The new life of a 72' XS II - Build thread

Speaking in general terms Welding is a S*it method and should mostly be Avoided in machinery of this type
I have extensive experience with steel on excavators and other places.
It has two problems
The welders skills and the Metallurgical facts.
In steel the welding beats up the welded region metallurgically Grain size and composition of the metal
and introduces more or less stresses because of the melt contracting cooling down
against the other cold regions if not cracks directly.
It is used ( Welding ) ..out on the filed welding ( Stressed parts ) ) it together but in most cases it wont hold any longer time
At which one can choose to weld again.
( On a side note after the war I know or knew of one that at nights scored massive amounts -- very much money -- per night welding and the equivalent of a months pay as piping installer ) weld repairing car engine Blocks that had frozen under the war. Cast iron
He was a Pipe installer and welded with Acetylene gas and his partner was a welding expert that knew of preheating and Cooling down
procedures.
Making it at least a for some time usable engine .They did crack again :But then after the war . People wanted and needed cars and industry was bombed out so one could not buy new ) Reason they did it nights was to keep it secret how they did it :Nowadays there are sticks even for stick welding.

Aluminum then .. ??? I don't know The skill of the welder comes in And I don't know of the Metallurgical on aluminum
But if this was me I would consider finding a replacement block . I did that when my chain Broke .
 
I have contact to a professional welder and tuner with more years of experience than I’m old, who works on race bikes that cost 10x more than any of my projects - he supposedly welds engines with worse cracks than mine quite often, so I’m hoping modern technology in competent hands will be able to fix it, otherwise I’ll find a replacement
 
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Engine disassembled - I noticed a chip in three teeth in the gears, and one of roller bearings (?) that goes inside the gearshift drum was missing, my guess is it broke off and fell straight down into the gears.. I’ll have to determine if I should replace the gears.
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When I assembled the clutch last time I told myself I would buy new screws with Allan head next time I had to take the spring screws out, that time has come - why on earth did they use this type head here..
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Anyway I just have to figure out when I can drop off the case to be welded, order the clutch spring screws and possibly new gears.

I’ve also tried to figure out what shocks to use, as I intend to ride it light off-road - fully aware it’ll never handle like a dirt bike, weighing too much, too little ground clearance and a possibly too tall gearing, but fuck it.
The choice is currently between falcon shocks in steel, njb ultimate and rock shocks - considering putting a different taller front end on in the future.
 
Good situation to evaluate the rest
Small end play con rods and bearings
There are specs online
Will it go to the same welder ? As last time ?
Pictures on welding inside and outside would be interesting Before / After
I bought a used Gear Box from England at ca 100 Euro a couple of years ago
Found it on e -bay.
But most cog wheels was available then but can be different for early model.
 
Definitely, was also considering changing the 5th gear for the overdrive while I had it open again, but costs are a serious consideration while studying.

It will not go to the same welder as last time, while he is a capable welder, he specializes in furniture and custom solutions. When he got it, the crack was only visible from the inside and did not go through, he drilled one hole and then welded the outside on top of where he guessed the crack was..

If I replace the two gears I’ll buy new ones I think
 
Hahah you're right, I was a bit stressed about some exams and didn't think about it too much - I'll change the gears that's damaged, first I'll try to find some unused gears, as pretty much everything else inside the engine is new - but I am beginning to think the solution will be to find a used case/engine with gears I can swap, we'll see. I prefer to use the cases I have because it's more difficult and the numbers match.

So far the shopping list is:
New camshaft seals
Transmission gears
Shift drum pin roller
Labor (welder)
Shocks
 
Ordered new gears nos from the states, so it’ll be a while before they’re here, but I recon it was a good call compared to used.

