It keeps me out of the pool halls. Haha!

Hey, where I grew up there were some very respectable billiard parlors. The kind of places that a young gentleman could actually, quietly, place a wager and come out ahead more times than not, if one had the ability to do so. Not sayin' I did anything of the sort, but heard it happened.
 
Hey, where I grew up there were some very respectable billiard parlors. The kind of places that a young gentleman could actually, quietly, place a wager and come out ahead more times than not, if one had the ability to do so. Not sayin' I did anything of the sort, but heard it happened.
In the early 70's my brother and I occasionally dropped in to a local billiard parlor which was attached to a bowling alley/bar with sticky floors, and wagered a few bucks on a game. Although only amateurs with big dreams, we felt like real Hustlers.

hustler-gleason-newman.jpg
 
Haha, Ya, a couple of games of pool for beer beverage money.

Ah man, high school days. We felt like we had the world by the tail and thought we had it all figured out. Maybe we did?
I would trade everything I have today to spend a week back in my high school days.

born to run.small.jpg
 
Oh man , who hasn’t had that fantasy.
Me!! I hated high school! Socially awkward and inept, grossly overbearing parents (who only wanted the best for me) and grandparents (lived a few doors away), and nearly forced labor in the family business... I've had tons more freedom and satisfaction as an adult! I'm currently in my third childhood... :)
 
Very true!

And as soon as Mailman is finished with this 1972 I think I will ship him my 1978! with all the practice he has had should only take a few weeks to get it looking like new! I already have the ship to address!

Great idea KS - but he would need to finish my '76 first - BEFORE he would be able to get to your '78....:D
 
POLISHING

Is there anything ( with regards to old motorcycles) that’s more instantly gratifying than polishing? To me it’s always fun to take something funky and make it look nice. The beater forks I got off of eBay were corroded and pitted and just generally pretty ugly.

My progression on these was, first apply paint stripper and thoroughly clean, then....
1. A blue Dico wheel to knock off the corrosion
2. Wet sand 400 grit
3. Wet sand 800 grit
4. Bench buffer black compound on a stitched wheel
5. Bench buffer white compound on a cotton flap wheel
6. ( not done yet) Blue Magic Metal polish

What I started with
View attachment 118701

After the Dico wheel
View attachment 118702

After both wet sanding steps
View attachment 118703

One done, one to go
View attachment 118704

The finished legs next to what I started with
View attachment 118707

You know what I mean Vern? Oh Yeah!!
View attachment 118708

HOLY CRAPOLA - wow Mailman!

Just....WOW - the transformation of those fork sliders is simply.....amazing!

I guess that I should not be surprised given that you took some of your lessons from Robin in London.

...and all this time I have been wondering about that glow on the eastern horizon...and now I know that it is the glistening sheen on Robin's XS650 parts.
 
Last edited:
....I just hope that he's not so "clean-bonkers" that he won't start it up when the time comes....:yikes:
Years ago I was on a tour of the shop that does the restoration work for the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and was a bit sad to hear that once they restore the airplanes they never run them! The guide said if they did start them then they would have to completely strip them down and clean every part and reassemble all over.

I can understand that because they are trying to preserve them literally forever! Still I know I would have a hard time rebuilding an engine and never running it to know I had done it right!

Now I have no problem with someone doing a restoration to the standards Mailman is doing, I admire the attention to details.

I would be somewhat embarrassed for some here to see my 1978 and 1982 XS650's they are so far from the level of Mailman's 1972 they don't merit a closeup picture. I have to take some satisfaction that the 1982 was abandoned in a shed for a few years after the farmer's son got bored with running up and down the farm roads. Today when my wife wanted to go to a barbecue place for supper and I noticed the annual inspection had run out on the Sportster I was able to climb on the 1982 XS650 and do the 60 mile round trip without a problem. Heck the automatic canceling signals even work!

Maybe someday I can do the same with the 1978? That one was rescued from a local high school "trade school" back room where it sat for many years!
 
It’s all in the details, as Jim would say.
My headlight high beam indicator light was missing the lens.
81F3640B-3938-43A9-BE4F-FDB82D96F1E1.jpeg

I looked for replacements online and found some old beat up ones for $30-40. And a couple NOS ones for stupid money. Then I decided to steal an idea from Gary. I went to Walmart and bought a cheapie reflector and cut a circle out of it with my Dremel, filed it smooth, a little Super Glue and viola!
A84AC43C-EC33-473A-B304-21D17EBB273E.jpeg
AB717135-6BB6-43C7-9312-B2E2596F54AD.jpeg


Looks good as new!
After that I removed my old seat cover that was ripped and I want to clean and paint the seat pan and put a new seat cover on. My foam is quite literally dust. It just crunched up and crumbled, I will be ordering new foam for the seat. Anyone know any suppliers other than this guy?

http://www.marks650yamahas.com/images/early_xs_650_seats.pdf

Just checking for options.
Bob
 
WOW - that seat guy sure knows how to charge $$$$!! :yikes:

Love your headlight indicator solution Mailman - very snazz!!
 
Back
Top