What have you done to your XS today?

tzimmerm said:
Well, I had another motorcycle milestone today. Laid the bike down. I am thankful to have gotten this one out of the way and walk away almost completely unscathed.
I was following my girlfriend in her car down a residential street about half a block behind her at around 25. I watched in slow motion as a big black and white dog ran out from between a house and right in front of her car. She didn't see it until it was right in front of her and hit it but it kept on running. I am still not sure what happened, but I stopped and I think there was sand on the road. The bike slid to the right and fell on its right side. I went to the ground and scuffed my achilles tendon, probably lucky not to have broken it. I will NEVER ride without gloves again. My hands are fine, but my gloves took a beating. We looked for the dog along with a homeowner who witnessed the event but couldn't find it so it must have been fine enough. I am VERY relieved to report the bike suffered minimal damage. I can actually hardly believe it. I broke two of the new turn signals I just installed, but they were 35.00 for all four, so I’m actually relieved they were so cheap. The clamp on footrest attached to the crash bar flipped in towards the engine and scuffed my new oil cooler, but it’s just cosmetic, and not too noticeable. Unbelievably no paint or chrome was even scratched. I can’t even see any obvious bends in my new buckhorns, which probably saved said chrome and paint. My old higher bars would not have protected my tank from the fall. The corner of my aftermarket metal master cylinder got a few mils ground off, but amazingly is otherwise fine. I was able to pick up the bike, collect myself, and ride on. My crash bar has a few scuffs now as well. I will NEVER be taking it off again. This was about as good and as minimal a crash as you could ask for. New signals will cost another 35.00. New gloves about the same. The experience- priceless.
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Well TZ, it sure could’ve been worse. I’m happy to hear you are alright. My one and only crash was due to a big dog attacking me. I went down hard and my only protection ( back then was an open face helmet ) I lost lots of hide. It makes you appreciate protective gear, that’s for sure.
 
Yup, chronicled in my first posts after getting the bike I removed the crash bar because I felt it took away from the lines of the bike, which it does. Then I took a 5 hour joy ride on my birthday (actually, exactly one hear ago tomorrow!) and learned to appreciate the foot pegs on the highway bar. It went back on that weekend. After this incident I probably won’t ever ride a bike without one. After all the work I’ve done on this bike including simple things like oil changes I can’t imagine how I would have worked on my chopper after removing everything from the frame, including the center stand, but the motor mounts. I sure am glad (and amazed) that my new mufflers didn’t Get all chewed up.
 
Replaced the Gas Tank Mounts
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Tomorrow will have to fashion a more durable exhaust mount, hang the wiring harness, mount the carbs and see if it will fire.
Lucas style tail light to be delivered on Tuesday - looking forward to that.
 
lakeview said:
Replaced the Gas Tank Mounts
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Tomorrow will have to fashion a more durable exhaust mount, hang the wiring harness, mount the carbs and see if it will fire.
Lucas style tail light to be delivered on Tuesday - looking forward to that.
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You are getting very very good at taking a pile of parts and turning them into nice looking motorcycles! I like your style!
Edit: And you’re darn fast too! You’ll have to teach me how to be....
 
A few days ago I replaced my cam seals with the proper 5mm seals. I also re-torqued the head, since the seals enclosures were off, it made it much easier to torque the 13mm bolts under the spark plugs. Then the usual stuff, like cam chain and valve adjustments. Then I took a long ride in North Carolina and Tennessee to the Iron Horse, the Cherahalla (sp) Skyway, then home via Blood Mountain. It ran great. No accidents. And I'm glad you're OK TZ.
 
Hi; Long time lurker. Strangest thing happened! My son found an '82 XV750 registered as "non op" for 15 years! Had sat and rusted in a guy's back yard. BUT it turns over, has good compression, and is perfect candidate for customizing. So that has been something to tinker with when the mood strikes. Here's the Strange........
Sort of watch the trader pages when I get bored at work. About a month ago I run across an '80 XS650 Special that looks pretty much all original. I contact the guy and go take a ride. Now I'm riding it whenever I can! I notice the head will need a retorquing, maybe a new seal or two , and I've ordered a new petcock for it as the original owner had new Mikuni's put on and they leak a bit through the vents, and the petcock on the bike now has no OFF position.
I used to ride a '68 BSA lightning. This thing is fun and very similar with the exception of the extra Revs required to leave from a dead stop. I love it! I'm back in XS650 land to read and learn. Loving this bike.
 
Welcome Scootch!
Post a couple pictures and keep the retired guys happy!
 
Lucas Style Tailight
Ordered online Friday, came this morning by mail, great service from Fort Nine.
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Now looking at the compact size of it, I am thinking that those bulbous stock indicator lights I was going to use may have to give way to something more in scale.
 
A Suggestion for '80 up Special Licence Light
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This is a full LED tail brake licence light which is small enough to be bolted onto the stock carrier without looking out of place.
My licence light had broken mounts so this will do fine for the '83.
Also from FortNine, about $13.00.
 
Princess Auto to the Rescue!
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Enough of my beefing about the removal of the centre stand by the PO, I remembered I had gotten this wheel chock stand on sale in the winter.
For sure it stands it upright, working on it today I will see how stable it is.
 

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