1983 XS650 Heritage Special Leans over far

[kb52458]

Hello, Im new to the Group. I just bought a 1983 XS650 Heritage Special, Looks very good, not a runner yet. The bike leans over pretty far on the side stand, and goes on the center stand with ease but the rear tire is still firmly on the ground. If I put a piece of 1/2" plywood under the main stand, the rear wheel will spin freely. I suspect I may have Frame damage. Can anyone supply my with measurements from the front wheel axle to the swing-arm pivot ? I measured from front axle to rear, 56.5" I dont see any area of the frame that looks bent. Any comments or suggestions are welcome.
Thank you.
here are pics of this bike. I dont see any indication of crash damage. But the rear tire looks canted from top to bottom, the swing arm looks uneven, 1/4" from axle center on each side. The shocks are 12 1/2" from eye to eye. Tire size is stock 350-19 and 130/90-16

 

[nj1639]

Post some pics of this bike when you can for our eyeballs....front, side, back. There are some factory frame dimension shots in the forum, saw some recently, a comparison between the Standard model and the Special, might find them in the tech section or somebody with better search skills than you or I will post them directly....
Welcome aboard!

 

[jetmechmarty]

Hi kb52.
My first guess is that your bike has aftermarket shocks and they’re too long. I’ve had my ‘83 Heritage Special since new.

 

[Raymond]

Hi, welcome to the forum. I think @jetmechmarty has it right - if you have aftermarket shocks, longer than standard, that will lead to those symptoms. If the frame was bent, it would probably be obvious just looking. Also, with a bent frame, the wheels would probably be out of line and that's something you can check fairly easily.

As @nj1639 says, photos please. And tell us a bit about yourself, have you had other bikes, etcetera. Cheers, Raymond

 

[Wingedwheel]

I agree about the shocks also but what size rear tire do you have?

 

[motormike]

What size is the rear wheel.... ? I have put a Tx750 wheel on Specials ..... with the swing arm.... it's beefier.... and your description parallels this set up. We lower the forks one inch and it seems to improve the handling.

 

[DogBunny]

It's really hard to tell just from pics, but everything looks straight enough to me. You have the correct forks, shocks, and rear wheel.
Maybe someone altered/shortened/bent your center stand. It should NOT be easy to put an XS650 with a 16" rear wheel on the center stand!, and the rear wheel should be well off the ground!
Maybe your side stand is bent/splayed. Once you get things sorted, if the side stand lean is still too great, the standard solution is to cut the side stand and weld-in an extension (might screw up spring length), or weld a thick plate on the bottom.

 

[nj1639]

Shorter shocks and the bike will sit straighter and be subject to "breeze blowover" when on the side-stand and getting her on to the center service stand becomes a bear but raises the rear tire higher.
Bending the side stand out will lean it, cutting the center stand shorter will allow the rear tire to touch the ground.
You got something weird going on.

Yeah, I'll agree with an oversized rear tire being able to create this problem.....19"?

 

[DogBunny]

I'm getting 38-1/8" from front axle to swingarm bolt, C-to-C. Don't know how useful that is, because it's affected by front fork sag.

 

[5twins]

From the looks of your pics 2 and 4, I think the legs on your centerstand have been shortened. Here's a stock length one .....

As far as the sidestand goes, I can't see it good enough to tell, but there's a good chance they shortened that too, and made it too short. I can check the length of a stock one I know hasn't been shortened if you like.

 

[Jim]

Yeah, the rear wheel does look canted. The late model bikes have been known to shear the swingarm pivot bolt. That could allow the swingarm to cock in the frame. I'd check that first.

 

[Jim]

Yeah, the rear wheel does look canted. The late model bikes have been known to shear the swingarm pivot bolt, allowing the swingarm to cock in the frame. I'd check that first.

After looking at it on a computer instead of the phone, I'm gonna disagree with myself and say it doesn't look bent. Looking more like the whole bike's leaning to the right

 

[Vincenthdfan]

I gotta totally agree with 5twins on this one...I believe someone has modified/shortened your centerstand somewhere in that bikes previous lifetime.

 

[kb52458]

Thank you all for the help. I wouldn't mind buying a new center stand if you have one for sale. LMK.
Thanks.

 

[DogBunny]

You have the superior 83 center stand with the reinforcing gusset on the tang. If you look on eBay, you will see lots of the early non-gusseted center stands with the tang broken off. Make sure you get one with the gusset. They are kind of rare, 82 and 83 only, I think.

 

[RC4MAN]

WOW, I've only ever seen one actual Henter wheel alignment rig in my life

 

[Vincenthdfan]

WOW, I've only ever seen one actual Henter wheel alignment rig in my life

I was gonna ask what the heck that tool was...

 

[kb52458]

WOW, I've only ever seen one actual Henter wheel alignment rig in my life

I've had that since my old Road Racing days. '78-'81 I used to work at Yoshimura East in NJ back then

 

[kb52458]

From the looks of your pics 2 and 4, I think the legs on your centerstand have been shortened. Here's a stock length one .....

View attachment 246964

View attachment 246965

As far as the sidestand goes, I can't see it good enough to tell, but there's a good chance they shortened that too, and made it too short. I can check the length of a stock one I know hasn't been shortened if you like.

That would be great if you could measure a stock one. This one is 7 1/4" on one side and 8" on the other from bottom to center of pivot bolt.

 

[5twins]

I wouldn't let the lack of that gusset put me off. It's easy enough to brace the tang yourself, weld your own gusset in .....

I've had to fix a couple over the years, one from my '78 and one from my buddy's '80 .....

Now I don't wait anymore for them to break, lol, I just go ahead and brace them when I get them. I know from experience that the tang WILL break off eventually if I don't.