What have you done to your XS today?

Didn’t really do anything to the bike today, but took a short field trip. There’s only one shop I’m aware of in the area that will work on vintage bikes. I hadn’t been to the shop in almost 2 years, but recently saw where they moved to a new location. They’ve always had some fun bikes in their showroom, and the owner races 350 Hondas I believe. He’s a nice guy a few years younger than me. It’s good to see someone keeping an old Indy shop open these days. As luck would have it, I had a work dinner just down the street, so I knew I had to check it out. I figured I’d order a new chain and see if they had any spark plugs and spend some bucks there instead of the internet. He’s checking to see if he can order any BP7’s but told him I’d take resistor plugs and new caps as a last resort. I love the smell of old bike shops, earthy, oily and a hint of 2 stroke smoke. Anyway not much else to share, so I’ll show a few of his bikes on the floor.

Owner’s personal race bike
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Sweet RD350 with a custom head and pipe
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Nice custom CB. very clean 90E6BD6D-943A-4255-936D-99573BD54A5E.jpeg

Hopped up DOHC CB750 supersport
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A couple early twins
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There’s some other early Hondas in that last photo that you can probably pick out too. No idea what the asking prices are except on the CB/CL. I saw those on CL for about 3500. It was a fun trip. I’ll be back next week to pick up my parts. Wish there were more shops like this still around.
 
MY WIFE WILL THROTTLE ME.......!
The Domino products are great but none would fulfill my application.
After struggling to find any decent quality (read 'not Chinashite' plastic) throttle assemblies something pooped into my in-box from REVIVAL USA.

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Now thats more like it; but didn't want the hassle and expense of shipping into the UK.
Also means the cable comes straight off the front of the unit.

A quick search on Google brought up a supplier with stock in the UK via eBay:

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I also bought some grips from eBay too:

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OK this little lot was a bit pricey, but quality counts if you want the right finish and reliability.
Better include @JesseeS as he might be interested in these.:devil:
Nice choice! I thought about that throttle but ultimately went with the Domino rally vintage. I do love those grips. Those are also in the cart for when the ones the throttle came with wear out.
 
Hi everyone
Haven't had a lot of shed time lately but have added parts and fabbed an instrument cluster for new clocks so thought some pics were in order as these are always fun to check out, the bikes come a long way from complete rust bucket to now.
Brakes and wiring are next major works required with front brake cylinders proving quite difficult to disassemble, would have been near imposable without the good advice given on this forum.
 

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Hi everyone
Haven't had a lot of shed time lately but have added parts and fabbed an instrument cluster for new clocks so thought some pics were in order as these are always fun to check out, the bikes come a long way from complete rust bucket to now.
Brakes and wiring are next major works required with front brake cylinders proving quite difficult to disassemble, would have been near imposable without the good advice given on this forum.
Absolutely love the clean lines and look of your build. A fine piece of work and surely calendar worthy?
 
OLD SCHOOL ENGINEERING.....
Some of you may recall the old school bike work shop in post #11307
The two Dave's that work there recommended ARCH ENGINEERING at Newport Docks for any specialist metal work needed;
apparently highly regarded by many heavy industry trades. I needed wheel spacers so looked them up.
Newport Docks were once the worlds largest exporter of coal during the industrial revolution. Now a shadow of its glorious past.
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So I went to the docks in search of ARCH ENGINEERING and drove past the unit three times before asking directions and getting sent where I needed to be.
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As you can see its hardly easy to identify.
But what you are greeted by when walking in is a really old school engineering shop that still use accurate micrometers to measure things rather than vernier gauges! I was met by Charlie the son of the owner Kieth. As it transpires I went to school with Kieth and played rugby with him for years. He was a cracking scrum half and went on to play at higher club level; whilst I chased the girls! I haven't seen Kieth for over 40 years!
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Kieth is an ex-Outlaw Hells Angel member and he looks different to when I teamed up with him last; so didn't instantly recognise him.
He is now a totally spiritual person who meditates twice a day. He has worked at ARCH for 44 years starting as an apprentice; and now owns the workshop.
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What a place....... And yes I did get my wheel spacers made for The Welsh Flat Tracker.
Ads.:devil:
 

