XS650 Street Tracker Build

[PoltART]

Hey guys, as of recently I have been getting more and more into the old school bikes. I have been riding motorcycles for a few years now and have a few different bikes for different styles of riding; I also have a few project bikes including a 900RR fighter project, but since that one is a much slower longer paced project I thought of picking up one of these bikes as well.

Yesterday I picked up a 1981 XS650 Special 2.

I don't have a complete plan for the bike now. But I am thinking it through.

Here it is currently:

 

[deadchef]

good lookin' bike. looks like somebody took care of it.

i too came from more modern bikes when i jumped into the xs world. couple pieces of wisdom i would like to share from my experience...

1. old bikes need love and attention. routine maintenance is far more critical and with these bikes there certainly is more to maintain.

2. rubber parts. good chance brake lines and a few other seals will need to be replaced. inspect what you expect. especially when it can save your life.

3. mikesxs might seem like shangri-la for spare parts to the uninformed. always, always, always try to source oem or at least research a specific mikesxs part before giving them your hard earned $$.

there are certainly many other differences you will find owning a 30+ year old bike compared to the modern counterpart. others may chime in. research and read everything on this website. you will have a much more enjoyable experience in owning one of these fine machines.

good luck!

 

[650Skull]

Bikes looks good. That seat looks to be of an 80SG, (one year/model only), and the beat of the clip on seats because the rise is gentile and makes for a more comfortable ride. Cam move the arse around and back.

+1 on what deadchef says

Probably the first thing i would do, (as well as above), is uncouple every connection and coupling and ear4th connection, clean and put back together with some dielectric grease. Did all my female bullet connectors with a Dremal drill.

Check all continuity as you go. Doing it like this will also teach you about your loom and what wires/colours are for what.

Your bike has a factory Ignition, (TCI), No points. The black box is under the battery box and the pick up is on the stator, (about 2 o'clock), as are the brushes

Here is a link for some info.
1
2
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5

Once all the electrical is sorted the carbs and tuning is next.

Get to know the bike and take time to work out what you want to do and if the bike is running reliable things can be changed peice at a time and still be on the road.

 

[PoltART]

Thanks for all of those links Skull, there is a lot of awesome info there.

Yea the wiring on this bike is not too damaged, but is definitely aged. A few months back I completely re-wired my entire 900rr harness, so at least I will be more comfortable going in this time. I definitely am planning to go in and start doing all the maintance on this bike first. Slowly upgrade all the aged components, and then start working on the cosmetics. I hope this won't take too long, but we will see.

Getting free time is always the biggest challenge, especially having multiple projects at the same time lol.

On a side note, regarding carbs. At the moment this bike has a very nice solid idle. I was actually surprised to find that. One mod I saw earlier today that I am curious about is the 2-1 carb conversion.

 

[Street Tracker]

Looking for a quick set of street tracker rims and adapters I am selling my 19" mag and Omar's set up http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36893

 

[PoltART]

Friday night came and I was finally able to start working on the bike. I began to go through the entire wire loom and clean everything. I will re-wrap the entire loom tomorrow.

Through the process of cleaning all the wires/connectors I began to clean the bike up as well.

I have removed:

Tail section
tail light/blinkers
battery case
giant air box

tomorrow I will continue to move up to the headlight and then after all is cleaned re-wrap the loom.

 

[PoltART]

Looking for a quick set of street tracker rims and adapters I am selling my 19" mag and Omar's set up http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36893

I sent you a PM about this.

 

[rusty rocket]

This is my 81 although not a special II. I also used a 19" front wheel for the back using the omars adapter.

 

[Street Tracker]

The bike looks great all finished up Tim

 

[rusty rocket]

The bike looks great all finished up Tim

I sure wish it was. Took it all apart during the dead of winter to get the frame and all the bits and pieces powder coated and there it sits in hundreds of pieces and the summer is all but gone.

 

[PoltART]

So I went through and finished cleaning/re-wraping the entire wire loom.

Now I am starting to actually plan out what I want it to look like and decide what to do next. I will eventually drop the engine and get the entire frame powder coated bass boat/flake bright green.

 

[PoltART]

Not much to update currently, I have mag rims on the way which I will powder coat first before installing, I am also planning on getting a few small parts in the near future.

One thing I am really curious about is changing the gauge on the bike. After doing a little research I am thinking of getting the Koso TNT meter.
It appears that the cable they sell for the speedo might mount right into the front wheel sensor. I am unsure if anyone here has any experience with that though?

http://www.kosonorthamerica.com/koso/shop/speedometer-motorcycle_gauges/t-t-meter/

http://www.kosonorthamerica.com/koso/shop/motorcycle_acc/speed-signal-converter-d/

 

[racerdave]

What size wheel/tire are you putting on the rear? Plenty of members here have used that brand and other speedo's with the magnetic pickups. Search the build threads.

 

[PoltART]

Dave, I am putting a 19" on the back. Regarding tires, I still have not decided on that.

 

[PoltART]

The rims I ordered from Donny came today. (Thanks again man!)

I also picked up some goodies at work today to do maintenance work on the bike this weekend.

Right now I am deciding on the color theme I want to go with, I hope to get the bike to the powder coater soon.

 

[racerdave]

You have enough fork oil for almost 8 changes

 

[PoltART]

Heh they really don't take much oil at all eh? I was doing research at work today and was under the impression I would need a bit more then 1 bottle.

Oh well, I will have enough for one of my other bikes then.

 

[racerdave]

My math was wrong. Too many brews watching my Cardinals loose. Make that 4-5 changes. Still plenty

 

[PoltART]

So I did not end up doing as much maintenance this weekend as I had originally hoped to. I did however end up spending a lot of time on the seat.

So far I have the basic seat pan done. Tomorrow I plan to pick up a cat eye tail light and incorporate it into the tail section.

Here are a few pics of what it is so far, and a quick idea of what it will look like.

 

[PoltART]

So it's been a while since my last update, 3 months or so heh. I am just all over the place with my hobbies, but finally making time to get back to this project.

I have been slowly working on the seat/tail. I finally finished building/painting the seat. I also got the rims powder coated metallic candy blue and installed the front tonight. I hope I can run this tubeless but putting it on tonight I had no luck as air kept flying out. Maybe it's the tire size.

I have also bondod up the gas tank to hide the yamaha brackets. I hope to paint it this weekend.

After that I will have to swap swingers and install the back wheel. Also finishing up the seat, In the near future I will get the seat pan done, then sew the seat together.

Here is an update photo.