Newbie to the forum with questions about Mikes XS

IronSpadeCycles

IronSpadeCycles

Welder, Fabricator, Racer
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Ok so let me introduce myself. My name is Travis and I own a small business here in Houston TX specializing in building one off cafe's, race bikes and general restoration of vintage and classic Japanese and European brands. I was commissioned just a few days ago to create an XS650 street tracker to race in the next Pikes Peak Hill Climb event coming up next Summer the last week of June. This bike will compete along side the current PPIHC class record holder, a 1970 Triumph 750 and another very well prepared 1981 XS650 (750cc) that I am crew chief for and won 1st and 3rd place respectively in the "vintage motorcycle" class just this last June.

We are starting with a slightly used 1983 XS650 we purchased just this week with 5008 miles on the clocks. The plan is to build a AHRMA legal 750cc race bike with just enough added parts to also be street legal.

So yesterday after doing a bit of trolling on various other sites, I made a laundry list of needed and wanted performance parts and started looking online for reputable USA suppliers. Mikes XS kept coming up on parts searches, and after perusing the website, it looked like he has most of the needed parts.

So very quickly my shopping cart was just about to tip the $1000 mark and I figured that would be enough for a first time purchase. Sadly he did NOT have the 750cc cylinder big bore kit in stock to make that part a little easier, so I went ahead and finalized my purchase using PayPal to process the Visa purchase. Almost instantly I received an email from both Paypal and Mikes XS welcoming me to his site and acknowledging my payment has been processed.

In the email from Mikes XS it says that if I have any questions to email them at their customer service address. Well I did have a question on the other big bore parts that he currently does have in stock. I explained that I am a machinist with full capabilities in house to bore and build my own engines, I just needed to know which parts to order. As of today, still no response to my questions.

When I go to his site and search for other ways to contact him, I now see that there is not even a phone number to call. I'm immediately concerned I've just sent a payment of $969.04 and according to my account on his page, my purchase is completed. Yet still I've not received another follow-up email giving me any tracking information, when to expect my parts or even when they might ship out via his free shipping. I did notice that when I was finalizing my purchase that even though other paid shipping options were available to expedite shipping, I was unable to actually click on any other option than the "free" shipping.

Thanks in advance for any help you guys may have. Looking forward to any and all responses.

Talk soon, Travis :thumbsup:
 
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Welcome to the forum!

Both sites (mikesxs and 650central) are legit. Don't stress...mike's has an auto reply when you place an order and a day or so later you'll get tracking info and receipt...however when ive emailed him for questions on products, etc...most of his follow-up emails are super slow and not very helpful unfortunately. Some will chime in on quality of certain parts, and there does seem to be some parts that are hit/miss depending on where it's made (like anything repopped). I've spent over $1000 over the years and haven't had and issue with delivery of items.

650central is phone orders only...and also great knowledge on the phone. But not high-tech like most online shops these days.
 
Rest easy Travis. I have ordered from Mikes many times and I expect I will again before too long. Good luck on the build - pics along the way would be great.


Bruce
 
Mikesxs is a small business 3 or 4 person just very efficient,they prob has over a million in parts, some one will get back with you in a few days
 
Mike Lalonde started MikesXS several years ago, (more than several but not exactly sure when), he ran and built up the busness suppling aftermarket parts for the Yamaha XS650, and because he had to buy in bulk sometimes the quality of some of the shipments were a bit off the mark. Usually with a little ingenuity they could be made to work.


This is not to say this was the norm on all parts. There is a couple of threads on here about this.

The prices were very fair and reasonable on his parts and he used to offer free shipping, (in the States) for purchases $50.00 and over and in the later stages of his ownership that rose to $150.00

Mike was in league with Heiden Tuning in Europe and together they developed some parts, like the big-bore kit, Honda paper filter cooler kit and some other parts.

A few years ago, 3 or so, MikesXS was sold by Mike Lalonde, to a consortium and the prices rose to reflect the commercial nature of the new owners and they expanded to include other XS models.

There are others in the XS650 game now and although they don't have the variety of the parts they usually have something better to offer, not as in parts, but service or a cheaper alternative or better quality usually with a price to reflect that.

MikesXS has a history of poor communication and the new owners seem to have got worse.

