My 1977 XS650 Brat Build

[dillon0990]

Hi everyone,

I am new to the forum and recently got myself 1977 Yamaha 650. It has been owned by my Dad for the last 31 years, and has sat in the garage without running for several years. He gave me the bike for free in hopes I can give the bike a new life. This will be my first bike, and I am somewhat nervous. I have wanted to restore the bike for many years and now is the time. I love the XS650 brat style look, so that is what I am going for. The bike is in decent shape after sitting so long, but the brake master cylinder leaked all over the bike and has made the tank look nasty. Luckily it will be replaced any ways. I hope to get some support on here and maybe even meet some friends. Here are some pictures of the bike. Its dirty and needs TLC, but it will be awesome to see it done. It does have 6 in extended forks.

 

[dillon0990]

I have started the process of stripping down the bike to get it ready for the brat kit. I have not ordered one yet, but I think monstercraftman is the one im going with. It seems like there are a lot of positive reviews about it. My only question is if I need to have the engine in the bike when cutting and welding in the new brat section. I currently do not have a welder, so I might take it somewhere and have it done. It might be easier without the engine in the bike.

I removed all of the accessories and wire harness. I am left with a bunch of electrical components that I have no idea if I need. I am terrified of rewiring the bike because I have never done anything like that. Electrical is not my strongest skill. Here are some pictures of the bike and components that maybe you guys can tell me if I should save, throw away and replace, or throw away its not needed. I plan on eliminating the battery and buying the PMA kit.

 

[dillon0990]

 

[vernk]

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24082&highlight=basic+electric

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61

 

[vernk]

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24082&highlight=basic+electric

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61

 

[dillon0990]

Thanks you! that helps a ton. It looks like I will not need any of these parts when I simplify my wiring.

 

[dillon0990]

Ohh where to begin... Well the bike is pretty much torn apart and then begins the rebuild. This is my first motorcycle build, so I am not sure where to begin. I don't think I plan on touching the engine since I know it ran very well before sitting, but that was about 10 years ago...should I take a look at the top end to see how things look inside? the one bad thing I noticed after getting the bike from my dad is that one of the spark plugs was taken out sometime while it was sitting and sat that way for years. Should that be a concern if it sat in a garage the whole time?

 

[deadchef]

do a compression test on both cylinders. certainly change the oil, check cam chain tension, valve adjustments, clean the carbs... the list goes on....

 

[dillon0990]

Well I got off work a little early today and got the bike fully taken apart. I couldn't believe how easy the engine comes out of these bikes. I got my fork seals, clips, and washers ordered from mikesxs ( and main jets for the carb, clumsy me lost one ) and plan on rebuilding the forks next week. Do you guys recommend painting or powder coating the lowers? I think I want to go with black, but I plan on polishing them up first to see how they look. If I don't plan on using a front fender can I cut and grind down the fender mounts on the lowers?



The engine is pretty dirty, but I think ti should clean up very nice.



All taken apart ready to be cleaned up and painted, or powder coated? Any thoughts which is best?





I gave the frame a bath, but I really needs some degreaser its pretty greasy.



Should the bearing half just pull right off?



I pulled on the bearing a little by hand with no luck pulling it out. Do these need to come out if so any ideas on how to remove them?

I'm excited to get working on the fun part of putting everything back together. Over the weekend I might start removing brackets I don't need and possible get the frame ready for the brat kit.

 

[dillon0990]

Took some time and got everything organized and cleaned up. So much too do, so much to buy, and so many lies to come up with to tell my wife why there is not money in the bank!

Please ignore my counter top/old door....It does the job until I get my counters on my work cabinets.

 

[dilbone]

Making some great progress there. I painted my frame and lowers with a single stage black urethane and am very happy with them.

And I left the bearing races in.

 

[dillon0990]

Thanks, do you know what brand paint you used? I am not a professional painter by any means, but I have painted some bicycle frames. I am not sure if it is necessary to have the frame sand blasted or just sand it down by hand and try to remove as much rust as possible and use a rust preventative primer.

Should I also leave the bearing race on the tree or whatever you want to call it? I assume as long as they look to be in good shape I can re use them and the ball bearings.

 

[dilbone]

Thanks, do you know what brand paint you used? I am not a professional painter by any means, but I have painted some bicycle frames. I am not sure if it is necessary to have the frame sand blasted or just sand it down by hand and try to remove as much rust as possible and use a rust preventative primer.

Should I also leave the bearing race on the tree or whatever you want to call it? I assume as long as they look to be in good shape I can re use them and the ball bearings.

