Drive it or worship it: Good Tire Advice

S

Smorg

XS650 Enthusiast
Messages
61
Reaction score
196
Points
33
Location
N. Illinois
Question 1, Daily Rider or Museum Piece. I got super lucky and got my 1981 XS650SH from a Harley shop owner's brother after his stepdad died. It had only 1081 miles on it and had been stored indoors the whole time, so it was cosmetically perfect. Tires didn't even dry rot but looked brand new. I put like 1200 miles on it so it has just over 2300 miles and now I am faced with a dilemma. Do I keep it as a museum piece and ride it minimally? To do so I'd have to buy another bike for my daily rider and keep it for my classic toy. If I ride all year, I'll likely put on 4-6 thousand miles on the bike. My other option it is to ride the piss out of it. My Uncle says I'm crazy "It's just a bike it's not like an old hot rod car, an old corvette or Cadillac." I have had some people say I should have kept the mileage under 2,000 to keep the value up. Others said just ride it and enjoy it is the best value and it wasn't worth much anyway. BTW I paid $1600 for it, and 700 in mechanical work before purchase. Nothing after.

Question 2: I need new tires. Bought the bike in Mid Augst and still got over 1300 miles in despite a broken hip (from tubing at very high speeds at Bull Shoals lake) on my bike before end of season in Northern Illinois. Recklessly, I did it on 40-year-old original tires. In my garage on the center stand I can see the cords in the tires where the rubber wore through completely. I will probably have it towed to a shop and the tire replaced rather than drive it there. I don't have a tire machine and while I have done some smaller things to my own bikes including carb disassembly and cleaning in an ultrasonic tank, diagnosing and replacing Fuse boxes, petcock replacement, clutch cable replacement, I haven't replaced the tires myself before. I have seen how hard it is getting car tires on without a machine, so I just pay my bike shop to replace my tires. With my other bikes I just let the shop pick what tire I needed, and just took the bikes there and picked them up when repaired rather than request a specific tire. The Owner of Pete's Cycle in Loves Park, Illinois has been working on bikes since the 1970's when he was into motorcycle drag racing and his sons have been raised with wrenches instead of baby bottles, so they have taken over his shop (in a good way) he is still there also. So, I have the Tubeless tires I believe since I don't have the spoked rims but rather the Mags. If anyone could recommend a tire, I would appreciate it. It would be awesome if anyone reviews information on one or more tires. If there is one to stay away from that would be great to know also. I have had the same mechanic for a long time now, and while I do trust him 100% he works on all sorts of motorcycles while the great people on this site are extremely knowledgeable about my motorcycle.
 

Attachments

  • xs650 at night.jpg
    xs650 at night.jpg
    540.8 KB · Views: 148
Last edited:
In my mind, it’s just a used motorcycle.

A really clean one, but still…

If you are hoping to cash in on its value, sell it now. If not, ride it till the cows come home.

I don’t think you’d actually see that much more in value than any other clean special for sale.

If it were an early bike, you’d definitely have some value.

As for the tires, just pull the rims off and take em into the shop for new ones. No need to tow the whole bike there.

If your mags are tubeless they will say tubeless on them.

Those look like a Dunlop k70 (or similar) tread pattern you got now. Good tires if you wanna keep that tread pattern.
 
I'm not sure what tires to recommend but I can comment on your question. I was just talking about this topic this morning with some riding buddies. I would be inclined to ride it as you've done already, but with great new tires. I suppose it would be different if it was a rare Ducati or a Vincent, etc, but it is not. It is a really sweet looking bike though - lucky you - what a score!
 
These bikes love to be ridden. Regularly. Bike kept in good condition in original condition hold their value better than a restored bike.

Value for money is what you have now with low mileage bike. If the maintenance is kept up, oil changes, servicing with regular detailing there is no reason the engine can't do 50,000 miles. some have done more than this with good care an a lot have done less with not so good care.

