xs650 blog

Just got a Christmas gift in the mail, a new set of XS performance rims, bearings, seals and spokes! My old rims were in really rough shape and not worth trying to salvage. The hubs were the recently powdercoated by Copperhead Customs and ready to be laced. This is not the first set of rims I have laced, but it is the first set of XS rims. I found a great post over at xs650chopper about how to lace a wheel and it was very straight forward. The rims took a little over 2 hours to build with help from my daughter handing me spokes and nipples, and are pretty close to being true. I tested them out on a swingarm I had out in the garage and they varied very little horizontally and vertically. My birthday is coming up so I will spring for a truing stand then. For building them in my living room on top of a yoga mat (thanks Jenny), I think they turned out awesome. But I have been questioning whether or not i should have went a step further and powdercoated the rims black? For right now though I can’t wait to strap some tires on them.

Just opened up a new package the other day and check out what was inside! A seat from Redtail Leather! The craftsmanship of this seat is 1000% bad ass. I am so impressed with every detail. I purchased the seat off eBay and it cost me a little bit of dough, but man was it well worth it. It is finished in Antique Brown and hand stitched in white. The lip on this sucker rad too!

After cutting the back end off my frame, I just couldn’t leave it alone. Later that night I decided to start removing the neck frame gussets and coil mounts. Meanwhile a package came with my new Paughco Mustang tank!

I finally received my Morgan Carbtune Pro in the mail today. It took roughly 3 weeks to get from the UK and cost me around $100.00 US dollars at the current exchange rate. Attached are some images of the Carbtune Pro and it’s accessories.

I decided to go ahead and pickup the Carbtune Pro 4 model, although only 2 inlets would be used for the XS650 balancing. I am pleased with my purchase but there were a few things I personally didn’t care for.

1. No plexi or glass covering over the vacuum tube area to protect them from damage.
2. Construction looked good, but I wish the unit had a metal back and maybe a more solid feel.
3. Carbtune will not fit in protective pouch with the vacuum lines attached

I will say this although the package took 3 weeks to get here (Royal Mail Strikes) and I was expecting a little more from the product as far as weight/construction. The customer service at Morgan was great and every email I sent regarding my order was responded to in a timely manner.

Hopefully this weekend I will have a video of the carbs being synced and we can see how it performs.

I decided to chop off the back end of my 75′ frame this weekend and get it ready to be hardtailed. As of right now I am thinking about going with G&L for the hardtail. I also disassembled a set of spoked wheels and sent them to Copperhead Customs to be powder coated black. Here are some before and after shots of the frame and the rear wheel before powder coating.

I just added some new YouTube videos of my 81 XS. I recently condensed some of the wiring and stripped off some extra baggage.

The next day after picking up the new bike from Cincy. I went out to start it and to clean it up a bit. I pulled the kicker out and started to crank it over. I quickly  realized that it wasn’t engaging, something was fucked. I had an idea of what it could be and began to pop off the side cover to check the kickstarter gear for wear.

I remember the day before I specifically checked the kickstarter to see if it turned over, so I wasn’t too worried. I pulled the kickstarter shaft out and examined the gear, everything was in good shape so I looked in the case for any damage and that’s when I noticed the missing teeth on the 1st gear! Damnit, there were about 5 teeth half way broken off the gear that kept the kickstarter from engaging. I knew then, I would have to split the cases to repair it. So I pulled the motor and ordered a used tranny off eBay for 27.50. Once split, I checked out the rest of the gears and everything was fine other than 1st gear. I have included some pics of the damaged gear so you can get an idea of what it looked like.

So it’s been awhile since my last post and two things have changed. We have moved into a new house and I bought yet another XS650! I found this one (pictures to come) on craigslist. It was an 81 Special with 5,xxx miles and a set of mag wheels. I drove up to Cincinnati to take a look at the bike and see what I could get it for. It was advertised for 700.00 with no title. I didn’t really care about a title as I was mainly interested in the motor and wheels. It was covered in dust and looked like it had been setting for quite some time. The guy sprayed a little ether in the carbs and it started right up, sounded good too. After a little negotiation, I got the bike for 500.00 and made my way back home.

Just picked up some parts from Copperhead Customs I dropped off to get sand blasted. Both side covers had some acid stains from a leaking battery, but now they look almost brand new. I am hoping to wet sand these pieces this week and then hit them with a buffer and some tripoli to bring everything up to a good shine. Not looking for that chrome look, just a nice clean aluminum finish.

Just opened up an engine stand I purchased off eBay last week. Pretty nice little stand for $63.00. Hopefully this will make working on the engine slightly easier.  You can get your own at wiseguyschoppers.com