My latest build - Ronin 1979 XS650

[bartender]

Hey everyone, thought I'd share the outcome of my latest build I started off with this:

The bike had been sitting since 1983, with an unknown number of those years having been spent right here, behind a shed, where I found her. Only 6500 miles!! I loaded her up, hit up the powerwasher, then began ripping her apart. 1.5 months later, this is sitting in my driveway:

Here's a list of what's been going on:
Engine checked out, gaskets and seals replaced
XS500 tank modified to fit
Custom paint
Custom RM seat
Stripped down frame
Custom triple clamp
Torrazzi rearsets with custom RM mounts
Custom RM exhaust
Custom RM wiring harness
8 cell A123 battery
Rebuilt and rejetted BS38 carbs with pod filters
19" rear wheel conversion from Omars
13.5" Redwing/Progressive shocks
Progressive front springs
Tommaselli clipons
Motionpro cables and throttle housing
Heiden oil filter kit
Firestone deluxe champion front and rear
PamCo ignition
Electrosport regulator/rectifier
SS front and rear brake lines
Drilled and faced rotors
All consumables(chain, sprockets, filters, etc) replaced

Something about the headlight isn't sitting right with me though. Maybe it needs to be lowered, or perhaps a smaller bucket is in order?

 

[jamesgs4]

maybe a small cafe fairing for the headlight? bike looks fun!

 

[Patches]

If you want to lower your headlight you can flip and swap the headlight ears. There is a thread on it somewhere here on the forum with a bunch of pics if you want to see what it looks like.

 

[tonyc]

Patches I think his ears are aftermarket.

 

[bartender]

Tonyc is right, they are aftermarket, and flipping them won't do anything. I lowered them a bit, thought I don't think that's what is bugging me about it. I think I'm going to actually shorten them to bring the headlight closer to the forks. There's still some finishing touches to be put on the bike, so after I get those done tomorrow I'll throw on some closeup shots of some of the details.

 

[junkshow]

Looks good.

Got a any better pics of how you mounted the seat and fender?

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[QWERTYMage]

Looks killer. What did you have to do to fit the tank? Rear fender?

That tank is what I'm looking to fit.

Beautiful lines.

 

[lakeview]

Do you know how much it weighs street ready? My goal is to build something like that.

 

[Ponda]

Nice! I really like the rear sets. I need some so I don't look like I'm sitting on the can while riding.

 

[bartender]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. While I can't remember the exact year of the tank that I used, it did require a little bit of cutting and welding to make it fit. The tank had two attachment points at the rear, so that was all cut off and I welded on a new, single attachment point made from sheet metal. I picked up the rear fender from a junkyard, so I don't know what it came from. I simply just cut and shaped it to fit the rear loop, then drilled and tapped the frame in order to screw it in place.

As for the rear sets, they are Torazzis with my own custom designed and machined brackets. I have to admit, it's not the most cost effective way to go, but damn they fit and look exactly how I wanted.

Also, I have no idea how much it weighs, but I'd imagine it's much lighter than it was. Take into account that the seat is close to weightless compared to the stocker, as is the exhaust. Subtract the weight of the battery, and I think there was close to ten pounds of bracketing that I took off the frame. Like I said, I don't have an exact number, but it's a noticeable difference.

 

[Pov76]

I like the rear wheel conversion

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[Ponda]

Have you tried lowering your clip-on's a bit to bring the bars down closer with the headlight?

 

[jefft]

Look good. Where did you get the seat stictched up at?
jefft

 

[PHeller]

If your going to run clip-ons at bar height, why not run bars? The idea behind clip-ons is so that you can lower the bars to get your chest on the tank. Otherwise your sacrificing the control of wider/higher bars, and you still get the aero benefits of lower clip-ons.

Other than me being nit-picky of the bars, everything else looks solid. Dig the pipes.

 

[Ponda]

Is the kick start still functional with the rear sets?

 

[bartender]

The clipons now reside a bit lower, but not as low as most clipons. If I wanted super low and uncomfortable just for looks, I wouldn't have spent the money on adjustables.

The kickstart is now bent to accomadate the rearsets, I'll take a picture later and post it up to show the specific bends required. This is a kick only bike, and fires on the first.

As for the seat, that is the work of yours truly. Been apprenticing with an old local legend, I'm quite enjoying it. That's the first seat that I've done start to finish, pan and all.

And the rear wheel conversion comes courtesy of Omar's. Nothing but quality from that firm.

 

[bcthomas]

What a clean vision you've executed. I'd really appreciate the pics of the kickstarter as I'm about to bend mine.

Clip-ons have other advantages besides lowering bar height: weight reduction, adjustable for different types of riding etc. and they look awesome.

 

[bartender]

bcthomas, the exact bend you'll need depends on where your rearsets are mounted. Since I designed my own brackets, it'll be different than if you buy something that's out there already. By how much is beyond me. With that said, here's a couple shots of the bend. As you can see, it's as close to the brake as could be without actually hitting. And before any says anything, yes, it still allows for enough leverage to kick over.

 

[bcthomas]

Nice. I like how you ran the linkage below and flipped the arm. It looks like mine will be a very similar bend.

 

[PHeller]

Post some pics with the new position of the clip-ons and some detail shots of the seat (underside too).

My comments previously about the clip-ons were not because I thought you were going for "looks only" but more because there is no sense being uncomfortable on clip-ons when you don't really want to be in that lowered, aero, chest-on-tank position.