As a buyer from Australia i have never had any problems buying from MikesXS when Mike Lolonde owned the business. In fact the service was excellent as far as shipping was concerned. I could count on 10 days from ordering/payment to my door, as long as i ordered at the beginning of a week. I have not bought from the new owners

If you really want to have service with respected race knowledge then Micheal Mercury Morse, MMM, at 650 Central is the man to talk to. As previously stated his shopping caet does not work, you need to talk to him.
 
I have probably done 3 or 4K$ between the new and old mikesXS owners with no problems. I have paid attention here and avoided some of the parts that were of questionable quality. AFAIK Mike Leblonde is still in the XS650 parts business selling to all the major XS parts vendors worldwide but he is performing the wholesale function having sold the US retail to a couple of others.
 
Ok gentlemen, thank you for all the explanations. That goes a long way towards settling my nerves on these parts I ordered. I'll hit up MMM for the big bore parts and start a build thread in the next week or so.

Thanks again. Travis
 
Hey, IronSpade. Here's some links that may interest you:

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10849
http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35658
http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32532
http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33256
http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33911
http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=411
http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28076


Here's some useful sites:

http://www.yamahaxs650.com/
http://www.650performance.com/
http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Yamaha/Motorcycle/parts.html
http://www.heidentuning.com/
http://www.hoosracing.com/
http://www.probe-eng.com/servlet/the-XS650--dsh--Std-360-Crankshaft/Categories
http://www.houstoncyclesalvage.net/
http://www.jetsrus.com/
http://www.carbparts.com/mikuni/vm20_44_parts_list.htm
http://www.Sudco.com/

And, have you ever dealt with JK Performance Center?
 
I have an XS 650D. I have purchased a bunch of parts from Mike's XS. I had a box full of stuff that I had bought and had not installed for nearly a year. When I got around to putting one part on, it had a mismatched bolt that had the wrong thread pitch. I contacted Mike's and he mailed me the correct chrome bolt within a couple of weeks. I have not had an issue with his customer service. It has been a while since I have ordered, so I cannot vouch for the current customer service.
Tnicean
 
"TwoMany" thanks for all these links. I've never even heard of JK Performance Center. I use Harold's Machine shop for almost all machining unless he's backed up and I need it fast, I'll do it myself. Harold has built a lot of race engines for me over the years. If I have to have sleeves installed I'll probably just take them to him.

I would rather try the 750cc big fin, big bore cylinder kit first but it appears to be out of stock at every seller and not sure if I want to pay a premium (Euro to dollar exchange rate) to get it from Heiden directly.

Maybe one of you can chime in about that kit, if anyone knows when it might be available or if they are just all gone.

Thanks again.
 
Travis, if you're building an AHRMA legal race bike, you need a copy of Craig Weeks' performance modification manual for the XS650. Craig is an experienced race rider and tuner, and his manual is the product of years of experience and research. It's the definitive publication on the subject, and at $39.99 for the download it's a bargain. Contact Craig at 650performance.com.

A problem with using the 750 kit from Mike's XS on a race engine is that the pistons are domed for pump gas, around 9:1 IIRC. You'd either have to give away power or hassle with dropping the deck, correcting clearances, etc.; in my opinion, more of a PITA than buying liners and good race pistons. Michael Morse at 650 Central is a great guy. Another fine and knowledgeable source is Hoos Racing at www.hoosracing.com.
 
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Well Mikes XS sent me a email just this morning with a quick reply saying the 750cc kits will be in stock early next week.

Nothing about when to expect my parts, but at least they didn't totally leave me hanging...
 
They have always shipped out the next day for me.
That's going on 3 years buying from them.
They should send you a email with tracking on it.
Anyway cstomer service has been ood to me. GL on your project.
 
grizld1 said:
Travis, if you're building an AHRMA legal race bike, you need a copy of Craig Weeks' performance modification manual for the XS650. Craig is an experienced race rider and tuner, and his manual is the product of years of experience and research. It's the definitive publication on the subject, and at $39.99 for the download it's a bargain. Contact Craig at 650performance.com.
Click to expand...


Well I just followed the instructions, paid with Paypal and according to Paypal, my transaction is complete.

Am I supposed to now wait for Mr Weeks to contact me directly? I figured it would be an automated response since it is an online file.

Anyone else ordered this book from him?
 
I got that download last April, craig quickly sent me a download link.
I looked back and it did not have the "feel" of an automated response, more of a when he got the notification of payment he replied with the link kind of deal.
 
Ordered many times this year from Mikes no complaints here but then again never really had any questions of any issues with quality or needing to return merchandise.
 

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