Man gggGary, that is a super cool bike you have there!
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Just Ride.
- Thread starter Jim
- Start date
Bob Wegman
XS650 Addict
Well, my 77 650 D has been perched on a stand in the garage for a decade. Pulled it off the stand and spent a few days bringing it back to life. I have been riding my Moto Guzzis and my SR500 and my 80 Special ll. So, the 77 is finally going to get recommissioned this year. It isn't perfect but it has a lot of life left in it. I acquired it somewhere around 2009 from Vermont where it was a flood victim. After I brought it back to life from that, it shared daily rider duties for a couple of seasons
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xs650crider
XS650 Member
Someone pointed out the other day that we don't have a thread dedicated to sharing our rides. We have a "What did you do to your XS today" thread. We have one dedicated to "Justa joke." We even have the "Great 2M barbecue hunt" dedicated to finding great BBQ... but nothing for the everyday ordinary ride... or the epic one for that matter. Well, now we do.
Take some pics... shoot a video. Test ride around the block? Day trip? Cross country with friends? Found your Eldorado? Put it up here. I'm pretty sure pics are allowed.
Gaily bedight,
A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.
But he grew old—
This knight so bold—
And o’er his heart a shadow—
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.
And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow—
‘Shadow,’ said he,
‘Where can it be—
This land of Eldorado?’
‘Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,’
The shade replied,—
‘If you seek for Eldorado!’
Edgar Allen Poe.
Like Gailey, most of us are getting--
a little long in the tooth.
Go for a ride... chase your youth....
Just...ride.
Today
A bit earlier.
Where Butterscotch is parked is just off the left of this pic.
Today
The Baraboo woolen mill was a big operation.
then
What might have been a quiet Sunday afternoon in the late winter of 1969 turned out to be one of Baraboo’s most dramatic when the fire siren went off around 2 pm on March 17th. News quickly spread that the old Island Woolen Mill was on fire. The huge mill complex, which had not been active for 20 years, sat on the west side of Baraboo on an oxbow of the Baraboo River. The complex straddled a millrace which created the “island” for which the mill had been named back in 1863 when it started operation. By the late 1860s the firm had about 36 employees and was producing up to 10,000 yards of cloth per month or about 100,000 yards per year -enough cloth to stretch from Baraboo to Madison. In later years, the mill also produced yarn, socks, army blankets and automobile upholstery fabrics.
In 1875 James McFetridge purchased a minority interest in the operation and after his death in 1893 his heirs purchased the remaining shares of the company, consolidating the company under their control in 1901. The company was run by the two sons of James McFetridge, Edward P. and William H. McFetridge, who made considerable expansions to the mill during the first quarter of the twentieth century eventually increasing the operation which came to be considered the largest woolen mill west of Philadelphia.
The mill complex eventually became a series of connected buildings that was over 500 feet long and almost 200 feet wide with several portions having four floors. The estimated floor space exceeds 150,000 square feet.
After the mill closed in 1949 it sat unused for decades. In 1967 the mill complex was donated to Circus World Museum Inc., the non-profit group that started the circus museum in Baraboo. Under an agreement with the Baraboo Management Corporation the former mill was to be turned into warehouse space after hundreds of tons of mill equipment was removed. During removal operations in 1969 a cutting torch being used to cut apart equipment is believed to have started the floor on fire after which a large blaze followed.
A bit earlier.
Where Butterscotch is parked is just off the left of this pic.
Today
The Baraboo woolen mill was a big operation.
then
What might have been a quiet Sunday afternoon in the late winter of 1969 turned out to be one of Baraboo’s most dramatic when the fire siren went off around 2 pm on March 17th. News quickly spread that the old Island Woolen Mill was on fire. The huge mill complex, which had not been active for 20 years, sat on the west side of Baraboo on an oxbow of the Baraboo River. The complex straddled a millrace which created the “island” for which the mill had been named back in 1863 when it started operation. By the late 1860s the firm had about 36 employees and was producing up to 10,000 yards of cloth per month or about 100,000 yards per year -enough cloth to stretch from Baraboo to Madison. In later years, the mill also produced yarn, socks, army blankets and automobile upholstery fabrics.
