Ok. Who is Kim Boui?
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win some, lose some -- 1971 XS1B
- Thread starter DogBunny
- Start date
The email at yamahaxs650 is Kim Bui xs650inc@gmail.com
It used to be mike that answered (at least some), don't know now.
I have had some email interactions with Kim Boui. Most notably, with the repop 70-72 seats. He only had a few left, and he considered them "seconds," and they were listed on the site as such at a reduced price from the already very reasonable price. I bought one, but before he shipped it, he emailed me, with no prompting from me, to warn that it was a second, and asked if I wanted pics. I said sure. He sent me pics of three different 70-72 repop seat "seconds." I bought them all. Then he emailed me to say that he found another "second," I bought it too. Those are excellent reproductions, and you really can't tell that they are seconds at all.
I bought his very last:
70-72 seat
71-72 tank badge (the black and white one. he still has the 70 red ones.)
70-73 cam chain
70-73 ignition switch
I bought his very last:
70-72 seat
71-72 tank badge (the black and white one. he still has the 70 red ones.)
70-73 cam chain
70-73 ignition switch
I've no wish to put anyone out of business, but I'd really like to be able to buy things like those repop seats direct from Taiwan where they are made.
Since the regrettable demise of Tony Hall, if you want one in the UK, you either have to get one shipped from Heiden Tuning, or from a source in the US.
Either way it's two lots of import duties and two lots of shipping costs.
I wonder how much the factory in Taiwan gets paid for one of those seats ?
Since the regrettable demise of Tony Hall, if you want one in the UK, you either have to get one shipped from Heiden Tuning, or from a source in the US.
Either way it's two lots of import duties and two lots of shipping costs.
I wonder how much the factory in Taiwan gets paid for one of those seats ?
It's a matter of contacts, capital, trust, and being able to navigate through foreign countries and languages. That's what you're paying Kim Boui or Tony Hall for.
Back in 2020, I saw this guy on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/170169703395741/search/?q=Arief Hermawan Ayah Raja
He is in Indonesia.
I asked for a price on this...
Except, I wanted it like this. His price delivered to my door was $298 USD. Hand-made, one at a time. Not a bad price, but not compelling enough for me to follow through.
I had a somewhat protracted Facebook conversation with him. I am convinced that he is/was completely legit. My thought was to maybe buy 10 or so of them to get a better price, and then re-sell them.
All of his posts on the Facebook "Yamaha XS650 Parts And Discussion" Group, where I saw him, date to 2020. I guess he just never got any traction there. But, he does have recent posts on his home page, still advertising motorcycle exhausts and parts.
https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/222336635972977/?media_id=4&ref=share_attachment
Scroll through this...
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Yup intermediaries especially when dealing with venders from a different continent make a lot of sense.
I see YamahaXS650.com has raised their prices on some items (1.5" inlet Commando mufflers, 1.5" headpipes). I'm thinking these items may have been big sellers, lol.
Maybe they are getting some items restocked?
Let's hope so, eh?
Pro Tip:
In my experience, when yamahaxs650.com raises a price, it usually means that they are almost of that item, and are trying to eke out a few extra dollars on the remainders.
You can tell exactly how many they have of an item by clicking on the + sign for quantity, next to the "Add To Cart" button, as shown in the above pic. Keep clicking on the + until the number no longer increases. In the case of the above commandos, as of this writing, they have 18 of them.
Well, I certainly stockpiled my fair share of them for future use and for "just in case".
Two bits of nice news:
First, in a near-miraculous turn of events, I got the original Oklahoma title. The named owner on the title is 83 years old, and I guess he is in some way incapacitated, because stapled to the title was a notarized sheet naming his 81 year old sister "Attorney-in-Fact" (that's a new one). It was she who signed over the title. So, I go to the tax office this morning, two-hour wait in the queue, and unbelievably, after much scrutinizing, they buy it, and transfer the title to me. Saving me half a day running around and about $125 for a bonded title. Yay.
Engine is all ready to go back together, just trying to clear the decks a little bit first.