I got my paint from here www.thecoatingstore.com
I used a filler primer for the tins, the single stage black(hot rod black) for the frame and small bits, and then the UC-410 clear over duplicolor I used for the color on the tins. I also no pro when it comes to paint, but I had sprayed nitro lacquer on a few guitars before and that's the extent of my experience. I have nothing to compare those products to but I think they're fantastic for the price.

I had my frame sand blasted before paint. I used a self etching primer and sprayed the black immediately. I'm sure you could just clean it up sanding and with wire wheels although it would take a while and be a pain I'm sure. My frame was pretty clean overall so I probably could have just cleaned it up myself but I felt it would be better to have it blasted. I actually have a small portable sand blaster from harbor freight that I used on the small bits with great success, but there was no way I was going to try that on the frame...it would have taken forever.

Yes, I left all of the bearing races and just masked them for blasting and paint then reused the ball bearings. Mine was all in good shape so I felt no inclination to replace then with new taper bearing...I had even dropped one of the bearings on the floor of the barn and lost it but picked up one at the hardware store to replace it. If I remember correctly they're .25" which seemed odd to me on a metric bike.

 

[dillon0990]

Awesome I will leave the bearing races in and just tape them off they look to be in good shape. I did drop some bearing but I think I found them all luckily. That looks like some good paint I will give it a try. If you don't mind me asking how much was it to have your frame sand blasted? I have never had anything sandblasted so I would like to get an idea on a price. I can only think of one or two places near by that sandblast and I don't want to over pay.

 

[dilbone]

Cost me $80, killed me to pay someone to do that but in the end the time savings was worth it.

 

[dillon0990]

Wow I was thinking a little cheaper than that, but it would take me forever to sand the
frame down and remove all of the rust before paint. So I got my forks all taken apart tonight. I even got to make a tool that I found on one of the threads. I don't know what I would do with out all of the info on here. I am going to go ahead and paint the lowers. Should I sand them down to roughen them up before paint? I figure that would help the primer stick better. The lowers don't look very shiny right now. They are shiny in some spots and then look like they have a coating on other parts that is dull. Do I need to buff them, then sand them, then paint, or just sand and paint? Right now I am battling the fork seals. I cannot get them out at all without prying, but I don't want to ding up the lowers. I have read about people boiling them for ten min to help soften them up. Anyone else try this?





Forks all taken apart




My special tool for holding dampener to remove bottom hex bolt. Worked like a charm even if it doesn't look pretty.



This is the dull parts i am talking about. when hitting them with a little sand paper it comes off and makes a lot of gray dust.



Here is my current battle

 

[fredintoon]

Hi Dillon,
I'd use a power buffer and polish those fork lowers.
And getting the fork seals out is easy once you realize you can wreck the old ones because you will be using new ones.
And that under all that crud there's a wire circlip holding the seal in place that has to be pried out first.
And that those stock crowded ball race steering head bearings you are so keen to reinstall are 1890s technology. Replace them with Timken tapered roller races at 5 x the bearing capacity.

 

[rshelbert]

I honestly am not 100% certain on the fork lowers but most bikes I have worked with have them clear coated over bare aluminum. If so you are going to have to strip that off before you can polish or paint if you want a nice finish. Even more so if its already corroded through some.

If you carefully use some paint stripper and then polish them they will look very nice, some people even re-clear them.

 

[dilbone]

If you want to polish those you're gonna have to spend some serious time sanding and wet sandind to get all of the oxidation and pitting off. Then you'll have to polish those for the rest of your life lol unless you clear over them.
I personally would clean/rough them up with some 320 grit and use the self etching primer and paint.

For the seals I ended up using an 8mm allen wrench in a vice. The short bend end of the allen wrench can be hooked under the edge of the seal on one side while the bend end just barely rests on top of the seal on the opposite side and avoids contact with the lower. You can then just pry it right out using the lower as your lever since the allen wrench is in the vice. I did use some gasket remover on mine first though to loosen things up a bit. Wish I'd have taken a pic of what I did because I dont know if what I described makes any sense.

 

[dillon0990]

I have all of the clips and washers out of the lowers and now the seals are stuck in there good. I like ur idea for the seals dilbone that sounds like it would work...too bad I don't have a vice but I think its time to buy one. I will need it for other things down the road.

I really don't want to get into the polishing every day to keep the lowers clean. Paint sounds like the best options and I like the look. I just wasn't sure if I needed to remove ALL of the oxidization before painting.

I could see how this dull look on the lowers is some type of a clear coat that has worn away on some parts. I will try to remove it before painting to get a good finish.

Fredintoon- Sounds like you recommend replacing the old races and ball bearings. I think that might be a good idea. What is the correct way to remove the old races from the neck? I assume they are pressed in.

Do you think the tapered bearings sold by mikexs would work well? https://www.mikesxs.net/product/28-2009.html