New Bike! 1975 XS650

[gnarlydavidson]

Hey all,

New to the forum, and new to the XS650 in general. As you could guess by my name, I'm a Harley guy. I've been wanting to build one of these for about two years, and finally the deal I couldn't say no to appeared. Well, it just so happens that I'm in Afghanistan right now, so through the generosity of a couple friends who have a truck and trailer and the patience of my wife, I'm now the proud owner of the project I've been wanting.

She's a 1975 model (the bike, not my wife ), in pretty good shape. Paint is nice, no rust except the pipe, 13,000 original miles, original California bike with the blue plate, runs good if you charge the battery or kick her over: stator appears to be bad.

The bike is currently being built on paper until I go home, and I'd like to start ordering parts ASAP so I can rip right in to her. I am planning on replacing the stator / rotor anyways, but I have been reading a lot of people are switching up the ignition to the Pemco or some other brand (brainfart). Is this pretty much a must do? I'm also half considering eliminating the electric start and running lights straight off the stator. Can anyone give me some pros and cons?

Build list (in no particular order):

Exhaust Tape
Handle Bars
Tail Light
Paint
Muffler / Header
Powder Coat
Seat
Fork Gaitors
Speedo
Electric Box
Grips
Tires
Brake Rotors
Stator
Performance Carb Kit
Ignition

Thanks for having me guys!

 

[gnarlydavidson]

Also, what maintenance besides fluid / brake / fork seal change should I plan on doing when I get home for a bike with 13k on the odo?

 

[wannabridin]

Pamco and boyer bransden are the two ignition you're referring to.

There's mixed opinions about upgrading the charging system to an aftermarket unit, lots of debate there, so I won't go into that much.

You'll need to address the sump filter (check the tech sections) and do an oil change at the very least. Download the manuals from the tech section and start going through those to see what you're up against and what to inspect. That's the best way, especially if you're not with the bike yet.

Otherwise, good luck, looks like you have a pretty nice starting point!!

 

[5twins]

It's not so much the 13K but rather the 40 years the bike has been in existence. You'll want to give it a thorough going through, from stem to stern. Check and clean all the wiring and connections, most likely clean the carbs, service the brakes, etc. Most upgrade the steering head bearings to tapered rollers (there are kits) if it hasn't been done already. Swingarm bushings usually get an upgrade as well.

There's really no such thing as a "performance carb kit" for these bikes. The carb specs changed too many times during the production run so it's just not feasible to make that many different kits. Basically, you just follow old time carb tuning procedures for mods, tweaking your carb set for the changes you've made. The changes required are pretty well outlined on the site here.

As far as the exhaust goes, I would recommend changing back to the original style 2 into 2 set-up. Most 2-1's can be very difficult to tune for and were designed more to fit on the bike in question than for better performance. Also to ease tuning, I would recommend UNI foam pods to replace the K&N type you appear to have. A K&N pod just doesn't work that well on these CV carbs.

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

Welcome to the forum, gnarlydavidson. Congrats on your '75 score.

Afghanistan? Hey, man, stay frosty over there.

Here's some build threads for inspiration:

http://www.xs650.com/forum/tags.php?tag=build

 

[fredintoon]

Hi Gnarly and welcome,
looking at your to do list.
Anything electric that's stock and still works, leave it the f**k alone.
You can piss away a fortune on alleged upgrades that you don't need.
Check on how old the tires are, old tires go hard even if they look nice.
Upgrade to stainless brake lines.
Forget exhaust tape, it keeps the pipes wet so they rust.
And the search button will find you a cheat sheet on resurrecting old XS650s.

 

[59Tebo]

Gnarly,
Hi, welcome, thank you for your service (I assume that's what you're doing in Afghanistan...), and congratulations on your recent aquisition! The more homework you do, the fewer surprises you get. That said, please do read through this forum, taking notes on other people's builds. You'll find your project is likely to evolve in directions you never thought possible. As an owner of a '75 myself (see the little picture to the left) I can tell ya mine is looking totally different than how I planned it originally.
Be safe, and hurry back to the world, will ya?!

 

[Vincenthdfan]

Please, please, please don't hack that Survivor up whatever you do.

There are far too many neglected newer Specials out there that are begging to be bobbed and chopped than a nice original Standard such as you have there.

The more and more these bikes get hacked up, the fewer there are gonna be in existence :-(

 

[gnarlydavidson]

Vincent, that will just make your bike all that much more valuable!! In all seriousness, though, I probably won't do any cutting / welding that I can't undo on the bike, just in case I decide to go another direction or take her back to stock. Thanks for all the kind words and knowledge guys, I really do appreciate it! Purchased a carb kit, handlbars, and some fork gaitors yesterday.

 

[nj1639]

Nice '75!
One of my favorites as far as the tank graphics.
I'd be doing a resto-mod on that one and considering front brake, triple tree/fork swap for the 35mm newer forks but then I sure like the fender stays.
Welcome aboard!