-
Enjoy XS650.com? Consider making a donation to help support the site.
XS650.com receives a small share of sales from some links on this page, but direct donations have a much greater impact on keeping this site going.
Are these bikes ever really done?
- Thread starter Mailman
- Start date
And that, my friend, is why I live in the woods.
Yeah, I live in a small house in a retirement community with no fences between houses. No sheds allowed. I’m ok with that, we knew it going in.
With our help Bob we can design a shed for you that looks like a giant yucca plant lol. Nobody will ever know!
C'mon man, it's N'yucca N'yucca.
Where theres a will…… I live in a sub that also has a rule about sheds which is pretty silly btw but my house is in the back corner, on a circle with awesome neighbors so I was able to ”tuck” one in the back out of sight from the street. All my power lawn and snow tools go in there and it free’s my garage up for more crap basically. My trailer becomes bike storage. Which is why I think the shed rule is silly. You can have a trailer in your driveway but not a shed in the backyard?
Bob I guess your are just gonna have to fall out of love with one of your bikes enough to move on. I’ve had to do that a couple of times and the initial sting eventually goes away lol. The other alternative is just build one to sell. Nothing fancy or pretty. could even be a mini bike but it’s something to ”feed the need”.
Bob I guess your are just gonna have to fall out of love with one of your bikes enough to move on. I’ve had to do that a couple of times and the initial sting eventually goes away lol. The other alternative is just build one to sell. Nothing fancy or pretty. could even be a mini bike but it’s something to ”feed the need”.
Last edited:
A neighbor with the same tastes!
'TT'
Yup, got my own shooting range, get to view deer, turkey etc on a daily basis... low stress , nearest neighbor 1/8 mile away through thick woods.
After 50+ years of building bikes, nope! Of course I'm a mad modder, so there's always something to improve on, something else to try, something else to expand your skillset, something else to modify. If I couldn't do that, I'd throw the bike away and start collecting stamps.
Truth be told, I've really been in to riding bikes, except maybe motox, the enjoyment for me is building bikes!
Truth be told, I've really been in to riding bikes, except maybe motox, the enjoyment for me is building bikes!
Last edited:
When is enough too much? When you're never done I suppose, just like Bob says. We all attack our new projects with that remarkable obsession that sees us pour over every magazine article or video we can lay our hands on. We engage in excellent forums such as this one where we establish our credentials and watch as our membership becomes an obsession in its own right. We spend endless hours on ebay, swap meets and the garage floor, not quite sure we're doing it right but surprised and delighted when she somehow fires up. We spend road time exploring our locality, catching a glimpse of our lovely machine reflected in shop windows. We sit in cafes or pubs watching fellow motorcyclists pause to inspect our restored beauty or responding in self-deprecating terms to admirers regarding the torturous effort required to rebuild and maintain such a "relic". We pause occasionally in the garage, coffee or beer in hand, to appreciate that gleaming coachwork and graceful lines and we work up the courage to tackle that leaking carburettor or weeping gasket seal 'cause we know that arthritis is going to weaken our grip and the strain of getting up is starting to make us hesitate before we commit to getting down. Eventually, the old girl sits in the shed untouched for days, weeks or even months and we begin to consider what we could use the space and money for if we sold it now before another major refit.
That appears to be the way of things. Some of the contributors here are true aficionados - genuine experts who can live their machines. The rest of us are tinkerers, skilled in our own right but still border dwellers bitten by the bug. That's why, over time, the rank and file come and go and only the purists remain. This is true for almost any avid "hobby" I've undertaken. I am a qualified diver. I have dived all over the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific. I used to have a stack of "International Diver" magazines as high as my refrigerator. I am diving in New Guinea over the Xmas break and I found myself looking at the resort photos the other day, wondering if their bar service by the pool was any good.
A change of priorities? A perspective shaped by advancing age? Maybe. We have all done the Yammie 650 bit and loved it. We have all achieved and learned from our mistakes. We have new skills, new friends and the evidence of our successes sitting on our garage floors and we are still doing it - that's why you're reading this. It might be time for an oil change - I'll get to it eventually and when I can't, I'll leave the old lady to my sons in my will - a part of my legacy, a beautiful part.
When is enough too much? Never! I'm hobbling down to open a beer and look at her now.
Cheers
That appears to be the way of things. Some of the contributors here are true aficionados - genuine experts who can live their machines. The rest of us are tinkerers, skilled in our own right but still border dwellers bitten by the bug. That's why, over time, the rank and file come and go and only the purists remain. This is true for almost any avid "hobby" I've undertaken. I am a qualified diver. I have dived all over the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific. I used to have a stack of "International Diver" magazines as high as my refrigerator. I am diving in New Guinea over the Xmas break and I found myself looking at the resort photos the other day, wondering if their bar service by the pool was any good.
A change of priorities? A perspective shaped by advancing age? Maybe. We have all done the Yammie 650 bit and loved it. We have all achieved and learned from our mistakes. We have new skills, new friends and the evidence of our successes sitting on our garage floors and we are still doing it - that's why you're reading this. It might be time for an oil change - I'll get to it eventually and when I can't, I'll leave the old lady to my sons in my will - a part of my legacy, a beautiful part.
When is enough too much? Never! I'm hobbling down to open a beer and look at her now.
Cheers
Last edited:
jpdevol
Hacker of Frames,Wires and other things
You win the internet today! (well, at least this site)
freddy3
XS650 Addict
- Messages
- 481
- Reaction score
- 129
- Points
- 43
I just found this thread and haven't yet ventured through its entirety (so I apologize if this's addressed later), but you're missing the seat strap and I can't tell if the mirrors are OEM? But, otherwise, well done, Mailman.
I wish I'd never painted the upper part o' the engine black (a la Triumph).
David! Good to hear from you again, old friend! I hope you are doing well these days!
The bike never had a seat strap, it was all original, but never had one. The mirrors are aftermarket.
Here’s more than you ever wanted to know about my old XS2,
https://www.xs650.com/threads/mailman’s-xs2-a-full-on-restoration.51520/
Still kicking up dust Bob. Follow your adventures here with interest and awe but only say something if I have something to say.
Good to see you're alive and well mate!
Good to see you're alive and well mate!
freddy3
XS650 Addict
- Messages
- 481
- Reaction score
- 129
- Points
- 43
I haven't been on the forums much recently (busy with life, other hobbies and riding!), but I see alotta old friends (and guides!) here. You guys're hard-core (that's a really good thing!).David! Good to hear from you again, old friend! I hope you are doing well these days!
The bike never had a seat strap, it was all original, but never had one. The mirrors are aftermarket.
Here’s more than you ever wanted to know about my old XS2,
https://www.xs650.com/threads/mailman’s-xs2-a-full-on-restoration.51520/
As to that strap, I've got a gaggle of old XS2 adverts and sales brochures and the XS2 definitely had a strap. So, as you said, you're never finished, my friend. Get to work!
Attachments
It came both ways. With and without.
Majority of the ones with a strap I’ve seen are the orange and black ones so maybe it wasn’t on US market bikes. Or it was later production bikes??
Loved reading your comments David Toll. Very well said!
