Tag Archives: XS650
XS650 Special Tank Update
This bike was painted by its previous owner with an unimpressive metallic red paint that with dissolve in gas. Really lame. I taped off a single stripe along the back and sprayed it down with aircraft remover. Scrape, repeat. I’ll leave the steel bare and either rub in some beeswax/oil or let it corrode a bit. Regardless, I think it looks great.
Goodbye, Sweet Old 650
This is what it looks like when you sell and ship your motorcycle to California. Oh god… I’m feeling a tinge of regret… At least it’s traveling comfortably between two Ducatis.
Weekend
Took what will probably be the last ride on my ’73 650, following my new ’81.
I wanted to get some more work done on the 160 today. I’ve been hitting random aluminum parts with the buffer during spare moments in the garage, but nothing major. However, today was the first really cold day of the year. Maybe it’s winter now, I don’t know, but it’s fucking cold and I didn’t do a damn thing.
Black Wednesday XS650
A beautiful 50 degree day in Chicago, what better to do than pickup an ’81 XS650 special? The seller listed it on craigslist as an “SX650″ and I was lucky enough to be the only XS650 fan in Chicago to find it. It’s in GREAT shape, brand new tires, 160+ PSI in both cylinders, charging wonderfully, perfectly tuned… all for under a grand. Woot! Rode it to and stashed it in my parents’ garage, spent the night wi5h my dad for his birthday; expecting delivery at the Banana garage by Berke on Saturday. I’d like to especially thank Berke for dropping everything he was doing, picking me up, and driving across the city just to get it. That’s not how it was supposed to work out, but he saved my ass. It’s wonderful having extra Bananas around to take care of business like this. (Also thanks to Justin for going with me the first time I saw it).
Not sure why the PO painted much of the chrome black, but most of those bits and pieces will be scrapped anyway. In the meantime I’ll look cheesy on a Special while I finish the 160.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Grocery Shopping
With my Jeep’s transmission on the fritz, groceries have been reduced to the bare essentials.
Exhaust
Berke… this is the end result of the welding two posts back. I popped a shorty glasspack onto the end of the stock 2-1 for my XS650 daily rider. Sounds much better. Pretty shitty welds, but I’m happy with it for my first-ever welding experience…
Rebuilt BS38s
Later model XS650 BS38 carbs for my ’73 TX650. These are linked, allowing me to go to a single-cable throttle. They also have sync ports.
Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy
Removing the engine from an XS650: Remove all engine mount bolts except the front and bottom-rear, lie down frame, take last two bolts out, lift frame.
