My First XS650 - Street Tracker Project

[fredintoon]

- - - About drilling the brakes...I have a drill press, I have not yet had the time to get to this, but its definitely something I am meaning to do. Any advice on this? The brakes are THICK, I will surely need to get a load of drill bits as it looks like they will wear quickly. - - -

Hi Tom,
further to fox's reply, the XS650 brake disks are tougher than old boots.
Here's what I did to make the holes using my el-cheapo drill press:-
Buy cobalt steel drill bits, one at the hole size, t'other about half that.
I used normal high speed steel drill bits on the first disk I drilled and had to sharpen them every 5th hole. Then I bought cobalt steel drill bits which did 3 more disks and they're still good.
(I used 3/16" then 3/8". Others drill more holes of a smaller size)
If you drill bigger than ~7/16" you start to lose more surface area on the disk faces than you gain on the hole bores and it's the disk's total surface area that lets it cool.
Mark out your choice of hole pattern. More holes is better but the pads don't care about the pattern.
Indent the hole centers with a sturdy centerpunch and a BFH.
Set the drill press to it's lowest speed and use the hardest pressure you can on the feed handle.
Drill all the half-size holes, then the full size.
Keep the work flooded with cutting fluid as you drill.

 

[tom4130]

Hi Tom,
further to fox's reply...

This is great advice @fredintoon, really helpful man thanks so much. yeah its something I have been meaning to do but know it will take a while to do as those disks are THICK.

Thanks again, this will really help.

 

[tom4130]

Got some time in today on the bike. Checked out the paint on the battery tray and it came out great. Again my bad welds are showing a little but all in all very happy





I also made the brackets that will hold the seat . I took a look at my fender and decided it was too far gone and rusty to try and salvage something out of it so for now I also made a little bracket that will hold the license plate and tail light right to the frame.







Thats it for now. more to come tomorrow.

 

[tom4130]

@Brassneck, Petcock problem solved by the way. I had to have the tank off today so thought id sort that problem. Turns out it was just lack of fuel. I sucked on the vacuum pipe in the 'On' position and nothing, then turned it to 'Reserve' and gas started flowing. good to know that nothing is wring with it; Just with my brain for not thinking that gas may be getting low.

Thanks again for the explanation and help.

 

[tom4130]

Checklist Updated

Check front wheel axle (Think I forgot to torque before I left)
wire speedo
turn signal wiring and mounts
clean ground for starter on handlebars
Check Brake switches on front and rear
sort out throttle sleeve sticking
bleed brakes (especially rear one)
remount rear brake lever a notch higher
New Oil
Cam chain clearances
Valve clearances
mount miirrors

 

[Brassneck]

@Brassneck, Petcock problem solved by the way. I had to have the tank off today so thought id sort that problem. Turns out it was just lack of fuel. I sucked on the vacuum pipe in the 'On' position and nothing, then turned it to 'Reserve' and gas started flowing. good to know that nothing is wring with it; Just with my brain for not thinking that gas may be getting low.

Thanks again for the explanation and help.

Glad to hear it! It's always great when it's a simple explanation and an even simpler fix.

 

[tom4130]

So here is the battery box painted and mounted, I drilled a couple of more holes to mount the ignition below it.



Also a couple of detail shots of the license plate, light and seat all mounted:

 

[gnarlydavidson]

Hey dude! I haven't checked back in a while, loving the build progress!! I just started digging in to mine today, and you're correct, that battery box is an absolute monstrosity. I will start a build thread later on so you can check out my progress. Loving it dude, getting good ideas from you.

 

[tom4130]

Thanks gnarlydavidson, slowly but surely. I just cant wait to have a run around on it. It already looks like a fun bike. Let me know when you get a thread started!

 

[willis]

Love the direction you are heading with this. I am working on a very similar style currently. I call mine the "back burner" since its been a project in the works for over 3 years. I've had a kid and moved twice, getting ready to move again all since i got the bike.... DOH!!!! I've got a lot done but been collecting parts for a while now trying to stash some cash away from the wife... I will be following your build. Love your tire decision as well. Keep up the good work and keep posting progress to inspire me.

 

[tom4130]

Thanks Willis, hopefully you can get started on your project soon. Moving is such a pain I think I have that coming up so trying to get this buttoned up before that.

