Jeeter
XS650 Addict
Streettracker and Soul Healer.
Hi. I'm in the midst of designing a bike project that reflects my rocky relationship with my step dad of 30+ years. He died in 1999 on his 69th birthday (cancer, other stuff).
He raced Class C (AMA flat track) in the 50s and 60s, mostly confined to the southern California region (Ascot, Perris, and so on). We spent many a Friday night at Ascot (I saw two men die there before I was 13), followed by Saturday nights spectating at the Costa Mesa Speedway races. Our best times there were during the early/mid 70s ... the Roberts era. Man, the conversations and heated debates over the Triumphs/HDs/Nortons vs "them damned Jap bikes" (Roberts on his Yamahas) we had would carry on into the late nights, piles of Cycle News laying about.
For this bike I had originally intended to use a Sportster engine (mainly due to the piles upon piles of aftermarket parts and engine support items and tech out there for it). But when I contacted the frame builder about this project, my intentions, budget, and so on, he strongly recommended that I "take a long hard look at the Yamaha XS650". His suggestion had to do with handling issues (according to him, the HD engine's basic shape and weight distribution isn't as well suited for my uses as the XS650 engine is. The HD engine would make the bike too nose heavy with too much bias up front .. in the particular frame I'm using in the application I am applying it to. In some other application the frame I'm using combined with the Sportster engine may be the dog's balls. But for my situation he suggested the Yamaha over the HD.). I mean since he's been racing and building frames since the 1950s I figure he knows what he is speaking about.
I'm not wealthy, I'm your basic military vet, at the lower end of the lower middle class (the what?
). So I can come up with the needed money along the way for this, but I do not have a lot of disposable cash. That said, the Yamaha seems to be most certainly less costly than any HD engine! So there's a plus.
Ok, so there's the essentials. On paper the Yamaha engine is a great choice for this project, considering the amount of heat generated between my dad and I over that engine in the 70s. (Ironically I started racing in 1972, on Yamahas. By 1973 after having seen me succeed on them, and having had test ridden my race bikes a few times, even HE was riding Yamahas and even sold his two Triumphs in favor of "them damned Jap bikes" Haahaa!). So with the rest of the combination of components and design elements along with the Yamaha engine, this bike will serve me well to remind me of the good times he and I shared. So when I tend to focus the bad shit (and there was a lot of that) I'll always have that bike to remind me that our relationship was pretty golden when we were on the bikes. Somehow we were great friends and great rivals when we were on the bikes or even just spectating at races. About the only time things were good between us was when it had something to do with the bikes. For some reason at this time in my life (53) the bad crap has tended to surface quite a bit. Long quieted memories scream for attention sometimes these days. This bike will be good for me (hoping).
So, what is it that I need from you folks at the moment? Well, while I have some experience building bikes I am essentially a gnoobhole on the XS650 engine, other than the "wiki" level information on the engine since the late 60s. My largest concerns involve aftermarket support, core availability, and inherent engine design issues that I should be made aware of. I've already lived through the hell of getting neck deep into a bike project only to learn that items like engine bearings and cams were out of production and becoming very difficult to locate. Ignition "ignitors" were also unavailable (80's bikes ... shees!).
So a few encouraging words would help before I begin sink that rarest of elements into this project (Mondo Casholeum). I plan on ordering the frame in a week or so. Then if all is a "go" the hunt for the engine begins.
Thanks for your help.
Jeeter.
Hi. I'm in the midst of designing a bike project that reflects my rocky relationship with my step dad of 30+ years. He died in 1999 on his 69th birthday (cancer, other stuff).
He raced Class C (AMA flat track) in the 50s and 60s, mostly confined to the southern California region (Ascot, Perris, and so on). We spent many a Friday night at Ascot (I saw two men die there before I was 13), followed by Saturday nights spectating at the Costa Mesa Speedway races. Our best times there were during the early/mid 70s ... the Roberts era. Man, the conversations and heated debates over the Triumphs/HDs/Nortons vs "them damned Jap bikes" (Roberts on his Yamahas) we had would carry on into the late nights, piles of Cycle News laying about.
For this bike I had originally intended to use a Sportster engine (mainly due to the piles upon piles of aftermarket parts and engine support items and tech out there for it). But when I contacted the frame builder about this project, my intentions, budget, and so on, he strongly recommended that I "take a long hard look at the Yamaha XS650". His suggestion had to do with handling issues (according to him, the HD engine's basic shape and weight distribution isn't as well suited for my uses as the XS650 engine is. The HD engine would make the bike too nose heavy with too much bias up front .. in the particular frame I'm using in the application I am applying it to. In some other application the frame I'm using combined with the Sportster engine may be the dog's balls. But for my situation he suggested the Yamaha over the HD.). I mean since he's been racing and building frames since the 1950s I figure he knows what he is speaking about.
I'm not wealthy, I'm your basic military vet, at the lower end of the lower middle class (the what?
). So I can come up with the needed money along the way for this, but I do not have a lot of disposable cash. That said, the Yamaha seems to be most certainly less costly than any HD engine! So there's a plus.Ok, so there's the essentials. On paper the Yamaha engine is a great choice for this project, considering the amount of heat generated between my dad and I over that engine in the 70s. (Ironically I started racing in 1972, on Yamahas. By 1973 after having seen me succeed on them, and having had test ridden my race bikes a few times, even HE was riding Yamahas and even sold his two Triumphs in favor of "them damned Jap bikes" Haahaa!). So with the rest of the combination of components and design elements along with the Yamaha engine, this bike will serve me well to remind me of the good times he and I shared. So when I tend to focus the bad shit (and there was a lot of that) I'll always have that bike to remind me that our relationship was pretty golden when we were on the bikes. Somehow we were great friends and great rivals when we were on the bikes or even just spectating at races. About the only time things were good between us was when it had something to do with the bikes. For some reason at this time in my life (53) the bad crap has tended to surface quite a bit. Long quieted memories scream for attention sometimes these days. This bike will be good for me (hoping).
So, what is it that I need from you folks at the moment? Well, while I have some experience building bikes I am essentially a gnoobhole on the XS650 engine, other than the "wiki" level information on the engine since the late 60s. My largest concerns involve aftermarket support, core availability, and inherent engine design issues that I should be made aware of. I've already lived through the hell of getting neck deep into a bike project only to learn that items like engine bearings and cams were out of production and becoming very difficult to locate. Ignition "ignitors" were also unavailable (80's bikes ... shees!).
So a few encouraging words would help before I begin sink that rarest of elements into this project (Mondo Casholeum). I plan on ordering the frame in a week or so. Then if all is a "go" the hunt for the engine begins.
Thanks for your help.
Jeeter.
