Jaymichael
XS650 Addict
Greetings all. A couple years ago my father in law showed me a dirty old bike under a tarp in his garage. I honestly paid it little attention at first. The sissy bar and broken glass windjammer didn't inspire me much so I filed in my mind as "neat" and carried on. Some time passed at do to lack of space it moved out of the garage on to his sidewalk and there it sat for another year.
During casual conversation one day he mentioned a young guy had offered to buy it from him for 500 bucks. Thankfully due to some lingering nostalgia for the bike he refused the low ball offer and then he made me the offer, "Its yours if you want it" he said. Again I waffled on it a bit, more concerned for the lack of space at my place, where would I put it came to mind.
The next time I visited I took my first real close look at it. It would need much work, surface rust on most items, some broken bits here and there. Seat was torn, rubber items were cracked... Hmm...
A glance at the odometer showed just a hair over 6k original miles, wow low mileage I thought to myself. Perhaps I need to investigate this a bit. Was there even parts available for this unit any more? A quick google search put me at Mikesxs. Oh cool, seems like parts are quite available still, that's a start at least. Next I came across this forum and then a solid 6 hour internet session elapsed
The next weekend this old XS was strapped on the back of my truck headed back to home for a new chapter in its life. It ended up under a tarp again for a season or so. Life was busy and other projects were taking priority. I was at the time working as a BMW master tech at a dealership in Calgary Alberta. Around june this year an old friend stopped by my work and asked If I was interested in a teaching position at our local college in the Automotive department. 2 weeks later I was rolling my tool box into my work shed and wondering what I was going to do with the rest of my summer while I waited for the start of my new position in the fall. I cracked a cold one, admired my tool box, then noticed the blue tarp.... Game on!!!
Sadly I should have taken a couple more before pictures, I think my wife may have a couple on her phone, Ill try to find them and update later. For now this is what I have.
During casual conversation one day he mentioned a young guy had offered to buy it from him for 500 bucks. Thankfully due to some lingering nostalgia for the bike he refused the low ball offer and then he made me the offer, "Its yours if you want it" he said. Again I waffled on it a bit, more concerned for the lack of space at my place, where would I put it came to mind.
The next time I visited I took my first real close look at it. It would need much work, surface rust on most items, some broken bits here and there. Seat was torn, rubber items were cracked... Hmm...
A glance at the odometer showed just a hair over 6k original miles, wow low mileage I thought to myself. Perhaps I need to investigate this a bit. Was there even parts available for this unit any more? A quick google search put me at Mikesxs. Oh cool, seems like parts are quite available still, that's a start at least. Next I came across this forum and then a solid 6 hour internet session elapsed
The next weekend this old XS was strapped on the back of my truck headed back to home for a new chapter in its life. It ended up under a tarp again for a season or so. Life was busy and other projects were taking priority. I was at the time working as a BMW master tech at a dealership in Calgary Alberta. Around june this year an old friend stopped by my work and asked If I was interested in a teaching position at our local college in the Automotive department. 2 weeks later I was rolling my tool box into my work shed and wondering what I was going to do with the rest of my summer while I waited for the start of my new position in the fall. I cracked a cold one, admired my tool box, then noticed the blue tarp.... Game on!!!
Sadly I should have taken a couple more before pictures, I think my wife may have a couple on her phone, Ill try to find them and update later. For now this is what I have.
