The Bug Killer

[DogBunny]

Who says I never finish anything?
New pipes for the Bug Killer. I bought the tubing for this project FOUR YEARS AGO, almost exactly to the day.


Part of the holdup was the welding of these hanger nuts. The tubing is 1-1/2" OD 316L Stainless Steel 16 gauge (.065), polished. The nuts are stainless. My welder friend who welds stainless just recently returned to town after being gone for a couple of years.


A couple of before pics borrowed from my $40 Amazon Saddlebag thread. In the second pic, note that the welded hanger nut broke, and the pipe is secured with tie wire. It's been that way for at least two years.


Baffle swap. This is one of the first baffles I ever made. I now make them shorter, with smaller diameter EMT, and with tunable 1/4" screws. It's all in this thread:
https://www.xs650.com/threads/homemade-baffles-for-short-pipes.26822/
That thread includes good links to other relevant threads for those making their own pipes, including the needed pipe adapter, clamp, and trim.

 

[Jim]

Love the pipes dude!!
Bug Killer??

 

[WideAWAKE]

I always envisioned you living out in the desert with a pile of xs parts behind your (maybe trailer) house like a pile of tires that anytime anyone needed anything you’d go rummage through haha.

Seems Any time someone’s looking for a part, you got 3 of em.

Reality seems to be much more civilized haha.

And I dig the pipes.

 

[DogBunny]

Love the pipes dude!!
Bug Killer??

This is the same bike 15 years ago, when that name made a little more sense.

Here's the Bug Killer a year earlier, after I made it rideable. At that time I was calling it the White Pearl.

Found this while hunting down pics. This was/is my first XS650, called the Angry Hornet. Inspired by bratstyle.com , the people who, as far as I know, invented the Brat. All this bike needed was a seat. Unfortunately, very soon after finishing it, the crank separated. I harvested the exhaust system, and put it on the Bug Killer, two pics up. This was my first DIY exhaust, and I've been doing them like this ever since.

I should have started a Bike Thread on the Bug Killer 15 years ago. Better late than never, here's my Bug Killer thread now.

 

[DogBunny]

I always envisioned you living out in the desert with a pile of xs parts behind your (maybe trailer) house like a pile of tires that anytime anyone needed anything you’d go rummage through haha.

Seems Any time someone’s looking for a part, you got 3 of em.

Reality seems to be much more civilized haha.

And I dig the pipes.

Don't let the "appearance" of a house fool you. You pretty much nailed it.

 

[DogBunny]

Couple more pics of the Angry Hornet. It had 1" bars, internally wired, using a HD clamp. In-between the clamps are two red leds, one for neutral, and the other a high beam indicator.

Momentary contact micro switch for the horn...

...and another with a Canadian flag on it for the starter. Micro toggle switch for the kill switch. Looks like I hadn't run the throttle cable yet.

 

[WideAWAKE]

View attachment 334704
Couple more pics of the Angry Hornet. It had 1" bars, internally wired, using a HD clamp. In-between the clamps are two red leds, one for neutral, and the other a high beam indicator.

View attachment 334705
Momentary contact micro switch for the horn...

View attachment 334706
...and another with a Canadian flag on it for the starter. Micro toggle switch for the kill switch. Looks like I hadn't run the throttle cable yet.

I plan on doing something similar switch wise for the ts250 I’m working on. Looks clean.

 

[DogBunny]

I plan on doing something similar switch wise for the ts250 I’m working on. Looks clean.

I don't think I could have gotten those switches into a 7/8" bar. Switching to 1" risers is pretty simple and intuitive. Maybe the pic below will help. I think the pic was part of a how-to I made on the old xs650garage forum. I thought that forum was archived somewhere, but I couldn't find it.
I don't think I actually cut the HD top clamp, I think you can buy them like that.

