XS1B Texas Resurrection

DogBunny

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And so it begins.
This is the 1971 XS1B that was posted for sale two weeks ago.
Condition is not really good enough for this to warrant the time and money for a true restoration -- instead it will be a resurrection, but I do intend to make it nice.
I have about $400 including gas in it -- was 400 miles and an 8 hour round trip away.
My immediate need is for a seat. I can go a couple of ways with this -- I have a nice, complete, 1973 tin set that I could use, or I can use the existing tank and side covers. So, I can use any seat from 1970 to 1973, in any condition if anyone has one.
B T W the bike came with a rack that is probably pretty rare. It has some rust, but is otherwise pretty nice, if anyone is interested in it.

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Thanks to everyone, and ha-ha to the jokesters!
Sprayed about a whole can of PB Blaster on it, and been applying lots of heat to many fasteners. Was working up front on the headlight when I heard a loud "Bang" at the rear. Really loud. I immediately knew what it was without looking. The inner tube blew out of a big hole in the rear tire casing. Scared me a little, and scared the dog and cats a lot.
 
Great project find. There is a eBay seller (handspiral) that is a very reliable source for XS650 parts and has a 100% feedback. Give him a try.:D A El Camino too.:yikes:. A man after my own heart.:thumbsup:
Ironically, I just sold the thing I need the most -- an early seat -- five weeks ago.
 
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Here's the current weirdness. Anyone ever run into anything like this? The throttle sleeve is absolutely cold-welded to the handlebar. I've had heat on it for 25 minutes, and attacked it with a pipe wrench, and nothing. Giving up. I hate to destroy a good early throttle sleeve, but I'm going to cut it up.
 
Too late. I was actually expecting a lot worse. If I had known it was just rust, and only on the out-board half, then yeah, I would have finessed it off. Oh well...
 
The handlebar, which is otherwise surprisingly nice, was more important to me than the throttle sleeve. They just don't do chroming like on that handlebar any more. The sleeve was a nice original piece, but I'm going to be using linked carbs, so I wasn't actually going to use it.
 
Say it ain't so.:rolleyes: Next you're going to tell us it's getting a front disk brake and a E-start motor.:(
Okay, I hate to dispoint everyone -- you're all going to stop reading my thread -- but I'll repeat what I wrote in the intro:
Condition is not really good enough for this to warrant the time and money for a true restoration -- instead it will be a resurrection, but I do intend to make it nice.
For example, if I find a 1973 seat before I find a 70-72 seat, then it's going to get the very nice, complete 73 tins that I have been hoarding. I am going to be pragmatic about this, and I do not intend to sink a ton of money into it. But, I will do nothing that is not easily reversible by a future owner. And I intend to finish with a nice bike.

And, speaking of the motor -- well, it is stuck. I have a perfectly nice 1973 motor (with e-start!) that is ready to pop in. The original motor may get rebuilt by me in some future life, but if I never get to it I will always keep it to go with the bike to the future owner.

As for the front brake -- I have always wanted an XS650 with the drum front brake, so that stays. But, it's going on later 34mm fork tubes with the Motolana adapter plate. Again, ironically, I just sold a nice set of 70-71 forks last year -- got a small mint for them. Good ones are just too hard and expensive to find, so I'm being pragmatic and going with later 34mm forks which I already have. Yes, it's going to be a bit of a Frankenbike, but I swear it's going to look good!

Maybe I’m wrong here, but I thought there was some difference regarding the 256 heads, something about the angle of the intake ports? That made them incompatible with linked carbs?
I'd like to know the answer to this too -- not sure, but I think the difference is merely with the carb holders -- they are angled on the linked carbs -- I think linked carbs will go on 256 heads with the correct boots, but I think there is maybe a 70-73 frame clearance problem?
 
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As for the front brake -- I have always wanted an XS650 with the drum front brake, so that stays. But, it's going on later 34mm fork tubes with the Motolana adapter plate.
I'm gonna be doing the same with my next build. Can you give me some info (a link) on that adapter plate?
 
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