got556
XS650 Addict
My Build Thread
Okay guys and gals, picked up my 83 Heritage today from member Zach. Got a little bit of work to do, but she runs strong (according to Zach and I trust him) however the vacuum petcock was failing and filling the carbs so I didn't bother trying to fix that as I'm getting rid of the stock tank.
So the plans for this build are the following:
Kong the rear end. Chop the fender and tail so the frame ends at the shock/strut mounts and the fender goes about 3 inches past that.
Honda Rebel 10.5" rears.
Move the seat rails down 3", no curve, just a cut and move.
Drag or Z bars.
Different carb setup.
Cut the stock exhaust at the muffler and wrap w/ black wrap.
Getting rid of the wire wheels and going w/ the mag wheels (sorry wheels are already spoken for)
PAMCO and PMA
Make a skinny/flat-ish padded seat that goes down the whole seat rail and comes up onto the fender a couple inches making it appear to be able to two up (even though as low as the rear will be I highly doubt I'll be able to carry more than a mouse on the back).
Avon tires
No turns, only headlamp and tail lamp.
I've got your stereotypical sportster style tank and petcock (gravity feed) coming.
Smaller battery (one of those $20 ones)
Basically run it kick start only.
Lower the forks 3" w/ Hugh's lowering shims (or do hickeys or whatever you wanna call them....spacers).
Paint the outer tubes on the forks black, black fork gators, black almost everything. Black wheels. Matte light blue on the tank and fender.
So those are the initial plans and I'm sure I'm going to go way past my budget but my goal is to get this done by the end of summer so I can at least enjoy it in the fall a bit. Here in Chicago we only have 4 to 5 months of decent riding weather
It was a hell of a trip to and from to buy the bike. Construction and an accident slowing down traffic to a stand still delayed me about 30 to 45 minutes getting to Zach's and on the way back, I hit the beginning of rush hour at 2PM on 90 and ended up delaying me back home by about an hour or so. And don't even mention or ask how Zach and I got a stock XS650 into a brand new Uhaul van w/ no ramp....and then my buddy and I got it out w/ no ramp. That was...not fun.
W/out further adeu (sp?), here is what the bike looked like today when I bought it from Zach (Zach's picture) and below is what it looks like as of tonight after about an hour and a half of stripping it down. I will have lots of stock parts for sale, including the '83 TCI system and wiring harness.
Also, I know this bike was meant to be b/c the owner before Zach, had put a St. Louis Cardinals cover on it
And I am probably the biggest Cardinals fan in this region lol.
So if you think, based on my list you know a stock item you might want, just let me know via PM and shoot me an offer.
Also this will be my build thread and I will update it as much as I can. Sadly I won't be doing the welding/cutting on this b/c I don't have a welder or space. It's getting stripped in a secure alley behind my apartment and will be assembled in my studio apartment, two flights up.
Okay guys and gals, picked up my 83 Heritage today from member Zach. Got a little bit of work to do, but she runs strong (according to Zach and I trust him) however the vacuum petcock was failing and filling the carbs so I didn't bother trying to fix that as I'm getting rid of the stock tank.
So the plans for this build are the following:
Kong the rear end. Chop the fender and tail so the frame ends at the shock/strut mounts and the fender goes about 3 inches past that.
Honda Rebel 10.5" rears.
Move the seat rails down 3", no curve, just a cut and move.
Drag or Z bars.
Different carb setup.
Cut the stock exhaust at the muffler and wrap w/ black wrap.
Getting rid of the wire wheels and going w/ the mag wheels (sorry wheels are already spoken for)
PAMCO and PMA
Make a skinny/flat-ish padded seat that goes down the whole seat rail and comes up onto the fender a couple inches making it appear to be able to two up (even though as low as the rear will be I highly doubt I'll be able to carry more than a mouse on the back).
Avon tires
No turns, only headlamp and tail lamp.
I've got your stereotypical sportster style tank and petcock (gravity feed) coming.
Smaller battery (one of those $20 ones)
Basically run it kick start only.
Lower the forks 3" w/ Hugh's lowering shims (or do hickeys or whatever you wanna call them....spacers).
Paint the outer tubes on the forks black, black fork gators, black almost everything. Black wheels. Matte light blue on the tank and fender.
So those are the initial plans and I'm sure I'm going to go way past my budget but my goal is to get this done by the end of summer so I can at least enjoy it in the fall a bit. Here in Chicago we only have 4 to 5 months of decent riding weather
It was a hell of a trip to and from to buy the bike. Construction and an accident slowing down traffic to a stand still delayed me about 30 to 45 minutes getting to Zach's and on the way back, I hit the beginning of rush hour at 2PM on 90 and ended up delaying me back home by about an hour or so. And don't even mention or ask how Zach and I got a stock XS650 into a brand new Uhaul van w/ no ramp....and then my buddy and I got it out w/ no ramp. That was...not fun.
W/out further adeu (sp?), here is what the bike looked like today when I bought it from Zach (Zach's picture) and below is what it looks like as of tonight after about an hour and a half of stripping it down. I will have lots of stock parts for sale, including the '83 TCI system and wiring harness.
Also, I know this bike was meant to be b/c the owner before Zach, had put a St. Louis Cardinals cover on it
And I am probably the biggest Cardinals fan in this region lol.So if you think, based on my list you know a stock item you might want, just let me know via PM and shoot me an offer.
Also this will be my build thread and I will update it as much as I can. Sadly I won't be doing the welding/cutting on this b/c I don't have a welder or space. It's getting stripped in a secure alley behind my apartment and will be assembled in my studio apartment, two flights up.
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