I was lucky enough to catch corona after Christmas, so I’m in isolation waiting to drop off the engine case, as soon as I’m clear.
Here’s some pictures of before anyway:
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It might be interesting for some to know that the bike weighed 180 kg when it was ready for inspection (had to be weighed as I didn’t have paperwork) that’s with a stock exhaust and the start motor still there.
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looking forward to seeing how much it’ll be with the high exhaust and a bit of weight shaved off. (not much, but every bit counts)
 
Well no Expert on the early models but if that is a Stock Exhaust in good condition
Which I don't believe it is
It can be worth two months rent or so Maybe close to five digits in DKK aka 4 in US $
Perhaps more than the rest of the bike --again no expert ..but be careful with those
 
Well no Expert on the early models but if that is a Stock Exhaust in good condition
Which I don't believe it is
It can be worth two months rent or so Maybe close to five digits in DKK aka 4 in US $
Perhaps more than the rest of the bike --again no expert ..but be careful with those
It’s not, it’s from a newer model, might even be from a Honda - we just use it to pass inspection here.
Point was that it’s as heavy as the original, so when replaced it should shed a fair bit off the scale.
It barely says anything with that on, which I might need to mimic as the government just started doing roadside inspections.
 
Engine case back from being welded, i asked for him to put a lot of extra material in there, and well he definitely did 😄
He said that it wasn’t easy, might be because it’s on top of the other weld - but it looks sturdy even though it’s not pretty.

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I also received some new parts today: clutch bolts with Allan head, cam gasket,…, and the starter motor block off kit (a bit mad at myself for not just making it, but it was pretty cheap)

I’m going to grind down the weld a bit, primarily to make room for the engine mount, otherwise just to smoothen it out, without removing too much material.
 
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I’m quite impressed that it’s still possible to find old new original parts, made for a bike from 72’
eBay is not half bad, even though these had to travel the long way from the states to Scandinavia.

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Transmission gears replaced, tolerances checked, chemical metal and alustick used to smoothen out the transition from rear engine mount, instead of sanding down the weld. And painted the upper case and left engine case again. New clutch bolts in.
Assembled the lot, tomorrow I’ll put the top on again and put it back in the frame. 🤘
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That’s a smart approach, leave the weld intact and just kind of hide it. It’s not a really visible are anyways. Good job! I’m liking the way the bike looks, very tough!
That was the idea, after seeing the weld I was going to just leave paint it as I didn’t want to compromise the strength, but luckily one of the guys in my collective workshop suggested i filled it out instead. The alustick has some decent properties both strength and resistance to heat, and is normally used to repair metal cracks, so it probably increased the strength slightly, though the primary goal was to hide the weld, which it definitely does.
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It’s been a slow couple of weeks, a few bits and pieces mounted, tidied up some electrics, bought a new smaller mirror, found a nos steering damper, just need the lower part now.
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control lights still work, but the left hand switches seem to have a loose connection at times, so I’ll need to open it up again.
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Adjusted a bunch of stuff, just need to put in oil and gas, adjust the ignition and carbs ✌️
 
Just received a new cam chain from xs650shop.de - great packing! even though it's just a chain it was well tucked in with paper :thumbsup:
When I ordered the gear bearings from yambits.co.uk they were all loose inside the box and the gaskets were bent so much they almost cracked...
Great job xs 650 shop :D:thumbsup:
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I have bought from XS shop 650 in Kiel for many years . And will Continue with that " Deutsche Ordnung "
I don't mind pay a little extra if it should be so .. He has his act together.
I rarely buy from other places.

You probably know of the Denmark Club that can be people to cooperate with

http://www.yamahaxs650.dk/Forside/Default.aspx
 
I have bought from XS shop 650 in Kiel for many years . And will Continue with that " Deutsche Ordnung "
I don't mind pay a little extra if it should be so .. He has his act together.
I rarely buy from other places.

You probably know of the Denmark Club that can be people to cooperate with

http://www.yamahaxs650.dk/Forside/Default.aspx
We have a local danish shop who specializes in the xs650 as well (ringstedmotor.dk), but they are slightly more expensive (guessing it's the extra vat we pay in dk), and the xs650shop.de actually somehow manage to get the parts to my door quicker, despite the extra several hundred kilometers.

I wish I could support the local business, but being a student the budget just doesn't allow it, so i'll just pretend it's my German and Dutch ancestors making me buy from heidentuning and xsshop (if getting new parts) 😇
 
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