L_Kilkenny
XS650 Member
Found this site this weekend and am very impressed with the info thus far. A BIG thank you in advance. Gonna be windy to start.
A little about where I'm coming from.......
I've been riding since the mid 80's, dirt and street, on various bikes including IT's, XL's. XR'ss, SL's, RM's, Can-Am's, LTD's, GPZ's, Ninja's, 650 Special, ATC's, etc etc. Most of that riding was up to the mid 90's when I sold my last street bike (1000R Ninja) to finance the purchase of a home. My last bike period was sold a couple months ago. A '79 XL250S that I bought as a basket case and got running to put around on but that didn't work out as planned. The thing was fine for the gravel roads I live on but was not good on the highway that I must take to get to town. So down the road it went.
Now I'm in the mood for another project. This phase of my life started when I recently spied a newer Triumph Scrambler and really liked the classic lines and look. Realizing that dropping $8000 on a bike wasn't gonna happen I started researching other project options for a similar build. I've looked at the older CL/CB's, RD's, KZ's, etc for a project but just haven't found that right look I was looking for. Until I found my new favorite internet search words, "Street Tracker". Tell the truth, I might never of sold my 650 back in the day if folks around here were building street trackers back then. My riding will be about 25% gravel/dirt roads with the remaining 75% split between highway and city. On to the search.....
400-450 cc twins? Advantage is they are readily available, CHEAP! And while I think they would be fine in town and on the gravel I am worried that I would be sadly disappointed on the highway/freeway. They are only running 25-30 hp, what are my options for cheap extra power? I'm sure dumping the stock filter, new pipes and rejeting will bring up the power but I don't know if that can do enough. Yes or no on a smaller twin?
XS650? Obviously a good choice. I have experience with them and know their ups and downs. But I can't believe how hard they are to find around here now. Back in the day they were laying all over the place, today is another matter.
XS400 Seca? Nice bike with HP up close to a stock 650. Lose the lower rear fender, front fender, get some new rear lighting and some different rims and tires and I'm 90% of the way to a tracker. Even the seat will work for this application (I actually need a 1.5 or 2 seater for hauling kids or wife around). Even saw one the other day for sale,$800-900 in running trim (Odd becasue I haven't seen one in years). But I'm not sure what I can do about gaining some height with the single shock rear suspension. Any experience with these and tracker builds?
Basically I'm not worried about having a hot rod but I'm not wanting a screamer giving me all it's got to do 70 down the highway either.
I'm in need of some input and options, thanks much.
LK
A little about where I'm coming from.......
I've been riding since the mid 80's, dirt and street, on various bikes including IT's, XL's. XR'ss, SL's, RM's, Can-Am's, LTD's, GPZ's, Ninja's, 650 Special, ATC's, etc etc. Most of that riding was up to the mid 90's when I sold my last street bike (1000R Ninja) to finance the purchase of a home. My last bike period was sold a couple months ago. A '79 XL250S that I bought as a basket case and got running to put around on but that didn't work out as planned. The thing was fine for the gravel roads I live on but was not good on the highway that I must take to get to town. So down the road it went.
Now I'm in the mood for another project. This phase of my life started when I recently spied a newer Triumph Scrambler and really liked the classic lines and look. Realizing that dropping $8000 on a bike wasn't gonna happen I started researching other project options for a similar build. I've looked at the older CL/CB's, RD's, KZ's, etc for a project but just haven't found that right look I was looking for. Until I found my new favorite internet search words, "Street Tracker". Tell the truth, I might never of sold my 650 back in the day if folks around here were building street trackers back then. My riding will be about 25% gravel/dirt roads with the remaining 75% split between highway and city. On to the search.....
400-450 cc twins? Advantage is they are readily available, CHEAP! And while I think they would be fine in town and on the gravel I am worried that I would be sadly disappointed on the highway/freeway. They are only running 25-30 hp, what are my options for cheap extra power? I'm sure dumping the stock filter, new pipes and rejeting will bring up the power but I don't know if that can do enough. Yes or no on a smaller twin?
XS650? Obviously a good choice. I have experience with them and know their ups and downs. But I can't believe how hard they are to find around here now. Back in the day they were laying all over the place, today is another matter.
XS400 Seca? Nice bike with HP up close to a stock 650. Lose the lower rear fender, front fender, get some new rear lighting and some different rims and tires and I'm 90% of the way to a tracker. Even the seat will work for this application (I actually need a 1.5 or 2 seater for hauling kids or wife around). Even saw one the other day for sale,$800-900 in running trim (Odd becasue I haven't seen one in years). But I'm not sure what I can do about gaining some height with the single shock rear suspension. Any experience with these and tracker builds?
Basically I'm not worried about having a hot rod but I'm not wanting a screamer giving me all it's got to do 70 down the highway either.
I'm in need of some input and options, thanks much.
LK
