which model is suitable for a street tracker?

[londoncabby]

Hi all just found this great site after trawling the net looking for info on building a street tracker,I'm currently searching for a doner bike (xs650) but there hard to find here in England, I've seen one I'm interested in its a 1980 650 us custom(chopper style) would this
Be suitable to use as a doner? What model do you guys suggest is best, I don't want to
spend my hard earned and then find out its not the right bike, definitely an inspirational
site!!

 

[fredintoon]

Hi cabby,
an '80 Special will work OK for a tracker conversion.
Not that earlier models won't work too, it's that the earlier models command a better resale value so long as they ain't been molested.

 

[londoncabby]

Basically what i need to know is are the frames the same on all the models? the bike i'm interested in is on Ebay and i need to find this out before i place a bid!

 

[londoncabby]

Hi cabby,
an '80 Special will work OK for a tracker conversion.
Not that earlier models won't work too, it's that the earlier models command a better resale value so long as they ain't been molested.

Hi fredintoon thanks for the reply, our posts crossed and you replied while i was sending my second post.

 

[racerdave]

A special with rear disc brake is best IF you want a rear disc brake. A standard takes a little more work to mount a rear master cylinder, again only if you want a rear disc brake. The other difference is the special top rear shock mounts are a little farther forward on the frame, making the shocks angle more vs a standard frame with a rear drum brake

 

[DaveO]

What racedave says

see this thread which has a pdf link http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16556

Dave

 

[scabber]

If the bike is a hard tail it is not a good candidate.

 

[londoncabby]

Thanks for the quick replies guys thats really helpful,after reading about some of the builds on here especially pregrids i can't wait to get started.

 

[DaveO]

Here are the frame differences, which is what I expect you are most interested in.

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11183

Dave

 

[londoncabby]

Thanks Dave just what I needed,I see there's a bit of a difference between the models but not that you would really notice .

 

[DaveO]

Good luck with it.

Dave