aprilsixth
XS650 Member
Hello,
I just recently picked up a 1980 xs650 special. From what the seller told me it had been in a shop having repairs done when the owner could not afford to pay the bill. The seller I bought it from purchased from the shop, re-painted it, installed the 2-1 exhaust, and recovered the seat. He didn't know what all the shop did to the bike but he said it's def. had some engine work done. There are bigger Mikuni carbs but other than that I do not know what all has been done. Besides the carbs, exhaust, and paint it is all stock. It started first try at the shop the night I bought it. After a 3 hour ride home in very cold weather it didn't start. I charged the battery over night (with a tender, all I had...) and it does start now but takes a minute or so by electric start.
I want to improve the bike by replacing some of the parts. I would love to build a tracker but most importantly i'd like to clean up in it's stock set-up and make sure it's running good. First off, i'd like to get new black tracker/mx bars, grips, right/left side controls, front master cylinder, rear master cylinder, all new cables (throttle, brake, clutch). The clutch is relatively hard to pull in. The front master cylinder is rusting and the controls need replaced. Also, I plan on replacing the shocks as one of my first mods as they are rusting too.
My question for you experts out there is, is this a good place to start? Could this fix my issues with the clutch? What length & brand (progressive, hagon, ohlins?) shocks do most people run on their trackers? Where is a good place to buy parts from? I've been looking around the net and it seems like "Mike's" has a lot of parts. For those who have bought 650 parts from Mike's, would you recommend getting all of the hand controls from there? Lastly, should I fully charge the battery and then put the tender on? I ran stabilizer through the bike tonight so it'll be stored for the winter.
Any help/guidance would be greatly appreciated. I have the finished bike visioned in my head but this is my first build of an older bike (my other bike is a 13' harley davidson street bob). Thanks in advance to anyone with help!
I just recently picked up a 1980 xs650 special. From what the seller told me it had been in a shop having repairs done when the owner could not afford to pay the bill. The seller I bought it from purchased from the shop, re-painted it, installed the 2-1 exhaust, and recovered the seat. He didn't know what all the shop did to the bike but he said it's def. had some engine work done. There are bigger Mikuni carbs but other than that I do not know what all has been done. Besides the carbs, exhaust, and paint it is all stock. It started first try at the shop the night I bought it. After a 3 hour ride home in very cold weather it didn't start. I charged the battery over night (with a tender, all I had...) and it does start now but takes a minute or so by electric start.
I want to improve the bike by replacing some of the parts. I would love to build a tracker but most importantly i'd like to clean up in it's stock set-up and make sure it's running good. First off, i'd like to get new black tracker/mx bars, grips, right/left side controls, front master cylinder, rear master cylinder, all new cables (throttle, brake, clutch). The clutch is relatively hard to pull in. The front master cylinder is rusting and the controls need replaced. Also, I plan on replacing the shocks as one of my first mods as they are rusting too.
My question for you experts out there is, is this a good place to start? Could this fix my issues with the clutch? What length & brand (progressive, hagon, ohlins?) shocks do most people run on their trackers? Where is a good place to buy parts from? I've been looking around the net and it seems like "Mike's" has a lot of parts. For those who have bought 650 parts from Mike's, would you recommend getting all of the hand controls from there? Lastly, should I fully charge the battery and then put the tender on? I ran stabilizer through the bike tonight so it'll be stored for the winter.
Any help/guidance would be greatly appreciated. I have the finished bike visioned in my head but this is my first build of an older bike (my other bike is a 13' harley davidson street bob). Thanks in advance to anyone with help!
