I bought my motorcycle against my parents wishes back in the summer of 1980. My Dad told me he would kick me out of the house, somehow Mom got him to let me stay... that didn't last.
When I bought my bike it was close to being a basket case. I had no idea what I was doing and only knew I wanted a Yamaha 650. I did not realize it then, but I bought a bike that had been in a wreck, had been chopped 6" over with a CB750 front end. It had wiring issues, swing arm issues, top end issues, and just about every other issue you could think of. Over the corse of several years I worked out many of the bikes issue. Found a donor bike, and between the two made a fairly nice 1972 XS2 650. I was happy with what I had, and wanted to retire the bike for a weekend toy... bought a new XJ1100J took it in for break-in maintenance, rode the 650 to work, and got cut off by a kid with a 2 hour old license. Fall of 1986
The bike sat in my brothers garage for countless years, and somewhere along the way I found a front end. 2010 I went looking for a parts bike, but found Mikes XS instead... All my needs satisfied. I rode the bike for a while, put on about 15,000 miles, and decided I needed to put it away for a while.
I am cleaning it back up, and addressing issues I either need to address, or want to address. Just before I wrecked it, I had to swap in a new motor. I found a very low mile 1981wreck with less then 2200 miles on it. I wrecked it a month after the swap.
Pictures from along the years.
When I bought my bike it was close to being a basket case. I had no idea what I was doing and only knew I wanted a Yamaha 650. I did not realize it then, but I bought a bike that had been in a wreck, had been chopped 6" over with a CB750 front end. It had wiring issues, swing arm issues, top end issues, and just about every other issue you could think of. Over the corse of several years I worked out many of the bikes issue. Found a donor bike, and between the two made a fairly nice 1972 XS2 650. I was happy with what I had, and wanted to retire the bike for a weekend toy... bought a new XJ1100J took it in for break-in maintenance, rode the 650 to work, and got cut off by a kid with a 2 hour old license. Fall of 1986
The bike sat in my brothers garage for countless years, and somewhere along the way I found a front end. 2010 I went looking for a parts bike, but found Mikes XS instead... All my needs satisfied. I rode the bike for a while, put on about 15,000 miles, and decided I needed to put it away for a while.
I am cleaning it back up, and addressing issues I either need to address, or want to address. Just before I wrecked it, I had to swap in a new motor. I found a very low mile 1981wreck with less then 2200 miles on it. I wrecked it a month after the swap.
Pictures from along the years.
Attachments
Last edited:
, my dad hated my first bike too. You and that bike have a great history, you’ve been through a lot and you keep bringing it back to life! Thanks for sharing, you and that bike are meant to be together.
