XS650 Project Updates (Tearin it down...)

[ND Guthrie]

Hey guys,

I've been working on this bike for the last few weeks pretty well, and I'm really happy with how it's coming along.

I decided to go for it and go budget cafe racer. To do that, I decided I needed to paint the frame. To do that, I knew I'd have to tear it down.

The decision to refinish the frame was arrived at after inspection and discovery of rusty spots that couldn't be easily touched up.

Other points:

1) I checked the cam chain tension. I could hardly believe it, but according to the manual and videos online (youtube etc) the cam adjustment is just right!

2) Compression is good, as can be heard in the video from before when it was running. I will post a link and another vid tonight.

3) I successfully removed and stored and labled all the parts I took off of this thing. It was in fact missing a few nuts and bolts here and there (big surprise...).

4) There's a plating service here in town. I'm considering having the pipes re-chromed to reuse them with, say, 16 inch mufflers.

5) The carbs will get rebuilt. I pulled them off there, and in the words of the shop forman I showed them to, they are "filthy!"

6) With 8000 miles on this engine according to the Odometer, proper cam-chain slack, and the fact that it RUNS JUST FINE, I don't think I want to tear into the engine at this point.

7) Planning to replace the chain and both sprockets.

Now for the query......

Should I replaced the wiring harness, now that I have it apart? I'm not planning on reinstalling the rear fender. I'm considering other options.

More general question: what essential systems should I replace at this point now that I have it torn down to this stage? That is, what is known to go wrong the most often that is most easily replaced?

Like I said, I was considering replacing the wiring harness, since it IS 34 year old wiring. But with a new harness costing $87, and since the old one works fine, I'm on the fence.

Thanks for your thoughts! More pics to come later....

Best,
Nathan

 

[JP50515]

Honestly if you plan on doing a cafe you might want to think about what you plan on keeping in terms of electronics before doing anything. Are you going to run blinkers? stock setup? new headlight? PAMCO? keeping the electronic start? Things like that. Also most cafes have the battery under the seat/fairing so you may want to think about where you plan on having the battery/storing the electronics too.

Just my 2 cents

 

[ND Guthrie]

Hi JP!

Thanks so much for that. Was just looking at PAMCO - ooooo! Pretty cool stuff.

And the electronics storage - that's exactly what I was trying to put into words. I'm trying to figure out how "far" into a custom cafe I want to go, like storing the electronics under the seat.

I would still like to be able to ride with a passenger if I wanted. So I was considering building or buying two separate seats - one with a plain jane pad over an aluminum pan that could seat a passenger, and one with a more cafe profile with the upswept seat, made for one. That way I could swap them out depending on what kind of ride I wanted. But that means of course I'd have to keep the battery in the stock position. I'm kinda leaning that direction - interchangeable seats. Is that a good idea/bad idea?

I was thinkin I'd go with the kickstart and remove the electronic start. Kinda go minimalist that way maybe.

I think I probably have to run blinkers via Indiana law...have to check on that.

Thanks so much for all your help - this forum is a goldmine! I've learned so much here that's just made things that much easier.

Best always,
Nathan