Intro: Me and my 650 just joined the forum.

[XStretchified650]

Hi everyone,

This site is great and I just had to join. I got my first XS650 in 1979. It was a used 78 that I bought in Texas and rode home to Illinois. That bike had an unfortunate end and in 1980 I bought a used 77 XS650D. Later on when the Minton article came out I made what changes that I could afford and rode the hell out of it for years.

I parked it in 1989 but never sold it. Yeah baby.......she's gonna roll again!

Here are a few pictures:

 

[littlebill31]

Welcome to the forum. Glad to see you kept it and want to bring it back to life!

 

[BigJimmyW13]

Where in TX and where in IL? I grew up in Southern IL and I currently live most of the year in College Station, TX.

NVM on the IL part I just saw it pop up.

 

[XStretchified650]

I bought the bike in Beaumont, Texas. I lived down there for just a few months. It was a hell of a trip back for a young kid. I recall I did not even know how to tighten the chain when I hit the road!

 

[BigJimmyW13]

That is a long rough trip to make not knowing how to tighten a chain! The longest trip I have done is 500+ miles round trip to North Dallas from College Station. Rode in one night and left the next day. I just did it to see how bad it'd be. Wasn't really that bad.... Mine is hardtailed though lol. I can't imagine going from beaumont to chicago though!

 

[XStretchified650]

Regarding that chain issue....I did stop somewhere around Memphis to figure out what that 'slappy noise' was near the rear wheel. I was traveling alone so I used the manual and fixed it. That was a very long time ago and I learned fast what I needed to know. I can't be the only one here who took off cross country without really knowing much about their cycle. Hell, that was half the fun!

I've never ridden a hardtail but 500 miles with just a little spring thing under the seat sounds like a long ride.

 

[gggGary]

The rebuild is looking great, I see the dual disks, what seat and tank are you thinking of?

 

[BigJimmyW13]

Lol Try my springs were completely compressed under my then 260lb frame plus roughly 50lb back pack.... Yeah there was no spring under the seat left. With forwards and drag bars... You know that was actually the weirdest part. My back was fine it was the awkward position that drags and forwards will put you in. So that's why I switched to apes. I left the forwards, but eventually I will swap them for the mids once I get this engine all back together after the rephase and 750.

 

[XStretchified650]

I am using the metal pan from the old seat. I ordered a cafe type seat cover with shaped foam ...........from Asia. I wanted to keep the hinged seat set up. We'll see how this international ordering turns out.

I am undecided on the tank. I need to put the seat on the frame before I can decide if the 77 standard tank will look right. I like the fact that it holds a lot of gas. Right now it hold a lot of rust too! The swing arm is a 4" stretch from Joe Wiseguy. It's stretchified.