KentMoney
XS650 Addict
I had written a nice intro and then the page just refreshed on its own !
Anyways, this is my first automotive endeavor so the learning curve was a little steep. I come from a BMX background (I rode for about a decade, check it out here) so it was only logical that I would progress onto custom motorcycles after I stopped riding BMX bikes in college.
So, here is my 1981 XS650 Special as I bought it about 2 months ago. 13,000 miles on it for $1200 (pretty good price in California!). The previous owner had rejetted the carbs and put on pod filters and drag pipes, but other than that it was pretty stock. I actually bought it before I even had my M1 license, so as soon as I got it I was riding it stock for about a month. Here is how she looked.
Then, I bought some new drag bars an lowered the rear suspension a bit. I rode it like this for about half a month before I started to get reallllly fed up with the stock charging system and other various electronic disappointments. But everything else was riding pretty damn good I think!
So, I finally said "fuck this!" and started tearing her down.
I pretty much got her all disassembled in one evening. Then after about two days of chopping and grinding various crap off the bike, it was starting to look like this.
So I was making pretty good progress in those three days but that's when things started to slow down. I decided that I was going to 277 rephase this sucker and do a total engine overhaul. I researched my ass off and finally got the confidence to dive in.
As expected, the sump filter was torn
Anyways, this is my first automotive endeavor so the learning curve was a little steep. I come from a BMX background (I rode for about a decade, check it out here) so it was only logical that I would progress onto custom motorcycles after I stopped riding BMX bikes in college.
So, here is my 1981 XS650 Special as I bought it about 2 months ago. 13,000 miles on it for $1200 (pretty good price in California!). The previous owner had rejetted the carbs and put on pod filters and drag pipes, but other than that it was pretty stock. I actually bought it before I even had my M1 license, so as soon as I got it I was riding it stock for about a month. Here is how she looked.
Then, I bought some new drag bars an lowered the rear suspension a bit. I rode it like this for about half a month before I started to get reallllly fed up with the stock charging system and other various electronic disappointments. But everything else was riding pretty damn good I think!
So, I finally said "fuck this!" and started tearing her down.
I pretty much got her all disassembled in one evening. Then after about two days of chopping and grinding various crap off the bike, it was starting to look like this.
So I was making pretty good progress in those three days but that's when things started to slow down. I decided that I was going to 277 rephase this sucker and do a total engine overhaul. I researched my ass off and finally got the confidence to dive in.
As expected, the sump filter was torn