'71 xs1b conversion to cafe

theDQG

theDQG

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Junked '71 xs1b conversion to cafe

Hi folks,

Been lurking a while- have always wanted a xs650 since I fell in love with the 650 build done by Clutch Customs from Paris:

http://www.bikeexif.com/xs650

Last night I saw an ad on CL for a xs1b for next to nothing and nabbed it- brought it home this morning. My goal is to do a very similar build- very clean, as little exposed wires/cables as possible, no battery or starter (bottom pic).

This will be my third bike- I also have a '74 cb750 and '83 xv920, but this will be my first build from the ground up so prepare for some dumb questions from me. I've been trying to read up as much as I can on the 650 build threads here and looking at what mods need to be done with a 650 rebuild.

I'm located just south of Boston.

Arthur

xs1b.jpg

xs650e.jpg
 
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Having trouble uploading more pics of the bike, will try again tomorrow.

First issue: engine will not turn over. I received bike minus spark plugs- PO said he had poured Marvel mystery oil through there and let it sit, but apparently this did nothing. He said he had done it a year ago and again right before putting it up for sale. Yes, I know better than to trust the words of a PO.

I've been doing some reading on this forum on suggestions on how to free up the cylinder heads, and it looks like the motor has to come out, and the head off, in order to take the next step, rather than try to force anything with it the way it is right now and risk scratching the cylinder walls.
 
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Welcome to the forum. If your XV920 is being driven regularly, your dues are pretty much up to date.
 
Welcome to the forum, Arthur.

theDQG said:
...Last night I saw an ad on CL for a xs1b for next to nothing and nabbed it-
Click to expand...

Congratulations. Looks like you win "Best deal of the month".

theDQG said:
... prepare for some dumb questions from me...
Click to expand...

They won't be dumb, but prepare yourself for some 'early' model reality.

The 70-71 XS1 and XS1B are fairly rare and unique. AND can be expensive to repair.
They don't have electric start, hydraulics, or alloy forks.

Try forum searches on "XS1", "XS1B", and "256" to get more detailed info.

What this forum really needs is a "Vulcan mind-meld" button...
 
Thanks lakeview and 2M.

2M, thanks for visiting this thread. I'll be glad to have your input. I've been following you for a while.

The deal of the month- probably but I anticipate that will quickly be offset by how much capital I will have to sink into the bike, as far as parts/repairs as you mentioned. My hope is that this cost will be mitigated by how much AM parts I plan to use.

A long time ago I made my peace with the fact that those old bikes aren't investments; I'm going to lose money no matter what, but I chose to look at it like I'm buying experiences, not material gains.

Will try to get more pictures up today.
 
theDQG said:
.... I've been following you for a while...
Click to expand...

*Whew*, that explains the paranoia.

theDQG said:
.... The deal of the month- probably but I anticipate that will quickly be offset by how much capital I will have to sink into the bike, as far as parts/repairs as you mentioned. My hope is that this cost will be mitigated by how much AM parts I plan to use.

A long time ago I made my peace with the fact that those old bikes aren't investments; I'm going to lose money no matter what, but I chose to look at it like I'm buying experiences, not material gains...
Click to expand...

Good mindset. That said, I'd recommend:

Acquiring and/or downloading early model service and parts manuals.
http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41
http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30569

You can also visit my profile and find relevant threads and album info:
http://www.xs650.com/forum/member.php?u=14703

A Service Bulletin thread which covers our early models, with engine change chronology:
http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31022

Then, I'd recommend a COMPLETE teardown and critical inspection. This will determine the viability of a reasonably restorable engine, or one that requires tons of unobtaineum.

We're not alone. There's more XS1B owners in here...
 
Thanks 2M for giving me those links and suggestions, much appreciated. I'm also ordering a parts fiche catalog off ebay to help with labeling everything during breakdown.

Also ordering the manuals.

Here are pics of bike as is. Most everything you see will be discarded, so if you see something you want, PM me with a reasonable offer plus a little for shipping so it's worth my time.

My plan is to tear down everything I will not use again, then once the fiche catalog arrives, proceed with the mechanical teardown.

1.JPG 2.JPG 3.JPG 4.JPG 5.JPG
 
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Further inspections have given me the following educated guesses:

1) Judging by condition of gas and oil tanks, my educated guess is that PO or owners before him simply parked the bike one day as is, and left it there for many years, so we're probably dealing with evaporated gas, condensation, carbon buildup, etc. and this hopefully is the source of the engine being seized.

2) PO claims bike was stored indoors, and judging by the quality of the speedometer/tach faces, this seems to be true for the most part, as neither are faded. If anyone wants them, just PM me with a reasonable offer.

3) Bike has been downed on both sides, but damage is minimal. Also scrapes on the muffler so someone tried carving canyons at one point.

Going to be hitting everything with PB and penetrating oil and slowly working things apart.
 
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Watching you watch him whatch me........good candidate. My first thought when seeing the thread title was "crap...another rarity lost to the torch"
But i think that bike is a good candidate
 
angus67 said:
Watching you watch him whatch me........good candidate. My first thought when seeing the thread title was "crap...another rarity lost to the torch"
But i think that bike is a good candidate
Click to expand...

Not to worry Angus, I wouldn't have dared touch it if it was capable of being restored to mint OEM. It definitely was something headed for the scrap pile if not for a radical reinterpretation with a lot of AM additions.

Bad news right off the bat. Took the pipes off and stuck my finger in the exhaust port and came away with plenty of microscopic metal shavings :banghead: can't wait to see what nasty surprises await me inside the engine.

shavings.JPG
 
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Dumb questions alert.

What is this knob in the first picture? I assume it's some sort of steering damper?

Second picture- no idea. Anyone care to enlighten me?

q1.jpg

q2.jpg
 
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Very interesting threads.. thanks 2M. I was going to go with acorn nut until I read that it would be a good idea to have a detent. A problem I'll deal with down the road.

Just ordered the fiche catalog and manuals.. on their way now.
 
Where I am right now, with the strip-down. Had to force myself to stop because I'm getting to the stuff I want/have to re-use and I don't have a system set up for organizing all the nuts/bolts/washers. Have to get that together and set up and once I have the fiche catalog, I can label everything and store them in boxes.

I removed as much of the harness intact as I could and have set it aside in case I need to re-use something. It is not in good shape so I'm thinking to re-wire from scratch.

stripdown.jpg
 
Found those two items just sitting on the crankcase behind the cylinders. Surprised they didn't fall off when I loaded the bike into the truck. Anyone know what they are for? Are they significant parts?

thing1.jpgthing2.jpg
 
Hi DQG
DON'T NEVER TOSS NOTHIN'!!!!
I have found that any bike part that I ever threw in the trash became essential to my build the day after the garbage truck took it away.
 

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