 

[WideAWAKE]

I don't think I could have gotten those switches into a 7/8" bar. Switching to 1" risers is pretty simple and intuitive. Maybe the pic below will help. I think the pic was part of a how-to I made on the old xs650garage forum. I thought that forum was archived somewhere, but I couldn't find it.
I don't think I actually cut the HD top clamp, I think you can buy them like that.

View attachment 334741

Thanks for that.

I am gonna attempt to keep my original bars.

I am still gonna run the original gauges so as far as internal wiring goes, it will just be a toggle for hi/low and horn combo on the left and a kill button on the right.

We’ll see how it goes once I get that far.

I got some micro switches like you got there but it still may be a tight fit. Might have to open up the back side of the bar and run a bumped out over? Time will tell I suppose.

 

[DogBunny]

I should have written more forcefully. You will never get those switches into a 7/8" bar. It was hard enough getting them into a 1" bar. Fishing them in was kind of a fun challenge, but took considerable time.
Outwardly, the switch holes are round. But, inside (or underneath?) they are angled. Beveled with a Dremel. That will make sense, and you will see why, when you try to pull the switch through.
If you want to keep your 7/8" bars, you are going to have to go to Posh Factory switches, starting at $50. The switches I used took a little work to install, but only cost a couple of dollars.

 

[cycleranger]

I always envisioned you living out in the desert with a pile of xs parts behind your (maybe trailer) house like a pile of tires that anytime anyone needed anything you’d go rummage through haha.

Seems Any time someone’s looking for a part, you got 3 of em.

Reality seems to be much more civilized haha.

Yeah, central Texas and Austin isn't the wind swept desert that many people imagine.

 

[DogBunny]

This is the quick release seat skewer that I made to replace the stock hinge pins on the Bug Killer. It was made from a 3' piece of 3/16 in zinc-plated rod purchased at Home Depot for $4.

Here is a short video of it in action. The original tiny cotter pins and hard to get at hinge pins have always driven me slightly crazy.

This is a very brief video of my 1972 Suzuki TS185 Suitcase Cycle, which is where I got this idea from.

Suitcase cycles were modified so that they could be broken down without tools and put into small airplanes.
A must-read history is here:
http://www.check-six.com/Suitcase_cycle/Suitcase_History.htm
Next, go to every link in the menu bar at the top of the page. All kinds of cool vintage pics and stuff.

I've had several Suitcase Cycles pass through my hands, and I've made a lot of videos on them. I started a forum thread on them 3-1/2 years ago here:
https://www.xs650.com/threads/my-suitcase-cycles.59373/
Interestingly, if you Google "Suitcase Cycles," the above thread is now the number three hit!

 

[DogBunny]

Been patiently waiting for a long time for a pair of these XS650 lowering blocks to become available. Finally scored this pair. Had intended to put them on the Super RustBucket, but discovered they will only work on 1974-1980 swingarms. So...


... I put them on the Bug Killer.


Replaced the Suzuki Savage shocks that I'd been running since the beginning with a pair of new vintage S&Ws that I acquired cheap and had been holding forever, intending to put them on some fancy bike that I will never get to.
The S&Ws were made in the U.S. by Monroe, and I guess were pretty decent at the time. S&W was ultimately taken over by Progressive Suspension around 1982.
They do look nice.


I measured the distance from the top shock mount bolt to the ground before and after the change.
Before, Suzuki Savage: 24-3/8"
After, S&W: 25"
So, almost 2" longer shocks, but with lowering blocks, slightly raised the bike, which is probably a good thing. BTW, the front has always been lowered by 1-1/2".


Took a test ride, purposely going over speed bumps and potholes at speed, and I'd say this is an improvement.


The lowering blocks are a nice little piece of chrome.


For the record, this is why they only work on 1974-1980 swingarms, the ones with the separate end piece. The end piece pinch bolt gets replaced with a longer one, and the rear of the block gets bolted to the swingarm end. This is necessary to prevent the block from pivoting up if the wheel leaves the ground.