The only thing that may catch you is the front cam-chain guide. These do de laminate and the engine ha to be removed to take the head off to get at the guide. My thinking is, that it is because the engine hasn't been used regularly in turn the guide rubber dries out and gets brittle. With regular use they seem to last a lot longer.

The bottom oil strainer. has a tendency to blow a hole in it. Letting the engine warm up and riding sedately for the first couple of miles till the oil thins help to save the strainer. Do check the bottom strainer as a preventative and maintenance issue. Lot of info on repairing the exiting strainer rather than buying a new one as the problem will happen to these as well. There are some aftermarket ones, (mainly Heiden Tuning), that offer a different tyled one that don't seem to have any issues.

If you done 4-5000 miles per year an kept the bike for 5 years with regular maintenance and no engine dramas and kept in good condition, you could expect to get more money than you have invested in it. May even come out even after spending on, tyres, brake pads and chain and sprocket.

Get a volt meter to keep an eye on your charging system. The rotor is 40 years old and the rein could be breaking down with age. Then again it may lat 20-30,000 mile but it would pay to keep an eye on it. If the rotor does go bad a member here does excellent rewinds for a good price and that is all that will usually go wrong with these bikes. Brushes are a wear item but with ssuch low miles you wouldn't/shouldn't have a problem for years. Keep the battery in good condition, a bad battery is one of the main culprits to causing the rotor to be overworked leading to overheating.

Ride the bike and enjoy it.
 
Last edited:
I had a friend who kept one parked in his living room. It was an XS650F. He eventually sold it for more than he paid for it without ever having ridden it. The man he sold it to had one ride on it, then he sold it to a collector. To this day it probably still has 1200 miles on it.

What you could do, is acquire two or three more bikes or XS650s and share the mileage.

We recently saw a nice, but well loved Special sell on BAT for $3500. A new Special II brought over $5000 on eBay a few years ago. Those are exceptions.

I’ve put over 64,000 miles on mine, and in many ways it’s better than new.
 
Do you have children you love so much you'd rather they got an extra thousand of inheritance than you enjoying a bike you own?
I found and bought a 6 year old EBR 1190 that had TWO miles on it, a bike that will be a serious collector bike one day. Got it ready and RODE it.
I have put about 4-5,000 miles on first year XS1's so far and I'm not done.
Ride it and take care of it.
No one wandering through a dusty garage or museum will experience anything like the feeling you'll have riding your bike with good buddies!


1676991538741.png
 
Last edited:
I had Shinko 712s on mine. They road fine. Nothing impressive but nothing bad that stood out. Just a good tire. As for the dilemma I’d just ride it. While a very clean low mileage example, I don’t think you’re going to get any significant money. Depending on time or year and market you could probably get $1000-1500 back on top of your original investment but is that worth it to you? If you would prefer another bike and the extra cash would help out then go for it, otherwise I’d just enjoy what the previous owners missed out on, riding a great bike.
 
JesseeS said:
I had Shinko 712s on mine. They road fine. Nothing impressive but nothing bad that stood out. Just a good tire. As for the dilemma I’d just ride it. While a very clean low mileage example, I don’t think you’re going to get any significant money. Depending on time or year and market you could probably get $1000-1500 back on top of your original investment but is that worth it to you? If you would prefer another bike and the extra cash would help out then go for it, otherwise I’d just enjoy what the previous owners missed out on, riding a great bike.
Click to expand...
:agree:
 

Similar threads

gggGary
On the hunt; barn Triumph, follow along if you want.
5 6 7
Replies
133
Views
5K
jetmechmarty
jetmechmarty
W
She runs! What’s next?
Replies
14
Views
916
Wrenchmorethanride
W
NerdyNerd
Tires
5 6 7
Replies
120
Views
6K
Wingedwheel
Wingedwheel
SoCalHanz
Front brakes - Need advice
Replies
2
Views
132
DogBunny
DogBunny
M
Mix Screws Starting point
Replies
3
Views
178
5twins
5twins
Back
Top