Doug79
XS650 Addict
I have been building rods and customs for the last 25 years [strictly a hobbyist] and decided after the one just completed that I didn't have the energy to do another car but since I have also been involved with motorcycles most of my life, I thought it might be fun to try restoring one. Way back in the 60's I worked in a Triumph shop in Seattle so I thought about one of those until I remembered the whole Whitworth thing so I decided to keep looking. Glad I did because I came across my first real barn find. It's a 1979 XS-Special 650 that was parked in 1985 with 11,000 orig. miles. The title was long lost but we know the guy who parked it and he has no interest in getting it back. So I will have to apply for a new title which takes awhile in Washington but not a huge problem. Kind of anxious to start on it but have to get a baseball spring training trip out of the way then I think I will see if I can get it running and see how many of the systems work. I won't be surprised if everything works. After that I plan a complete disassembly to a powder coated frame and a buildup using all of the upgraded chassis and suspension parts. I have a shop manual coming but I am fairly sure I will have questions that I hope to find answers to on this site.
