xs650 bobber

lately...

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 09:01:27 -0400

haven’t had any photos worth posting. but have been rewelding the frame. ground out all the old welds and found a couple of broken and barely attached ones. started squirting in new metal from my lincoln buzz box but had a hell of a time getting the welds to look decent. after about half of the welding was done, realized I should turn it up 10 more amps and have been getting better results. grinding the new welds makes them look pretty good even if there will be a few undercuts and small slag pockets. it’s very difficult to make a stick weld look great even at the best of times. i’m getting very close to finishing all the welding and then will have a round of grinding and flap disking and probably touch up a few welds and regrind too.

trying to decide if I’m going to reassemble it and ride it to see if the frame needs any more work, or just get it powdercoated and reassemble. I need to add a few more tabs/pieces to support the battery, the electronics box and probably also a rear fender. don’t know if I’ll run a rear fender or not, but feel like I should plan on one anyways.

will post some photos soon as I can get something worth looking at.

been grinding down cr*p welds on the frame and trying to dial in...

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 09:24:28 -0400

been grinding down cr*p welds on the frame and trying to dial in my welder to reweld it. did some cr*p welds myself and now have to grind out. *banghead*

F-ing chain

Tue, 22 May 2012 14:38:00 -0400

f-in previous owner. f-him. f-in bas*ard. Stupid M’f-er put on the old chain, and just popped in a bit of “other chain” with 2 frikkin master links. One master link w/no clip. So I’m running a timebomb of chain. f-in chain is probably 30 years old. now I gotta buy a new f-in chain. f-you.

Gonna use the old one for a f-in fender mount. f-him.

like this awesome rat from vintage customs:

http://vintagecustoms.tumblr.com/post/9936101173/vintage-customs-at-your-news-stand-also

Yanked the engine this weekend

Mon, 21 May 2012 08:40:50 -0400

No big deal, just disconnected everything, put a stepladder over the top of the bike, board on the ladder and used a strap to lift the engine out. Put on the engine stand, and dropped it about 1/2” onto a car ramp and slid it down to the garage floor. It’s sitting in the corner now waiting for parts and I’m staring at a bunch of grinding and welding on the frame.

Pics later.

here’s the new welder. 185 amps of raw buzzbox lincoln...

Wed, 16 May 2012 08:45:09 -0400

here’s the new welder. 185 amps of raw buzzbox lincoln electric metal burning power. got a little aftermarket fan on the back to keep the insides cool and bump up the duty cycle.

Inspiration w/1975 ford truck green

Wed, 16 May 2012 08:38:30 -0400

Inspiration w/1975 ford truck green

damn

Mon, 14 May 2012 22:06:15 -0400

yeah.

can’t buy the damn cam chain stopper guide thingy (on the...

Mon, 14 May 2012 21:47:07 -0400

can’t buy the damn cam chain stopper guide thingy (on the left in this schematic). 6 weeks until yamaha makes the damn thing and sends it to the US.

gonna tear into the frame and weld that shit up.

but yeah, i’m grumpy.

Bought a used Lincoln 180 AC buzzbox welder yesterday $100 and...

Sun, 13 May 2012 19:35:30 -0400

Bought a used Lincoln 180 AC buzzbox welder yesterday $100 and have already put it to work welding on the bike. Relocated the forward control mount and placed the muffler supports. Welded up a engine stand for when I pull the engine (tomorrow?).

Realized that I need a lot more practice with the machine, but my welds are already a ton better than the moron who had welded on this bike previously.

It’s tough to get a perfect TIG style weld with a stick machine, but I’m going to do my best to get strong a fairly attractive welds.

Soon I’ll reweld everything I can on the bike, and get to grinding the welds so they look great.

Parts on order

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:04:13 -0400

Went ahead and made plans to pull the motor and repair the cam chain guide.

Ordered a new guide, all the gaskets and seals for the top end (and some for the bottom end too). A new cam chain. Valve lapping stuff.

Gonna take VintageCustom’s advice and just do it. Does not look like a difficult job, just have to deal w/the heavy motor and the time it’ll take to do the work.

