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Hi everyone, I ordered this with all the best intentions, and upon reflection, think that I might have bitten off more than I can chew for the upgrade. It's been sitting on my workbench since May while I deliberated taking the project on.The unit is new and uninstalled, I only opened the items...

Hi there, I have the front springs and the front brake master cylinder off of my 1981 Special 2 available for anyone interested. I recently replaced the springs with Progressives and the master cylinder with a slimline. The master was purchased new from Mikes about 3 years ago. Mike's item...

A very bad person backed into my bike in the Home Depot parking lot and drove off leaving me with a fender mashed into my tire. Of course I didn't notice until I was riding home and saw my alignment was off and my tire was ripped up. If anyone has a fender in good to excellent condition, please...

I'm reaching my wit's end, and any and all advice would be welcome. I've got an '81 Special II, it's all stock, with BS34s, and I can't get it to stop with the popping. I pulled the carbs and did as best a disassemble and clean as best as I could. I replaced the mixture screw o rings and both...

Hey there, I have a 1981 Special II, and my tank emblems basically broke and crumbled away. I dunno, maybe being 35 year old plastic had something to do with it, lol. Anyhow, does anyone have any other options for tank emblems that one can use? I know I can get the original gold ones from...

Hi y'all, 81 XS, mostly stock here... I had an issue with my front brakes locking up on me last week, and after rebleeding all seemed ok except it felt like they were still dragging a little bit. I took the caliper off today and pulled the pads to check the piston for damage. All looked fine...

Hi there! I'm having an issue trying to resolve what keeps blowing my signal fuse. I realize that I'm going to have to go through everything with a multi, and any advice on that would be welcome, but first I thought I'd see if anyone might have any insights. I have a 1981 Special 2 that is...

Hey there! Please bear with me because I'm a relative newbie and this is my first bike. I'm finishing up a hydraulic clutch conversion as per the information on Hugh's blog along with his hose and fittings. I'm using the "ebay" pit bike slave cylinder but I had to find a different master...

Hi there, I've been doing the hydraulic clutch/pit bike/Hugh's Handbuilt clutch conversion to my '81 XS and I've hit a snag and hope someone can help. I broke the banjo bolt that connects the hose to the slave cylinder and can't find a replacement locally. Does anyone possibly have one of...

Does anyone want these? They are from my 81 Special. I replaced my stock foot pegs with swanky new tracker pegs from Deep Six. The rubbers are cracked and probably need replacing. You pay shipping in the continental US, and I'll throw them in a padded envelope and send them off. Let me...

Hi Y'all, I've got it in my head that I want to do a hydraulic clutch conversion on my XS as per the instructions on Hugh's Handbuilt. I purchased a pit bike clutch kit off of ebay and the conversion kit from Hugh. Sadly, it seems that the pit bike kit is one of those that Hugh warned about...

Hi! I'm planning on doing a hydraulic clutch upgrade on my 650, and I'm going g to want to use Hugh's upgrade kit. I've been searching the eBay for a pit bike clutch and found a couple but can't tell if these use 10mm banjo bolts or not. I emailed the sellers to ask but haven't heard back. I'm...

I wanted to change the seat on my 1981, but I didn't find any I really liked and didn't want to have to do too much frame work, so I figured I'd have that clunky, chunky, 1980s seat cut down and recovered. The local auto upholstery place was good, reasonably priced ($175), and quick with the...

Here's a couple XS650s in my area for sale. No offense, but these aren't all that... http://utica.craigslist.org/mcy/4253921810.html http://utica.craigslist.org/mcy/4242078581.html

Hi everyone, I dunno about you all, but it frozen and snowy here so I'm using the winter to do some work on my 81 XS. It's also my first bike ever, so I'm learning as I go. Anyway, I'm changing out the clutch cable to one of the 650 Central EZ Pull cables and I cant seem to get it adjusted...

Hey there! I'm pretty new to all of this but I just wanted to share my recent fun and games. I recently purchased an '81 XS650 Special as my first bike and have been having a blast riding and updating some of the things necessary. Over the weekend, it was time to get rid of the really...

Hi Y'all, I just joined the forum the other day, and posted a quick intro, but wanted to do one all proper with a picture and everything, lol. Anyhoo... My name is Chris, and I'm from upper state New York. I just started riding about a month ago, and my first bike is a 1981 XS650. Here's what...

Hi y'all, I was just looking for an opinion. I'm pretty sure I need to replace the clutch pushrod seal on my 81 xs650. As a total newbie to riding and working on bikes, how far in over my head could I be? What should I also be considering along with the seal and the bushing? I'd really like...

Hi everyone, My name is Chris and I just joined the forum today. I'm in my 40's and just started riding last month. I bought my first bike, which is a 1981 XS650 and I'm wondering why I didn't start riding earlier! Anyhoo, I have lots to learn and am looking forward to all of it! Chris