Scrambled
Motorcycle Man
I took over 2 years to find my bike, a stock '78 E standard . I wanted to start with a low mileage bike that was unmolested and a good runner , that way I wouldn't need to rebuild the entire bike , I could pick and choose what I wanted to do and when to do it.
I had a BSA 441 Victor back in the 70s and I always liked the British scramblers even though most of them were just the street model with the exhaust re-rooted, wider bars and fold up foot pegs, just those few simple changes made a great looking bike.
The first time I saw an XS I wanted to know if they made a scrambler model, and of course they did not. So, I have wanted to give an XS the scrambler treatment for over 40 years.
It took a while to find the right bike, and I payed a fair price for it, but it came with alloy spoke rims ( I had a hard time finding one without mags) and came with a bunch of spare parts , lot's of them were brand new including a Pamco with the high output coil . ( the guy bought it but was afraid to install it ) So far I have installed the Pamco ( had it installed, I got it done for way less than the price of a timing light )put on a XS performance 2 into 1 with the shorty muffler ( fit perfectly, runs great, and sounds mean) I put in new fork springs and new shocks which lifted the bike almost 2", ( losing the stock exhaust and the passenger pegs shaved off lots of weight). I want to keep the stock look so I can get vintage bike insurance, which is cheap ( they won't insure heavily modified bikes, so I can't chop the frame up) I put the old chrome fenders back on ( had painted ones on it, and chrome just looks right on that bike) . I put short stem signal lights on the back ( they were off the shelf, today I am going to cut stock ones down for the front) . I got fork gaiters to put on ( I know, they dont do anything but they look cool ) and my new seat cover should be here soon.
So, now I have all winter to finish this . I want to use mostly off the shelf parts because I do not have a machiene shop and I only have the basic tools. My next step is carbs, flatsides. After that, beef up the clutch ( not sure what has been done in there so I might as well ), Then I want to get rid of the dual disk and put a light weight single on. What else.... get rid of the stock instument cluster ( heavy and ugly ) replace with chrome minies, pick out some bars ( hope I can just use exising cables ) and some vintage looking street trail tires. One thing I would like to add would be an aluminium tank , like the old BSAs and Royal Enfields had . I will post pictures as soon as one of the kids either shows me how or does it for me, so far my off the shelf bike looks great and runs even better.
I had a BSA 441 Victor back in the 70s and I always liked the British scramblers even though most of them were just the street model with the exhaust re-rooted, wider bars and fold up foot pegs, just those few simple changes made a great looking bike.
The first time I saw an XS I wanted to know if they made a scrambler model, and of course they did not. So, I have wanted to give an XS the scrambler treatment for over 40 years.
It took a while to find the right bike, and I payed a fair price for it, but it came with alloy spoke rims ( I had a hard time finding one without mags) and came with a bunch of spare parts , lot's of them were brand new including a Pamco with the high output coil . ( the guy bought it but was afraid to install it ) So far I have installed the Pamco ( had it installed, I got it done for way less than the price of a timing light )put on a XS performance 2 into 1 with the shorty muffler ( fit perfectly, runs great, and sounds mean) I put in new fork springs and new shocks which lifted the bike almost 2", ( losing the stock exhaust and the passenger pegs shaved off lots of weight). I want to keep the stock look so I can get vintage bike insurance, which is cheap ( they won't insure heavily modified bikes, so I can't chop the frame up) I put the old chrome fenders back on ( had painted ones on it, and chrome just looks right on that bike) . I put short stem signal lights on the back ( they were off the shelf, today I am going to cut stock ones down for the front) . I got fork gaiters to put on ( I know, they dont do anything but they look cool ) and my new seat cover should be here soon.
So, now I have all winter to finish this . I want to use mostly off the shelf parts because I do not have a machiene shop and I only have the basic tools. My next step is carbs, flatsides. After that, beef up the clutch ( not sure what has been done in there so I might as well ), Then I want to get rid of the dual disk and put a light weight single on. What else.... get rid of the stock instument cluster ( heavy and ugly ) replace with chrome minies, pick out some bars ( hope I can just use exising cables ) and some vintage looking street trail tires. One thing I would like to add would be an aluminium tank , like the old BSAs and Royal Enfields had . I will post pictures as soon as one of the kids either shows me how or does it for me, so far my off the shelf bike looks great and runs even better.
