Like a boomerang, I have returned!

David Toll

David Toll

Reliving my youth?
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Greetings all. After 12 months of medical issues including amputations, (toes only, I can still change gear and kick a footy), crutches, casts, moon boots , X-rays, MRI's and endless hours in out-patients, I have once again turned my attention to my XS 650 SE. The faithful object of my attention has sat under wraps in my shed awaiting my return and I am keen to get re-involved and complete my restoration. I extend special salutations to Yamadude, geedubya, Mailman, gggGary, 5 twins, 2Many, Jim, Leo, Bob K., Skull and Max Pete in consideration of the guidance and support you have offered me in the past. I am delighted to see that you are still engaged in our passion and can, hopefully, still see the curves. I have, of course, been a constant visitor to these fascinating pages but, due to my incapacity, I have had little of value to add. I hope to be back with a vengeance and put the old girl back on the road before I lose a foot and the ability to apply the brake, (rear that is).
The frame is painted and assembled, the motor is top end rebuilt and ready to reinstall, brakes are done and I have recently purchased a new wiring harness, headlight, left and right bar switches and short stalk indicators from Mikes, (or his Australian equivalent). I intend to plague you all with questions that will display my lack of electrical ability and the fact that I refuse to refer to confusing and, often misleading wiring diagrams.
Just a hello and "heads up" for the moment but I will return with inquiry to tax your eminent experience and exercise your patience.
Kind regards
 
David !!

It is so good to have you back with us !
It sounds like you have had a rough time over the past year.
But you seem to be a fighter when it comes to medical issues.

Your enthusiasm for the XS650 is heartening.
Like Pete just said, give us all your questions.

And we'd love to see pictures of the project.

Jeff
 
David! I’m so happy to hear you are still with us! I was afraid you fell asleep and were eaten by Dingos!
540106B0-2223-4569-B916-517DD87B09DE.jpeg

It’s great to hear you are on the mend and back to doing things that you enjoy. I look forward to seeing you around the forum again. May you have fair winds and following seas my friend!
Bob
 
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Thanks for the warm welcome - you guys are good enough to be Aussies (no offence intended)!! Now for some pictures to prove that I do indeed own a '78 and don't just hang around the Forum because I have some sort of email fetish. Bike was purchased in pretty good nick for a 40 year old motorcycle but I made a couple of mistakes right from the start.
a) I over-estimated my mechanical ability and the time I had available and decided on a total restoration. I stripped the old girl down to the frame, meticulously labelling everything I removed. Photo 1 shows the effect that 2 years of sitting idle has on masking tape labels in our sub-tropical climate.

b) I underestimated both the cost of restoration items and the time it takes to ship such items to the Antipodes. There have been occasions where the shipping cost more than the item itself. This led to frustration and a degree of disengagement as I developed a tendency to forget exactly how something went together before the bits arrived for reassembly, (thank God for this forum).

c) Instead of displaying the patience one would assume accompanies my years, I begun to remove more and more of the pieces of the motorcycle. Imagine the scene with the deranged mechanic, wrench in hand, bent over his bike hurling carburettors, callipers, instruments, switches, cables and the like over his shoulder in a frenzy of disassembly. The outcome - too many jobs to focus on and the dream of wind in my hair becoming more and more remote. Think I would have learned from Mailman's meticulous restorations to follow a plan! Ah enthusiasm!!

d) I have always harboured a certain doubt about whether I had actually done the job properly. Was the cam chain centred correctly? Was it one tooth out on the cam? Were the pistons put back in the correct cylinders or did I confuse left and right depending on whether I was standing in front or behind the motor? Did I reset that little clip in the oil passage at the front of the motor before I sealed it up? I can't find it in the debris on the workshop floor so I assume it's in. Does my advanced system snap back in place like the ones in the videos I have seen? And where the hell are all those left over o rings supposed to go? These concerns would keep me awake at night and put a handbrake on my forward progress.

e) I have never ridden this particular motorcycle and I would find myself looking through the pages of "Just Bikes" disturbed by the reasonable purchase price of a Moto Guzzi Classic V7, a Kawasaki W800 or a big Bonnie like Michaelo fell for. This tended to tax my enthusiasm and cause me to consider selling this project as is. I would then come down and sit with a cold beer in the workshop and contemplate the classic lines of the XS - her robust yet graceful engine, the idiosyncratic "roto-tiller" bars, the big retro round headlamp, the tear drop custom tank and no-nonsense 16" rear end and I would realise that I have to finish the job and put this lovely thing back on the road or pass away dissatisfied.

So.... here is the old girl as she now sits. I know that there are experts on this forum who would have her up I running in days but my schedule is not quite so pressing - she is, after all, a therapeutic release as well as a dream so I am happy to plod.
 

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David Toll said:
Greetings all. After 12 months of medical issues including amputations, (toes only, I can still change gear and kick a footy), crutches, casts, moon boots , X-rays, MRI's and endless hours in out-patients, I have once again turned my attention to my XS 650 SE. The faithful object of my attention has sat under wraps in my shed awaiting my return and I am keen to get re-involved and complete my restoration. I extend special salutations to Yamadude, geedubya, Mailman, gggGary, 5 twins, 2Many, Jim, Leo, Bob K., Skull and Max Pete in consideration of the guidance and support you have offered me in the past. I am delighted to see that you are still engaged in our passion and can, hopefully, still see the curves. I have, of course, been a constant visitor to these fascinating pages but, due to my incapacity, I have had little of value to add. I hope to be back with a vengeance and put the old girl back on the road before I lose a foot and the ability to apply the brake, (rear that is).
The frame is painted and assembled, the motor is top end rebuilt and ready to reinstall, brakes are done and I have recently purchased a new wiring harness, headlight, left and right bar switches and short stalk indicators from Mikes, (or his Australian equivalent). I intend to plague you all with questions that will display my lack of electrical ability and the fact that I refuse to refer to confusing and, often misleading wiring diagrams.
Just a hello and "heads up" for the moment but I will return with inquiry to tax your eminent experience and exercise your patience.
Kind regards
Click to expand...


