Monty
XS650 Enthusiast
Well, I have made a decent amount of progress. I put on a set of Emgo clip ons, so I guess it's not really a tracker anymore. Maybe a mix of a tracker and a cafe racer.
The rear wheel spacers are finished along with the caliper mounting. I might end up making new spacers to offset the wheel by 1-2mm though. I have not found a way to accurately measure the sprocket alignment, especially since I don't have the chain or sprockets yet, but by my crude measurements, it seems that the sprockets will line up perfectly if I offset the rear wheel just a mm or maybe 2 to the left. I figure that would be much easier and cheaper than having a new sprocket carrier machined. I don't think the small offset would be enough to negatively affect the handling.
The gas tank mounts have been finalized. I barely have enough room for a small 90 degree petcock or fitting with a shut-off valve mounted somewhere else.
I also made my seat, using some 3/16" polyethylene sheeting and rebond foam.
First, I cut out the base and used a heat gun to form the upward curve. From there I was able to make the triangular section up front with more sheeting and aluminum angle stock, drill clearance holes for the bolts that hold the electronic stuff on the under side of the seat, and mount t-nuts held in place with #4 sheet metal screws to secure it to the frame. 2 Layers of 1" rebound were glued on the pan with a 1/4" layer of open cell foam on top. I actually did the majority of the cutting with blades for a scalpel-like knife from a sporting goods store. I used them without the knife body, for more control, but I got a couple nicks, those blades are crazy sharp. A bit of smoothing was done with a rasp and sanding blocks. Glue the top layer of foam and stretch it over the edge, trim the excess, and it was done! I wish it was a bit thinner, but 2 inches was the minimum I could do while still being able to cover the rear tank mount.
All the electronic stuff is under the seat, Hugh's pma stuff, and two Sparks capacitors.
VM34's from mikes, I went for the generic jetted ones at $150 a piece instead of $190 for 650 specific jetting. I figure I can buy plenty of jets and such for less than 80 bucks. I'm no carb expert, but I've done plenty of tuning on Keihn FCR's for motocross bikes. Modern 4-stroke MX bikes can be pretty damn sensitive to jetting so I think I should be able to figure it out.
Over all, it's starting to look like a motorcycle
The rear wheel spacers are finished along with the caliper mounting. I might end up making new spacers to offset the wheel by 1-2mm though. I have not found a way to accurately measure the sprocket alignment, especially since I don't have the chain or sprockets yet, but by my crude measurements, it seems that the sprockets will line up perfectly if I offset the rear wheel just a mm or maybe 2 to the left. I figure that would be much easier and cheaper than having a new sprocket carrier machined. I don't think the small offset would be enough to negatively affect the handling.
The gas tank mounts have been finalized. I barely have enough room for a small 90 degree petcock or fitting with a shut-off valve mounted somewhere else.
I also made my seat, using some 3/16" polyethylene sheeting and rebond foam.
First, I cut out the base and used a heat gun to form the upward curve. From there I was able to make the triangular section up front with more sheeting and aluminum angle stock, drill clearance holes for the bolts that hold the electronic stuff on the under side of the seat, and mount t-nuts held in place with #4 sheet metal screws to secure it to the frame. 2 Layers of 1" rebound were glued on the pan with a 1/4" layer of open cell foam on top. I actually did the majority of the cutting with blades for a scalpel-like knife from a sporting goods store. I used them without the knife body, for more control, but I got a couple nicks, those blades are crazy sharp. A bit of smoothing was done with a rasp and sanding blocks. Glue the top layer of foam and stretch it over the edge, trim the excess, and it was done! I wish it was a bit thinner, but 2 inches was the minimum I could do while still being able to cover the rear tank mount.
All the electronic stuff is under the seat, Hugh's pma stuff, and two Sparks capacitors.
VM34's from mikes, I went for the generic jetted ones at $150 a piece instead of $190 for 650 specific jetting. I figure I can buy plenty of jets and such for less than 80 bucks. I'm no carb expert, but I've done plenty of tuning on Keihn FCR's for motocross bikes. Modern 4-stroke MX bikes can be pretty damn sensitive to jetting so I think I should be able to figure it out.
Over all, it's starting to look like a motorcycle
