Hey guys my name is Kyle. I've owned my 650 for about 3 years now and I'm starting my project again for the 2nd time. I'm the 3rd owner of the bike I believe. When I picked up this bike from the PO 3 years ago and fell in love with it even though it was a little butchered. The guy before me bought this bike from a barn where it sat for Over 10 years until he bought it. The project he started was some what of a cafe project in his eyes. He put clubman bars on and passenger pegged the bike. Also the tank was painted black with white checkers and the seat was altered ( he put a chunk of foam I. The back so he "didn't fall off the back"). The turn signals were also removed fro
The bike to give it a "cleaner" look. But in nys they are required if the bike came with them.
Here is the bike when I picked it up. Sorry for the bad angle.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c222/KyleCharsley/DSHIZNIT.jpg
So after riding the bike as it was for the first year the leaking and problems began to pile up. The head gasket was leaking, the valve clearances were off ( which after I tried to fix them the tappet cover blew off and I lost a nut in the top end). The petcock was leaking the carbs needed a rebuild , the paint was beat and the charging system wasn't working. Also I lost the only key to the bike while driving on the highway ( it fell out of the ignition and hit me In the face. After all that I was ready to start my own project on this bike but I was on a small budget. The plan was to fix the issues with the bike that were preventing it from being non- road worthy and black the bike out. So I enlisted the help of a friend of mine in my army reserve unit who happened to be a weekend mechanic/motor head. The guy is one of those classic car and Harley guy so he didn't understand my cafe project but he was a great mechanic and awesome guy who did all the work for free just the cost of parts and paint. When he tore down the motor for a gasket replacement job he found the top end to be cracked by the spark plug on the left side from the earlier explained botched valve clearance adjustment. Seeing that I was on a strict budget at the time and did not have money for a motor or a top end I had him JB weld it so I could ride. Not the beat idea but I just really wanted to ride.
Here is the bike after he was threw with it.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c222/KyleCharsley/bike.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c222/KyleCharsley/bike42.jpg
So after the facelift I rode the bike hard for about a month before an issues with the baffle happened. It fell out on my way to work at the local car was ( delta sonic if anyone is familiar). I thought the bile sounded cool so I didn't pit it back in which messed up the carbs because the jetting was not right. The carbs began to pull all the fuel from the gas tank into them and out the airbox. With the stupid vacuum operated petcock being broken I was unable to shut the fuel off. This ruined the paint on my motor a few times before I finally sourced the issue. I had gotten in a car accident and needed the bike for a source of transportation. So after reading online I found a thread that showed me how to wrap sewing string around a o-ring and fix the problem. So I did this temporary fix with the intent of buying the rebuild kits the next day. So it was a Wednesday night late august of 2009 and in buffalo newyork that means the local radio show is hosting their weekly car and bike show and 1/8th mile drags. So I jumped on bike ecstatic that I was able to ride. I met up at the show with some friends of mine who ride too, but they all ride sport bikes. Well they loved my bike an insisted I rode with them after the show. I explained to them that I had forgotten my clear glasses and only had sunglasses so one the guys said we would stop at his house which was much closer than mine. So we rolled out 15 strong and my bike was older then all of theirs by 25 years but they were taking it easy for me (kinda ). I was second last in the group and when everyone else took the last left turn threw a light I decided to cut in close to beat the light. I did not see that the rode was torn up for work on a water main. I went into the gravel section ad the bike started to kick out and I got scared and goosed the throttle and the bike went out from underneath me most of the way but y leg got trapped and the bike landed on my ankle. The last guy quickly stopped and pulled the bike off of me and at this point their was a bit of traffic and I felt I needed to get out of the street and down to my friends house thy was probably a 1/8th mile away SO I jumped on the bike and kickstarted it and rode down the street without a left foot peg. The damage was minimal on a dented tank, missing foot peg, and miss aligned handle bars. So I went out drinking after to numb the pain after cleaning my wounds. Prolly not the best idea because as it turns out I had a broken ankle.
So after all that I let the bike sit for over a year before touching it. I wasn't scared to ride again but the bike needed work. So this summer I decided to start ridi again because one of my friends had just finished his 1976 cafe cb550. I felt inspired and he was willing to help me. I built a new baffle out of plumbing parts an it works and sounds great and I also tightened up all the loose ends. I rode the bike for a lbout a month but the leaky motor began to be such a problem and the leaky carbs came back so I decided to go head on with a rebuild project. Luck for me I found a 650 at my local you-pull junk that had a free moving motor so I went and pulled that along with a front wheel ( mag style) and rear swing arm with disc brake. Te total or the 3 part plus a bunch of hardware for 99.95 + tax. A steal in my eyes. I also bought a bunch more parts and plan on building a custom seat.
Part list
-new foot pegs
- front turnsignals
- new tail light with integrated turns
- new tank
-new 520 chain
-front and rear sprocket
- turn signal relay
-carb rebuild kit
- petcock rebuild kit
- black clutch and brake levers
- misc hardware
- cam chain tensioner spring.
