79 XS650 Build

[Spike]

Hey guys. Thought I'd share my first xs build. I'm new to the forum, but I've found a ton of good tech info on these bikes, so thanks!

This has been somewhat of a budged build, but I bought this thing about 3 months ago stock and since I've added the clip ons from mikes, pandemonium exhaust, had a buddy make the taillight bracket for me, the LED Model A taillight is from speedwaymotors, along with braided brake lines, exhaust wrap, and a 7" tri-bar headlight.

Ordered the seat from motolanna, moved the stock rear fender forward a bit and currently I'm working on shortening the stock front fender.

I'll try to add some more photos of the build as I go!

 

[shellshock]

good looking ride!

 

[scabber]

Welcome to the site. That is a nice bike. I like it.

 

[5twins]

That seat seems to fit nicely even though MotoLanna lists it as being for an SR500? Could you provide more details on its mounting and your fender mod?

 

[Spike]

Yep, they do list them for a 500, but I've seen a few guys like deus ex, and some others that somehow get them to work. From what I've researched, the motolanna seats aren't too far off from the nitroheads seats, but I wasn't able to find the exact nitroheads seat I wanted.

On the motolanna seat, there are two flat tabs in the front that clip in under frame where the gas tank seats, that fit perfect, but the rear mounts are what took a little work.

I didn't like the look of the rear loop or stock taillight and I wanted a shorter rear fender. So I cut the rear loop at the end of the shock mounts, ended up welding on a couple of frame tabs I found through work - tabs , I'm sure you can find them anywhere, but they seemed to fit nicely. You'll also have to cut off the old tabs that are inside the frame where the fender originally mounts for clearance. After that, welding the tabs to the inside of the frame tubes matched the width of the fender and lined up with the original mount holes pretty well.

For the rear seat mounts, the motolanna seat has two threaded bushing inserts molded into the bottom of the seat, the problem here is: they don't quite match the width of the frame. So I bent a piece of flat bar and welded about a 3" piece of all-thread through the middle, drilled a hole to match in the top of the fender and bolted it in. So the fender has 3 mounting points, this may not be the "right" way to do it, but it was solid enough for the look I was going for.

Still have some cleaning up to do, but this is where it's at.

I'll try to getcha some better shots, these were just off the cell phone.

 

[jussumguy]

Gorgeous

Simple

Is it loud?

Posted via Mobile

 

[Spike]

Gorgeous

Simple

Is it loud?

Posted via Mobile

Thanks.

It's pretty loud. The pipes sound good too, no baffles or anything. I like making sure people hear me, I've had enough close calls.

 

[Airwolfie]

Nice looking bike! I can't see the other pics though!!

 

[Spike]

Let's try this: