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MadMax1996

MadMax1996

XS650 Member
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Location
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Howdy folks,
Glad to see there's what appears to be a bunch of people from all over the world who share the same money pit of a hobby I'm falling into. I'm here to soak up just about everything there can be known about my new passion in bike restoration. Specifically regarding my 1975 Yamaha XS650.
I'm currently in the process of swapping the stock CV carb for a Mikuni VM34 round slide carb. Replacing the EM stater, charging system, alternator, or whatever you want it to be called for a PMA charging system. Along with replacing the currently broken clutch cable with one found on Mike's.

This is my second bike as well as my second year riding. With that said I'm a complete novice and am looking for some guidance. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Max
 
welcome MadMax1996,

First bit of advice.....don't buy a thing until you have discussed and asked questions with the members on here...........A PMA is not necessarily an improvement and and stators very rarely have any problems.......in fact i haven't heard of any, although I'm sure there has been some. The rotor is usually the culprit and these can be rewound for a very reasonable price. The clutch cable from mikesXS are not the best quality and there are better one from Motion pro...........

So again welcome and ask on here before making any decisions and that goes for listening to friends who know...........
 
650Skull said:
welcome MadMax1996,

First bit of advice.....don't buy a thing until you have discussed and asked questions with the members on here...........A PMA is not necessarily an improvement and and stators very rarely have any problems.......in fact i haven't heard of any, although I'm sure there has been some. The rotor is usually the culprit and these can be rewound for a very reasonable price. The clutch cable from mikesXS are not the best quality and there are better one from Motion pro...........

So again welcome and ask on here before making any decisions and that goes for listening to friends who know...........
Click to expand...
Hey thanks for the advice. Could you shoot me the link to Motion pro.
 
Lot of people have used them......no opinion myself, i have used original CV carbs and EX500 CV carbs are a popular substitute.
Long read but the fist 15-20 pages have all the relevant information
http://www.xs650.com/threads/ninja-ex500-carbs-on-an-xs650.13070/

Tell us a bout the bike, some history and pics are always good.........quite often these bikes have had a lot of alterations. as in. swapped parts from other years. Quite important when getting advice on things to know whats what.........Showing pics the guys on here will be able to identify any year/part changes that have been done to the bike. Fro 74 -83 the frame was basically the same. 74-76 had a 34mm front forks and 77-83 had 35mm forks. These, With the triple trees, are a straight swap into the head-stock of the frame, but internals are different.

Just as an example if you were to do work on your forks, as a 75, then advice will be given for 34mm forks. If by chance they have been swapped to 35mm forks you could end up buying the wrong parts.......

Also there are time differences from all over the world. Most of the US and Europe guys are asleep, and don't get active till it is about 2 am, down here.
 
Last edited:
Welcome Max - from Canada’s sunny southern coast in Windsor Ontario!

Totally agree with Skull on the electrical stuff - the stock stators seem very robust. The rotors do occasionally fail but forum member Jim Dent can rewind them better than new for a very reasonable price and updating the stock regulator and rectifier (two connected, but entirely separate parts) to a modern solid state combination unit, is cheap and easy.

As for carbs - I run stock Mikunis on my bikes and they work fine but others may have better advice. Clutch cables; I had a MikesXS cable on my ‘76 and it lasted four years before failing last month. The Motion Pro cables are thicker and seem to run smoother - for about the same money.

While all XS650s are very similar and many parts swap from year to year, the front forks are a fair bit more complex with two different diameters (1970-76 had 34 mm tubes and 1977-84 had 35 mm tubes) and several different styles of internal damping mechanisms. The front brake calipers have similar variations - so you’ll need to be cautious when ordering parts for them too.

The first thing I would do is get a shop manual for the bike - and then post your questions on the forum in your own build thread with lots of photos.

Now, Wisconsin.....let me think for a moment....is there anyone in Wisconsin who knows XS650s.... hmmmmmm.

