Imported from the USA, my TX650A had been well looked after and was largely stock apart from TPO’s personalised paint scheme as in the first pic. Now it’s in XS650D livery with a disguised Grimeca front brake in a Morad rim, fork gaiters with Triumph-styled retaining clips, progressive fork springs, bronze swinging arm bushings, Girling-lookalike shocks and a 31-tooth rear sprocket. I use a Suzuki double-pull front brake lever left over from another project (and what a sad yarn that is) and shortened Suzi GT750J/GT550 front brake cables. It has Dunstall knock-off megaphones with home-bent alloy supports. I'd prefer flatter bars, but the double-pull cable routing creates headlight clearance problems, so I chose a set with an early Bonnie/Matchless bend as a compromise. A lot of stock replacement parts came from Mikes, and the front wheel, brake stays, natural rubber handlebar grips, cloverleaf mesh and some other minor parts came from Disco Volante in the UK. I can't speak highly enough about that business and its service, by the way. Once I shake it down, I'll put in roller bearing headstock races and make an alloy rear light bracket so I can ditch that UFO monstrosity. I’d also like a set off swept-back header pipes, but that’s yet another set of skills I don’t have. I really appreciated all the online advice I got from the forums to get this far: it was staggeringly helpful to a newbie like me. Soon as I sort out the rich running and some front brake actuation problems, I'm off.
