My Trimmed Up XS650 Left Engine Cover

I spent a little time working on a left engine cover I plan on using yesterday.  First step was to pop off the cover and small cap and remove the worm gear clutch cable holder and spring.  Next I soaked this thing in gunk/engine degreaser for 40 minutes while I got lunch.  After lunch, I used a scotch brite and a smaller size platic brush to get the grease and dirt out.  Once it was cleaned up I marked off the area to cut with a sharpy and trimmed it up with an angle grinder.  It had some sharp edges, so I spent a little while filing them down to clean them up also.  Then I hit this cover with some 600 grit wet dry sand paper and followed that up with some steel whool.  Finally, it was time for the Mother's Aluminum polish and bench grinder polishing wheel.  I like the older motorcycle brushed aluminum look.  This took a little while but is well worth it.        

XS650 Valve and Points Covers swap

 

Winter sucks, but it's a good time to do stuff like this.  Here is a before (top) and after (bottum) shot of my valve and points covers I swapped out yesterday.  I had an extra set I had picked up at a swap meet or somewhere.  I just wanted to clean them up and get them back to respectable.  After removing the gaskets with a tiny nail, I used a green scotch bright pad and some degreaser under some water to get them clean.  Next step was some 600 grit wet dry sand paper to get them relatively smooth.  Then I followed that up with some steel wool.  Finally I used some Mother's Aluminum polish and polishing wheel on my bench grinder.  This only took a couple of hours and it looks all right.         



Winter is a good time for...

beard growing, getting fat, and polishing up some aluminum...yup...

Well, My weekend...

Partially consisted of replacing some ugly yellow spark plug wires and black NGK caps on the '83 XS650 (from previous owner)  and some riding on Saturday and Sunday

Here's the new wires and caps.  Wires are black 7mm (picked up from ebay), caps are NGK vintage red, also from Ebay.  Well this was an easy swap that took about 5 minutes.  I noticed that I'm getting a lot better performance from the new stuff.  I also swapped out the rusted engine bolts for some new chrome acorn bolts.  The new bolts are shiny, look at them^^^^up there. 

Been a crazy past few weeks, but finally a day off work

Hurricane Sandy gave me a day off which ment some much needed free time to spend on the XS650.  It's far from finished, but it's cool that it's starting to look more like the motorcycle I've had in my mind for so many months.  

Installing tapered roller bearings on the XS650

I picked up a 12" x 1 1/4" pipe and cap from the plumbing section of my local hardware store for this job.  Step #1, put the lower roller bearing on the steering stem.  Next, place the lower bearing race that was removed on the stem.  The 1 1/4" pipe lines up with the lower bearing race perfectly, so now just tap the bearing into place. If you haven't done this yet, do it!

Saturdays...

In between a morning and afternoon ride I got to spend some time working on the '78 frame Saturday. Yeah, it was a fun day.

XS650 Rear Fender

Progress has been slow the past couple of months, I've been riding alot and just enjoying an amazing summer.  My attention/focus is starting to return back to the '78 project though.  I got this ribbed wassell style rear fender in the mail yesterday.  It looks pretty amazing up next to the tank, bars and frame.  I think it's a thing where taking it slow will pay off in the long run.   

Pulling Mikuni Carburators off an XS650

Remove filters, unhook throttle and choke cables, loosen carb boot clamps, pull gas line (and plug with bolt), pull carb off carb boots, remove carb boots, slide out carbs.  Now the fun part.... Made sure I had a fresh set of pliers and a set of replacement carb screws handy.  Expecting that every screw on this carb would be frozen/overtightened/stuck like hell.  They were.  Got a can of Silicone spray and some Carb Cleaner.  Hooked up the air compressor.  Time to work...

Flooded XS650 Engine

Trying to figure out why my '83 XS650 won't start.  It was starting on the first kick and running like a champ untill the other day.  I flooded the engine with gas yesterday trying to get it started, so I had to pull the plugs out and let that gas evaporate for about an hour.  Tried starting it again, nothing.  Time to pull carbs

Swapping out stock XS650 shocks for Rebel 250s

These Rebel 250 shocks are 10.5 inches eye to eye.  Using these, I ended up lowering the back end of the '83 a couple of inches.  It was an easy swap to make with a motorcycle jack, straps and a 17mm wrench.  It took about 15 minutes.  The kickstand still works after lowering the XS, but I think an extra bend  out on the side stand would be smart.  The new Honda Rebel 250 shocks are a bit more stiff than the stock XS650s.  The bike sits a bit lower and I think handles quite a bit better with the Honda shocks.  There is still plenty of clearance for turns also, but when I tear this one down, I'll trim up the center stand mounts. 

Skeleton kicker pedal on the XS650

Sunday afternoon I put the new skeleton kicker pedal and painted risers in place on the '83 XS650.  Then had to test them out for a fun ride.  I still need to sort out a couple of things on the lowered forks, but they should be going on really soon.  Also been thinking about lowering the back end also, monza or rebel shocks??? Either way, gonna be making that happen.      

Installing a kicker pedal on the XS650

I picked up a Skeleton Kicker Pedal from Lowbrow Customs not to long ago.  It's really nice quality.  I spent a couple of hours getting it mounted up yesterday and thought I'd share the process.  In photo #1 you can see the stock kicker pedal (bottom) below the one I trimmed up and prepaired for the pedal.  When welding, I decided to use an extra bolt as a thread shield for any welding spatter.  Also I used plenty of anti sieze lubrication as I welded the nut (with bolt threaded to it) to the kicker arm.  I built up a pretty good thick weld around the nut and then filed and grinded it down a little to clean it up.  Once the welded area was cleaned up, I tapped on the bolt with a hammer to test the welds. No problems, now time to paint and mount this up.     

