New Member - Recently Completed Project

[maninthejar]

I've just joined and I thought I would share some pictures of my recently rebuilt XS650. I bought it as a very rough Street Tracker which had been painted the regulation yellow with speed blocks. It has been stripped, modified, powdercoated, re-chromed/plated and re-painted etc. It already had electronic ignition, Mikuni round slide carbs, braced swingarm, air assisted forks and stainless drag pipes. Mods include an RD(RZ)350 alternator with Big Bear regulator, needle swingarm bearings, black powdercoated rims, second caliper/disk, custom wiring loom, TY250 fork brace, XS750 rev counter, stainless brake rod, custom decals, new paint scheme, hand made front fender, brand new tank, lots of hand made brackets, stainless fasteners, etc. I've also added a set of new Bridgestone BT45s to finish it off.

The engine ran strongly before the rebuild and had fresh gaskets and bolts so I went on the basis of if it ain't broke don't fix it but no doubt I'll strip it some time in the future and do some work there as well.

The red pictures are after the rebuild and the yellow pictures show it as I bought it. The mufflers are more tucked in than the pictures suggest so ground clearance is suprisingly good.

 

[willyguzzi53]

Looks good. I also have a Hinckley twin in the garage with my piles of XS stuff. Only difference is mine is a Thrux instead of a Bonnie and my XS looks more cafe than tracker. Don't know why everyone who does a tracker has to paint it yellow with the block stripes. I guess cause it's authentic.

 

[TeeCat]

Excellent work, sir! And welcome!

Beautiful bikes!

TC

 

[wacko]

Great bikes!!! Welcome, its a great site.

 

[Shakey]

Welcome to a fellow brit judging by the plates (though not by the weather...) Big improvement! I love the paint job and the wiiiiide bars.

 

[maninthejar]

Looks good. I also have a Hinckley twin in the garage with my piles of XS stuff. Only difference is mine is a Thrux instead of a Bonnie and my XS looks more cafe than tracker. Don't know why everyone who does a tracker has to paint it yellow with the block stripes. I guess cause it's authentic.

I agree on the Yellow with Speedblocks it is almost like it is mandatory. I aimed for a more traditional British look with some modern touches. I used Ducati Red with a white Monza stripe and custom decals I drew on my computer. The guys on the Triumph RAT site are split 50/50 on the tank badges - some get it and some don't.

The Thruxton is a nice bike and it was 50/50 between a Thruxton and a T100 when I was buying. What swung the balance is the mods on my T100 which is far from standard even though it looks fairly stock. It is an EFI which has had the AI, O2 sensors, catalysts and airbox baffle removed. The airbox has also been de-snorkled and converted to double entry. The mufflers are from feked.com and give a nice fruity sound. This is all complimented with a custom pieman ecu remap which was developed with the help of a dyno. The torque and power curves are much smoother with higher peaks and the rev limit has been increased by 1000. This all makes it a lot more tractable throughout the range and a higher top end.

It's also got thruxton rims, a Talon rear hub, hagon shocks and thruxton style bars to help handling. All it needs now is a mosfet regulator to sort out the charging system and maybe a slight firming up of the front end.

 

[1974jh5]

Nice! I always liked the speedblocks/yellow but it's been done to death. That's why I went (sort of) with the road race scheme on my bike. I'm glad to see something a bit different.

 

[PetesPonies]

I like it. Good job.

 

[PHeller]

Really dig the bike with one caveat, the muffler is pointing at the ground.

I think an angled muffler that matches the rear swing arm brace would be cool.

 

[1974jh5]

BTW, that's an interesting front fender. It's a nice way to run one of those 'double hoop' fork braces and still have a front fender (nice for keeping sand out of the old mug).

 

[Cornish Pixie]

Hi and welcome from a fellow Brit. Lovely looking XS, really good turn around from how it looked when it was yellow.