Well, I may be back!

[cmyoch]

I took a 3 1/2 year hiatus from the XS. I sold my '78 Special to focus on other projects and have not done much riding. To make a long story short, a neighbor has an '81 Special that he has ridden by my place a few times and I would share stories about my time with my bike and what similar issues we've both had and how I handled some other items with my bike. Well, yesterday, he offered to let me take his bike up the road. Without hesitation, I hopped on, kicked it and took off. I very much now miss my bike. This short ride took me back to all the fun I had and how great these bikes are. He is interested in a tractor that I have no need for and he offered a trade for his bike. Needless to say, I agreed without mentioning this to my wife so I may be the proud owner of another XS! This bike is a low mile 1981 model with about 5k miles on it. Cosmetically it needs some attention but I could care less about that. It has the usual intermittent charging issues and the electric starter apparently doesn't work. Neither of these concern me at the moment because I remember ripping my hair out with the long list of issues I had with my '78. The deal has not been set yet but I can bet it is pretty well happening.

I logged on to the forum for the first time in a few years. It was comforting to see a lot of familiar user names and sad to see some are no longer with us. Dick Russell (Grizld) lived about an hour and a half South of me and we used to catch up on the phone a lot. He had ridden to my home to help me with my top end rebuild and we met for lunch in between our homes to catch up. I will dearly miss him. Anyway, it feels good to potentially be back in familiar territory.

Once I seal the deal, I will post some pictures as well as give the bike a good assessment to make sure it stays in its original glory. I look forward to talking soon!

Craig

 

[gggGary]

We're waiting...
Let's see what'cha got ;^)

 

[badlegbill]

I took a 3 1/2 year hiatus from the XS. I sold my '78 Special to focus on other projects and have not done much riding. To make a long story short, a neighbor has an '81 Special that he has ridden by my place a few times and I would share stories about my time with my bike and what similar issues we've both had and how I handled some other items with my bike. Well, yesterday, he offered to let me take his bike up the road. Without hesitation, I hopped on, kicked it and took off. I very much now miss my bike. This short ride took me back to all the fun I had and how great these bikes are. He is interested in a tractor that I have no need for and he offered a trade for his bike. Needless to say, I agreed without mentioning this to my wife so I may be the proud owner of another XS! This bike is a low mile 1981 model with about 5k miles on it. Cosmetically it needs some attention but I could care less about that. It has the usual intermittent charging issues and the electric starter apparently doesn't work. Neither of these concern me at the moment because I remember ripping my hair out with the long list of issues I had with my '78. The deal has not been set yet but I can bet it is pretty well happening.

I logged on to the forum for the first time in a few years. It was comforting to see a lot of familiar user names and sad to see some are no longer with us. Dick Russell (Grizld) lived about an hour and a half South of me and we used to catch up on the phone a lot. He had ridden to my home to help me with my top end rebuild and we met for lunch in between our homes to catch up. I will dearly miss him. Anyway, it feels good to potentially be back in familiar territory.

Once I seal the deal, I will post some pictures as well as give the bike a good assessment to make sure it stays in its original glory. I look forward to talking soon!

Craig

Oh dear.
Last year I picked up a non-runner XS650SG on a whim (as I had enough bits and an SF with a seriously dead motor, ) it was cheap. I have only regretted it on 2 or 3 days since then.
Enjoyed it so much I was worried I had broken it, fortunately a carb clean appears to have sorted that.
My advice is cosmetically sorted bikes look lovely at the side of the road, I have seen several next to somebody shaking their head.
Don't get me wrong I understand a perfect bike is a wonderful thing I just can't reach that. I love the words "just enjoyed the day".
I like to fiddle with stuff which may be part of it.
Good luck saying goodbye to one tractor and getting something that just pulls like one.

 

[cmyoch]

Here she is. It's a 5,1xx mile 1980 XS650 Special. It belonged to the owner's brother. The bikes rides great. It looks like there are some definite electrical issues that need addressed. The spare battery strapped to the back of the bike is a backup to get back home because of intermittent battery life. I plan on hooking up a voltmeter on my first ride with it to try to isolate the issue. My first guess is the regulator/rectifier is not doing its job.

Once charging is addressed, I'll chase a couple of other gremlins such as the turn signals, hi/lo beam swithch, etc.

I'm excited to ride one of these again!

 

[jetmechmarty]

No. First guess is the charging rotor is shorting or shorted.

 

[jetmechmarty]

Wow! That’s a lovely bike.

Do you know how to check the rotor?

 

[gggGary]

No. First guess is the charging rotor is shorting or shorted.

before that worn brushes, bad wires connectors, grounds.
easy and cheap first

 

[gggGary]

addendum
fuse holders rotted, weak
beauty there for sure!

