What have you done to your XS today?

An interruption in the Petesaga (you'll find it Pete, remember; we do this for fun!)
I had to run to Madison yesterday ( what a CF but that's a different story) about 40 miles, needed to GET there so on the superslab. Took the restomod, I want to get the odo past 30K this year and am eking out the last miles from a rear tire before levering on the new one. Posted limit in Wisland has been 70 for a year now so actual is about 75, my 18" front rim and tire has me showing 80+, about 5.5K RPM Guess I'm getting old cause dicing with crowded cars n semi's on the XS at those speeds isn't really fun. Took the slow road and ferry for the trip home, that's better! Can't help but enjoy getting to the Merrimac ferry line, about 3 trips worth of cars waiting. lane split and get on ferry immediately, park between the cars LOL. Note the dresser riders having to "use up a car space and wait", chuckle a bit more............. Then turn onto the Baraboo bluffs town roads, home with a smile on my face. Thinking about going to snag some 20's corner gas station pics about 120 miles round trip today, then do the tire change tonight.
 
That is my interpretation of the XS650 on the freeway as well.... it just seams like 70~75 mph is working it too hard .... so I am wondering about gearing of the final drive and finding a much smaller sprocket for the rear..... the problem is it's already got a fairly small sprocket on it
a 34 tooth.... seams like a 30 tooth would be much better to me .. need to get those RPM's down to about 3000 to 3500 for a leisurely cruse
.... what size is your rear sprocket on your bike Gary ?
.....
Bob.....
 
I may drop ONE tooth on the rear one of these days, I have a 33 on the shelf, just to see if I like it. Trust me; don't jump off a cliff by dropping 4!!! teeth you won't like it and your engine will HATE it. My current rear tire is a 110/80/18 radial on a WM5 3" rim Next will be a 140/70/18 Shinko Podium radial on that rim. :yikes: Will probably order a Mikes overdrive 5th gear for an engine build. Yes, I know it's a crap shoot 2M!

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If you want to ride 75 mph on the freeway, buy a more powerful bike. My bikes runs very nicely at 100 kms/hr (62 mph) and 3700 rpm, using 17/33 gearing. I have no reason to go over that speed. Slow down and enjoy life...................its time to stop and smell the roses. :cool:
 
Bob it ain't personal, just pertinent. Much above 150 and you better listen to gggGary. @180-200 the 32 tooth may work for you. Above that the 33 will probably be a good compromise. 250(?) better stick to the 34. And if you are approaching 300 you might look for a 36 tooth for/off a TX750. All of the above is just personal experience yours may vary.
 
Back in my dirt bike days we had to keep the teeth in even numbers so the chain would mesh properly. .... how do you do that when going from a 34tooth to a 31 tooth ? the chain won't mesh with that will it ? (32 tooth sounds good to me ! )
..... hay I'll defer to Garys wisdom any day ! if he says don't go to a 30 tooth I won't ! LOL ....
.....
Bob.......
 
When I began overhauling my bike almost a year ago I followed advice from a forum-trusted vendor to go with a 18/34 sprocket set. That's pretty much equivalent to 17/32. Many of the gurus and other regulars run 17/33 and claim a good compromise between lower high-speed RPM and a good pull off the line. My 18/34(~17/32) is perfectly OK, but for my mostly sub-65mph riding I do wish now I had gone with the 17/33 for a bit more oomph off the line and out of corners.

That said, I may be happier with my 18/34 after a top-end job brings my compression up from its paltry 85psi.
 
I think this chart is relevant to the gearing discussion.
A good discussion there as well http://xs650temp.proboards.com/thread/8
The bottom 2 lines without black dots are a stock motor. There's bunch of caveats to this chart but;
650dyno.jpg

Stock horsepower tops at about 43 :sick:AT 6500 RPM!!
Torque 37 ft lbs at 5000 plus RPM
If you can get it to 70MPH in top gear with super high gearing the slightest hill will have you downshifting to stay there..
 
You should notice quite a bit more power with the rebuilt engine Daniel - no doubt about it.

Pete
 
in my younger years on the 305 honda I set up the final drive quite steep but I got used to it quickly and could cruse at 70 all day
it was not fast in first by any means in fact you could call it a dog after that.. But the ease of cruising long distance made it worth it.
before I changed the sprockets I was cruising as only 60 to 65mph after the change I was doing the same RPM and doing 70 to 75mph
and was super happy with it.... I think I went with a larger primary sprocket is all and kept everything else stock I remember I had to add One link in the chain to pull it off too... and that was a P.I.T.A. ! but I could hit 80 on the down hill if I wanted to or flat .... but seldom did
.... My Shadow 1100cc didn't have that problem I did over 100mph and it had much more to give it's 5th gear was very steep
however the 700cc shadow was a diferent story.... 80 mph on it and it was reving quite high
more like the XS650 in many ways.
I may take your advice Dan.... one more tooth on the primary should raise the speed by about 10 mph ( old rule of thumb way back when)
.... thanks fer the help !
Bob.........
 
Sunday was a bright sunny day but had to continue with reroofing my garage - Damn! I moved the XS outside and parked it in the driveway. Being rather security conscious I put the steering lock on (XS SH). By late afternoon I had done enough on the garage and decided it would be nice to clean up and go for a blast on the bike. Got to bike only to discover that I had put the ignition switch one past the lock position to park and flattened the battery &^x**$%.

So much for my well earned blast around the neighborhood - no wine either!
 
Gee Paul that Totally SUX ! bummer deal dude ! well, at least you Earned a good ride ! even if you didn't get one.... better luck next time !
....
Bob.......
 
Sunday was a bright sunny day but had to continue with reroofing my garage - Damn! I moved the XS outside and parked it in the driveway. Being rather security conscious I put the steering lock on (XS SH). By late afternoon I had done enough on the garage and decided it would be nice to clean up and go for a blast on the bike. Got to bike only to discover that I had put the ignition switch one past the lock position to park and flattened the battery &^x**$%.

So much for my well earned blast around the neighborhood - no wine either!
The stock tail/brake lights use two #1157 bulbs, on your bike. You could replace those bulbs with an LED tail light, as the LED will draw much less current and probably not fully discharge the battery in this situation.

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That looks good RG - I saw that very unit at Princess Auto during my weekly $afari there yesterday!

THAT is what I'm going to use on my Cafe bike!
 
Thank you RG. I just installed a couple of LED bulbs that happened to be lying around. They are not very bright on the brake light function but ok as a tail light. I must explore the other options including your tail unit - Thank you.
 
DirtyErnie, when you order VW lash screws make sure you are ordering Genuine VW screws. There are many crap knockoffs out there. The Genuine article will be polished spherical at the working end and a fine file will not touch the hardened surface.

Can the Kedo screws be fitted with the locking nut under neath the rocker instead of on top, there may be sufficient clearance with your reground cam?? Do you have any comments about the Kedo screws apart from being too short for your application?

Thank you.
 
After the Michelin PR3 front tire on the rear fail, (about 4K miles, she's bald) I installed a Shinko Podium 140/70R/18 on the rear of the resto mod and did a 30 mile test loop. Feels fine! Note this is a WM5, 3" wide rim. Had to bend the brake stay a bit and work the chain guard over a little with a pry bar.
The cleaned up with an oil stone, rear drum and shoes look fine a few thou miles in. will need a to change shoes next year. I hit a rock in the road earlier this summer front rim was fine but saw the damage today. no issues with how it goes down the road. Will leave it for now. Did a spoke snug up last week.

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Period Piece rear, a michelin 4.00/18 on a wm4 rim
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the new 140/70R/18
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