I also will investigate to see if I have any oil leaks I can deal with at the same time. Probably do, and they are probably at the bottom of the motor =(

I’m also picking up a welding machine tomorrow - $100 for a Lincoln buzz box AC stick welder. It’s not my dream machine (that’d be a TIG with a high frequency unit, square wave (or adjustable wave even better) water cooler, maybe 200 amps) but I’m sure once I get my groove back that I’ll be able to make acceptable welds with the stick machine.

Planning on building a simple engine stand for the XS as a first project to dial in the welder and my welding skills. There’s a simple plan here:

http://www.650motorcycles.com/XSstand.html

which I will use, although I’m going to raise it up slightly so I can get at the bottom of the engine better.

I’m also going to tack on some new exhaust mounts and relocate the rear brake linkage (attaches the brake rod to the forward control). The weld for it is really bad and I’d also like to lower the foot peg at the forward control, I can’t hardly hit it with my toe.

Took the bike for the first run last night. The ride was very...

Thu, 10 May 2012 09:30:39 -0400

Took the bike for the first run last night. The ride was very short - just around the block a couple of times.

(photos show the new parts that have come in, some have been installed…although everything has to come out now…)

This bike made GREAT power and was running very well. It’s gonna be a blast to ride.

But 2 problems.

Problem 1: the cam chain is making a serious grinding noise. I can only assume my cam chain guide is about to die, and thusly needs to be replaced. I’ve been reading up on how to replace it and watching the video. But, what parts do I need? Cam chain guide, head gasket, what else?

Problem 2: the bike had trouble finding idle. Often the revs would stay high before falling to normal (IE: I’d have it revv’ed to 3000 while in gear, coasting to the stop sign it’d stay at 3000 and then eventually drop to 1200…)

I assume this is a carb problem. I’m running stock idle jet, 137.5 (I think…) main jet. don’t know what air jet. I’m running shorty mufflers (free flowing) and uni-filters with both the red and black elements. I’m in ithaca, ny, and the elevation is 1100 feet above sea level. I’m guessing that my idle jet is too small. the mix screws are 3.25 turns out.

anyway, I’m going to start on pulling the motor and ordering more parts…

Stuff I didn't finish last night..

Tue, 08 May 2012 11:07:46 -0400

Jobs for this evening:

cut off any useless brackets off the frame, flap disc smooth
paint the raw metal
see if I can bolt on the new mufflers and hang them
~~finish removing the gasket off the sump~~
~~wire in the brake and headlight (temporary)~~
~~reattach wires w/zip ties (temporary)~~
install the seat if paint is dry
~~see if I can remove the rear oil drain plug & finish draining oil~~
reinstall the tank

Last night I managed to (temporary) wire in the headlight and...

Tue, 08 May 2012 08:43:17 -0400

Last night I managed to (temporary) wire in the headlight and tail/brake lights. The original wiring is a mess, things were falling off in my hands, but managed to prove that the lights work, and it’s good enough for testing purposes.

Because my plan is to get it running and see about noise from the cam chain, then decide if I’m removing the engine, repairing it, and fixing up the frame (probably even getting it powdercoated or painted).

I also worked on attaching the mufflers, got the right side bracket working, but still don’t have a tight fit with the clamp. I cut up some beer cans to use a shims, but need more. Just got too late last night to finish. Looks good though.

Also some pictures of the repaired oil sump filter, the horrid wiring, tail light, etc…

Tonight...

Mon, 07 May 2012 15:52:00 -0400

Jobs for this evening:

cut off any useless brackets off the frame, flap disc smooth
paint the raw metal
see if I can bolt on the new mufflers and hang them
finish removing the gasket off the sump
wire in the brake and headlight (temporary)
reattach wires w/zip ties (temporary)
install the seat if paint is dry
see if I can remove the rear oil drain plug & finish draining oil
reinstall the tank

The point is that I’m expecting that I’ll ride it for a bit after I get the oil changed, but also expect that I’ll pull the engine due to the cam chain guide. Thusly, don’t want to get too carried away w/wiring right now.

