Thinking about this wreck....

[CoconutPete]

I love my XS, but there are days where I dream of experimenting with spoke wheels.

There are also days where I dream of experimenting with fabricating my own rear hoop and seat.

The problem is doing all this while keeping my bike running so I can go for a ride when the desire strikes.

Then I found this:

https://charlotte.craigslist.org/mcy/d/1978-yamaha-xs650-parts-bike/6518784074.html

78, by my calculations, those wheels should be alloy and could quite possibly be restored to look really good.
There's also a frame to work on.
Plus an engine If I get really bored.
The fact that you could title it if it ever turns into a full bike is another plus.

Additional thoughts?

 

[mrtwowheel]

Considering strip down and replacement parts, that's about what I started with.

Scott

 

[CoconutPete]

Seems he has carbs and exhaust for it. Who knows what shape it's in, but perhaps the headpipes are good. At home I have an extra:
- set of mufflers
- tank
- speedo / tach
- shocks
- headlight+ears

 

[5twins]

Yes, those would be the flanged alloy wheels on a '78. It would take some elbow grease but they could be made nice again. Price seems high for an incomplete "parts" bike. $400 to $500 might be more like it, but for me, even that would be high. I like whole bikes for that, or even less, lol.

 

[fredintoon]

- - - I found this:
https://charlotte.craigslist.org/mcy/d/1978-yamaha-xs650-parts-bike/6518784074.html
78, by my calculations, those wheels should be alloy and could quite possibly be restored to look really good.
There's also a frame to work on.
Plus an engine If I get really bored.
The fact that you could title it if it ever turns into a full bike is another plus.
Additional thoughts?

Hi Pete,
go for it!
The asking price may be more than some folks would want to pay but the initial cost is just the start of a project, eh?
My experience with those beautiful wire wheels has been that the rim & hub clean up real nice on a buffing wheel
but the plated spokes are rusted and beyond economic salvage. Add to your skills by learning how to re-lace the
wheels with stainless steel spokes after the rims & hubs are polished up again.

 

[CoconutPete]

Oh I already thought about that Fred! I taught myself how to re-lace a bicycle wheel when I was 13. Why not keep the trend continuing.....

I'm happy to hear you think they will clean up well.

I shot the guy an email and asked if he had wiggle room in his price. Before 5Twins responded, I had also come up with around $500 in my mind.

I stopped counting dollars on my other XS after I got north of $4K...... plus I'm not even factoring in the cost of all the bourbon I have sipped while out there tinkering with her. But that's not why we do this now is it folks!!!!!!!!!!

 

[5twins]

I usually start out by keeping track of what I'm spending but once I get much above a grand, I quit, lol. But still, I doubt I'm anywhere near 4K on my 1st one, 2K maybe. And that's over the course of a dozen years or so. That makes it barely a few hundred a year, cheap hobby in my eyes. And I get way more enjoyment out of the thing every year than $200 spent some other way would give me.

 

[yamageddon]

Very nice rims. Ever thought what you have to pay for those rims only? Now you get a frame and engine with it
If you were selling this in parts, would you get more than what he's now asking for it?

 

[CoconutPete]

5Twins: I kept track for a while.... then I stopped. Not because I hit a certain amount but because I reminded myself that after family time when it's me-time and I'm out in the garage messing with the bike.... you can't put a price on what a stress reliever it is.

 

[59Tebo]

Pete,
Play the "....how about $XX.xx. No?...met me in the middle?...", but grab them!
It looks like there's enough parts for that complete, titled bike and you can sell the extras and make back your initial investment.
....I might be interested in a pair of spoked wheels....

 

[59Tebo]

Add to your skills by learning how to re-lace the
wheels with stainless steel spokes after the rims & hubs are polished up again.

You could try this out (courtesy of Xs650Chopper.com):
http://www.xs650chopper.com/2017/10/how-to-lace-a-wheel-from-scratch/
The world famous (?) Fong Bros. make it look so easy, I want to try it!
...and sorry, Yamageddon, I missed your post. What you said...

 

[5twins]

The prices on those flanged alloy wheels are getting outrageous, just take a look on eBay. Personally, I don't like to pay more than maybe $20 to $30 for a wheel because I know it's going to cost me another $80 or so to refurb it (stainless spokes, maybe bearings). Many are asking $100 or more for those wheels now and they still need to be re-done on top of that, lol.

 

[JRay77]

I just powder coated a set gloss back. Spokes were good just crusty turds. I ran these thru a blaster and hit them with a powder gun I bought off EBay for $100. Powder is about $20 lb to the front door. I used less than 1lb. I had to wrap a ground strap around the perimeter of each wheel to get a good cover/coat. I use a small electric (house) oven that I had given to me. I need to weld up a bigger cabinet for frames, wheels etc. I've seen several videos on this here interwebs about custom built cabinets. This isn't for everyone but not hard to do. My next set, spokes are getting replaced. There's even decent metal looking powder coat also. Maybe gold.....hummm

 

[CoconutPete]

So you coated them with spokes on? Interesting. I have never seen that.

I like the idea of polishing with the backup plan of powdercoating gloss black. I'm not set up to coat, but luckily I have a friend who is. Worst case I can always throw in the towel and head to the vintage car shop right across the South Kerr-lina line. I think the guy gets a kick out of me bringing motorcycle parts in.