Good luck man

 

[nh-jk]

Bike looks great! How are the tires fitting? Are you planning on lowering the front at all?
I'm thinking of running that same size tire of it fits.

 

[tom4130]

Bike looks great! How are the tires fitting? Are you planning on lowering the front at all?
I'm thinking of running that same size tire of it fits.

No problems with clearance nh! Im not sure whether the clearance varies between years of model, mine is an '80. The brake arm comes a little close but not close enough to worry about.

 

[tom4130]

Been a little while since an update. I have had alot on here so have barely got any time to work on the bike, but this weekend I god alot of the gremlins sorted. Was having problems with the headlight, and new speedo wiring but turns out a bad fuse was the answer to those problems.

I am still having some issues with the starter button on the handlebars not grounding. I believe that is the problem but cant get it to work. If anyone has a way to bypass the ground so I can check if the button is actually working that would be great info.

I started fabbing some turn signal mounts, and will finish them next week. I took delivery of some really small LED turn sigs that I think will look great. Should have them finished and wired up this weekend.

Got the bike started and it was getting 13.5 volts at idle so thought I would take it to get some gas. That ended up being a 30 mile ride up into the hills. I couldn't help myself. Bike ran like a trooper, and really pulls well through every gear. It easily got up to around 80mph too and has plenty more to give. Here are some pics from the ride.







More to come on the turn sigs soon but was really happy with it.

 

[CoastsideXS650]

Been a little while since an update. I have had alot on here so have barely got any time to work on the bike, but this weekend I god alot of the gremlins sorted. Was having problems with the headlight, and new speedo wiring but turns out a bad fuse was the answer to those problems.

I am still having some issues with the starter button on the handlebars not grounding. I believe that is the problem but cant get it to work. If anyone has a way to bypass the ground so I can check if the button is actually working that would be great info.

I started fabbing some turn signal mounts, and will finish them next week. I took delivery of some really small LED turn sigs that I think will look great. Should have them finished and wired up this weekend.

Got the bike started and it was getting 13.5 volts at idle so thought I would take it to get some gas. That ended up being a 30 mile ride up into the hills. I couldn't help myself. Bike ran like a trooper, and really pulls well through every gear. It easily got up to around 80mph too and has plenty more to give. Here are some pics from the ride.







More to come on the turn sigs soon but was really happy with it.

Dude looks like an awesome ride. Is that the east bay or further north?

 

[tom4130]

Dude looks like an awesome ride. Is that the east bay or further north?

Thanks man, Yeah its north bay. Actually this is the road from Novato to Point Reyes. Lots of nice fast sweepers through the hills. Highly recommended if you're up there. Its literally just outside of where I'm building it so I am very lucky.

 

[tom4130]

Checklist Updated

wire speedo for turns
turn signal wiring and finish mounts
check ground for starter on handlebars
sort out throttle sleeve sticking
bleed brakes (especially rear one)
New Oil
Cam chain clearances
Valve clearances

 

[nh-jk]

What headlight is that? I think it looks so good with out the built in directionals...

 

[tom4130]

What headlight is that? I think it looks so good with out the built in directionals...

Thanks nh-jk. Im gunna be a little useless here and say I dont know. I believe its the stock light! its just the one I got from the P/O but cleaned up and I trimmed the brackets down.

 

[Brassneck]

The starter button is grounded through the bracket itself (there's a little tab that literally touches the handlebars at the point where the wires come out of the housing)...the bars are grounded through the left handlebar switches (from the negative for the turn signals or possibly the headlight.. I can't recall off-hand).

At any rate, when you press the starter button, you complete the ground... so first test that the bars are grounded...if not, that's a problem. If so, then to test the starter button, you can open the bracket, and there's a blue (or blue/white wire again, can't recall exactly) but this is the only wire going directly to the back of the starter button...this wire is always grounded (you can test with multimeter for continuity), thus the button is the whats keeping the negative from completing the circuit...because its being grounded by the bars...you can simply take a jumper wire from any ground source and touch that blue wire at the button and it will power the starter. (Make sure your bike isn't in gear and key is on (and starter switch is on as well).

If it turns on the starter, then the issue is indeed with the button itself...and you should check to see why the button isn't grounding at the bars...perhaps it's contact point needs to be cleaned...or the tab is missing...only a few things that could go wrong.

Hope this makes sense.

Good luck