When I bought my red 1976 XS650C (Lucille) in Feb. 2016, she was a non-functioning hay and cowsh!t covered mess. Nothing worked, the engine would turn with the kicker - reluctantly and everything was corroded. The electrical system had been severely molested and the carbs and tank were full of rust and something that looked like cottage cheese. Both handlebar switches were totally toasted and the wiring harness was....in very very poor shape. After a lot of work and little bit of dough, I finally got her running in July, 2016. I loved doing the work - it truly was fun.
She had 22,189 miles on her at that point, and today she turned over 24,661 miles (that's 2472 miles or about 4000 km since start-up). She's only stranded me once and it was entirely my fault because I ran her out of fuel last August while I was having fun exploring her...let's just say, her upper speed range on a freeway. Otherwise, she has been a great friend and a delightful companion on the road. After the resurrection, she has evolved into a really nice motorcycle that is safe and reliable and a blast to ride.
All you guys who have a stock XS650 - think carefully before chopping, hard-tailing, etc. These are really great bikes - just as MamaYama built them.
Back to Lucille....despite my best efforts, she does still have some significant appearance and operating defects and so, this past week and today, I fixed a couple of annoying issues and made a really major improvement on Lucille:
- Her front forks leaked - A LOT. I think that the leak has tapered off recently only because the oil was all over the front of the bike The fork seals were obviously blown and the fork tubes were badly pitted.
- Lucille has had a mild but consistent backfire issue. She almost always pops when I start her and usually when decelerating. I don't really mind that much - I have taken it on as part of the charm of riding an old bike - but I know that it indicates a tuning problem and it should be fixed. I have figured out that the popping is likely caused by an exhaust system leak and so early on, I tried to change the exhaust header gaskets but they were seized in place - so I just left them. She also has a high speed miss which comes and goes.
- Her header pipes were badly dented and scraped - likely from a fall with crash bars that folded back and hammered the pipes. They work fine as headers, but they look crummy and I don't think they can be fixed.
- Her front fender is scratched and the horizontal fender stay is badly crushed - probably from the crash mentioned above. As with the headers - not terribly important from a functional standpoint, but not very pretty.
- Her left and right hand side engine cases are badly corroded and in need of a deep polish.
- Her tank is a bit dented and dinged up - and the decals should be replaced. From 10 feet away, she looks OK, but up close....not so much
So, I decided that this two week period is "
Lucille Week" and I did quite a bit of stuff which has been fun and gratifyingly effective!
- Last week I bought a new set of fork tubes, seals and progressive springs and did the full meal deal on Lucille's 34mm forks. I have described that in a separate thread. The job is interesting, not expensive and certainly not particularly difficult. If your bike has fork troubles, read that thread and some other good ones, buy the required parts, set aside a couple of days (if you're slow like me) and go for it.
- Today I installed a beautiful shiny fender and set of stays that I got from forum member GeorgeOC - and it looks fabulous!
- Also today I decided that, CHoHW, those bad exhaust header pipe gaskets were coming out, so I got my nasty metal-eating sealer puller and out they both came - in a sort of messy, but harmless way. I then installed new gaskets and a set of beautiful shiny OEM headers that I also got from GeorgeOC (he truly is one of the nicest people on the forum).
The key point, aside from the major appearance enhancement due to the new fender and headers, is that with the new exhaust gaskets in place, the backfiring and high speed miss are...ABSOLUTELY GONE. I just got back from a 40 mile ride and she didn't backfire even once, plus I held her open several times and got her up to...well let's just say, more than 4000 rpm in 5th and she ran as smooth as a baby's bum. Amazing!
We really appear to have turned a corner in terms of civility, reliability and appearance - and I couldn't be happier.
OK - so now, it's on to the fuel tank cosmetic issues and the engine case polishing. Any advice on case polishing - gratefully accepted!
Cheers, and thanks for listening.
Pete