Headlight Mount for an XS650

I picked up a headlight mount from Pandemonium Custom Cycles for the bike I'm working on.  I wanted to show how easy it is to mount this up.  The photos are pretty self explanetory.  Mount up the bottom tree in a vice and drill the existing threaded holes with a #7 (7mm) drill bit.  Spray some cutting oil in the new holes and thread with a 5/16-18 threaded tap.  Clean up the new threaded hole with an air compressor and test fit the new headlight mount.  If you have the tools and cutting oil, it's a 5 minute job.  While I had the bottom tree in the vice I went ahead and lifted over the bottom tree rubber seal and tapped off the lower race.  A couple of taps on top and a couple of taps on bottom with a big screw driver and ball peen hammer was all it took.

Older XS650 Fork Damper Rod Holder Tool

I needed a damper rod holder tool to dissasble some older XS650 fork tubes, but couldn't find one available.  Luckily for me, there are a few folks that have made them and documented the process.  This is how I made mine.  I started with a 6 point 17mm socket.  I set the socket in a vice, facing up, and made two verticle cuts (you can kind of see in photo #2 where those cuts where made).  Next, I positioned the socket horizontally in the vice and made a couple more cuts (not all the way through, just enough to connect the verticle cut.  I used a nice, new hack saw blade.  You should too.  Next step, get some vice grips and bend that cut piece off (photo #1).  You will have to file the inside of the socket a bit untill you get the right fit on the damper rod.  Having a mostly dissasemble fork handy should help you dial in the right fit.  In the end you should have a handy little socket tool you can be proud of.

Appliance Epoxy Paint on the XS650

I kept reading about people using appliance epoxy paint on their motorcycles, so I thought I'd give it a try.  This is the stuff I found at the local hardware store.  Also picked up some waterproof sand paper in 600 grit and a pack of pre-paint cloth from the auto store.

The red spray bottle is just water, no secret recipee.  The forks lower legs were washed then blown off with the air compressor and allowed to dry.  I kept the latex gloves on the whole time to keep my oily hands off the clean metal.  Once the metal was dry I put down a coat of self etching primer and let that dry, then some light wet sanding and more washing and drying.  Then, finally it was time for some Appliance epoxy paint to go on.

I'm pretty happy with the way outcome.  I added a few coats of clear enamel over the Appliance Epoxy paint just for a little extra shine.  Now it's time to put these legs back togethor.

Biltwell Keystone 7/8 black handlebars on the '83 XS650

Picked up some Biltwell bars (Keystones) in 7/8 black.  They look pretty rad with the Posh Factory grips. 

XS650 Fork Tubes and Lower Legs

I had a couple of XS650 legs lying around that I've been meaning to tear into.   I'm hoping to get one good set out of these 2 sets.  They were rusty and crusty in the usual places (fork seals, drain screw).  The best advice I can give anyone doing this for the first time is to take a chisel to the old fork seals.  Hit the fork seal all the way through with the chisel, at an angle, and then pry out the fork seal with a big flat head screw driver.  For rusty fork drain screws, clean up around the screw with a brass wire brush.  Then spray it with PB Blaster.  Let the spray work for a little while, then lightly tap around the screw with a chisel (just enough to unstick any rustyness).  At this point, clean up and dry off the screw area, then get the right size phillips head screw driver (the nicest newest one you've got) and put sufficient downward pressure to unscrew the screw.  

XS650 Solid Riser Bushing Installation

This is a super easy swap out type job that only takes a few minutes.  I unbolted the risers on the '83 and lifted the bars right up.  You will probably have to fish out the little R-pin at the bottom of each riser before they can be unscrewed.  Small needle nose pliers work perfectly for that.  Once you've got the bars lifted out you should see the original rubber bushings.  Pulling out the bars should have loosened them up a little bit.  Twist and pull out the old rubber top bushings first, then insert a medium size screw driver down threw the bottom bushing and tap it out.  Now it's time to clean up that area a little. 

Solid Riser Bushings part #2

Once you pop out the old rubber bushings with a screw driver, clean up the messy area where they were. Then your ready to pop in your new aluminum bushings.  These things will slide right in with a little WD-40. 

Solid Riser Bushings part #3

Here is a close up of the new bushings installed.  These bushings are simple, clean and reliable and I like these things a lot.  Now what should I do with the rest of this front end area? 

Solid Riser Bushing part #4

Here is a pick of the front end of the '83 with the riser bushings installed.  Notice the turn signal lights, speedo and tachometer are gone.  They came out really easily.  Just a couple of bolts and disconnecting a couple of wire connectors inside of the headlight housing.  I was hoping to clean this area up even more, but at this point it was time to go for a ride. 

Filling in more holes

A couple of these actually look like real welds.  Had to grind these and sand them out to make this fender look descent.  This fender had about 9 holes in it.  Mig welding sheet metal with holes was kind of challenging.  I got a lot of practice and learned a lot doing this though.  I put a piece of copper behind the hole and had to play around with the wire feed speed.  Some anti spatter spray would have helped.

Flux core mig weld, on a trailer fender to fill in some holes

This was the fender I was practicing on before.  It had a bunch of holes in it.  Well today I watched a bunch of welding videos on youtube and got myself psyched up to weld up some stuff.  It's not the prettiest weld, but you got to start somewhere right

Mounting a gas tank on an XS650

Here are a couple of photos from last night.  The tank mounting bungs came from Hugh's Handbuilt and the stainless steel hex screws came via egay.