This post will document the completion of an XS1B restomod. To anyone new to this thread, I am finishing this bike as a tribute to my Dad who passed away from pancreatic cancer in late 2020. He had two bikes in progress - a 1980 that I recently “finished” and this 1971. Of the two, he was far more invested in the XS1B and I plan to take my time and finish this with the same attention to detail that he had already put into the project.
I am starting with a rebuilt engine in a freshly powder-coated frame with the major components of the chassis installed:
The first order of business was to get the bike from Dad’s shop into my own. Luckily, he had already rebuilt the wheels and they were more-or-less ready to be installed. I also had to install the side stand and center stand to keep it upright once on the ground:
I am going to have a pretty good-looking fleet once I get this finished! @MaxPete, I feel like I need to name them! Once on the ground, I ended up pushing it over to my house. When Dad retired Mom insisted that they be close for the grandkids and close turned out to be real close, about two blocks away. Think “Everybody Loves Raymond”…
After getting it home I stared at it for a good long while wondering where to begin… I found lots of parts for the rear brakes sitting around, so that’s where I started. Dad was an amazing machinist and homemade parts are always a key part of his projects. I have a limited knowledge of how to run a lathe and mill, but have learned the basics from Dad in the past couple of years and plan to continue practicing, so I made some clevis pins and barrels out of stainless steel for the brake linkage:
Looking at the project as a whole, this is not intended to be a traditional restoration by any means. That being said, I am going to do my best to keep the appearance of a stock bike. I discovered that the engine is an ’82 as I know he wanted an electric starter (and I do, too). I think the biggest challenge will be wiring this beast, which is not something that I have much experience with. I’m not sure Dad had even planned out the whole system. On his bench I found parts for points, a standard igniter, and a couple of GN250 igniters for the Gonzo mod (very cool project by the way). He also had purchased new switch blocks that are from later models and was in the middle of constructing a custom electronics bay that is going to rule out using the stock air boxes. So… I have some decisions to make. Any feedback on electrical components/systems would be appreciated. I plan to draw a custom wiring diagram before I begin, perhaps someone would be kind enough to review it for me?!
The other big tasks will be painting the tank and rebuilding the speedo/tach. The gauges are in need of some help in a bad way. @Mailman and @TwoManyXS1Bs, you did an AWESOME job with your gauges. It looks like quite the undertaking to do it right. In the meantime, I am going to chip away at other systems on the bike, plenty to do. Will keep you all posted!
I am starting with a rebuilt engine in a freshly powder-coated frame with the major components of the chassis installed:
The first order of business was to get the bike from Dad’s shop into my own. Luckily, he had already rebuilt the wheels and they were more-or-less ready to be installed. I also had to install the side stand and center stand to keep it upright once on the ground:
I am going to have a pretty good-looking fleet once I get this finished! @MaxPete, I feel like I need to name them! Once on the ground, I ended up pushing it over to my house. When Dad retired Mom insisted that they be close for the grandkids and close turned out to be real close, about two blocks away. Think “Everybody Loves Raymond”…
After getting it home I stared at it for a good long while wondering where to begin… I found lots of parts for the rear brakes sitting around, so that’s where I started. Dad was an amazing machinist and homemade parts are always a key part of his projects. I have a limited knowledge of how to run a lathe and mill, but have learned the basics from Dad in the past couple of years and plan to continue practicing, so I made some clevis pins and barrels out of stainless steel for the brake linkage:
Looking at the project as a whole, this is not intended to be a traditional restoration by any means. That being said, I am going to do my best to keep the appearance of a stock bike. I discovered that the engine is an ’82 as I know he wanted an electric starter (and I do, too). I think the biggest challenge will be wiring this beast, which is not something that I have much experience with. I’m not sure Dad had even planned out the whole system. On his bench I found parts for points, a standard igniter, and a couple of GN250 igniters for the Gonzo mod (very cool project by the way). He also had purchased new switch blocks that are from later models and was in the middle of constructing a custom electronics bay that is going to rule out using the stock air boxes. So… I have some decisions to make. Any feedback on electrical components/systems would be appreciated. I plan to draw a custom wiring diagram before I begin, perhaps someone would be kind enough to review it for me?!
The other big tasks will be painting the tank and rebuilding the speedo/tach. The gauges are in need of some help in a bad way. @Mailman and @TwoManyXS1Bs, you did an AWESOME job with your gauges. It looks like quite the undertaking to do it right. In the meantime, I am going to chip away at other systems on the bike, plenty to do. Will keep you all posted!
