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Shots of the cam chain tensioner shoes - as 5twins and others described, the front one is slightly off center towards the left cylinder, and is cracked. No brainer on replacement. Rear is grooved but a bit of meat left on it. I might replace it anyway... Shots of the wristpins - super smooth...

Onward with tear down. Bringing part to the machine shop on Saturday, so I need to get this done. Tried to get a good shot of the cylinders; crosshatching looks OK, but light vertical scratches as well. I’ll see what the shop recommends - they build quite a few motors. Need to clean the...

Excellent; thanks so much for this! I’ll get that on order soon, looks like they don’t have many left...

I think I’ll start pricing all this out. I also saw Mike’s was carrying some copper washers, not listed for any specific application. But OEM is always a good choice. Do you happen to have the Suzuki P/N? No worries if not; I’m sure I saw it here on another thread.

10-4; I’ll give the local dealer a call and see if they can get one. Maybe Partzilla if not? I see they offer some OEM items. I’ve seen the good feedback about Cruzinimage and will take a good look at them too. For that matter, I wonder if it’s worth trying to find an OEM gasket rebuild kit...

Ok, got the cam out and the head off. I ground the rivets a bit and then used a Motion Pro chainbreaker/press I got from Mike’s. Cam was a little stuck but I was able to pull it free with just my hands (no way I was gonna tap it with anything). I don’t see any pitting on the lobes, but let me...

Well, I’m older than my XS... but only by 4 years!

This is great; thanks, man! I’ll be picking up that stuff in addition to the rest.

Thanks! I really got lucky with it - I just bought it thinking it would look cool, and provide the legal requirement for a front brake. It actually has some bite and stops OK. Had a car make a left in front of me sooner than I would have liked and it hauled it down better than I expected. The...

***EDIT*** Video link to the first ride late last year: http://www.xs650.com/media/first-ride-back.28623/ http://www.xs650.com/media/first-ride-out.28622/

Rocker box is off. All seems normal in there. Any thoughts on the rocker arm pad surfaces? They’re smooth to the touch, no fingernails caught, and the wear marks look about the same on all four. I’m using this project as an excuse to get a good chain tool, obviously one that’ll handle both...

Thanks! I was shooting for a kind of Triumph style from around 1972...

Lol! You know, I though about it, but everyone’s got their limit...

Absolutely. I’m seeing that cleaning is paramount to a leak-free assembly. Gonna have time on my hands between ordering parts and machine shop time.

I figured as much; that is the plan. I got them off right after my last post; put the inner 4 nuts back on, and a wrench turn or two past finger tight and they came off with the help of a small visegrip set loosely. Thanks for the confirmation; onward!

I wanted to gather some “data” before I took everything apart just to have - never know when it might be useful. I picked up a cheap compression tester to get some readings. Before warming it up, I checked the cam chain tension/valve adjustment, which I probably should have done before I...

So, on to the present... I had noticed the head gasket weeping before all this started, but as the bike was running so well, I was not in a hurry to pull it off the road. I figured I’d address the issue when the bike came apart for paint/final finishes over the coming winter. Well, a few weeks...

+6 forks from Frank’s. The wheel is a chrome 21” rim from a late ‘70s DT175, laced with stainless spokes from Buchanan’s to a hub/drum from a mid-‘70s Kawasaki Bighorn. I had it bored out 2mm to fit with the stock axle and got some spacers cut. Cut a brake stop out of aluminum and had that...

Thanks, man! Bitwell Maynard bar on top of some dog bones I picked up years ago from a local guy. Nice and narrow, good feel out in the road.

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