New member, 73 TX650!

r3sc

XS650 Enthusiast
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Hi All,
I’m brand new to this forum so I’d just like to say hello.

Last year I bought my very first 650 twin from the Yamaha stable. It’s a US import to the U.K. and it was in a sorry state. I spent many lockdown months restoring it and finally got to ride it for the first time last week and I love it!

Its a definite keeper and I’m really looking forward to getting some more miles on it!

Cheers.
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Hi guys, thanks for the comments! You wanted more so here goes!

The bike was bought in June last year to try and keep me busy during COVID. It had come to the U.K. from the US, sometime earlier in the year and had apparently been stood rusting and gathering dust since 1984.
It came to me in a fairly poor state as a non runner as it was missing the carbs and the air boxes. The tank had rotted through from the inside and looked a bit like tissue paper, however I could see it had some potential as most of the important bits were there.
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It was decided that it needed the full works so it was stripped down to the bare bones. Everything that should have been zinc plated, was re plated with the correct zinc, including spokes and nipples. The frame and anything else which should be black was sent to the powder coater for blasting and re finishing.
Thankfully, the seller found the carbs for it but not the air boxes so I sourced the air boxes from the US along with a really great tank still on its original paint!
The carbs were in a shocking condition and had been left full of fuel for years which had corroded one of them really badly and the two float posts had disappeared.
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These carbs were hard to find so I set about repairing the badly damaged one by making and fitting new posts which worked our really well! (Served my time as a toolmaker!)
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Next the engine needed some TLC. It was nipped up when I got it with standing for so long but it soon freed off and the motor was completely stripped, checked, and rebuild with a hone to the bores and new rings/cam chain etc.
The top end was sent for vapour blasting before being rebuilt with re ground valves etc.
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Engine was then totally rebuilt after first having the top half case repainted in silver. Every single gasket and seal was replaced. Starter motor was rebuilt and fitted then motor was ready to go in the frame.
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From this point it was fairly plain sailing. Wheels rebuilt with new tyres, clock covers re chromed and it would soon be a rolling chassis.
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Here is a photo of every single nut, bolt and washer etc from a TX650 just back from zinc plating!
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Now with engine in as a rolling chassis, we’re getting there.
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And then, just about finished with a few finishing touches required.
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All in all I’m really please with how it turned out. Next winter it will have every chrome item re chromed as the original patina let’s it down a bit. I like it so much that I bit the bullet and bought a new replica exhaust system for it from Mikes XS in the US! Gulp!
I have knee problems so I always lower and move forward the footrests on all my bikes as you can see so I also recently found a longer gear lever for it as well which makes it more comfortable for me to ride with the pegs now 50mm down and 45mm forward.
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Here it is after its first 100 mile shakedown run. No problems other than I opted for a different set of disc pads in the front and I may start looking for a second disc and calliper to butch up the brakes a little.
All the blue paint on the bike is original by Yamaha from 1973, never re painted just lovingly cleaned and polished.
I have a number of bikes in the stable but I’m pretty sure this is so good for me it will be keeping the others company for years to come!
I know this is only a brief description of works but it gives you a general idea at least! If you need anymore images of specific things, I have many!
Regards
Pete.
 

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Welcome to the forum, Pete. Lovely bike and a real labour of love.

Re the brakes, a lot of people find the best way to go is replace the master cylinder - you want one with a smaller piston bore for more feel. And replace the line with a braided one - oh, you've already done that! Cheers, Raymond
 
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Pete, welcome to the forum. From your first post I didn’t realize what a rusted mess you started with, all I can say is well done! I particularly liked the way you salvaged those extremely corroded carburetors, I’ve never seen anyone fabricate new float posts before, any detail photos of that job?
Enjoy your new bike, you made that look easy! :cool:
 
Hi timbeck, I’m afraid non of the other iron horses In my stable are Yamaha’s so may not be to your taste!

Hi Mailman, yes the carbs were a real problem. I really liked the idea of using the carbs that allegedly belonged to the bike although I couldn’t be certain of that fact, so first job was a complete strip down and several ultrasonic cleans. One carb was much worse than the other.
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Exterior of the carbs left a lot to be desired as above!
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Once they had been cleaned I set the damaged one up in the mill on the diaphragm face and machined what was left of the carb posts off to a carefully calculated length which left me some meat in the carb body to drill and tap the stub with an M4 thread. I then set about turning two new aluminium posts on my watchmakers lathe and one end of these were also drilled and tapped M4.
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From this point I made some small M4 brass studs and fixed the round posts to the carb body using the brass studs and a suitable fuel proof locking compound.
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I then simply set the carb up on the mill and very, very carefully machined the flats onto each post making sure the dimensions were the same as the other carb and after carefully drilling the inline holes for the float pivot shaft it was nearly all done.
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After a careful rebuild using all new Viton o rings, gaskets and the correct butterfly shaft seals the carbs were done and ready for the bike.
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The bike runs really well and fuels superbly. When I was balancing the carbs during commissioning I was surprised and impressed with the throttle response and it was certainly worth the effort!

Regards

Pete.
 

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Hi Jim, it is a very very old but very good quality watch makers lathe with a cast iron bed/body and I have both 3 and 4 jaw chucks for it which I use for all the small restoration jobs and the carb posts on the TX were ideal for this small machine. I have access to a much larger lathe for the bigger stuff but this small precision lathe is great for small jobs even though it has no power feed!

Regards

Pete.
 
Hi timbeck, I’m afraid non of the other iron horses In my stable are Yamaha’s so may not be to your taste!

Hi Mailman, yes the carbs were a real problem. I really liked the idea of using the carbs that allegedly belonged to the bike although I couldn’t be certain of that fact, so first job was a complete strip down and several ultrasonic cleans. One carb was much worse than the other.
View attachment 189578

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Exterior of the carbs left a lot to be desired as above!
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Once they had been cleaned I set the damaged one up in the mill on the diaphragm face and machined what was left of the carb posts off to a carefully calculated length which left me some meat in the carb body to drill and tap the stub with an M4 thread. I then set about turning two new aluminium posts on my watchmakers lathe and one end of these were also drilled and tapped M4.
View attachment 189586
From this point I made some small M4 brass studs and fixed the round posts to the carb body using the brass studs and a suitable fuel proof locking compound.
View attachment 189587 View attachment 189588 View attachment 189589
I then simply set the carb up on the mill and very, very carefully machined the flats onto each post making sure the dimensions were the same as the other carb and after carefully drilling the inline holes for the float pivot shaft it was nearly all done.
View attachment 189590 View attachment 189591
After a careful rebuild using all new Viton o rings, gaskets and the correct butterfly shaft seals the carbs were done and ready for the bike.
View attachment 189592
The bike runs really well and fuels superbly. When I was balancing the carbs during commissioning I was surprised and impressed with the throttle response and it was certainly worth the effort!

Regards

Pete.

First class workmanship!
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Hi timbeck, I’m afraid non of the other iron horses In my stable are Yamaha’s so may not be to your taste.
We don't care... We like all motorcycles. I think you'll find MANY of the forum members ride all sorts of non-Yamaha scooters. We've got Beemer airheads, Honda's, even a Motobicane.
 
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