Diebold2020
XS650 Member
Hi all,
I thought I'd start a post about my build since I have a ton of questions. I've always liked the cafe racers from the late 60's, British twin bikes stripped down to make the block before the jukebox stopped or finding enough road to "hit the ton." That's why I chose the Yamaha XS650. I bought my 1981 Special 2 in 2010. It wasn't running but it had a title and was only $800. I strapped in down to a trailer and got it home and after a few weeks of diagnosing I found the reason for no spark was the ignition box on the 80 model xs's. I put a Pamco ignition on it and it fired up! At that point I stripped it down and sent the frame and swing arm to be powder coated. I ended up buying a bunch of parts that I intended on using that just sat in boxes on my garage shelves for years. I admittedly had a problem of seeing project bikes for sale that I just couldn't pass up so my xs cafe project sat in the corner for some years. After getting married my wife cured me of my disease and I sold off all my project bikes except for the xs. This was the one that I really wanted to finish. I had put new swing arm bushings in and got the swing arm mounted, I put on new rear shocks, I rebuilt the front forks with new seals, rebuilt the front brake caliper, and managed to mount on some old Magura clip on handles that I acquired during the purchase of a 78 CB750. I bought new hoops, shined up the hubs, and laced the new wheels. Before I could get tires mounted I needed to get the wheels trued but couldn't find anyone local to do it. So again it sat for about two years. I recently got a fire under my ass and picked up the project again and found a local guy to true the wheels so I recently got tires mounted and on the bike so I have a rolling chassis now. The bike only had 6,000 miles on it when I got it but I wanted to rebuild the engine, at least the top end, and get it nice and shiny. That's when I started lurking around here and found the 750cc big bore kit. I pulled the plug and picked one up and now I'm getting ready to tear down the engine and get it running again. I'll post pics and updates as I go along, and I apologize if I ask redundant questions that have been answered a million times before but I really want to do this myself as I'm on a budget and I believe in "Built not Bought."
I thought I'd start a post about my build since I have a ton of questions. I've always liked the cafe racers from the late 60's, British twin bikes stripped down to make the block before the jukebox stopped or finding enough road to "hit the ton." That's why I chose the Yamaha XS650. I bought my 1981 Special 2 in 2010. It wasn't running but it had a title and was only $800. I strapped in down to a trailer and got it home and after a few weeks of diagnosing I found the reason for no spark was the ignition box on the 80 model xs's. I put a Pamco ignition on it and it fired up! At that point I stripped it down and sent the frame and swing arm to be powder coated. I ended up buying a bunch of parts that I intended on using that just sat in boxes on my garage shelves for years. I admittedly had a problem of seeing project bikes for sale that I just couldn't pass up so my xs cafe project sat in the corner for some years. After getting married my wife cured me of my disease and I sold off all my project bikes except for the xs. This was the one that I really wanted to finish. I had put new swing arm bushings in and got the swing arm mounted, I put on new rear shocks, I rebuilt the front forks with new seals, rebuilt the front brake caliper, and managed to mount on some old Magura clip on handles that I acquired during the purchase of a 78 CB750. I bought new hoops, shined up the hubs, and laced the new wheels. Before I could get tires mounted I needed to get the wheels trued but couldn't find anyone local to do it. So again it sat for about two years. I recently got a fire under my ass and picked up the project again and found a local guy to true the wheels so I recently got tires mounted and on the bike so I have a rolling chassis now. The bike only had 6,000 miles on it when I got it but I wanted to rebuild the engine, at least the top end, and get it nice and shiny. That's when I started lurking around here and found the 750cc big bore kit. I pulled the plug and picked one up and now I'm getting ready to tear down the engine and get it running again. I'll post pics and updates as I go along, and I apologize if I ask redundant questions that have been answered a million times before but I really want to do this myself as I'm on a budget and I believe in "Built not Bought."
