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Waited for 30 years to own one of these
- Thread starter Sipadan
- Start date
Wow! It even has the lower left side cover. Hens teeth rare. It doesn’t look like much of a project. She looks ready to go to the prom.
Wow! Beautiful bike!
Nice clean looking ride. Enjoy the pain and pleasure of old bike ownership. Good on yer!
Love me the Heritage Specials!
There really is very little pain and immense enjoyment in owning these "not fastest" of the era bikes. Welcome to the foolishness of enjoying a fine machine that seems to get better with age (as we age?).
We want pics. You acquired a good runner? The bike looks nice. The cases seem to be polished. If a clear coat was not applied you will want to wipe them down with an aluminium polish 2 or 3 times a riding season to keep them lovely. These bikes seem to be "stone axe" reliable but have a few minor age related issues. The "Tech" section is your friend here and posting questions or issues in the "Garage" forum gets some notice from good fellows who have centuries of experience on these old girls....
We want pics. You acquired a good runner? The bike looks nice. The cases seem to be polished. If a clear coat was not applied you will want to wipe them down with an aluminium polish 2 or 3 times a riding season to keep them lovely. These bikes seem to be "stone axe" reliable but have a few minor age related issues. The "Tech" section is your friend here and posting questions or issues in the "Garage" forum gets some notice from good fellows who have centuries of experience on these old girls....
Nice ride! It's more fun to ride a slow bike fast, than to ride a fast bike slow! Welcome to the fun.
If it wasn't fast enough when you were younger, It will certainly not be fast enough now.
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I bought one new spring of 1983.... out the deal door for $1604.25... with factory saddlebags.. which I sold straight away... I tossed a 32 sprocket on the rear... Quick Silver ... luggage rack... with back rest.. crash bars with foot pegs.... .. handlebar holder for my soda.... thumb flip cruise lock... Yellowstone National Park , Custer 2nd Place Park... ( both highly recommended ).... Left it parked overnight on the street at the house.... stolen... got it back week later.....Quick Silver busted... engine smokes... Striped it for parks..... 
2024 , Where could you leave an XS650 parked overnight on the street and not worry about crime?
Not even in Eastern Washington state.
I left my '75 sitting in the bar parking lot one night back in '82 when the battery took a dump. Still there in the A.M.2024 , Where could you leave an XS650 parked overnight on the street and not worry about crime?
Not even in Eastern Washington state.
But in 82 a guy could leave his keys in the ignition in the pickup overnight.
What happened?
We as a society have become too accepting of bad behavior for starters. There are not the consequences there once were. Grand theft auto was a sure fire way to spent some serious time in prison in the 60's-70's, now it's treated like jaywalking. I believe it was Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan who coined the phrase "defining deviancy down".
Dunno I had my car stolen off small town Baraboo residential street in oh about 1980. Mea Culpa it had the ignition key only in it. So someone was inside "shopping" before they found the key. They stuck a bicycle in the back seat. It was found in an abandoned quarry the next day, out of gas and basically unharmed. Whew.
Cops were pretty much; well you left the key in it dum bass.
Thieves have always been with us, but it's my contention that society's tolerance of them has made the situation worse.Dunno I had my car stolen off small town Baraboo residential street in oh about 1980. Mea Culpa it had the ignition key only in it. So someone was inside "shopping" before they found the key. They stuck a bicycle in the back seat. It was found in an abandoned quarry the next day, out of gas and basically unharmed. Whew.
Cops were pretty much; well you left the key in it dum bass.
Remembering it was 1987 in Bend Oregon the first time somebody in the night went through my 70 Chev Pickup and took my flashlight and fire extinguisher.
Locked my trucks mostly after that.
And yes, seems nowadays the blame of the vehicle crime in your driveway or even elsewhere too often gets pointed at yourself more than the criminal. Even for leaving electronic devices visible in a locked vehicle, Your fault!
Locked my trucks mostly after that.
And yes, seems nowadays the blame of the vehicle crime in your driveway or even elsewhere too often gets pointed at yourself more than the criminal. Even for leaving electronic devices visible in a locked vehicle, Your fault!
Had it parked in front of my house.... a area of the cities that wasn't considered a crime area. It was recovered by the St Paul cops... they could have called me... but Nooooo.... they have to haul it to the impound lot and send me a post card notice. This way they get that additional 3 days of storage fees. I kept the bike for a while..... Had it parked in front of my work place.... (Minneapolis) and a police car rolled up to it... the cop was excited.... I approached... asked what's up... " this is bike stolen ! ".... I explained it was but, I'm the owner and it was recovered.... It took a while to get it sorted... seems the St Paul cops didn't remove it from the stolen list. So., imagine... I'm riding along.... the automatic license plate reader pops up on the onboard police scanner... " stolen motorcycle "... I get pulled over.. a 9mm Clock stuck in my ear.. slammed to the pavement... cuffed... while I'm shouting it's my bike ! 
