Just another XS2

The work you are doing is spot on. I am following your progress. Hoping to assemble my 1972 XS2 this Spring, but I have much lower standards than you (it has been in a bin for over 20 years, and I am just too anxious now to wait another summer to build a concourse level machine like yours :)
Pics kind sir! We need to see pics.
 
The work you are doing is spot on. I am following your progress. Hoping to assemble my 1972 XS2 this Spring, but I have much lower standards than you (it has been in a bin for over 20 years, and I am just too anxious now to wait another summer to build a concourse level machine like yours :)
Yes start a thread on your bike.
 
Just a little update. Of the 3 things I needed to do to it I've only got 1 done. Ben busy with the 81. I did managed to get the seat ordered. Seat came in today. Had to see how it looked on the bike. Knocked the dust of a spare take and side covers and put it all on the bike. I think it's ok.
Seat is nice. All metal pan, All the mounting points were perfectly positioned for the hinges and latch. It's low profile so not a lot of cushion.
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XS2 central here at the moment.
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Got the front brakes working. That meant it was time for it's first test ride. Didn't go far just .6 miles in front of my house. Impressions. It was very good, motor felt great definitely tell it's a 750. Got on it a few times in 1st and 2nd and it responded very well. Clutch works very nicely, it's a @gggGary 8 plate Alto. Can definitely tell the seat height is lower as expected. Not a touring seat but with a AirHawk it should work on rides longer than around town. Couldn't tell much about the tires or suspension as it was all straight line on a fairly smooth road. All that stuff went as it should.
What I really wanted to know was how the front brakes felt. Let me back up a minuet, I put a 73 front end on it so I could use a dual disk set up. The caliper and rotors were straight foreword, just bolt them on. Decided on the MC to use was a aftermarket replacement for the original. The challenge was the brake lines. Wanted to use a splitter so I only had one line going to the MC. I just could not find a good place to mount a splitter. So I decided to take the easy way out and use 2 brake lines. Ordered some lines of off Amazon. First one to come in was 100cm long. Checked it and it was too long for the right side but good for the left. Few days later a 90cm line came in. It looks ok for the left side. Then just had to wait for banjo bolts. Thread pitch is different between the MC and calipers. They came in yesterday. Put it all together and it will work.
Not totally happy with it. One is aesthetic. The lines do not hang equally. If I go with a 10cm longer line it will hang lower than the right. The other is because one of the lines loops almost as high as the top of the MC because of the indexing of the ends. I thought it may cause a problem bleeding them.
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I started bleeding them yesterday. Bleeding was a challenge. First mistake I made was not bench bleeding the MC. I just hooked it all up, filled the MC and opened the bleeders. Didn't take all that long and I had fluid coming out of the bleeders. Yes I kept the MC full doing this. When I had fluid coming out the bleeders I stated pumping the MC. No pressure but air coming out both holes in the MC, the big one and the little one. Pump the MC a dozen times, hold it and open a bleeder. Would get air and fluid. Could not build pressure. Was still getting bubbles in the MC. Called it a day.
Today changed tactics a little. Hooked clear lines to the bleeders and routed them up then down. Theory was if air came out and I didn't close bleeder soon enough it would suck fluid back in and not air. Used it before and it works. Still no joy. I then decided to get the MC at the highest point in the system that I could. It worked. After a hour I pumped the MC and built pressure.
Buttoned things up and went for a test ride. Front brakes work great. Definitely more power than 1 disk as expected but not over powering and has good feel.
I'm a happy camper tonight.
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Yesterday I went to DMV to make her all legal. $231 dollars later title in my name and a new license plate. Must have got a new person waiting on me. When I handed her he title she got a strange look on her face. Then flipped it over and looked at the back then to to the front did this several times. I asked her if there was a problem? She said it's a "blue and white" title we never see them anymore it's ancient . I'm thinking it's not that damn ancient I've got 15 years on it. She then called over another lady and showed it to her. The new lady said wow that's a "blue and white" title then showed her where to find the VIN and title numbers on it. From there things went smoothly.
Went home and put on the plate, time for a longer ride went about 15 smiles. It ran well, smooth with good power. Kept it under 5 grand with a lot of decels. Did get it on a couple of roads where I ran it up to 65mph. Called it a day, time to drink a few beers.
Today looked at it, no oil spots under it not even from the breather tubes. Decided to check the plugs. Hmm the left looked dark and the right looked lean. Not good. Decided to drop the float bowls and take a look. As I thought I remembered the jets were stock. There was some very fine rust in the bowl. The gas tank I'm using I bought a few years ago and had never used before, it does look good inside. Went 1 size up on the mains from 130 to 132.5 also raised the needle 1 notch plus added fuel filters. I know I enriched it 2 different ways. If too rich can always drop the needles.
Time for another test ride. Went another 15 smiles but spent more time outside of town on a highway. Ran pretty good. Goes from 60 to 70 in a blink of the eye. I did notice in town that if I let it drop down to 2,000rpm sometimes it would stumble when accelerating. Not bad enough to fall on it's face but a stumble. Parked it, left it cool down and checked the plugs. Much more even looking. Would rather see them a little darker. I think good enough for now.
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I also put temp side covers on it. Better looking ones will be in the future same with the tank.
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I should have mentioned that the custom emblem on the side cover was made by our very own @Downeaster.
I think he did a great job. This set is kinda temp. He made me 2 sets. The other set is with my powder coater, he thinks he can paint the background red and the letters and numbers white.
 
