crazyorigin
XS650 Addict
I picked up an xs to customize early this spring. It was a basket case with low miles, still is a basket case. I figured it would be a while before it was done so I picked up another bike to ride while I work on that. This bike ended up being rougher than I first thought when I bought it but luckily it did start and run quite well so that was the main thing I was worried about.
I have put new wheel bearings in it, new tapered steering stem bearings, new bronze swingarm bushings, new 520 chain and sprockets spaced out to the far outside with some custom spacers I made. I also just installed some new tires, but sadly I have a leaky valve stem so I need to mess with the front some more. The Special bars on it felt terrible to me so I swapped them for some Renthal Fat Bars I had for my other project. I installed a a magura master cylinder and rebuilt the front caliper, I will be doing the rear soon.
The tach was busted on it so I removed it and installed one of my tach deletes. I also chopped the front fender down into a strut. I was gonna weld it up some more but my welder is out of gas from me leaving the valve on last time, luckily I didn't have very much left so no huge loss. I purchased the pipes and longer shocks here, I welded in the baffles that were in them, they were a bit small, it seems to run much better now. The stock pipes were blown out and rusty, I chopped the left side up to retain my center stand bumper. I will post up some more pics of those items soon. I have some side covers coming and another tank I am painting to put on this, then I may end up selling it but who knows. I kind of want to do a kick only setup on this and solo seat but we will see.
So far it's a pretty fun old bike, my first bike actually that I have ridden more than just once on the street. Looking forward to doing some more with it.
How I got it:
This picture makes the bike look way better than it was. It had a lot of plastic dip spray on the tank, and fender, and a bunch of other places it shouldn't be. It's still on the forks, I plan to clean it off sometime soon.
The bike had 30+ years of chain lube on it as well as an oil leak and an old one at that, lots of grease was cleaned off this, still a lot to get too but in due time. I am glad to be riding something. These bridgestone trail wings feel much better than the Cheng Shin tires that were on it.
I have put new wheel bearings in it, new tapered steering stem bearings, new bronze swingarm bushings, new 520 chain and sprockets spaced out to the far outside with some custom spacers I made. I also just installed some new tires, but sadly I have a leaky valve stem so I need to mess with the front some more. The Special bars on it felt terrible to me so I swapped them for some Renthal Fat Bars I had for my other project. I installed a a magura master cylinder and rebuilt the front caliper, I will be doing the rear soon.
The tach was busted on it so I removed it and installed one of my tach deletes. I also chopped the front fender down into a strut. I was gonna weld it up some more but my welder is out of gas from me leaving the valve on last time, luckily I didn't have very much left so no huge loss. I purchased the pipes and longer shocks here, I welded in the baffles that were in them, they were a bit small, it seems to run much better now. The stock pipes were blown out and rusty, I chopped the left side up to retain my center stand bumper. I will post up some more pics of those items soon. I have some side covers coming and another tank I am painting to put on this, then I may end up selling it but who knows. I kind of want to do a kick only setup on this and solo seat but we will see.
So far it's a pretty fun old bike, my first bike actually that I have ridden more than just once on the street. Looking forward to doing some more with it.
How I got it:
This picture makes the bike look way better than it was. It had a lot of plastic dip spray on the tank, and fender, and a bunch of other places it shouldn't be. It's still on the forks, I plan to clean it off sometime soon.
The bike had 30+ years of chain lube on it as well as an oil leak and an old one at that, lots of grease was cleaned off this, still a lot to get too but in due time. I am glad to be riding something. These bridgestone trail wings feel much better than the Cheng Shin tires that were on it.