Topic: The one that got away - I almost had a chance to buy it :(

[Tim.]

This came up for sale the other day, and given the current state of my 550's engine, I was THIS close to jumping ship.  It was posted at 6:11PM and a follow up post committing to buy was up 6 minutes later.  I was 2nd in line but didn't get a chance.  Beauty bike and CHEAP considering.  $1,500 Canadian.

Engine rebuilt. 2 over pistons and rings. Work done by Cycle Improvements Waterloo.
New heavy duty clutch plates and springs.
Respoked rims.
Fiberglass body work, Ducati Style tank, Fairing has a broken windshield compliments of my Wife!
new chain & sprockets.
rebuilt carbs stock plus 36 mm Mikuni slides.
K&N air filters and stock air boxes.
new fork springs & seals.
dual disk conversion.
tomasselli clip ons.
Wired for street use, easy to remove.
Raask rear sets.
Mac 2 in 1 exhaust.

[bill440cars]

           Oh yeah, that's one good looking XS650 and it's been on the 650motorcycles.com
      site for some time. They've got some good looking bikes on that site. Yeah, I know, I need to
      say, "For Yamahas". Even so, a person could get some good ideas from those bikes and use them
      on Yam--I mean Hondas. You gotta admit, the XS650 has a pretty large following of it's own.
      Now don't go disowning me but, I have a couple of 650 "Project bikes (a 73' & a 75')" & an 81'
      SR500, which is also a "Project bike". These 3 need a bunch of work! And then there's my 73'
      RD350 that I still have to put crank seals in and work on those carbs. I've got enough project
      bike to keep me busy for a very loonngg time. Kinda got off the subject, Sorry bout that.

        tintin, too bad you missed that, I'll bet it would been a hell of a ride. 

                                                    I'm Gone,  Bill

[Tim.]

Looks like the builder really had a hard-on for a Ducati 750.

Which is one of my favourite bikes to make matters worse    Ah well - something better will come along.

[tsflstb]

Ah well - something better will come along.

It's on ebay, and only bid up to $9K right now.  A better investment than any mutual fund, and a lot more fun. 

I think I would cover the whole thing in bubble wrap if I ever rode it.

[bill440cars]

                                                                  Beautiful Bike!!

[Uncle Ernie]

Bill, you dog!  Sr500 and XS650 are both terrific bikes.  Put an aftermarket header/pipe on that 500 and you've created a monster!  Both very versatile and easy to get along with bikes.

[bill440cars]

   
                        My intentions are to built the SR500 to closely resemble a 50' BSA GoldStar as possible,   
              since there's no way that I could afford one of those. I've always like the  big British Singles               
              (BSA Gold Star, Matchless Typhoon and Norton Manx).

                                                       Later on, Bill

[bill440cars]

Sounds like a plan. Sounds affordable too

        Thanks man, If things work out, I'll have bike somewhat similar to this one. ( If I can do this Picture thing)