Eotnak
XS650 Enthusiast
I'm not in the market for a pudding helmet, lol
https://web.archive.org/web/20140806015202/http://rideapart.com/2011/07/gogo-bozo-and-the-neo-moto-hipster-hobobobo-nouveau-with-an-afro-it’s-the-next-big-thing/
but I do like the look of the vintage cafe racers. So I'm building something cafe-ish and if I can make it do the ton *eventually* I'll be happy, if not, that's OK too, and I'll make no apologies.
I picked up this 1980 in boxes for $500. DPO had the same idea as I did, he had unlimited funds, and limited knowledge/skills. I bought the thing with a few missing parts and a few extra parts. I sold the awful fiberglass tank for $200, it came with a nice $200 rearset kit, some genuine Yamaha gaskets and seals. If I add up all the new parts that I'm using, and ignore the missing parts that I'm not, I got this titled bike for free.
This is where the picture of the bike as I got it should go. I'm not a picture-taker though so I just teared into it as usual. I assembled the forks using the new seals that were included. DPO took them apart to have them powder coated but didn't know how to put them back together. The powder coater apparently runs his shop in a chicken coop or a saw mill, or maybe some ancient European catacombs, and includes the dust in his work for free. I attempted to prep them to polish out the crap, but the coat was too thin and I hit metal.
At this point, I thought to myself, "I really did learn a lot lurking on XS650.com, so I should return the favor in a small way by taking some pictures."
So I media blasted, paint stripped them down to aluminum. I didn't get to polishing them yet. My plan is to get her running first and enjoy riding for a little bit. With my schedule and budget, I'll never get it finished if I do a nut-and-bolt build up. I reassembled the forks, spending a great deal of time sanding all the powder coat off of all of the mating surfaces and bolt holes. -- We don't need no stinking masking tape!! --
I bought a $35 seat on Feebay, reassembled the wheels, bearings and all, cleaned and regreased the neck, and got to this point:
Look at that pretty yellow! Again, who needs masking tape? Let's put that all over the inside of the gas cap, petcock, and --- rubber mount. Yes, this guy was too lazy or *other* to remove the rubber mount before spraying the Krylon. Also, it had a nice "distressed" look due to the fact that he didn't even knock the gloss off of the original paint. By distressed I obviously mean the paint was flaking off.
Stripped the tank, which revealed a nice bondo patch, and sprayed it with some single stage black that I have for these occasions. I'll deal with that later. Now it was time to hack off the back of the frame. I originally wanted to install the shorter shocks that came with it, but when I tacked the mounts back on, I realized that I didn't like the angle.
So I found some Honda shocks from my dad's stock and grinded them to fit. Time to take more pics, so to be continued.
Side note/question. Does anyone know of a clutch handle assembly that will match this brake assembly? The supplier discontinued the matching clutch handle when I ordered it:
Thanks for reading.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140806015202/http://rideapart.com/2011/07/gogo-bozo-and-the-neo-moto-hipster-hobobobo-nouveau-with-an-afro-it’s-the-next-big-thing/
but I do like the look of the vintage cafe racers. So I'm building something cafe-ish and if I can make it do the ton *eventually* I'll be happy, if not, that's OK too, and I'll make no apologies.
I picked up this 1980 in boxes for $500. DPO had the same idea as I did, he had unlimited funds, and limited knowledge/skills. I bought the thing with a few missing parts and a few extra parts. I sold the awful fiberglass tank for $200, it came with a nice $200 rearset kit, some genuine Yamaha gaskets and seals. If I add up all the new parts that I'm using, and ignore the missing parts that I'm not, I got this titled bike for free.
This is where the picture of the bike as I got it should go. I'm not a picture-taker though so I just teared into it as usual. I assembled the forks using the new seals that were included. DPO took them apart to have them powder coated but didn't know how to put them back together. The powder coater apparently runs his shop in a chicken coop or a saw mill, or maybe some ancient European catacombs, and includes the dust in his work for free. I attempted to prep them to polish out the crap, but the coat was too thin and I hit metal.
At this point, I thought to myself, "I really did learn a lot lurking on XS650.com, so I should return the favor in a small way by taking some pictures."
So I media blasted, paint stripped them down to aluminum. I didn't get to polishing them yet. My plan is to get her running first and enjoy riding for a little bit. With my schedule and budget, I'll never get it finished if I do a nut-and-bolt build up. I reassembled the forks, spending a great deal of time sanding all the powder coat off of all of the mating surfaces and bolt holes. -- We don't need no stinking masking tape!! --
I bought a $35 seat on Feebay, reassembled the wheels, bearings and all, cleaned and regreased the neck, and got to this point:
Look at that pretty yellow! Again, who needs masking tape? Let's put that all over the inside of the gas cap, petcock, and --- rubber mount. Yes, this guy was too lazy or *other* to remove the rubber mount before spraying the Krylon. Also, it had a nice "distressed" look due to the fact that he didn't even knock the gloss off of the original paint. By distressed I obviously mean the paint was flaking off.
Stripped the tank, which revealed a nice bondo patch, and sprayed it with some single stage black that I have for these occasions. I'll deal with that later. Now it was time to hack off the back of the frame. I originally wanted to install the shorter shocks that came with it, but when I tacked the mounts back on, I realized that I didn't like the angle.
So I found some Honda shocks from my dad's stock and grinded them to fit. Time to take more pics, so to be continued.
Side note/question. Does anyone know of a clutch handle assembly that will match this brake assembly? The supplier discontinued the matching clutch handle when I ordered it:
Thanks for reading.
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