Hey - IDEA - you might gggGo to the members directory and see if anyone in Cheeseland gggGives Wisconsin as their home state.

hehehehe

Pete
 
Last edited:
Welcome MadMax1996! For what it's worth...I have run the stock CV carb and they work great...if yours are good, keep them. However, I recently swapped to VM34's and am quite happy with them. For me, it's a personal taste/decision... I have been tuning slide-pull carbs (with some honda's I race) and have become quite experienced at it, so I found them to be far easier to tune. I like the direct pull aspects, non-linked carbs, and jetting is pretty easy to dial in. The CV's are easy too, and there's a bit more you can do...so good running CV's are hard to beat...and linked carbs set up correct are super convenient...so again, it's a personal taste/decision. Good luck!
 
MadMax1996 said:
What's your opinions on the VM34 round slide carburetors? I'm looking for simplicity and durability.
Click to expand...
What are you going to do with the bike? The original CV carburetors are very street friendly. The operation tends to be very smooth. If you're going racing, not so much. The pull direct on the slide carburetors react much faster than the CV carbs. They react when you hit a bump, too. Maybe that helps?
 
Last edited:
MaxPete said:
Now, Wisconsin.....let me think for a moment....is there anyone in Wisconsin who knows XS650s.... hmmmmmm.

Hey - IDEA - you might gggGo to the members directory and see if anyone in Cheeseland gggGives Wisconsin as their home state.

hehehehe

Pete
Click to expand...

Subtle, Pete...Veeeerrry subtle. :umm::laughing:
 
Let me preface this by saying it's your bike and your money and you're a Big Boy so do what you want to do. Lots and lots of people have gone with a PMA and VM34's (or other carbs) and been happy.

However, I'll add another vote for keeping the stock charging system and the CV carbs. If it ain't broke...

Spend your initial time and money getting to know the bike, getting it running well and getting some seat time on it. Down the road, you'll have more data from which to make a decision and may decide that those upgrades make sense. If you like it as is, you can drop the cash you saved on a new helmet.

Or another XS...:p

JMHO.
 
Welcome, Max. You're doing your research before you buy, and that's a recipe for success; we've seen many tales of woe from guys who did it the other way around.

Re. PM systems, the only one I think well of is the VAPE combined ignition and charging system; it's made Czechoslovakia, where they actually practice quality assurance, and includes a crank-driven electronic ignition--lots of bang for the buck. Hoos Racing sells that product for a very reasonable price. But if you just want a reliable charging system, the best bang for the buck is a rewound rotor from Jim, a member on this site. A quick search will turn up plenty on his very fine work. A word to the wise: quite a few guys have fried electronic ignitions by trying to run them with a PMA, capacitor, and no battery, in spite of many warnings.

Re. VM carb kits, there are only two U.S. vendors I know of who'll assure you of properly baselined jetting with genuine Mikuni brass, quality components, personal tech support, and a decent price. One is Michael Morse at 650 Central and the other is Gary Hoos at Hoos Racing.

Good luck with your project!
 
650Skull said:
Lot of people have used them......no opinion myself, i have used original CV carbs and EX500 CV carbs are a popular substitute.
Long read but the fist 15-20 pages have all the relevant information
http://www.xs650.com/threads/ninja-ex500-carbs-on-an-xs650.13070/

Tell us a bout the bike, some history and pics are always good.........quite often these bikes have had a lot of alterations. as in. swapped parts from other years. Quite important when getting advice on things to know whats what.........Showing pics the guys on here will be able to identify any year/part changes that have been done to the bike. Fro 74 -83 the frame was basically the same. 74-76 had a 34mm front forks and 77-83 had 35mm forks. These, With the triple trees, are a straight swap into the head-stock of the frame, but internals are different.

Just as an example if you were to do work on your forks, as a 75, then advice will be given for 34mm forks. If by chance they have been swapped to 35mm forks you could end up buying the wrong parts.......

Also there are time differences from all over the world. Most of the US and Europe guys are asleep, and don't get active till it is about 2 am, down here.
Click to expand...
I should be able to post some more pictures tomorrow. I'll give a run down on what I know of the bike as wepl
Mailman said:
Or orphaned tractors! :laugh2:
Click to expand...
Don't be hating on orphaned tractors. :lmao:
 

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