Okie
XS650 Addict
These bikes can be lightened quite a bit without major surgery. I've cut around 50 lbs. from my D-model and retained a near-stock look. The first thing to focus on is unsprung weight. Installing a plastic front fender from an old GS-series Suzuki (can't recall which) with a Daytona alloy tweak bar for bracing cut 2 lbs. off my front end. A Brembo full float rotor with titanium fasteners and titanium fasteners for the caliper and fender cut another 3-3/4 lbs. 520 chain and sprockets cut 2 lbs., with about 1-1/2 lbs of that unsprung. Lightened chain adjustor blocks with titanium fasteners and adjustor screws and locknuts cut around 1/4 lb. out at the end of the swingarm where it counts. Custom Works Performance alloy-body shocks eliminated around 1 lb., half of it unsprung weight. I use a Veypor data logger with magnetic speedo pickup on the back wheel (magnet sunk in a 1/4" hole in a sprocket bolt head), so I gutted the gears out of a spare speedo drive, using only the shell; with elimination of the speedo cable, this cut around 5 oz.
On general chassis lightening, replacement of OEM double-wall pipes and mufflers with 1-5/8" single-wall pipes and Emgo 17" megaphones cut around 10 lbs. Replacement of the battery box with a homemade aluminum unit with elimination of the safety relay and mechanical regulator cut around 5 lbs. Replacing pegs and controls with Raask rearsets eliminated around 2-1/2 lbs. VM36 carbs and pods eliminated about 2 lbs. Turn signals aren't required in the State of Ill, so they came off and 3 lbs. went with them. I found an aftermarket seat with a plastic pan for the TX650A-XS650 F in NOS condition gathering dust in a local shop; it weighs out 3 lbs. lighter than OEM--and is more comfy on long rides (unfortunately there's no manufacturer's identification anywhere on the thing, so I have no idea who made it). Losing the center stand eliminated 8 lbs. Due to a gimpy right leg (old riding injury), 700 cc. displacement, and static CR north of 10:1 I'm unable to kickstart this motor, so the clutch cover is plugged and the kicker, shaft, and gears have been removed, cutting 4.5 lbs. (if you can do without the electric boot, you can lose around 14 lbs. by removing the starter motor, solenoid, reduction gears and bendix gear train). Eliminating OEM clocks and mounting plate for a single electronic unit (Veypor VR1) clamped to the bars on rubber and mounting an Emgo ignition switch in a hole in the headlight shell cut around 1-1/2 lbs, and another 1/2 lb. or so was eliminated with a Sparx alternator, with a rotor that sits much closer to the centerline.
These machines really respond to being lightened up--go for it!
He says a plastic fender from a GS series Suzuki.