In 1875 James McFetridge purchased a minority interest in the operation and after his death in 1893 his heirs purchased the remaining shares of the company, consolidating the company under their control in 1901. The company was run by the two sons of James McFetridge, Edward P. and William H. McFetridge, who made considerable expansions to the mill during the first quarter of the twentieth century eventually increasing the operation which came to be considered the largest woolen mill west of Philadelphia.
The mill complex eventually became a series of connected buildings that was over 500 feet long and almost 200 feet wide with several portions having four floors. The estimated floor space exceeds 150,000 square feet.
After the mill closed in 1949 it sat unused for decades. In 1967 the mill complex was donated to Circus World Museum Inc., the non-profit group that started the circus museum in Baraboo. Under an agreement with the Baraboo Management Corporation the former mill was to be turned into warehouse space after hundreds of tons of mill equipment was removed. During removal operations in 1969 a cutting torch being used to cut apart equipment is believed to have started the floor on fire after which a large blaze followed.
That’s a shame about the fire……but a big thumbs up for the ride! 
Butterscotch came out of hibernation pretty easily, tank was empty. Added a gallon kicked through a couple times key on, a few more kicks shut the choke back off and opened the throttle a bit and back in business.
Earlier today took the Uly to an appointment. Doing 55-60 on straight wide open view county highway, sunshine, a cage full stop at a stop sign pretended I didn't exist and tried to cross just as i got there. Honestly if he hadn't romped the brakes at the last instant I would have T-boned him. Allison would be calling an auctioneer.
Later I stopped and shot this old bridge abutment on the Baraboo River.
Shot from near that farm house in 1923
14th Cav headed to Baraboo.
Before that the second covered bridge.
Here's the first;
They were rebuilding an abutment after flood washed it out.
The current (5th?) highway bridge is a few hundred yards south.
The NOCO lithium battery in the Buell had to crank it for a good bit to get fire after sitting untouched for "quite a while". It handled that just fine. And the Buell was in fine form. Windy but warm near 70 today, 'Sposed to be back to snow flurries tonight.
Earlier today took the Uly to an appointment. Doing 55-60 on straight wide open view county highway, sunshine, a cage full stop at a stop sign pretended I didn't exist and tried to cross just as i got there. Honestly if he hadn't romped the brakes at the last instant I would have T-boned him. Allison would be calling an auctioneer.
Later I stopped and shot this old bridge abutment on the Baraboo River.
Shot from near that farm house in 1923
14th Cav headed to Baraboo.
Before that the second covered bridge.
Here's the first;
They were rebuilding an abutment after flood washed it out.
The current (5th?) highway bridge is a few hundred yards south.
The NOCO lithium battery in the Buell had to crank it for a good bit to get fire after sitting untouched for "quite a while". It handled that just fine. And the Buell was in fine form. Windy but warm near 70 today, 'Sposed to be back to snow flurries tonight.
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Love that photo, Butterscotch a great name for that bike.
Love the old photos. Those covered bridges were pieces of art.
Too many wheels, but I dug the Vette out of hibernation this morning, touched up the tire pressures, checked the fluids, gave it a bath and stretched it's legs a bit.
Something about how the driver's seat is shaped, my right foot keeps twitching...
Something about how the driver's seat is shaped, my right foot keeps twitching...
Greening up nicely around here!
Recent rains have the lake and river levels high.
Shhh! I'm hiding.. LOL
Local legend Dr. Evermore sculpture.
Recent rains have the lake and river levels high.
Shhh! I'm hiding.. LOL
Local legend Dr. Evermore sculpture.
One kick on the baby beemer for a putt around. 60-65MPH seems fine BUT 45 is more funner.
Um yeah, turned around and went back the way I came.
Storm coming in now. We don't need the rain...
Um yeah, turned around and went back the way I came.
Storm coming in now. We don't need the rain...
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BMRs handle water very well until it gets to the plug caps. I know that for a fact.
Have you popped the trans out and greased the input shaft for the trans?
That is a thing to do. Input shaft/clutch disk splines loose their lube and the input shaft splines get worn to he point of failure.
