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.