I bought this bike over 3 years ago, thinking it was an XS2 (see gas tank in "before" pic) only to find it is a 73 TX. 3,800 original miles. Motor never opened. Got it running after rebuilding carbs, taking care of reg/rec upgrades, wiring issues, etc. Seemed to run good but uneven compression and the dreaded cam guide concern convinced me to refresh the top end. Finished that in year 1. Year 2 was stripping everything to the frame, sandblasted all metal parts, and there it sat for another 1.5 years, with bins full of all the bagged and tagged parts. It stared at me everytime I went into my shop.
This year I was blessed with my first grandson. 2023. The bike turned 50. In 20 years, it will be his. I documented the restoration and have pics of him at 6 months old sitting on it. Anyway, hopefully this will give him something to remember me by. A couple of current pics along with how it looked when I brought it home. Put the first 30 break-in miles on it today. Ran great and no leaks (well dummy me forgot to put a valve cover gasket on and at mile 20 the right side was covered in oil). That's fixed now. I was fortunate to find an original TX tank that was probably part of the warranty/recall as it did have epoxy covering the rear seam. Tank was de-rusted, re-lined, and the seam repaired. Thanks again @gggGary for the gas cap! Next Spring I want to repaint all tins and put the correct badges on the side covers. Hint hint @Jim I'll maybe put a couple hundred miles on it each year to keep it in good running condition. Otherwise, I plan on storing it and take pics each year with my grandson, and create a catalogue of those pics for his 20th birthday, when the bike will be 70. Hopefully it will have less than 5,000 on the odometer and I am still around to personally give it to him.
This year I was blessed with my first grandson. 2023. The bike turned 50. In 20 years, it will be his. I documented the restoration and have pics of him at 6 months old sitting on it. Anyway, hopefully this will give him something to remember me by. A couple of current pics along with how it looked when I brought it home. Put the first 30 break-in miles on it today. Ran great and no leaks (well dummy me forgot to put a valve cover gasket on and at mile 20 the right side was covered in oil). That's fixed now. I was fortunate to find an original TX tank that was probably part of the warranty/recall as it did have epoxy covering the rear seam. Tank was de-rusted, re-lined, and the seam repaired. Thanks again @gggGary for the gas cap! Next Spring I want to repaint all tins and put the correct badges on the side covers. Hint hint @Jim I'll maybe put a couple hundred miles on it each year to keep it in good running condition. Otherwise, I plan on storing it and take pics each year with my grandson, and create a catalogue of those pics for his 20th birthday, when the bike will be 70. Hopefully it will have less than 5,000 on the odometer and I am still around to personally give it to him.
Last edited:
