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Let's See The XS's
- Thread starter XS650RR
- Start date
STARCROSSEDMOTO
XS650 Enthusiast
Beauty! How does the RE 650 compare to the XS650? Always wanted to have a dream shootout between an old Triumph 650, the xs650, the kawasaki w650, and the RE 650.
Ooooooh!, A Shay Locomotive. Those things are so cool. I was at that museum in 69 or 70 when I lived in Port Coquitlam. Oh yeah, nice bikes too.
I'll bet that Kawi has some nuts.
One thing I notice is that on my XS, I let out the clutch and feed fuel. The RE won’t handle that. The XS starts pulling at 1500 RPM. The RE has to have 2000 RPM before taxing it.
Besides that it’s vintage bike v. new bike. Improvements have been made over the last 40 years. A well tuned XS650 holds its own admirably.
Love those old locos. The train is nice, too.
The more I ride this oddball, the more I like it for a backroader. Light steering, adequate mid-range and great brakes. Lots of "I've never seen one of those" comments too. One-kick starter cold or hot, love it!
I damn near bought one exactly like that , brand new off the showroom floor, when I was a teenager!
The RE definitely revs higher and I concur with Jetmechmarty re the need to be higher revs to start with. Bob, could I see myself owning one? Maybe, but it would be the Continental GT 650 in British Racing Green. They have one there, with the super cool optional exhaust. It barks like crazy! I haven't ridden that one yet, but may in a few weeks if it's still there.
I prefer my Yamaha to the Interceptor 650 I rode hands down, no contest in torque and cool factor.
I haven't ridden that Kawi yet. Its still running great with over 130,000 kms on it. I did ride Richard's 1200 Buell Lightning Long today - loud engine like my old 1200 Sportster. Huge torque!!!
I have to agree, but the boxiness kinda grows on me and the later disc brakes and self-cancelling signals are a good trade-off for me.
Absolutely! Yours is a far better (IMHO) motorcycle than the 1975 and earlier model. The earlier model was bad about cracked cylinder heads as well.
77Dave
XS650 New Member
Quick run out to the coast with a couple of friends. Making the most of the short UK summer! 
Nice mix of rolling stock...Quick run out to the coast with a couple of friends. Making the most of the short UK summer!
They tell on each other.
In Scotland the work for that is klipe.
Hmm. My classmates at primary and senior school used the word klipe, maybe some people would spell it clipe (?) but I never saw it written down, meaning to tell tales about, inform against someone. That's the verb, to klipe but the other meaning is the noun, a person who tells tales or informs. We all knew exactly what it meant to be called a klipe, even worse than being teacher's pet.
When I Googled the word t'other day, I came across the definition you quote but which I completely fail to recognise. Of course, there were plenty of results that confirmed the tell-tale meaning as well.
It's been the same once or twice in the past, for example, there's a brilliant Scots word driech which means dull and boring - it's mostly used about weather and means dull, damp, cold, might be some drizzle or light rain. But I came across an online definition which confidently told an unsuspecting world that driech is a Scots word for very heavy rain. That's nuts and IMO the person who wrote that has mis-understood the correct context.
In Galashiels, the teachers used to call me a blether - meaning I talked too much in class. No surprise there then. So a blether is similar to an English chatterbox. But I caused offence when I suggested an old lady was blethering to me, meaning chatting. She is from the Highlands and to her, blether means to talk nonsense or to tell lies - no wonder she was offended.
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There are words I used to say when I was growing up. I learned after I moved away that some of them were regional. Words that tell where you are from. Common dictionaries don’t cover those.
Sorry for the hijack
Have asked around today, and the folk I've spoken to* all said a klipe is a tell-tale or grass. So do results from an online search. The Dictionaries of the Scottish Language - www.dsl.ac.uk - is alone in giving the definition of a lean or emaciated person or animal so I think they must work from some academic ivory tower.
* frae a' the pairts o' Scotland ie all places
Have asked around today, and the folk I've spoken to* all said a klipe is a tell-tale or grass. So do results from an online search. The Dictionaries of the Scottish Language - www.dsl.ac.uk - is alone in giving the definition of a lean or emaciated person or animal so I think they must work from some academic ivory tower.* frae a' the pairts o' Scotland ie all places
