Mister Mellow
Big Dreams, Thin Wallet
Welcome to my intro thread! My neighbor sold his '77 XS650 to me for $300 (pictures below), so I've been looking through this forum for ideas. This seems like a very nice forum with friendly, knowledgeable people, and I've learned a lot just from lurking.
My daily rider is a 2003 Bonneville T100, which I rode around the U.S. in 2008. I've always loved British stuff, having owned a 1972 Daytona 500, a 1959 MGA, and a 1983 Jaguar XJ6. All except my Bonneville have been love-hate vehicles, but I'm still a sucker for British. To be honest, I hated to see Japanese bikes eclipsing the Brits in the early '70s, but I certainly understood why. I actually despised most Japanese bikes, but I was young and irrational. Oddly enough, the only bike that caught my eye in the '70s was the XS650. Maybe because it was "Triumph-iike," but I did like they way it looked and sounded.
Anyway, here's what I just picked up from my neighbor. It's a '77 XS650D, completely stock, and in a state of re-assembly. He was the 2nd owner, and rode it while in college. After graduating in 2007, he decided to clean up the bike, so he stripped and primed the tank, bought new shocks, cables, chain & sprockets, and tires. A new job and new home brought the project to a halt. I've seen the bike sitting in his garage, covered, for the last five years, but never bothered to ask him about it until recently. He's getting married, so was in the mood to let it go. With only 27,000 miles on it, I thought $300 was a fairly good deal. I don't know what I'm going to do to it, but I don't plan to restore it. Likely just some cosmetic changes. I could put it back together, paint it and sell it, but I'm intrigued by what I've seen here, so I'll come up with something tasteful (which means burning that seat!).
Here's my British stuff. The Jag is beautiful but troublesome, so I'm probably going to sell it. The bike is a keeper, though. If I can get some house projects done in time, I'll probably take another cross-country tour. The Yamaha project isn't going to happen soon, but if I don't go crazy on it, it shouldn't be a major project.
My daily rider is a 2003 Bonneville T100, which I rode around the U.S. in 2008. I've always loved British stuff, having owned a 1972 Daytona 500, a 1959 MGA, and a 1983 Jaguar XJ6. All except my Bonneville have been love-hate vehicles, but I'm still a sucker for British. To be honest, I hated to see Japanese bikes eclipsing the Brits in the early '70s, but I certainly understood why. I actually despised most Japanese bikes, but I was young and irrational. Oddly enough, the only bike that caught my eye in the '70s was the XS650. Maybe because it was "Triumph-iike," but I did like they way it looked and sounded.
Anyway, here's what I just picked up from my neighbor. It's a '77 XS650D, completely stock, and in a state of re-assembly. He was the 2nd owner, and rode it while in college. After graduating in 2007, he decided to clean up the bike, so he stripped and primed the tank, bought new shocks, cables, chain & sprockets, and tires. A new job and new home brought the project to a halt. I've seen the bike sitting in his garage, covered, for the last five years, but never bothered to ask him about it until recently. He's getting married, so was in the mood to let it go. With only 27,000 miles on it, I thought $300 was a fairly good deal. I don't know what I'm going to do to it, but I don't plan to restore it. Likely just some cosmetic changes. I could put it back together, paint it and sell it, but I'm intrigued by what I've seen here, so I'll come up with something tasteful (which means burning that seat!).
Here's my British stuff. The Jag is beautiful but troublesome, so I'm probably going to sell it. The bike is a keeper, though. If I can get some house projects done in time, I'll probably take another cross-country tour. The Yamaha project isn't going to happen soon, but if I don't go crazy on it, it shouldn't be a major project.