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1973 Super Rustbucket Resurrection
- Thread starter DogBunny
- Start date
I have seen numerous motorcycle dogs as passengers. However, none were famous, and I do not know what you are talking about. And, when, who, where, were we speaking of motorcycles + pets?
No I just bent it up/down. That may have been my problem. Leaving out the washer is probably the way to go.
I used Dogbunny's e-bay link. Also not sure they sent the right ones. A lot of difference in the tappers. Old ones back in and work just fine. May try them again someday without the washer.
There is no need to get fancy with the tang. Go back to the float needle thread, here:
http://www.xs650.com/threads/bs38-float-needle-question.59064/page-2
and read post # 28 again. My tang is very nearly level. The secret is too simply remove the sealing washer that is supposed to go under the float valve seat. Instead, I used a very small amount of Moto-Seal, which is fuel resistant. No problems.
(I am also removing the little wire hanger.)
http://www.xs650.com/threads/bs38-float-needle-question.59064/page-2
and read post # 28 again. My tang is very nearly level. The secret is too simply remove the sealing washer that is supposed to go under the float valve seat. Instead, I used a very small amount of Moto-Seal, which is fuel resistant. No problems.
(I am also removing the little wire hanger.)
I had read that. I think you are right that is the best way to go.
right here, cuz
Maybe you weren't there for the dog. Somebody said he was famous around town. Best as I can remember he was a little white dog, can't remember now if he rode on the tank, in something holding him or what. He had a funny name that I can't remember.
Well forgive me, but a tenuous connection that I should be excused for not recognizing if you ask me -- one mention of an animal rescue organization...
Anyways, I'm pretty sure the dog you remember was Astro. No one could ever remember the name of his owner, but everyone remembered Astro. He rode in some kind of basket, I think on the tank, but I don't remember where for sure either. I guess he was sort of famous among the few dozen motorcycle friends who knew him.
Anyways, I'm pretty sure the dog you remember was Astro. No one could ever remember the name of his owner, but everyone remembered Astro. He rode in some kind of basket, I think on the tank, but I don't remember where for sure either. I guess he was sort of famous among the few dozen motorcycle friends who knew him.
yep, astro. wouldn't have remembered that in a hundred years. i seem to remember meeting him and his owner at a big empty parking lot at night. no idea where or why. close to some party maybe, maybe rockers and mods times
One "traditional" way to lower an XS650 is with Suzuki Savage or Honda Rebel shocks, both of which are 10-1/2". Over a decade ago I lowered my 1976 using Suzuki Savage shocks. Couldn't find any, so this time I went with Honda Rebels for the RustBucket. As the pic shows, there is a clearance issue. The chain guard will have to go, and the Rebel shock's lower shroud will have to be modified.
First, I had to press the upper damper out of the RustBucket's shocks so that I could put them into the Rebel shocks.
Made an interesting discovery when I removed the chain guard. The factory never folded the tab over on the rear mount's lock washer.
I quickly made this shock compressor from scrap. I wanted to take pressure off of the spring so that I could get a good look at how the shroud worked while I performed surgery on it. I wanted to make sure that I was only cutting the shroud, not anything beneath it. The initial intention was to completely remove the shroud.
After slicing into the shroud, I discovered that I had to save the top collar of it. This is the second shock that I did. All I had to do was make a very simple and easy cut along the top edge of the pre-load adjustment holes. There is no need for a shock spring compressor tool.
RIGHT: Once you complete that cut, the shroud just falls right off .
MIDDLE: What's left. Easy, and looks pretty good.
LEFT: How I did the first one, before I saw how it all worked. I started slicing it in two when I was going to remove the entire shroud, but I stopped in time.
It's better than it looks in this pic. This is the first shock. You can see where I started to cut into the collar of the shroud before I got wise. That cut is not as bad as it looks.
You can also see that I still have a clearance issue. I'm going to have to slightly notch the collar. Before I do that, I wanted to make sure the pre-load adjustment is where I want it, because the notch will move if I change the pre-load. Glad I haven't replaced the chain yet -- it's going to leave a nice mark on the shock showing exactly what I need to remove. No o-ring chains (which I hate) on this bike!
I'm happy. Bike had too much lean before when on side stand, but now it's good. I'm 5-10, and now I can sit on the bike flat-footed.
Took the right side cover off several days ago, and made this bummer discovery. One of the posts that hold the chrome "swoosh" trim piece on had broken off. Note the abrasion mark (green circle).
Here's what happened. The post that broke off was rubbing on the safety relay at the red circle. The abrasion mark in the first pic was rubbing at the green circle.
It's a little late now, but the remedy is to add a washer at the purple arrow where the cover bolt goes, to stand the cover off a little bit more.
This is the same chrome swoosh trim that I repaired back in post # 28. That repair was in a critical location, and is doing just fine. This newly broken post is not so important as long as all of the other posts are good, and I will not be repairing it.
If you have a 72 or 73, I'd recommend checking to see if your trim piece mounting post is in danger of breaking.
Texas allows you to use actual, vintage license plates that are in good condition. They just have to have been issued in the same year as that on the title. Here's the one I just got for the RustBucket. In the early 70s, you were issued a brand-new license plate, with the current year embossed on it, every year. Since they were only used for a year, it's pretty easy to find them in good condition.
Note the green sticker -- the RustBucket was last registered in 1983.
That is cool. Not sure if Georgia has something like that or not.
X77S
Let's do this!
Kansas works the same way with old tags and antique vehicles. I havent bothered because I havent gotten a straight answer about if there are restrictions on operating one like Arkansas does or did. You were allowed to drive them to car shows or drive in type meetings, and on the weekends. People usually didn't adhere to the rule, but if it can make things a hassle I don't want to deal with it.
"The past is like a foreign country -- they do things differently there." Imagine the expense and the logistics and the record-keeping by pencil.
Yeah, but there were less people to keep records on. Texas population in 1973 was 12 million. Texas population in 2020 was 29 million.
In some states, I believe, you can display a vintage plate, but you also have to carry around a current modern plate, which seems pointless.
Texas has a crazy number of optional official plates that you can choose from for a fee. Sports teams, Texas themes, charities and organizations, military and veterans, colleges and university -- even one high school.
Hi X77S.
things are different in Saskatchewan.
Pay the one-time fee and a custom plate is yours forever. You can't return it to SGI or sell or give it to another rider to use on their vehicle.
And you can't have a custom plate that sez XS650 "in case we ever issue an "XS" plate series"
Tell 'em that any computer-savvy 12 year old could exclude XS650 from being re-issued and they reply "We don't employ 12 year olds."
Which is why the current owner of my XS-11 has a dull, boring normal plate and a local artist has an XS-11 plate incorporated in a lawn ornament.
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The Super RustBucket won Best Rat Bike at a motorcycle show this weekend. Yay!
This was a first-year show called the Bat City Tire Fire. Austin has a lot of nicknames -- "bat city" comes from the fact that we have the biggest urban bat colony in the world. 1.5 million bats live in the grooves on the underside of the congress avenue bridge which spans the Colorado River. The "tire fire" part of the show's name explains the recycled tire trophy that was my award.
This was a pretty Harley-centric show, and the rat-bike category was very well represented, so I thought there was no way I'd win. Here are three Harley rat entrants in a row. The sissy bar and pipes on the middle bike were over 6 feet tall.
The dork who stole my rat bike award at the previous show showed up again -- that's his crappy Norton on the left. He ended up winning best Brit bike -- I think he had the only British bike in the show.
I sold The Texas Scorcher earlier this year, But I'm pretty sure it would have won Best Japanese.
Congrats......
