Something a bit different

650Skull

Cockytoo
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https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Freshly...975399?hash=item2cd63e6927:g:onYAAOSw8FBbKGCo

1a s-l1600.jpg 1c s-l1600.jpg 1h s-l1600.jpg 1i s-l1600.jpg
 
Hmmmm.... I like the concept, Skull, but there's some plain bad design in the picture. After all those very expensive suspension mods, the guy left the ungodly heavy cast wheels on it to pork up the unsprung weight. The stretched tubular swingarm will not only slow down steering, without a brace it'll flex like half-cooked pasta. The trick suspension is wasted. The thing is styled like a motard bike (I like that), but it's only fit to ride as a highway cruiser.
 
there are many things to like about this 'wasp' design especially the compactness of the frame and components but the extended swing arm is just ridiculous. It is not only completely impractical but it also destroys the design and ethos of the bike .

The whole of the front end and frame is designed to achieve good handling like a tracker or off road bike then you stick a huge wheel half a mile out the back ?wtf? I wonder what was going through the builders mind when he built this .... It looks like several bike designs melded into one a cafe , tracker ,racer, off road, bobber ......

The mono-shock and silencer tail pipe exit position look neat but the routing of the pipes across the frame ruins the overall lines and balance in my view.
Worse still is the close proximity of the header pipes to the fuel bowls which will nicely cook your gas.! :eek:

It would be interesting to see the overall effect visually on shortening the swing arm ...I reckon you'd have a really nice looking bike .
 
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Hi Skull,
all of that for only Aus$13,500? Is that a bargain where you are?
My son reckons that Australian bikes sell for twice the price of Canadian bikes but would I pay Cdn$6,250 for it if it was offered in Saskatoon?
Not when I could buy a quite nice unmodified one for a third of that.
But about those comments.
XS650 wheel weights:-
Accuracy, self holding a wheel standing on a bathroom scale. Cast vs wire. The wheel weights are just about the same.
Design concept:-
It's for being noticed, not for how it handles. The bike has aced it.
 
Fred, if "just about the same" means a 3 to 4 pound difference per wheel, which is what I got when I last did weight comparisons with a commercial grade 0-50 lb. hanging scale, then it might count as "just about the same" in terms of a sidecar rig, but it's a helluva lot of unsprung weight on a sporting motorcycle pushed hard. When I was younger and inclined to pitch 'em over hard and deep, I replaced the steel bearing spacers in the wheels with modified KTM duraluminum spacers, replaced the steel caliper bolts, brake rotor bolts, rear sprocket bolts, chain adjuster fasteners, and axle block bolts with titanium fasteners, replaced the heavy OE brake rotor with a light full floating Brembo rotor, and installed a plastic front fender and a plastic chain guard. If you get frisky in the corners, every little bit hurts when it comes to unsprung weight.

We'll never see eye to eye on aesthetics, my friend! In my book a machine that's loaded with high performance bling and won't perform is phony.
 
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Fred, if "just about the same" means a 3 to 4 pound difference per wheel, which is what I got when I last did weight comparisons with a commercial grade 0-50 lb. hanging scale, then it might count as "just about the same" in terms of a sidecar rig, but it's a helluva lot of unsprung weight on a sporting motorcycle pushed hard. When I was younger and inclined to pitch 'em over hard and deep, I replaced the steel bearing spacers in the wheels with modified KTM duraluminum spacers, replaced the steel caliper bolts, brake rotor bolts, rear sprocket bolts, chain adjuster fasteners, and axle block bolts with titanium fasteners, replaced the heavy OE brake rotor with a light full floating Brembo rotor, and installed a plastic front fender and a plastic chain guard. If you get frisky in the corners, every little bit hurts when it comes to unsprung weight.

Hi grizld,
OK your hanging scale's accuracy has to be more accurate than an old fart peering around a wheel squinting at a bathroom scale.
And yes, your extreme weight saving methodology has to improve a bike's handling capability.
OTOH, I reckon that the bike in Skull's post ain't about handling, it's about making the rider look good in photo shoots and impressing young ladies.
And that, it's got aced.
 
