1973 TX 650 Rebuild

[lakeview]

The Torch is Passed
From Robin C to Totalfool to Lakeview

Last spring, MaxPete and John helped Robin's widow clear out much of his belongings from the garage. Included was a rusty but pretty complete 73 TX650 with a seized motor.
I was there to provide transport.
John spent a lot of time and resources over the summer bringing it back from the brink. Rheumatism has caught up to him, so when he asked me to take it over, I humbly agreed.
Motor has had a clean up bore and fresh pistons, and all the other usual suspects have been cleaned, refreshed or replaced.
I will be having the tank repainted, will rebuild the forks, clean up or more likely respoke the wheels and reassemble the bike in time for Spring.
I am going to spend some time sorting out all the box contents and get at it. Putting it back to visibly as it came from factory.

Really nice seat!

Need to work some magic on this one. Dealer's sticker from town just down the road.

 

[member28833]

Awesome ! That Blue 73TX is very worthy of the extra effort it will take to be as visually original as possible.
That's harder to do than a custom we know.

 

[jetmechmarty]

View attachment 154510
Need to work some magic on this one. Dealer's sticker from town just down the road.

You can submerge that fender in Metal Rescue. It will remove the rust and leave the chrome unharmed. I will do no more harm to the dealer decal than would be done by water.

 

[Mailman]

Now we’re talking! YOU are just the man for the job! A no nonsense get er done kind of guy!
I’m a so happy!

 

[gggGary]

You prolly know but you must TOTALLY submerge parts in metal rescue. If the part sticks up out of the fluid, a LINE will be etched at the interface. Haven't seen any analysis of why but it will.

 

[lakeview]

Thanks Gary, I did not know that.

 

[lakeview]

Existing wheels have chrome rims and would look ok at a few paces with a clean up.
Question is if I am going to the effort of respoking them, why not replace the existing rims with the later style alloy rain catcher rims? One part of me says the alloy rims are an upgrade and will not take away from the finished value as a rebuilt machine, others may think the bike is spoiled by losing the chrome rims.
Looking for input.......

 

[gggGary]

IMHO and I'm considering doing this myself what about using a WM style alloy rim instead of the H type?

Few will know and easy to go up a width front and back (a good thing?)

A pair I did a while ago

 

[lakeview]

That may be the solution.

 

[nj1639]

I vote the earlier style, whether chrome or alloy. There's just something about them that beat the rain catchers IMHO........could be the ease of cleaning in itself.

 

[Mailman]

For me personally, I’m not a slave to originality, I simply wanted to preserve the overall look and character of my bike. I have a lot of non factory items on my bike, but only the purists would notice. Things that improve reliability and function get the nod over having it be exactly the way it left the factory. Especially if you want to actually ride the bike and not just display it as an art piece.

 

[lakeview]

I like your answer, Mailman.

 

[GLJ]

You prolly know but you must TOTALLY submerge parts in metal rescue. If the part sticks up out of the fluid, a LINE will be etched at the interface. Haven't seen any analysis of why but it will.

When I got the rust off of my rims I did them a section at a time. They have no lines. I think it had more to do with the chrome than the Evapo-Rust that I used.

 

[jetmechmarty]

When I got the rust off of my rims I did them a section at a time. They have no lines.

I have rims rusty on the inside. (Heritage Special). Is this the best removal option?

 

[GLJ]

I have rims rusty on the inside. (Heritage Special). Is this the best removal option?

Evapo-Rust worked for me. Make sure you knock off the rust flakes first. On the chrome I used a brass wheel brush in my Dremel. On the inside you could use something more aggressive. Evapo-Rust seemed to work best if it's at least 75 degrees.

 

[lakeview]

The 5% Solution
Swing arm pivot bolt was badly seized and had to be cut off each side and pressed out. There was a remnant of the plastic bushing still in it, so I cleared that out and the swing arm will steep in vinegar over night. I am using some stuff that has been in a gas tank so it has some colour already.
New bushings are being frozen overnight and the new pivot bolt and sleeve should be delivered tomorrow. Hoping it can be a roller soon.

 

[lakeview]

Later last night I switched out the vinegar for a like amount of Metal Rescue and let it sit overnight. This morning dried it off and used some emery cloth on the areas where the bushing would go, then smeared some oil on and installed the new bushings with a threaded rod. They went in so much easier than the last set I did!
Next is the installation of the tapered steering head bearings. Wiring harness came today as well. I will see if I can make the right parts silver.

 

[Mailman]

Boy you’re moving right along! Good for you! I hope you don’t mind if I post some thoughts as you go along. Not advice for you, just some of my observations.

When you get to the front brake line. I wanted to stay with the original look, so I ordered that overly complicated factory set up. Comprised of a rubber upper brake line, rubber lower brake line, the final little steel line that connects to the caliper is no longer available. This whole set up proved very troublesome for me. Too many connections to seal, it was expensive to buy, I also had to replace a couple of very unique rubber bushings that held brake line fittings ( expensive ), I worked for days trying to get my damaged steel line to fit and not leak, and in the end , wound up replacing it. If I had to do it all over again, I would simply replace that whole mess with a superior steel braid, one piece line, like GLJ did on his XS2.

Also, Mikes XS was fine for grey throttle cables, and tach and speedo cables, but their grey clutch cable is worthless. I’m running a regular old black Motion Pro and it doesn’t look outa place.

Vintage connections is a good source for grey vinyl sleeving / wiring loom.

And here are some nice reference photos.
http://www.retrospeed.net/1973YamahaTX650.html

 

[lakeview]

I had to solve similar brake line prob when I fitted an earlier ( but chrome) front end on my 76 rider. Local auto supply had a short Honda Civic steel line from ages ago that was the right length and matching fittings.
I did a post prob in "what did you do..." prob 3 years ago.
Thanks for looking in from time to time.

 

[lakeview]

Plumber's Nightmare

Also I just found a copy of Motorcycle Classics - Nov Dec 2016 which features a 73 TX650 in case I need more inspiration.