 

[Melnic]

Congrats, at least he put the right kind of bars on that bike. Pulling the buckhorns and putting standard bars changed everything on both my XS650 and more so on my XJ650.

 

[Adamc]

I took a 3 1/2 year hiatus from the XS. I sold my '78 Special to focus on other projects and have not done much riding. To make a long story short, a neighbor has an '81 Special that he has ridden by my place a few times and I would share stories about my time with my bike and what similar issues we've both had and how I handled some other items with my bike. Well, yesterday, he offered to let me take his bike up the road. Without hesitation, I hopped on, kicked it and took off. I very much now miss my bike. This short ride took me back to all the fun I had and how great these bikes are. He is interested in a tractor that I have no need for and he offered a trade for his bike. Needless to say, I agreed without mentioning this to my wife so I may be the proud owner of another XS! This bike is a low mile 1981 model with about 5k miles on it. Cosmetically it needs some attention but I could care less about that. It has the usual intermittent charging issues and the electric starter apparently doesn't work. Neither of these concern me at the moment because I remember ripping my hair out with the long list of issues I had with my '78. The deal has not been set yet but I can bet it is pretty well happening.

I logged on to the forum for the first time in a few years. It was comforting to see a lot of familiar user names and sad to see some are no longer with us. Dick Russell (Grizld) lived about an hour and a half South of me and we used to catch up on the phone a lot. He had ridden to my home to help me with my top end rebuild and we met for lunch in between our homes to catch up. I will dearly miss him. Anyway, it feels good to potentially be back in familiar territory.

Once I seal the deal, I will post some pictures as well as give the bike a good assessment to make sure it stays in its original glory. I look forward to talking soon!

Craig

Welcome back to the fold.
I look forward to you progress reports and hopefully some pictures too.

 

[jetmechmarty]

Congrats, at least he put the right kind of bars on that bike. Pulling the buckhorns and putting standard bars changed everything on both my XS650 and more so on my XJ650.

Booo!

It already has mini apes on it. It works for me.

 

[5twins]

Looks like the right engine side cover has been "upgraded" to an '81 or later one w/ the oil sight glass, nice upgrade. By the way the brake pedal is all bent up, I can only guess what happened to the original cover, lol. Nice looking bike in very good shape. Judging by how red the red line areas on the speedo and tach still are, it looks like it's been stored indoors most of the time, a good thing.

 

[cmyoch]

I'm glad you guys are laying eyes on this and offering your input. I never thought about the sight glass in the side cover being from a different model.

 

[cmyoch]

Wow! That’s a lovely bike.

Do you know how to check the rotor?

I went through the entire charging system about 13 years ago with my '78 model. It's been a hot minute since I visited that but I'm sure I have notes somewhere. Unfortunately, I sent my manual with all my printed tutorials, notes, etc. with that bike when I sold it. I hesitated giving that away but at the time I thought I was done with the XS. I should have known better!

I'll be looking through some of my old files to see what I've downloaded over the years.

 

[badlegbill]

I have no idea how tall or heavy you are or how long your arms are, but I support the idea that you at least try the oem bars.
I ride my XS Special original factory style because it is hugely comfortable with the original bars and looks, just slightly, odd when hitting the twisty bits with sports bikes.
So much so that I am looking for a pair for my Tedium and will be happy to rewire the switches if I can find another pair..
I hope new brushes sort the charging so that you can check the electrics systematically.

Good luck .

 

[cmyoch]

First shake down ride yesterday and here are my first observations. Right off the bat, I need to dig out my carb sync tool and get those carbs tuned together. It pulls great, has a great power range, and rolls smooth. I forget how nimble these bikes are. Once tuned, the charging system needs addressed as I said before. I noticed a slip in the clutch at high rpm. I don't know if the oil has anything to do with that or not but at 5,100 miles (assuming true mileage) I wouldn't think there's an issue with the clutch pack. The rear brake squeals but feels fine. The clutch cable feels like it needs to be adjusted.
Other than that, I'm excited to ride it. I feel like one good weekend would address most if not all of the issues.

 

[Raymond]

That's a shake-down ride report I'd be happy with. Fully see why yer excited to ride it.

 

[Grimly]

I don't know if the oil has anything to do with that or not but at 5,100 miles (assuming true mileage) I wouldn't think there's an issue with the clutch pack.

Not just mileage, I suspect time spent under pressure can glaze the surfaces. Also possible the PO was a burn-out freak, you never know.

 

[5twins]

I've never run across any still good original clutch springs. It seems they all go soft over time, even if they measure correctly. A set of slightly stiffer aftermarket springs has always cured the clutch slip issue for me.