First, in a near-miraculous turn of events, I got the original Oklahoma title. The named owner on the title is 83 years old, and I guess he is in some way incapacitated, because stapled to the title was a notarized sheet naming his 81 year old sister "Attorney-in-Fact" (that's a new one). It was she who signed over the title. So, I go to the tax office this morning, two-hour wait in the queue, and unbelievably, after much scrutinizing, they buy it, and transfer the title to me. Saving me half a day running around and about $125 for a bonded title. Yay.
A couple weeks ago, I received a complete piston ring kit from Cruizin Image. It arrived faster than the original piston + rings order did. So, Cruizin Image continues to deliver.
Engine is all ready to go back together, just trying to clear the decks a little bit first.
TFR Aussie
XS650 Enthusiast
"You can buy new sleeves from a few different places" Could you please let me know where you can find them?
https://www.mikesxs.net/yamaha-xs650-standard-size-cylinder-sleeve-75-mm.html
This is the only one I could find. Only 6 left. Also sold by MikesXS affiliates, such as xs6560direct.
I tried Heiden Tuning, but the only sleeve I found there is oversize.
I tried CruzinImage, they don't have it.
I tried yamahaxs650.com, they are sold out.
Maybe someone else knows of a source.
I see they do list the XS650 in their catalog. Think it might be cheaper buying directly from them?
AFAIK, LA Sleeve are the go to people.
We used them for 2 stoke stuff back in the early 2000s almost weekly.
They also rebuild cranks.
Still slowly working on this project, jumping around from issue to issue. I have a front drum wheel that's missing the brake plate, so I bought the above plate from one of the big eBay bike parter-outers. Seller is in Canada, price was good but shipping was pretty high, it was a whole wheel, I messaged and said I'd pay the full price for just the plate if the shipping was cheap enough. So, I end up paying $133 USD total to my door for just the above brake plate, as shown.
That's an extremely good deal, BUT...
The black spray paint comes right off, even with modern useless paint stripper. BUT...
This hub has been CHROMED. But, that's not all. The chrome is a mess. It is completely covered with big and small pits. And, it is ROUGH. It looks like it was hit by a sand blaster, but I know it wasn't. Or, it looks like it was covered with another plating, like nickel or something, but I'm pretty sure that's not right either.
Whatever was done to it, it was done with the plate fully assembled. If you look at the full size image above, you can see that the vent cover was in place when whatever was done happened, and the cover protected the chrome under it, which is gorgeous.
Here's what I'm talking about. The chrome under the cover looks great. Everywhere else is rough and has big and small pits.
So, I want to get rid of the chrome. I Google it. Acid is popular, but the plate is a combo of mostly aluminum with some cast-in steel parts, there's no way to control what's going to dissolve.
The other popular method is sand blasting. I try it. NOTHING. I guess my blasting media isn't hard and sharp enough.
So, last resort, I go to a black emery buff compound on a sisal wheel. Results shown above, where I hit a corner right next to the vents. Deffinite improvement, but the emery is not nearly aggressive enough. It will never get the big pits out, and it will take forever to get all of the tiny pits out.
All I want is to remove the chrome, so I can get to the easily polished aluminum.
Some more images of test areas with the emery buff compound to give an idea what I'm dealing with. In the last pic, I was able to really bear down on the edge of the plate with the sisal wheel, and I got all the pits out, but the edge has started to round.
I'm open to suggestions. What's really needed, in my opinion, is a silicon carbide buffing compound, but they don't really make exactly what I want. SiC valve lapping compounds are generally too fine for bulk chrome removal and are a bit expensive. I've been looking at coarse SiC 60/90 grit, which isn't too expensive, mix it with axle grease, and use it on a brand-new, dedicated sisal wheel.
I did a test using a medium grit SiC sanding belt on an inconspicuous place on the plate, and it it ate through the chrome like butter. So, SiC will work, I just need it in a form that I can get into the nooks and crannys.
I'll wait for suggestions and comments, and then I'm buying SiC powder.
I thought I remembered something about acid removing chrome. I do not advocate anything, merely passing along what I read. The article talks about various methods.
Taken from this article,
https://www.china-machining.com/blo...n as muriatic acid,be enough to remove chrome.
