XS650SE - Cheap 'n' Cheerful

member16874

XS650 Enthusiast
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Thought I'd start a 'proper' thread about my XS...... bit of history first:

Had my first XS650 in the late 1970's - it was a 'B'. Being a teenage I ragged the holy shite out of it trying to keep up with my mates who had RD400's, GS1000's, CB900's etc :doh:

Anyhow I managed to kill that bike in the end then swapped it for a nice RD250.

So time moves on and I've had over 50 bikes since then...... it's an illness :bike: The RULES of my garage is all my bikes now must have a KICKSTART :thumbsup:

I'd been on the lookout for a nice XS650 project for a couple of years (on and off) when one turned up local to me in August...... So I went & had a look... the rest is history :wink2:

Prices are quite steep in the UK but this bike seemed like a decent enough starting point - it was road legal (Tax & MOT) - came with a spare 2:2 exhaust & good c/head + cam - a manual - good rear tyre, and I knocked it down from £1500 to £1300. It was running rough & spitting at low revs, but it ran strong - brakes were poor, but it felt GOOD !!!

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It's what I'd class as a bike with Potential :shrug:

So once I got it back into my work (no room at home - also hiding it from Mrs P :D ) I had a good look at it........

PLAN:

Ditch that aweful seat
Fit some lower bars
Sort out the running
Fit the 2:2 pipes
Ride her
 
Looks good Pigford. +1 on the seat swap - also prob'ly worth giving the carbs a good clean out and checking the airbox rubbers and inlets for leaks/cracks. Are you considering going for a pma setup (Pamco too maybe...)?
Good luck with the build!
 
So....... the handle bars are an easy swap...... Renthal superbike bars. The exhausts were next - the 2:1 is a hideous lump of pooh - these bike are twins and as such sound ace when you can clearly here each seperate beat.....

The seat was a different problem - by chance I have a spare seat that came with my W650 - so I tried it for size.....

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Result :thumbsup: Its a pretty good fit and just needs a bracket for the front of the seat and the W650 location bracket mounted.

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The bit of electrical wire is the temporary seat release :wink2:

I stripped & cleaned the carbs which helped a bit, but it still runs rough & lumpy. The points are a PITA and a new ignition system is required.........
 
That seat looks good. Is it custom or what?

The seat is a standard Kawasaki W650 item..... it came with some spares for my W650 - the P.O took a bit of the padding out as he was a short-ass, but it's fine.

Next on my list was to tackle the ignition - so I sent off for a Boyer system - well I am English :laugh: The system I got has the 'blue' box and does away with the auto-advance unit (a plus point) and also came with a new micro-power coil. It was a simple enough task and fitted within an hour..... The timing's set statically first then you get the strobe onto it - simples!

The bike ran/started much better but the fuelling was still bad - as the carbs were running pod filters (not good for CV carbs) I got hold of an old set of air boxes and tried that. This helped a bit but it was still only 80% :banghead:

So I decided a new set of carbs was in order ........ and I found a set for sale on here :D the infamous PWK's :yikes: They arrived within 2 weeks (USA to UK) but I needed to sort out the manifold rubbers as the standard ones are a loose fit. To test them I wrapped some tape around the carb stubs and got a tight fit.

The bike runs so much better now and is really "grunty" :bike:

CLICKY for some crap video:





In the meantime I also came accross these VM34 Mikuni's.....

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So a comparrison is on the cards !!!!
 
Love it! I too had an XS many years ago and got rid of it (to go to older triumphs!) I'm still crazy about the old triumphs but found a 79 E model for a song and am having fun sorting it out for fire road duty. Keep us posted on your carb comparo and your build et al!
 
Haven't had any spare time recently..... fitted a new kitchen and stuff..... so not done much :doh:

Got the new manifold rubbers (UK sourced) and also came across a cheap set of VM34's which I may try sometime soon - but this is a loooong term project :thumbsup:
 
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