Go you good thing Dave, what the heck you still got some toes left so guess you can even kick start.

Good to have you back mate, any assistance you require I am sure will be found here.

GeeDubya
 
David Toll said:
Thanks for the warm welcome - you guys are good enough to be Aussies (no offence intended)!! Now for some pictures to prove that I do indeed own a '78 and don't just hang around the Forum because I have some sort of email fetish. Bike was purchased in pretty good nick for a 40 year old motorcycle but I made a couple of mistakes right from the start.
a) I over-estimated my mechanical ability and the time I had available and decided on a total restoration. I stripped the old girl down to the frame, meticulously labelling everything I removed. Photo 1 shows the effect that 2 years of sitting idle has on masking tape labels in our sub-tropical climate.

b) I underestimated both the cost of restoration items and the time it takes to ship such items to the Antipodes. There have been occasions where the shipping cost more than the item itself. This led to frustration and a degree of disengagement as I developed a tendency to forget exactly how something went together before the bits arrived for reassembly, (thank God for this forum).

c) Instead of displaying the patience one would assume accompanies my years, I begun to remove more and more of the pieces of the motorcycle. Imagine the scene with the deranged mechanic, wrench in hand, bent over his bike hurling carburettors, callipers, instruments, switches, cables and the like over his shoulder in a frenzy of disassembly. The outcome - too many jobs to focus on and the dream of wind in my hair becoming more and more remote. Think I would have learned from Mailman's meticulous restorations to follow a plan! Ah enthusiasm!!

d) I have always harboured a certain doubt about whether I had actually done the job properly. Was the cam chain centred correctly? Was it one tooth out on the cam? Were the pistons put back in the correct cylinders or did I confuse left and right depending on whether I was standing in front or behind the motor? Did I reset that little clip in the oil passage at the front of the motor before I sealed it up? I can't find it in the debris on the workshop floor so I assume it's in. Does my advanced system snap back in place like the ones in the videos I have seen? And where the hell are all those left over o rings supposed to go? These concerns would keep me awake at night and put a handbrake on my forward progress.

e) I have never ridden this particular motorcycle and I would find myself looking through the pages of "Just Bikes" disturbed by the reasonable purchase price of a Moto Guzzi Classic V7, a Kawasaki W800 or a big Bonnie like Michaelo fell for. This tended to tax my enthusiasm and cause me to consider selling this project as is. I would then come down and sit with a cold beer in the workshop and contemplate the classic lines of the XS - her robust yet graceful engine, the idiosyncratic "roto-tiller" bars, the big retro round headlamp, the tear drop custom tank and no-nonsense 16" rear end and I would realise that I have to finish the job and put this lovely thing back on the road or pass away dissatisfied.

So.... here is the old girl as she now sits. I know that there are experts on this forum who would have her up I running in days but my schedule is not quite so pressing - she is, after all, a therapeutic release as well as a dream so I am happy to plod.
Click to expand...


Mate,

What you have done so far is farkin awesome......keep the faith and always, yes always refer back to the forum Grasshopper!!

GeeDub
 
Like a boomerang, I have returned!
What do you call a boomerang that won't come back? A stick.... :lmao:
Hi David. I was plum tickled to see that sombrero pop up on the front page. Nice to see you're still kickin' bud!!! :)
Now get back to work.... :rolleyes:
 
YamadudeXS650C said:
Don't be concerned about your pace. We all have our own way of doing things.
Click to expand...
What "The 'Dude" said, David. "The Basketcase" has taken me 10 years, and counting. A knee replacement, a bout with throat cancer, a heart valve replacement, an aortic bypass, and my recent retirement (about damned time!) later, and I'm making (glacial) progress. Whatever you do, and whenever you do it is PROGRESS. It's not a race. Unless you're "on the clock", it'll get done when it gets done. Keep those updates and pictures coming! :thumbsup:
 
David, reading your introspective response, where you voiced your insecurities regarding your mechanical abilities,
I swear you sounded like the voice inside my head, every time I tackle something new. I’ve never been anything but a shade tree mechanic, when you remarked about my meticulous restoration it made me laugh. You know why I’m so meticulous? Because I don’t have the confidence of these seasoned mechanics! Guys that can just pull things apart and casually lay parts about, knowing without a doubt that they can put it back together perfectly, that ain’t me!
Everything that comes apart gets photographed from three different angles, the parts then go in their own Tupperware container which gets labeled and then carefully stored in a cabinet. All kidding aside, I simply couldn’t do it any other way. Now get this, I have 3,400 photos in my computer and I’ll bet nearly 3000 of those are of my XS2 alone. :yikes:
We all have our own methods and you’re right , you’re not on any kind of deadline, enjoy your build for what it is, fun and therapy. And an excuse to hang out with the cool kids......US !! :laugh2:
 
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