Weekend

Mon, 07 May 2012 08:53:25 -0400

Found some crud while adjusting the right side valves. Looks like parts from an oil seal. I bet it’s one of the cam seals, which got “removed” by the P.O. IE: Parts pushed into the head while changing the oil seal. I removed the parts, and will investigate when I replace the cam chain guide.

1) valves are all adjusted

2) sump screen is repaired

3) gasket *almost* off the sump

4) headlight bolted in place

5) tail light/licence plate mount on (what a pain that was…)

6) have not yet mounted mufflers, probably will need some more parts

7) seat almost mounted - removed some old mounts, cleaned up some welds, drilled holes for the mounts, fabricated a custom front seat mount out of a stanley gate hinge.

Very happy to be cleaning up some of the old welds, they are looking *better* although not perfect. They won’t, because the previous welder was MUCH less than perfect. But I am dam* good with a flap disc and grinder. Afraid to remove too much metal though, because of the poor weld quality.

Thinking I *might* be able to finish this without having to buy a welding machine. We will see. If I can pick one up cheap, I will.

Plan right now is to finish the oil change, button it up enough to take for some short rides, and see if I want to tear into the engine right away or not. If I’m tearing into the engine, then I’m going to do the frame right (IE: reweld some stuff and get it powdercoated) and THEN do the wiring harness once it’s reassembled.

If I’m tearing into the engine over the winter, then I’m going to do the wiring now, and plan on carefully removing it later.

Electronics links...links...

Fri, 04 May 2012 11:58:47 -0400

Chrome trim between tanks:

http://www.retrocycle.com/cccatalogpage.php?pagenum=0974

Wire, fuses:

http://www.sherco-auto.com/

Project boxes:

http://www.mcmelectronics.com

Powdercoating:

https://tjpowdercoaters.com

http://www.rspoorfinishing.com

http://www.powderworth.com

FLAMES!

http://www.badbaran.com

Wiring diagrams:

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61

Wind, rain and hail

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:05:55 -0400

No work last night. It was a beautiful day, and we ate dinner outside. Within 10 minutes of coming in after dinner, the power went out, wind came up, rain and hail.

We got the daughter into bed OK - my wife is certainly better at this kind of thing than me since she grew up in Nigeria - they had to deal with power loss constantly.

There was no way I was going to try to adjust valves by candlelight, and by the time I finished washing the dishes (by candlelight) I had polished off 3 beers and was pretty much ready for bed. Power came on by 10:30 but wasn’t in the mood at that point. Heavy rain overnight too, but no damage done.

Did receive the first package of goodies from TC Bros Choppers.

Seat
Seat springs
Sidemount license plate bracket and tail light
Shorty mufflers
Headlight

Everything looks GREAT except the tail light seems to be missing a wire. I’ve got a call in to them to see if they can replace it, or maybe I’ll just have to bust out the soldering iron and fix it my self.

Cam chain guides

Thu, 03 May 2012 13:21:36 -0400

Keep thinking about the cam chain guides, which are obviously falling apart. I read online that I could potentially replace them in one day.

Of course, I have to pull the motor, do the work, put it back - I should plan on a week or more.

But, if I get it back together, and it’s still noisy, I’ll have to do the work right away, not wait for it to completely break. And of course, if I have the motor out, I’ll work on the frame too - maybe send it out for powdercoating after welding and grinding is done.

Valve adjustment

Thu, 03 May 2012 13:18:23 -0400

Did the left side valves last night. Exhaust was a tiny bit tight, Intake a tiny bit loose. Now they are dead on. Will do the right side tonight. Also worked on cleaning the gasket off the sump, almost done with that.

Sump filter repair. These XS650 filters always pop a hole at...

Thu, 03 May 2012 13:05:35 -0400

Sump filter repair.

These XS650 filters always pop a hole at this location. The accepted fix is to cover the hole with some metal and glue it in place with JB Weld. Here’s my process. Just cut a hunk of metal can, shaped it and put it in place.