 

[fredintoon]

View attachment 115441
I just powder coated a set gloss back. Spokes were good just crusty turds. I ran these thru a blaster and hit them with a powder gun I bought off EBay for $100. Powder is about $20 lb to the front door. I used less than 1lb. I had to wrap a ground strap around the perimeter of each wheel to get a good cover/coat. I use a small electric (house) oven that I had given to me. I need to weld up a bigger cabinet for frames, wheels etc. I've seen several videos on this here interwebs about custom built cabinets. This isn't for everyone but not hard to do. My next set, spokes are getting replaced. There's even decent metal looking powder coat also. Maybe gold.....hummm

Hi JRay77,
while powder-coating those ucking fugly steel rimmed megaspoke wheels may improve their looks I reckon powder-coating the NICE wheels
reduces their aesthetics. Polish the rim, polish and even de-flash the hubs and re-spoke in stainless is the best way for those.
Also, once a wire wheel has been powder-coated I betcha you won't be able to adjust the spoke tension worth a damn with the spoke nipples frozen in place by melted plastic.

 

[JRay77]

Hi JRay77,
while powder-coating those ucking fugly steel rimmed megaspoke wheels may improve their looks I reckon powder-coating the NICE wheels
reduces their aesthetics. Polish the rim, polish and even de-flash the hubs and re-spoke in stainless is the best way for those.
Also, once a wire wheel has been powder-coated I betcha you won't be able to adjust the spoke tension worth a damn with the spoke nipples frozen in place by melted plastic.

You are correct. They are frozen in place by the powder. They were frozen in place when I started. Cutting out is the only option and I will eventually. So these rims/spokes were beyond polish. Stainless spoke sets are expensive and this was a quick alternative to make them look decent. I am guilty of cutting some corners on these old Japanese motorcycles. Let's be honest, they don't have the return old Triumph, BSA, etc. parallel twins bring. If a guy wants to put $400 in a set of these,by the time you buy tires, awesome. Here's a cheaper option.

 

[fredintoon]

You are correct. They are frozen in place by the powder. They were frozen in place when I started. Cutting out is the only option and I will eventually. So these rims/spokes were beyond polish. Stainless spoke sets are expensive and this was a quick alternative to make them look decent. I am guilty of cutting some corners on these old Japanese motorcycles. Let's be honest, they don't have the return old Triumph, BSA, etc. parallel twins bring. If a guy wants to put $400 in a set of these,by the time you buy tires, awesome. Here's a cheaper option.

Hi JRay77,
tires, like gas, oil and batteries, are a consumable so it ain't right to include tire cost in the wheel budget.
The cheapest option is to stick with the cast wheels that the bike came with.
Agreed, the next cheapest is to buy beat up wire wheels and powder-coat them.

 

[JRay77]

Hi JRay77,
tires, like gas, oil and batteries, are a consumable so it ain't right to include tire cost in the wheel budget.
The cheapest option is to stick with the cast wheels that the bike came with.
Agreed, the next cheapest is to buy beat up wire wheels and powder-coat them.

Tires consumable cost? Sure but I don't change tires as often as oil or a gas fill up. Trying to understand your mind wears me out. Probably should save the oxygen for more productive conversations. Like Canadian cigarettes, nasty pictures of cancer and disease on the box but they put 5 more in a pack. Then the pack is hard to fit in a pocket. Whatever. Haha! Eh...You do a lot of assuming.
Oh, those wheels are XS spoke wheels bought as part of a huge collection. Flat track guy retired. Spokes were tight, wouldnt budge, ugly but solid. Ain't broke, don't fix it. Powder, new bearings, brake shoes, tires and I'm rollin. Cast wheels are ugly.

 

[fredintoon]

Tires consumable cost? Sure but I don't change tires as often as oil or a gas fill up. Trying to understand your mind wears me out. Probably should save the oxygen for more productive conversations. Like Canadian cigarettes, nasty pictures of cancer and disease on the box but they put 5 more in a pack. Then the pack is hard to fit in a pocket. Whatever. Haha! Eh...You do a lot of assuming.
Oh, those wheels are XS spoke wheels bought as part of a huge collection. Flat track guy retired. Spokes were tight, wouldnt budge, ugly but solid. Ain't broke, don't fix it. Powder, new bearings, brake shoes, tires and I'm rollin. Cast wheels are ugly.

Hi JRay77,
tires are a yearly expense for an enthusiastic rider, just like insurance is an annual cost for everyone
but you still gotta pay, right? (And let's not get started on the appalling cost of Canadian bike insurance.)
Oddly, cigarettes are the only filthy habit I never took to so I've no idea about where they're best carried.
As you never said those wheels you blacked out were in poor shape and were part of your parts stash
I had to assume they were salvageable and you'd paid the going price for them.
And while the XS series artillery wheels may not be to your taste you can run tubeless tires on them
and that's worth a whole bunch when your tire picks up a nail on a rainy night a long way from home.

 

[mrtwowheel]

Cast wheels are ugly Fred, but they grow on you. Tires are consumables. Brother-In-Laws buy tires as if they were buying them for a lifetime.

Scott