I'm going to go ahead and combine my introduction, with my build thread. This first post will be a little of both, and then the rest of the thread will constitute the build.
I've been riding on 2 wheels since I was 3. Started with a PW50, moved onto a Kawi KT80, and then started racing on dirt with the 'KTM Kids 50' program. I'm no newbie to bikes. I took ABATE when I was 15, and started getting into sport bikes, and AM Racing. That quickly turned to racing on 4 wheels, which led to drifting. Below are a couple shots of my last race car. It has sadly been sold to fund college, and other grownup endeavors.
And a few action shots.
Onto the XS.
I picked up this gem as a $500 basket case. Completely disassembled. I was a little bit iffy on the price, for a bike in pieces, but the guy was nice, and assured me it ran great when he pulled it apart. (He was planning on bobbing it) I got it home, put the motor in the frame, got the trip-trees installed, and sat the tank on there. It's starting to look like a motorcycle.
Next came the rear sub frame, and wheels. I didnt like the factory height of the bike, and am planning on doing a weld on hard tail over the winter, so I went ahead and picked up some bar stock for ~$8.00, and made some solid struts (not pictured).
Ok, cool.. Day 2 of owning the bike, and it's starting to look like something. All that was left was some handlebars, and getting all the controls mounted up. I had my buddy Andy do all the modeling; mostly for ride height and comparison. (His services are free, he just requires a sober driver on tuesday nights, and the ability to smoke half your cigs whenever he's around) I'm not a big fan of the bars, but they were had locally for $30 bucks, and it allowed me to move forward with the project. I plan on doing clip-ons in the near future.
Now that we have a rolling, steering bike, I was able to move it into the garage to start wiring it up. Today is day 3, and after some woes with the wiring, I finally got her started. She runs great! All that is wired up right now is the ignition system, it's a custom harness, and all the control boxes are located in a PVC canister I made to look like a faux oil tank ($10 is all it costs to be nice and tidy). My plan tomorrow is to get the charging system wired up, exhaust mounted, and pick up a longer chain. I also have to find a super small battery to mount on the swingarm.
Without further adieu, Here's the 2nd startup of the bike. (I didnt video tape the 1st, because I wasnt expecting it!)
I've been riding on 2 wheels since I was 3. Started with a PW50, moved onto a Kawi KT80, and then started racing on dirt with the 'KTM Kids 50' program. I'm no newbie to bikes. I took ABATE when I was 15, and started getting into sport bikes, and AM Racing. That quickly turned to racing on 4 wheels, which led to drifting. Below are a couple shots of my last race car. It has sadly been sold to fund college, and other grownup endeavors.
And a few action shots.
Onto the XS.
I picked up this gem as a $500 basket case. Completely disassembled. I was a little bit iffy on the price, for a bike in pieces, but the guy was nice, and assured me it ran great when he pulled it apart. (He was planning on bobbing it) I got it home, put the motor in the frame, got the trip-trees installed, and sat the tank on there. It's starting to look like a motorcycle.
Next came the rear sub frame, and wheels. I didnt like the factory height of the bike, and am planning on doing a weld on hard tail over the winter, so I went ahead and picked up some bar stock for ~$8.00, and made some solid struts (not pictured).
Ok, cool.. Day 2 of owning the bike, and it's starting to look like something. All that was left was some handlebars, and getting all the controls mounted up. I had my buddy Andy do all the modeling; mostly for ride height and comparison. (His services are free, he just requires a sober driver on tuesday nights, and the ability to smoke half your cigs whenever he's around) I'm not a big fan of the bars, but they were had locally for $30 bucks, and it allowed me to move forward with the project. I plan on doing clip-ons in the near future.
Now that we have a rolling, steering bike, I was able to move it into the garage to start wiring it up. Today is day 3, and after some woes with the wiring, I finally got her started. She runs great! All that is wired up right now is the ignition system, it's a custom harness, and all the control boxes are located in a PVC canister I made to look like a faux oil tank ($10 is all it costs to be nice and tidy). My plan tomorrow is to get the charging system wired up, exhaust mounted, and pick up a longer chain. I also have to find a super small battery to mount on the swingarm.
Without further adieu, Here's the 2nd startup of the bike. (I didnt video tape the 1st, because I wasnt expecting it!)
