but the chrome is really nice on both fenders. The rims are quite corroded but being they are aluminum I could easily blast them all together and then protect them later. IDK, I still just want to do something unique, we will see.

 

[Evilclone13]

Here's a before and current of my 79' ... Cafe/Tracker-ish build.

 

[Johnt3]

Thanks interacts.

 

[interacts]

Honestly, the bike wasn't that bad, just really dirty and needing some TLC. The tires were about as bald as you can imagine, can't believe the guy rode this on a daily basis. The compression on both sides is almost 155, the engine was clean as well. I really honestly can't find any pieces that are missing that aren't supposed to be there. I have one broken blinker arm from the front so would need that. The seat is a mess as far as the vinyl. The two mufflers had dents in them but no holes at all and no rust. I would need a new speedo and tach as that was done and broken. The front fender was dented up but the chrome is really nice on both fenders. The rims are quite corroded but being they are aluminum I could easily blast them all together and then protect them later. IDK, I still just want to do something unique, we will see.

Wheels in very good condition especially spoke condition have been going cheap on Craigslist,
Cheaper than respoking a new set of Rims.
Also I have seen some nice sets of gauges on Ebay going so cheap.
Grab the stuff you need because as soon as the Bobber Craz stops parts will run out and then prices will then go through the roof.
Put the XS back to together in Original Condition, in ten years time you wont see them for sale, so how much do you think it will be worth then?

On the XS650B and Honda K0 I will be replacing with Stainless Steel Spokes.
Main reason for this is that I will not have to worry about the plating going off with moisture.
I'm looking at getting the stainless spokes electro polished which will mean they will always be shiny.
Stainless spokes will go against me when showing the bikes but I wont have to worry about polishing them again just a quick wipe over each week is all they need to keep them shiny.
The only good thing about splitting a wheel is you can do a complete 100 per cent polishing of the Hub which is impossible to do when the wheel is complete.
I'm looking at getting the hub and rims electro polished as well, I have been told if you give them a wipe over they will never tarnish and will always keep that polished look.
When I do this I will put pictures up on the Site I think a lot of guys will be interested in doing this themselves.

 

[interacts]

Here is my 4500 mile '75 back from a very long sleep. Its road ready again.

Nice bike Looks sharp. Nicest colour Scheme of the XS650s