First vintage bike

[TX650XSR700]

Hello all, a bit of background first to introduce myself. I grew up riding a bmx bike and a minibike my dad used to ride in the 70s so it was only a matter of time before I bought something for the street. I started with a 2016 Honda Ruckus as I liked the possibilities for customization but I quickly grew tired of the inability to go the speed limit and the lines of cars behind me. I purchase a 2017 Honda Rebel and sold the ruckus not long after. I bobbed the rear fender and put an obnoxious exhaust on it and that appeased me for a while but I eventually wanted something more comfortable for longer rides. A friend of mine owned a Yamaha MT-07 at the time but I fell in love with the classic looks of the 2020 Yamaha XSR700. After I purchased the XSR I spend a bit of time making it perfect for me and eventually sold the Rebel because I didn’t ride it as much anymore. During the early days of looking for the XSR I saw the Faster Sons marketing that Yamaha did where a builder rebuilt and upgraded an XS650 and customized an XSR700 to match. Since that point I thought it would be awesome to have the predecessor of my XSR.

Fast forward to now and that idea was back in my head so I took to eBay, Facebook Marketplace, etc. to see if I could find an XS. I found a few and ended up purchasing a 1973 TX650 on Wednesday. This is my first motorcycle with carburetors, points, and spoked wheels so it’s going to be an opportunity to learn and have a completely different riding experience.

The previous owner rebuilt the carbs and replaced the clutch, starter, front caliper and master cylinder, and sealed the inside of the tank.

I’m looking forward the making it my own and my idea it to make it cafe style by replacing parts and without altering the frame.

 

[Its been a long time]

Welcome, looks like a terrific, original survivor.

 

[cra-z1]

Nice looking bike, welcome

 

[Bob Wegman]

That looks like a really nice bike. If you change parts, I would suggest you keep the take off parts. Should you ever want to sell it, you could bring it back to stock condition. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Its been a long time]

That looks like a really nice bike. If you change parts, I would suggest you keep the take off parts. Should you ever want to sell it, you could bring it back to stock condition. Just my 2 cents.

100% this. It's a very nice 50 plus year old survivor.

 

[Jan_P]

If it was me I would take it slowly Getting some miles on it .See what it is .. The Odometer says ..it should be OK and it looks as a well kept machine
But there is always something not noticed at the purchase :And is so for every used vehicle one buys ( I have bought )
Getting a feel for it The saying there are 2 kinds of people Those who Love XS 650 and them that hate them.

Met a friend Last Tuesday he had a bad experience .. Never got it to run properly Vibrated and he could not get the Carburetors set
It eventually seized being to lean. Traded it in at the dealer and then the dealer got trouble. A Lemon
He asked me how can you keep on with that **** all these years.
I told him I don't have any vibrations with synced carburetors .. He don't believe me .Shaking his head
Its not like new machines .They can have personality
I have owned 2 exactly the same Year and model But was still a bit different in Behavior.
First one vibrated but throttle response was as a sports bike.
Second no vibrations and a bit more " Tired "

 

[TX650XSR700]

That looks like a really nice bike. If you change parts, I would suggest you keep the take off parts. Should you ever want to sell it, you could bring it back to stock condition. Just my 2 cents.

I definitely won’t throw anything away. I’ve kept all the original parts I’ve changed out on my XSR and I’ll do the same with this.

 

[TX650XSR700]

If it was me I would take it slowly Getting some miles on it .See what it is .. The Odometer says ..it should be OK and it looks as a well kept machine
But there is always something not noticed at the purchase :And is so for every used vehicle one buys ( I have bought )
Getting a feel for it The saying there are 2 kinds of people Those who Love XS 650 and them that hate them.

Met a friend Last Tuesday he had a bad experience .. Never got it to run properly Vibrated and he could not get the Carburetors set
It eventually seized being to lean. Traded it in at the dealer and then the dealer got trouble. A Lemon
He asked me how can you keep on with that **** all these years.
I told him I don't have any vibrations with synced carburetors .. He don't believe me .Shaking his head
Its not like new machines .They can have personality
I have owned 2 exactly the same Year and model But was still a bit different in Behavior.
First one vibrated but throttle response was as a sports bike.
Second no vibrations and a bit more " Tired "

It seems as the carbs could do with some tuning. And I definitely already love this bike even with just a short ride down the street.