Tom Cruiser
XS650 Member
Greetings XS650 forum! New member, first post. Been reading the forums for a few weeks now and getting familiar with the wealth of information available. I love what I see! I just wanted to introduce myself and ask a couple questions. My name is Tom and I live in Minneapolis, MN. Just picked up my first XS a week ago today. It's an '81 with 14k miles on it. $350 on craigslist. Pretty complete minus carbs, seat and clutch lever. The PO said it used to run fine but the top end had a tick to it. I'd like to get it running first then tear things apart to see what needs work. I'm looking for any stock carbs that will fit. I'll make sure to post a wanted ad for those. I should be picking up a new swingarm and disc brake rear mag wheel this weekend. Looking to find Honda rebel rear shocks too.
Here is my first question, I know it may sound silly, but I haven't been able to find anything on it. Since my bike is an '81, it has the TCI ignition. My question is this, when I take off the timing covers (where the points are in the older models), is there supposed to be anything in there besides just the camshaft? I'm designing custom covers in my CAD program and I need to know if there is anything missing on my bike in that department. If everything is cool, great! I'll be machining some sweet looking covers here pretty soon.
Other than that, I'll try to keep things updated in this thread as I go along. I know I'm going to need help and guidance from time to time, but for the most part it feels pretty badass to be building a bike!
Here's what she looked like the day I bought it:
Looks like the PO or someone before that had used blue permatex or something to keep the cover from leaking, which would mean a bad camshaft seal. And the screws are pretty chewed up and they were hard as hell to get off the bike.
There's not supposed to be anything in here, right?
Here is my first question, I know it may sound silly, but I haven't been able to find anything on it. Since my bike is an '81, it has the TCI ignition. My question is this, when I take off the timing covers (where the points are in the older models), is there supposed to be anything in there besides just the camshaft? I'm designing custom covers in my CAD program and I need to know if there is anything missing on my bike in that department. If everything is cool, great! I'll be machining some sweet looking covers here pretty soon.
Other than that, I'll try to keep things updated in this thread as I go along. I know I'm going to need help and guidance from time to time, but for the most part it feels pretty badass to be building a bike!
Here's what she looked like the day I bought it:
Looks like the PO or someone before that had used blue permatex or something to keep the cover from leaking, which would mean a bad camshaft seal. And the screws are pretty chewed up and they were hard as hell to get off the bike.
There's not supposed to be anything in here, right?
