Newfound interest. Favorite mods?

[smiles79]

Hello everyone,

It's been a while since I've relied on all of your infinite knowledge. I recently decided that I wanted a bike that was easier to ride at highway speeds, and something I felt more comfortable riding long distances. Unfortunately, my '75 mild cafe did not seem to fit the bill, so I started browsing Craigslist. Not too long after, I found a street fighter 2006 Ninja ZX6R. I fell in love and not soon after, I bought it (hell of a good deal). I bought it in September and have loved it more and more with each ride. The only stipulation I gave myself is that after buying the Ninja, I needed to list my 650 and get it sold. I figured I'm young and I wanna ride, not spend a lot of time in the garage making it exactly how I wanted. I can do that when I get older and have more time and money to spend on it.

I promise that was my intention.

Well, a couple months have passed by and the thought of owning two motorcycles had kinda sunk in. I can afford to have them both so I figured to hell with it, I'll keep 'Ol Blue. Having the Ninja as my daily rider means that I can spend as much time as I need to on the 650 and not sacrifice riding. I can do a pma swap and make it kick only without sacrificing the convenience of an electric start bike. I can have fun working on it and not feeling pressured to finish so I can get out and ride. I can fully join the community that are the XS650 builders.

Thank you for reading my probably pointless story, and now I ask you all this:

What are your favorite mods? She already has a pamco with a 75,000 volt coil and vm34s with pods (soon to change to the foam uni filters).

I am very excited to begin this adventure, and I hope I can rely on you all for all the help I will inevitably need.

Riles



Also who knows, maybe I'll give some love to my Black Beauty as well:

 

[figure8]

Brembo caliper? Dan at Pandemonium will take care of you.

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

How's the clutch pull effort?

 

[smiles79]

Clutch is ok considering the heavy springs. But I think a hydraulic Clutch would be rad.

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

Voltmeter?

 

[smiles79]

Do I have one on the bike? No.

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

I see the rear axle is moved back a bit.
Due for a new chain?

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

Ever wanted one of these?

 

[smiles79]

The only reason would be an old chain, so maybe that's something I better check.

Ya know, I never knew I needed one until right now.

 

[5twins]

Well, if you dropped the gearing a tooth or two on the rear, that's going to make the chain appear more stretched out than it actually may be.

 

[arcticXS]

Smiles,
What's up with your fork? On the pic it seems to be about 2" longer than standard. Do you have "slug" type extenders screwed in the top, or maybe some longer aftermarket fork tubes?
Personally, I would get the fork back to standard length, if not a tiny bit shorter.
If they indeed are aftermarket with extra length, it is fairly easy to shorten them if you hav access to a lathe and a skilled machinist. Cut off the excess, bore out to correct diameter and depth, then cut new internal thread. I did this to a set of 34 mm XS fork tubes once.

Now, I do not know what year your bike is, but at least on my 77Standard, there is no top-out spring, so there is a really annoying "clunk" when the fork tops out under acceleration. So when the fork is dismantled for shortening the tubes, I would make sure that top-out springs are installed.

Then if you can afford it, I would recommend the full Race-Tech treatment, a set of "Gold Valve Emulators" and a set of linear springs with the recommended spring rate for the weight of the bike+rider, then set correct "sag" and use recommended fork oil grade. After this, the rebound damping can be adjusted by changing fork oil grade, "spring Rate" can be fine tuned by changing oil level (air volume), compression damping by changing pre.load on emulator spring, or even change emulator spring if required.

The standard XS fork is not very good at all, and if extended is most likely even worse. So modifications like I describe here will definitely give a noticeable improvement!

 

[gggGary]

IMHO a complete forkectomy would be the way forward on a 75. I'm philosophically opposed to USD forks on old bikes but "more modern forks/brakes" along with more gooder rear shocks would be for sure an improvement. Hint working stockers may be better than many cheap "upgrades".

Personally I keep the electric leg on bikes so equipped, thank you very much.

 

[arcticXS]

IMHO a complete forkectomy would be the way forward on a 75. I'm philosophically opposed to USD forks on old bikes but "more modern forks/brakes" along with more gooder rear shocks would be for sure an improvement. Hint working stockers may be better than many cheap "upgrades".

Personally I keep the electric leg on bikes so equipped, thank you very much.

gggGary/ Smiles,
I believe Richard Pollock (of Mule MC) for a while used the 38mm RWU forks from the FZR400 or FZR600, as they were really lightweight, while still stiffer than the very heavy 34 or 35 mm XS forks. And maybe the FZR calipers would be a bolt-on with suitable disc/spacer?

 

[fredintoon]

The only reason would be an old chain, so maybe that's something I better check.
Ya know, I never knew I needed one until right now.

Hi smiles,
check the sprockets too.
Chain & sprockets should be changed as a set.
Old sprockets eat new chain.
Old chain eats new sprockets.
Installed as a set they wear in together for the long haul.
I use the best quality o-ring chain I can buy.
Another guy buys #50 agricultural chain at $20 for a 10-foot length.
We are both right.

 

[gggGary]

gggGary/ Smiles,
I believe Richard Pollock (of Mule MC) for a while used the 38mm RWU forks from the FZR400 or FZR600, as they were really lightweight, while still stiffer than the very heavy 34 or 35 mm XS forks. And maybe the FZR calipers would be a bolt-on with suitable disc/spacer?

RWU Love it! have a FZ600 set and a 79 SPII getting lightly updated, hmmm

 

[5twins]

What does "RWU" mean? Is it a brand name?

edit - never mind, figured it out : Right Way Up, or normal old style forks

 

[gggGary]

What does "RWU" mean? Is it a brand name?

edit - never mind, figured it out : Right Way Up, or normal old style forks

 

[grizld1]

Smiles, with no idea of what your goals are, I don't know what to tell ya! Do you want more giddyup, more comfort, better handling, better braking, trick gadgets to show off? Give us a clue!

In the meantime, an item I really like is the Krank Vent breather valve; pricey but very effective. And here's one to avoid: Raask rearsets will give you Chinese quality for a Swedish price.

 

[XSLeo]

Swing arm bushings, steering neck tapered roller bearings. Those are two biggies to improve handling.
Being a 75 have you updated the regulator and rectifier? If not going solid state.
Upgrades to braking. Improves safety.
Led lighting, saves charging system stress.
All these are easy to do.
Leo

 

[arcticXS]

RWU Love it! have a FZ600 set and a 79 SPII getting lightly updated, hmmm

Gary,
What triple trees are you planning to use with the FZR forks? And what offset will you end up with? As the XS trees have fairly high offset, compared to modern bikes, you may end up with increased trail, if newer trees are used.

Also, I am really curious if you have weighed the FZR forks, and maybe even calculated how much weight you will drop, compared to stock? And do you plan changing springs or even adding emulators while you're at it?