never before seen 1975 forks and fender

DogBunny

Motorcychologist
Top Contributor
Messages
3,710
Reaction score
4,746
Points
263
Location
Austin, Texas
New to me.
IMG_0971.jpg

First, here is a "normal" 1975 for reference.

IMG_0120.JPG

And here is a "European" double disc 1975 from Sweden.

IMG_0118.JPG

The caliper is behind, instead of in front of the fork.

IMG_0119.JPG

The axle clamp is on the wrong side and the axle is reversed. Okay, so far no big deal, it just looks like the forks and everything else are reversed.

IMG_0117.JPG

But check out this fender. No grooves for the brake line, and no cut-outs on the fork brace.

IMG_0115.JPG

And check this out: a redundant brake line clamp hole (arrow). Never seen before on any year XS650.
Also look at the red circle -- the fork brace mount tabs do not stick out far enough. That is because the fork brace mount holes are only 50mm, center-to-center. On every XS650 for the American market, that measurement is 60mm, regardless of year. Finally, the fork brace mounts are too far down the fork. Go above one pic to the fender picture, and you can see that the fork brace is considerably longer than a normal fork brace.
 
And the Yamaha caliper mounts/spacings are correct on the forks !!!

Could you have some early prototype parts that have survived the times?

Scott
 
I am still looking for pictures of an early RD350,to check. Maybe the forks are RD. But the mudguard is a mystery.
 
Looks like the Euro double disc fork to me. Maybe a serviceman stationed in Europe purchased it there and brought the bike home with him?
 
5twins, you are correct -- I just have never seen one before. Bike is in Sweden.

In my opinion, this is a 100% correct XS650 fender and forks, it's just on a European model with differences that were not available in North America. It is only on factory double disc models. Were double disc models even sold in the U.S.? I'm surprised that no European Forum members who know about this fender and forks haven't chimed in yet.

I searched through Google images and found some more examples. The tell-tale giveaway in these pictures is the redundant brake line clamp hole. In some of the pics you can also see that the axle is reversed.

201204301217520.XS650 lh.jpg
Here's a really good example -- the pic is so huge that I thumb-nailed it.

Capture.PNG

The full specs on this bike are here:
http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/yamaha/yamaha_xs650 77.htm
Rasputin -- front wheel is listed as 19".
This bike is listed as a 1977. If I had expanded my Google image search to 1974, 1976, and 1977 I probably would have found more examples.

Untitled-1.jpg

One more, from a video.

xs650-chop-noid-DIJON_2011_311-587x367.jpg

A French 1975. More on this one here:
http://www.xs650chopper.com/2011/12/fredo-650-xs-1975/
 
Last edited:
Back
Top