Ghaniba
XS650 Enthusiast
Hey folks,
First post on this fantastic forum here today. I've been reading for a couple of days, but wanted to have pics ready for when I made my first post.
A bit about me - I've ridden dirt bikes and motorcycles, but I'm far from what I'd say 'pro' in any way. I've done almost no maintenance other than oil changes & air filters, etc to a motorcycle. I do have decent technical skills and some fabrication skills and a general understanding on how engines work. I do my own car repairs and have a built Jeep, so I'm not a complete novice to the world of powered vehicles!
My story - Probably 10 year or so ago, my friend had traded his old hotrod for this bike. It wasn't in the best of shape, but he got it to run and rode it for a bit, but didn't really do much more with it. It came into my possession after trading for it - a part that we can say was under a $200 value. For those interested, it was a TurboXS RFL blowoff valve that I had leftover from a previous project.
This bike has been with me, for probably 4-5 years. I had ridden this bike when my friend had it running. It wasn't fast, it wasn't pretty, but it had some charm I couldn't quite put my finger on at the time. It hadn't run in a year or so before I received it, so it's basically sat for 6 years.
When it came into my possession, we got it to fire, but it wouldn't idle. Obviously, some old bad gas and gummed up carbs. It's been in my basement since.
I went downstairs and spotted it amongst the rubble and said to myself, I've been putting off that tinker project for quite some time. I poked around the internet for some carb rebuild kits for it and low and behold, I found I wasn't the only one with some intrigue for this old bike. There's a true following! I mention this to a few other people that I know that have a passion for bikes and -all- of them spoke of these bikes as legends, how much fun they are, how reliable they could be, etc. One person even mentioned that "they'd hold with a 900cc Harley of the same vintage, but not be pouring oil or spitting off parts going down the road!"
I one-day'd a Clymer book for it from Amazon - fantastic little book.
I called up "Mercury" over at 650Central and threw in an order. Some new fuel line, couple of carb rebuild kits, a turn signal lens and a few other bits. They should be in any day.
So, I know nothing about it, but I'm diving in, head first, here goes!
Dave
=-=-=- Pics! -=-=-= These are taken AS IT SAT Yesterday afternoon. Dusty, Dirty, Little kids sandcastle building kit spilled near the tire, etc!
First post on this fantastic forum here today. I've been reading for a couple of days, but wanted to have pics ready for when I made my first post.
A bit about me - I've ridden dirt bikes and motorcycles, but I'm far from what I'd say 'pro' in any way. I've done almost no maintenance other than oil changes & air filters, etc to a motorcycle. I do have decent technical skills and some fabrication skills and a general understanding on how engines work. I do my own car repairs and have a built Jeep, so I'm not a complete novice to the world of powered vehicles!
My story - Probably 10 year or so ago, my friend had traded his old hotrod for this bike. It wasn't in the best of shape, but he got it to run and rode it for a bit, but didn't really do much more with it. It came into my possession after trading for it - a part that we can say was under a $200 value. For those interested, it was a TurboXS RFL blowoff valve that I had leftover from a previous project.
This bike has been with me, for probably 4-5 years. I had ridden this bike when my friend had it running. It wasn't fast, it wasn't pretty, but it had some charm I couldn't quite put my finger on at the time. It hadn't run in a year or so before I received it, so it's basically sat for 6 years.
When it came into my possession, we got it to fire, but it wouldn't idle. Obviously, some old bad gas and gummed up carbs. It's been in my basement since.
I went downstairs and spotted it amongst the rubble and said to myself, I've been putting off that tinker project for quite some time. I poked around the internet for some carb rebuild kits for it and low and behold, I found I wasn't the only one with some intrigue for this old bike. There's a true following! I mention this to a few other people that I know that have a passion for bikes and -all- of them spoke of these bikes as legends, how much fun they are, how reliable they could be, etc. One person even mentioned that "they'd hold with a 900cc Harley of the same vintage, but not be pouring oil or spitting off parts going down the road!"
I one-day'd a Clymer book for it from Amazon - fantastic little book.
I called up "Mercury" over at 650Central and threw in an order. Some new fuel line, couple of carb rebuild kits, a turn signal lens and a few other bits. They should be in any day.
So, I know nothing about it, but I'm diving in, head first, here goes!
Dave
=-=-=- Pics! -=-=-= These are taken AS IT SAT Yesterday afternoon. Dusty, Dirty, Little kids sandcastle building kit spilled near the tire, etc!