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Ring to ring should be about 5Ω. Either ring to ground should read ∞
Ring to ring 5 ohms when warm.
I cleaned contacts at battery and solenoid. I had the battery load tested at Batteries Plus. I thought about how to read voltage while riding and remembered Russ from the Ozarks rally showed me his little voltmeter so the Brown truck delivered this little gem for $11 and I installed it (velcro) this morning. Now I need to ride and monitor the alternator output.
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I finally fitted a special seat pad to a standard seat pan for my '77. This is for us 'inseamed' challenged folks.:rolleyes: The pad only needed a slight trim in the very front, otherwise it fit great. Now I don't know if I should install the 'glamour' strip like the original came with. :umm:
 

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I finally fitted a special seat pad to a standard seat pan for my '77. This is for us 'inseamed' challenged folks.:rolleyes: The pad only needed a slight trim in the very front, otherwise it fit great. Now I don't know if I should install the 'glamour' strip like the original came with. :umm:


The shape of that seat pan looks to be a Standard and the shape of the foam looks to be from a 79 Standard. Seat cover is for a 78/79 Special.

Look here Post #4 79F
https://www.xs650.com/threads/xs650...workshop-manuals-and-other-information.30569/

Another tell if it is a Standard or 78/79 Special seat pan is, the special seat latch is longer than the standard so the special seat will lift about an inch and a half on the latch side

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Started the next project today. Starting with a stripped down frame & 1980 engine to build a sort of a Cafe Racer.
Not sure if I set the crank to 277 or get a 270 pin as I have crank bits I can use.
750cc, Vape ignition/stator, torquey cam, bigger inlet valves, VM34's, & flowbench the head.
 

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Started the next project today. Starting with a stripped down frame & 1980 engine to build a sort of a Cafe Racer.
Not sure if I set the crank to 277 or get a 270 pin as I have crank bits I can use.
750cc, Vape ignition/stator, torquey cam, bigger inlet valves, VM34's, & flowbench the head.
Hey fellow Victorian.
I'm keen to see more as your project progresses and maybe share shopping tips for local XS vendors for fasteners and alike.
Cheers
 
Absolutely love the clean lines and look of your build. A fine piece of work and surely calendar worthy?
Hey Adam.
Thanks for the encouraging comments, I've never done this forum thingy before and I'm finding it both incredibly helpful and and inspiring.
Plus I don't have to boor my wife with details, or shock her with the ever increasing parts bill🤞🏍
 
Hey Adam.
Thanks for the encouraging comments, I've never done this forum thingy before and I'm finding it both incredibly helpful and and inspiring.
Plus I don't have to boor my wife with details, or shock her with the ever increasing parts bill🤞🏍
Oh yes, been there with the Wife / Bike bills thingy. Always causes consternation and silent pauses of immeasurable time; before another eruption.
The wives just dont understand us!:whistle:
 
The shape of that seat pan looks to be a Standard and the shape of the foam looks to be from a 79 Standard. Seat cover is for a 78/79 Special.
Yup, the pan is from my '77 and the pad is from a '78-'79 Special. The cover is an Ebay item. I used tape (thanks Mailman) to locate the holes for the trim piece if I decided to use it. I haven't yet. The pad had a 8" x 8" recess in the front portion and has a dense pad that I am thinking of replacing with memory foam.
 

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Today I finished up my wiring, and put the fuel tank on to find out that my carbs are leaking fuel all over, and I became frustrated and overwhelmed. Hoping that one day this 13 yr project will be done and on the road.
Hi Spooge
Don't get to discouraged, I bought mine as a dead horse 17 years ago, slowly getting their, one day you will ride.
 
Hi Spooge
Don't get to discouraged, I bought mine as a dead horse 17 years ago, slowly getting their, one day you will ride.
Thanks PWASA, I keep meaning to get it done but life keeps getting in the way. The one day will be soon though if I have anything to say about it. Even if I have to just spend the 500$ for the new carbs from tcbros.
 
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