Nice! Glad you're happy with the emblems. If your powder coat guy can do the 2 color version, they're really gonna pop!

If they get too hot in the powder coating process and warp, let me know and I'll print up another set. Now that I have the files tweaked, it just a matter of hitting "go" and wandering off for a while.
 
Why the GS-750 emblems? Did Downeaster design it, or was there already a file available?
Downeaster made them for me from scratch. I sent him a original one so he could get the sizing, told him what I wanted and he took it from there.
I think he did a very good job!
A riff on the rare 72 750 homogulation 750s?
Yes.
I'll explain more about why I decided to do it as I did later.
 
The reason why I did the bike like I did is I had just got done with my 2nd XS2 survivor resurrection. I wanted to do another bike but not a survivor. Since I had a few titled 72 frames and a lot of other early parts another 72 was a easy choice. Decided on a rest-mod. My ground rules were no major frame changes and try to keep the parts that showed period correct. Also wanted it at first glance to look like a XS2 then on closer inspection notice a lot of subtle changes. Only thing I could come up with that suited the bill was a GS650.
As I'm sure most of you know Yamaha did make a GS650 in 72 but only 200 of them. The GS650 is not a 650 but a 750. I decided to build what Yamaha could have built.
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It's not completely done. Last major thing I need to do is get a tank and side covers sent off for painting. The new paint will resemble a XS2 but different.
I think it looks good so far.
 
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The reason why I did the bike like I did is I had just got done with my 2nd XS2 survivor resurrection. I wanted to do another bike but not a survivor. Since I had a few titled 72 frames and a lot of other early parts another 72 was a easy choice. Decided on a rest-mod. My ground rules were no major frame changes and try to keep the parts that showed period correct. Also wanted it at first glance to look like a XS2 then on closer inspection notice a lot of subtle changes. Only thing I could come up with that suited the bill was a GS650.
As I'm sure most of you know Yamaha did make a GS650 in 72 but only 200 of them. The GS650 is not a 650 but a 750. I decided to build what Yamaha could have built.
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It's not completely done. Last major thing I need to do is get the a tank and side covers sent off for painting. The new paint will resemble a XS2 but different.
I think it looks good so far.
That is a very nice looking motorcycle.All your personal preference ideas all have come together nicely.Fine work.👍
 
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