- paint
- new tires
- tons of hardware and misc small parts
I will be installing every thing this week and plan on riding asap but I missing a petcock. My current tank only had 1 but this new one requires 2. So if anyone has a vacuum type or the manual replacement petcock I'll buy it.
Here is the bike that has inspired me to rebuild
Well wish me luck!
The bike to give it a "cleaner" look. But in nys they are required if the bike came with them.
Here is the bike when I picked it up. Sorry for the bad angle.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c222/KyleCharsley/DSHIZNIT.jpg
So after riding the bike as it was for the first year the leaking and problems began to pile up. The head gasket was leaking, the valve clearances were off ( which after I tried to fix them the tappet cover blew off and I lost a nut in the top end). The petcock was leaking the carbs needed a rebuild , the paint was beat and the charging system wasn't working. Also I lost the only key to the bike while driving on the highway ( it fell out of the ignition and hit me In the face. After all that I was ready to start my own project on this bike but I was on a small budget. The plan was to fix the issues with the bike that were preventing it from being non- road worthy and black the bike out. So I enlisted the help of a friend of mine in my army reserve unit who happened to be a weekend mechanic/motor head. The guy is one of those classic car and Harley guy so he didn't understand my cafe project but he was a great mechanic and awesome guy who did all the work for free just the cost of parts and paint. When he tore down the motor for a gasket replacement job he found the top end to be cracked by the spark plug on the left side from the earlier explained botched valve clearance adjustment. Seeing that I was on a strict budget at the time and did not have money for a motor or a top end I had him JB weld it so I could ride. Not the beat idea but I just really wanted to ride.
Here is the bike after he was threw with it.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c222/KyleCharsley/bike.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c222/KyleCharsley/bike42.jpg
So after the facelift I rode the bike hard for about a month before an issues with the baffle happened. It fell out on my way to work at the local car was ( delta sonic if anyone is familiar). I thought the bile sounded cool so I didn't pit it back in which messed up the carbs because the jetting was not right. The carbs began to pull all the fuel from the gas tank into them and out the airbox. With the stupid vacuum operated petcock being broken I was unable to shut the fuel off. This ruined the paint on my motor a few times before I finally sourced the issue. I had gotten in a car accident and needed the bike for a source of transportation. So after reading online I found a thread that showed me how to wrap sewing string around a o-ring and fix the problem. So I did this temporary fix with the intent of buying the rebuild kits the next day. So it was a Wednesday night late august of 2009 and in buffalo newyork that means the local radio show is hosting their weekly car and bike show and 1/8th mile drags. So I jumped on bike ecstatic that I was able to ride. I met up at the show with some friends of mine who ride too, but they all ride sport bikes. Well they loved my bike an insisted I rode with them after the show. I explained to them that I had forgotten my clear glasses and only had sunglasses so one the guys said we would stop at his house which was much closer than mine. So we rolled out 15 strong and my bike was older then all of theirs by 25 years but they were taking it easy for me (kinda ). I was second last in the group and when everyone else took the last left turn threw a light I decided to cut in close to beat the light. I did not see that the rode was torn up for work on a water main. I went into the gravel section ad the bike started to kick out and I got scared and goosed the throttle and the bike went out from underneath me most of the way but y leg got trapped and the bike landed on my ankle. The last guy quickly stopped and pulled the bike off of me and at this point their was a bit of traffic and I felt I needed to get out of the street and down to my friends house thy was probably a 1/8th mile away SO I jumped on the bike and kickstarted it and rode down the street without a left foot peg. The damage was minimal on a dented tank, missing foot peg, and miss aligned handle bars. So I went out drinking after to numb the pain after cleaning my wounds. Prolly not the best idea because as it turns out I had a broken ankle.
So after all that I let the bike sit for over a year before touching it. I wasn't scared to ride again but the bike needed work. So this summer I decided to start ridi again because one of my friends had just finished his 1976 cafe cb550. I felt inspired and he was willing to help me. I built a new baffle out of plumbing parts an it works and sounds great and I also tightened up all the loose ends. I rode the bike for a lbout a month but the leaky motor began to be such a problem and the leaky carbs came back so I decided to go head on with a rebuild project. Luck for me I found a 650 at my local you-pull junk that had a free moving motor so I went and pulled that along with a front wheel ( mag style) and rear swing arm with disc brake. Te total or the 3 part plus a bunch of hardware for 99.95 + tax. A steal in my eyes. I also bought a bunch more parts and plan on building a custom seat.
Part list
-new foot pegs
- front turnsignals
- new tail light with integrated turns
- new tank
-new 520 chain
-front and rear sprocket
- turn signal relay
-carb rebuild kit
- petcock rebuild kit
- black clutch and brake levers
- misc hardware
- cam chain tensioner spring.
- paint
- new tires
- tons of hardware and misc small parts
I will be installing every thing this week and plan on riding asap but I missing a petcock. My current tank only had 1 but this new one requires 2. So if anyone has a vacuum type or the manual replacement petcock I'll buy it.
Here is the bike that has inspired me to rebuild
Well wish me luck!
