xs650 wheels

not to dig up an old thread... n i think i may have already found my answer, but i wanna double check. got a 78 bobber hardtail.. it has the factory spoked rims with drum rear. im about to buy a 16in rear disced and 19in front disced set of mags... those should be a straight bolt on correct? minus the rear master cylinder fab work i have to do.. right?
 
my94probese said:
not to dig up an old thread... n i think i may have already found my answer, but i wanna double check. got a 78 bobber hardtail.. it has the factory spoked rims with drum rear. im about to buy a 16in rear disced and 19in front disced set of mags... those should be a straight bolt on correct? minus the rear master cylinder fab work i have to do.. right?
Click to expand...

Since you're doing a hardtail conversion I guess the fact that the swingarms are different doesn't matter. The spacers on the axle are different, too.

REAR_WHEEL.png

REAR_WHEEL.png
 
Hardtails are notorious for having somewhat random spacing plate to plate, so there is a good chance you will be making spacers to fit and to center the wheel and sprocket. Craftsmen machine aluminum to fit, back yard builders stack up 3/4" washers.
As the diagrams above show the disk brake wheel uses a different width spacer on the RH side compared to the drum brake.
 
Hi!

I now have 16" drum brake mags on my bike. I recently bought a used spoked hub, also for drum brake. It came without the spacers between the bearings. Can I just swap the internals from the mag over to the spoke wheel? Thanks for your help.
 
Hello fellow XS lovers. I am new to this forum format so please bear with me. I have read the tech. topics, but could not find any specific answers to my attempted mods. I am looking for possible Yamaha models (or another make if I have to) to put cast wheels on my 74 650. My biggest caveat is that I wish to retain the stock rear wheel size of 18" and retain the drum brake. Some early 80`s models had both but were 16". The only model I can find that may be a suitable donor is the SR500. Now, from pictures I have been able to collect, I have seen them with both drum brake, AND the 6 bolt pattern for the rear sprocket. (I realize searching for one of these may be difficult, but the wheel is still available new so I am told...) Not sure if this pattern is the same as the stock 650`s or not. Some of the other possible donor wheels (British model of XS250) could work also. XS400, certain models of the RD350LC had a rear drum mag also. I did notice some of these wheels have a 4 bolt pattern for the rear sprocket as well as cush drive. I understand cush drive on the 650 could be advantageous. My bike has got the front end from a 77 650, so the front should not be a problem brake disc wise. I don`t mind if I have to go to an 18" front from the current stock 19" either. Lots of donor bikes for the front! Has anyone done this ? Are there any aftermarket wheels for the 650? Any info as to where to find these parts will be much appreciated. (Wheel, and all associated brake parts for the rear) Where I live there are poor resources for salvage parts. Yes I am aware of the weight, but am more after looks than for speed...Thanks in advance.
 
Anyone put a 21" rim on the rear?? Have a '81 XS and a 21" rim from a XT500 with same spoke count. Buchanans can supply spokes, but wondering about if the 21" will take the HP. Klutch Republic's blog shows a nice looking XS and it appears that 21" both front and rear. Any suggestions appreciated.
 
Thanks for the link. If I can get this picture inserted, this is what my thoughts are. This build has 21" front and rear. Can't seem to figure how to include a pic...
Thanks again
 
Hi there,

Thanks everyone for sharing so much information. It's a real help in figuring out what to do and I think I know my next step, but want to confirm before spending the cash.

I need to replace the front tire on my 83 XS650 before it blows on me. I think I have the original spokes on the wheels and they definitely have some rust on them and one recently broke because of the rust. I don't have the time to rebuild the wheel right now so I was thinking of swaping in a mag wheel. I saw on the thread that I can drop in wheels from 750, 850, and 1100s. It looks like those all have dual disc brakes.

My question is how does that affect swapping the wheels? Do I just keep both discs and only one actually is of use? Do I take the extra one off? Something else?

Appreciate the response and any advice of anything else to look out for in this process.
 
Hi adrywall,
yeah, all those wheels are identical except that really early XS11 wheels don't run tubeless tires.
XS750/850 wheels have smaller diameter brake disks so you need to remove them and bolt on your XS650 brake disk.
Late model XS11 wheels come with slotted brake disks, they look better than drilling an XS650 brake disk full of holes.
Yes, you can simply remove the leftside brake disk.
You have the option of plugging the unused bolt holes with the blanking piece you'll find on your XS650 wheel.
OR
you can find an XS750/850/1100 Standard leftside caliper and convert the XS650 to dual front brakes.
 
Look for TUBELESS stamped into one of the spokes in the cast wheel. The tubeless wheels started some time in 1979. No stamp=use a tube
 
I did a side by side comparison of tube vs tubeless XS mags a while ago and the only difference to my old eyes was the size of the hole drilled for the valve stem. What I found is that the XS wheels all predate rim safety beads. The safety bead keeps the tire on the rim in the event of a flat or blowout. Without them the tire completely coming off the rim and tangling with stationary parts of the bike is a possibility. Hard data was not easy to find but looking at various rims it seams the safety beads came in a bit later in the 80's Honda may have done it before Yamaha.
Safety beads on my spoke wheel Shadow probably saved my life a couple of years ago after a blow out on the freeway. (it was my fault, a rather hidden rear tire, I ran the tire down all the way through the cords, oops) Tire flopped around but stayed on the rim. It was dicey but I was able to get the bike slowed down and off the roadway.
 
Thanks for the info, I went ahead and got a 650 one since I found one with a disc on it that I won't have to change out. It's a 79 so I'll definitely look to see if it needs a tube. Thanks for that tip!
 
Got no answer on another thread, so trying my questions here. Can I use a 19'' front mag from a `78 XS 1100 on the rear of a `78 XS 650 Heritage special, using the Omar kit ?. Will the original rear axle be the 22mm needed & work with this setup ?.
 
Aqualung said:
Got no answer on another thread, so trying my questions here. Can I use a 19'' front mag from a `78 XS 1100 on the rear of a `78 XS 650 Heritage special, using the Omar kit ?. Will the original rear axle be the 22mm needed & work with this setup ?.
Click to expand...

Hi Aqualung,
like the previous posts say, apart from the early XS11 wheel being a heavier casting and not being tubeless compatible, all those wheels are the same and are interchangeable so, yes you can.
AFAIK the Omar kit uses the front wheel's stock 17mm axle diameter and FYI the XS650 stock rear axle is 20mm diameter not 22.
 
Hey I was hoping someone may be able to help figure out what these wheels are off of. Picked them up off craiglist. They are 19 front and 18 rear with a 15mm front axle and 17mm rear axle. Want to use them on my 75 XS650 build but theyre no the right bearings. I imagine I can get bearings for them to work with the axles for the bike. Its going be a hardtail also.
 

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Hi KeystoneHate and welcome,
I Googled the 4 major bike groups and all I found was amazement at how many different configurations of cast wheel they'd came up with.
Darned if I could find yours though.
Although the brake disk and drum brake plate do look extremely Yamaha-ish.
But why do you care what they came off so long as they suit your build?
As to swapping the bearings, think about using adapter sleeves on the axles instead.
 

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