My First XS650 - Street Tracker Project

[tom4130]

Good luck

A wealth on information you are Brassneck! I think you may have solved the problem for me without me even checking. I did not know that the circuit was grounded via the left handlebar switch and have not cleaned the paint off of the bars on the left side for this reason...I did take the paint off at the handlebar clamp but Im sure your answer will do the trick.

Will not be able to check until this weekend but you may have the answer there.

Many thanks yet again

 

[nonno]

How "long" is the head light brackets? Imo doing the same build and had a idea to keep the headlight this summer just to get the bike out a little quicker..

 

[tom4130]

How "long" is the head light brackets? Imo doing the same build and had a idea to keep the headlight this summer just to get the bike out a little quicker..

Hi nonno, So they arent the stock headlight brackets on my build, just the stock headlight which I trimmed the adjusted bracket from.

The headlight brackets are some inexpensive ones that are available all over the place:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-Headlight-Mount-Brackets-Fork-Ears-Motorcycle-Bobber-Cafe-Racer-28mm-34mm-/360689577353

Hope that answers your question.

 

[Brassneck]

You bet, hope it's as simple as that.

A wealth on information you are Brassneck! I think you may have solved the problem for me without me even checking. I did not know that the circuit was grounded via the left handlebar switch and have not cleaned the paint off of the bars on the left side for this reason...I did take the paint off at the handlebar clamp but Im sure your answer will do the trick.

Will not be able to check until this weekend but you may have the answer there.

Many thanks yet again

 

[tom4130]

So I managed to get some more stuff buttoned up today.

As I said in my last post, I was having problems with the starter button not grounding, and 'Brassneck' mentioned that the starter switch was grounded through the bars on the left side of the bike, I had not yet stripped the paint from underneath this side of the controls so did that and it fired right up, Thanks again brassneck for the advice.

I made some simple mounts for my turn signals today, and got them wired up into the harness. Couldn't get them to work at first due to what I thought was a loose connection, but turns out the signals also need the ground through the bars, so once I sorted the above problem, everything worked just fine. Here are some pics:

Rear Mount (Mounts to the top suspension mount)


Front Mount (Whick I fabbed to fit into the lower trees)


Rear Mount Wired up



Front Mount Wired up


And now a couple to show how they look on the bike. Im pretty happy as they are very minimal and dont take away from the look or width of the bike in any way. The rear ones are actually barely noticeable unless they are on which is just what I was looking for.




I got them all wired into the mini speedo too so everything is working. Only a few tiny bits to clean up and shes done. I took her for another quick ride around town today too. Couldnt resist it was a beautiful day here in Northern California. Plenty of stares around town, and on decelerate sounds like a beast of a bike!!

 

[marine5811]

Looking good, Tom! I thought I recognized your username and then I saw that this thread had new posts. Lo and behold! Here you are. I have pictures of your bike saved for design ideas. Haha. Great minds think alike, eh?
I'll be hitting you up for advice once I get to the actual bike part of my build. Keep up the good work!

 

[tom4130]

I'll be hitting you up for advice once I get to the actual bike part of my build. Keep up the good work!

Thanks alot man, feel free, Although I didn't go anywhere near as deep into this as you are starting to, but ill help where i can.

 

[Brassneck]

Right on! Glad the starter switch is working as it should! Bike looks great, really like those turn signal mounts.

 

[tom4130]

Thanks Brassneck. So close now, thanks again for the help

 

[nh-jk]

Hey Tom,

Bike is looking great!

I have a similar seat from Wes, Im not sure how to mount it in the front. Do you have any pics of what or how you secured the front section of the seat? Is it connected to the tank mount bolt?

Also how are the rear tabs holding up? I have a flux core welder, I was going to attempt to secure the rear tabs with but not sure if it will penetrate good.

Thanks

 

[tom4130]

Hi nh

Did you get the seat actually from Wes? If you did then it will work the same as mine, he has a welded tab on it that slides underneath the tank bolt plate and holds the front in place, then you just bolt the back on and it can't move.

As for the tabs they are solid as a rock. I think I used 14G steel and used a mig welder not a flux. I see no reason why you couldn't get the right penetration with the settings correct!

Good luck man let me know if you need that clarifying about the seat.

 

[nh-jk]

Hey Tom, yeah I got one from wes. Here is a pic of my tank and bottom front of my seat? Did you trim anything?

 

[nh-jk]

Actually in your pics it looked like you trimmed flush the tank mount metal and added bolts. I'll see if that works for me.

 

[tom4130]

Actually in your pics it looked like you trimmed flush the tank mount metal and added bolts. I'll see if that works for me.

Yeah I trimmed the little 90degree bracket flush, the 2 bolts you see are holding my battery box and have nothing to do with the seat. But once you trim that vertical part the seat should just slide in forwards to lock the front.

 

[nh-jk]

Thanks Tom!

I added those bolts which ended up keeping my seat in place. My tabs didn't line up so well and I striped the threads on the seat... Uh ohhh! Now I gotta fix wes' seat! I have to figure out a box or oil tank for he wires now... Did you need every wire or were you able to remove some?

 

[JLov]

Great looking bike!
quick questions... How did you mount your battery box? and what kind of taillight and turn signals did you get?

 

[tom4130]

Did you need every wire or were you able to remove some?

I actually had a good working stock bike to start, so I kept everything. I thought of stripping down the wiring and building my own harness, but the harness was in such good condition that I didnt end up doing it. I was going to just take out the reserve lighting module which is a really easy fix, but everything fitted in the box I made, so in the interest of "If it ain't broke, dont fix it", i left it on!

Hope you manage to sort the seat. Yeah I actually welded the tabs, then lined up the hiles and drilled them after seeing where they would go as I thought stripping the threads may be a hazard. Hope its all good.

 

[nh-jk]

thanks tom, your hardwork has saved me tons of time! Yeah I have to tap the seat. I need to hide the wires as well. My harness is good as well I may copy your seat box or buy a fake oil can...

. Do you think you could have fit a larger size tire (wider) up front ? I think it would look cool to have a fatter front tire like a harley 48, I came from a sportster a back ground.

 

[tom4130]

JLov, I mounded the rear of the battery box by sliding it onto the stock little tabs that the original box is on, then it is bolted up to the tank plate with some holes I drilled. The signals are just some 6 LED ones I got from ebay ill post the link below
p.

Here is a listing on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-2pcs-6-...037b8b&vxp=mtr

 

[tom4130]

nk-jk, I also have a sportster, its the 1200XL so basically the forty-eight without the 16" front wheel. Ill post a photo below

In my opinion a fake oil bag looks better on hardtail bobbers as it fits the look of that style of bike. thats just my opinion though.

I could have got a larger tire on the front, the matching tire to my rear one is actually a little wider, or at least more ballooned, but it was about twice as expensive as this one. Also i wanted to maintain somewhat stock, responsive ride to the bike, I know from experience with the harley that wide tires make the turning very sluggish.

Having said that, I believe that there is a thread on here somewhere where someone has re-laced a spoked front hub to a 16" rim and put 16x5.00 tires on the front in stock forks, but don't quote me on that as he may have had to widen the trees and sort a new axle.

Either way I think it would be a lot of work. New Rim, Re-lace spokes, New tire and then perhaps wider trees. Would look great though if you want a really evil looking bike