VA1DER
XS650 New Member
Hi everyone, my name is Kurt, and I'm an XS-o-holic.
I want to introduce myself - I'm new to the forum. Or, rather, a returnee after FAR too long.
I fell in love with the 650 more than twenty years ago when I bought a 1978 Yamaha 650 Special. It was a bit of a frankenbike - the seat and tank were from, I think, a '76. The tank had a single petcock running through a T and couldn't flow enough fuel to run the bike at more than about 120km/h. But I loved that beast. I took my daughter on a one-day Edmonton-to-Calgary ride to the Calgary Zoo and back on it that is still a life highlight. It ended up lost to the vicissitudes of a divorce, but never forgotten.
This is not that bike's story, though.
A month ago, after more than fifteen years without riding anything, I bought a little around-town beast. It was about as small as you could get and still call it a proper motorcycle, but it gets 80MPG. I was telling myself it was a purely practical affair (my other vehicle is a Jeep and everyone knows what gas prices are). As you might imagine, though, what re-awoke had me looking longingly at more motorcycle listings in less than a week.
Well, two weeks passed and what I found was a seller in PEI who jerked me around about a 1975 survivor, and a bunch of old "project" bikes which I won't knock but I which I just don't have the time for. And then a few days ago this...
The seller is a retired motorcycle mechanic. His Facebook profile photo is of himself sitting on this bike six years ago, looking like he had just got it. He completely rebuilt the the engine, and it's currently sitting at 545 miles on that rebuild.
There were questions, of course, and there still are some unanswered questions, but after seeing a video and hearing it run like clockwork, I didn't play games or dicker on the price. I just made an offer of what he was asking, which I think is a steal, but this is Atlantic Canada, and prices are depressed here.
He calls it showroom quality, and I would agree that it's close to that. It's not quite perfectly restored. Of course anyone will recognize the non-stock yellow trim and that the red of the tank doesn't quite match the (clearly stock) red of the XS2 side covers. The headlight bowl he says is the factory chrome upgrade from the time. I can't evaluate that properly yet (it doesn't have a rim screw that another thread identified one as not being stock but more than that I can't yet say). It also has yellow rear signal covers. The left mirror isn't original, and I don't think the XS2 ever had a stock right one. But it's magnificent, and in two days it will be mine.
The best part of this, is I live in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The seller lives just off the St. Lawrence in Quebec. My girlfriend, bless her beautiful soul, is driving me up Friday. This coming Saturday and Sunday I get to ride this beauty through the most amazing coastal routes of Atlantic Canada to finish the break-in and bring her home with her in a chase car. I can't think of a better way to get to know it. This is a trip even Robert Pirsig would have loved.
I am beyond even "kid-on-Christmas-eve" excited. I have to admit, it was the sound when the seller sent me the video that nailed it. Like a Volkswagen beetle was just involved in a gamma-ray accident and became the hulk. That same beautiful clockwork sound with an understated yet rumbling authority that says don't kick sand on me.
So, in two days I will be back in the land of an XS owner and with what I think is the best model year ever made. But then, I may no longer be objective about that.
I want to introduce myself - I'm new to the forum. Or, rather, a returnee after FAR too long.
I fell in love with the 650 more than twenty years ago when I bought a 1978 Yamaha 650 Special. It was a bit of a frankenbike - the seat and tank were from, I think, a '76. The tank had a single petcock running through a T and couldn't flow enough fuel to run the bike at more than about 120km/h. But I loved that beast. I took my daughter on a one-day Edmonton-to-Calgary ride to the Calgary Zoo and back on it that is still a life highlight. It ended up lost to the vicissitudes of a divorce, but never forgotten.
This is not that bike's story, though.
A month ago, after more than fifteen years without riding anything, I bought a little around-town beast. It was about as small as you could get and still call it a proper motorcycle, but it gets 80MPG. I was telling myself it was a purely practical affair (my other vehicle is a Jeep and everyone knows what gas prices are). As you might imagine, though, what re-awoke had me looking longingly at more motorcycle listings in less than a week.
Well, two weeks passed and what I found was a seller in PEI who jerked me around about a 1975 survivor, and a bunch of old "project" bikes which I won't knock but I which I just don't have the time for. And then a few days ago this...
The seller is a retired motorcycle mechanic. His Facebook profile photo is of himself sitting on this bike six years ago, looking like he had just got it. He completely rebuilt the the engine, and it's currently sitting at 545 miles on that rebuild.
There were questions, of course, and there still are some unanswered questions, but after seeing a video and hearing it run like clockwork, I didn't play games or dicker on the price. I just made an offer of what he was asking, which I think is a steal, but this is Atlantic Canada, and prices are depressed here.
He calls it showroom quality, and I would agree that it's close to that. It's not quite perfectly restored. Of course anyone will recognize the non-stock yellow trim and that the red of the tank doesn't quite match the (clearly stock) red of the XS2 side covers. The headlight bowl he says is the factory chrome upgrade from the time. I can't evaluate that properly yet (it doesn't have a rim screw that another thread identified one as not being stock but more than that I can't yet say). It also has yellow rear signal covers. The left mirror isn't original, and I don't think the XS2 ever had a stock right one. But it's magnificent, and in two days it will be mine.
The best part of this, is I live in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The seller lives just off the St. Lawrence in Quebec. My girlfriend, bless her beautiful soul, is driving me up Friday. This coming Saturday and Sunday I get to ride this beauty through the most amazing coastal routes of Atlantic Canada to finish the break-in and bring her home with her in a chase car. I can't think of a better way to get to know it. This is a trip even Robert Pirsig would have loved.
I am beyond even "kid-on-Christmas-eve" excited. I have to admit, it was the sound when the seller sent me the video that nailed it. Like a Volkswagen beetle was just involved in a gamma-ray accident and became the hulk. That same beautiful clockwork sound with an understated yet rumbling authority that says don't kick sand on me.
So, in two days I will be back in the land of an XS owner and with what I think is the best model year ever made. But then, I may no longer be objective about that.
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