I like this one. Myself I would have cleaned up and removed the original shock mount and could have made the headers with only 4 tubes and 3 welded joints but overall I like it.:thumbsup:
 
Hmmmm.... I like the concept, Skull, but there's some plain bad design in the picture. After all those very expensive suspension mods, the guy left the ungodly heavy cast wheels on it to pork up the unsprung weight. The stretched tubular swingarm will not only slow down steering, without a brace it'll flex like half-cooked pasta. The trick suspension is wasted. The thing is styled like a motard bike (I like that), but it's only fit to ride as a highway cruiser.

Agreed........There are design faults and form over function in areas......But overall i like it

What i really like about it is how the builder has balanced the look and colours.......The flow of the headlight into the tank, the angles, front forks and headlight work, paint lines flow into the seat. How compact the belly of the frame holds all of the motor and exhausts. Exhaust angle from the side is almost a 90 degree off the front frame angle. Even the rear brake rod and brake stay are a match/balance each other. Visually, for me it all works and it's refreshing to see something different

It is a copy of a style and may not be ridden like the original are.........But then a lot of guys put hard-tails on these bikes and reckon they look and handle better??? .......Building a scrambler look alike doesn't make these bikes handle like scramblers either.............

I question the legality for our roads, no indicators, (Bike is an 81). How the brake taillight is hidden between the exhausts. Can't be seen unless directly behind it!!!
 
Hi Skull,
all of that for only Aus$13,500? Is that a bargain where you are?
My son reckons that Australian bikes sell for twice the price of Canadian bikes but would I pay Cdn$6,250 for it if it was offered in Saskatoon?
Not when I could buy a quite nice unmodified one for a third of that.
But about those comments.
XS650 wheel weights:-
Accuracy, self holding a wheel standing on a bathroom scale. Cast vs wire. The wheel weights are just about the same.
Design concept:-
It's for being noticed, not for how it handles. The bike has aced it.

Price is only relevant to the buyer..........And your a cheap bastard...........As am i, and that is a generational related thing i reckon born from a do it yourself attitude

I have been around you northern hemisphere guys for a while now and it wasn't all that long ago when people were asking a $500 for a barn find and there was a hugh and cry about how you guys wouldn't pay that much for an XS650 when they could still find them for $100-200....Shit Specials were only regarded to be good enough to be chopped and offered to the chopper crowd.......Weren't considered good enough for the calendar. Now guys are asking $3000 for a nice one and there are about 5 nominated for the calendar.

bargain..... Someone lost $3000 on this.......lol
https://www.geoffsxs.com.au/bikes-sale/1981-special-red/
 
I love the looks, Skull, but I hate to see that best-of-class Ohlins front end wasted on something that won't let it perform! From where I sit, that machine is a rolling lie: it promises things that it will never deliver.
 
"And what does that surly old curmudgeon like, anyway?" Well I'll tell ya. Gggary's "Madness" is in my admittedly twisted opinion a work of art. It has a hot motor and competition grade suspension seamlessly concealed in near-stock cosmetics, and as those of us who saw it at Mountain View, AR last April can testify, it's reliable enough to be ridden there from Baraboo, WI and back without a hiccup. That, people, is the real thing. Does it get attention? Sure does, just as soon as Gary grabs the grip and cracks 'er back. Just wish he'd left those Borla muffs on, I wanted to hear 'em roar!
 
Don't get me wrong you surly old curmudgeon.........I wouldn't buy it............ and a wolf in sheep's clothing or a well maintained used bike, (as long as all the parts are there cosmetic looks don't matter to me), Bike is of more value to me than a posers. ...........Yea it is kinda stupid to upgrade one part and make another substandard..........If one was to do a build there is a lot that could be taken from that
 
I like that rear tire. Anybody recognize it and is it offered in 130/90-16 ? I think it would look pretty good on my 'tracker! And to me the first thing that came to mind was "HILL CLIMBER".
 
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