Topic: Terry's Redneck Yamaha XS650 build, the vibrator............

[Terry in Australia]

Are you an optimist, or a pessimist? Part of my problem with everything bike related, is I just assume that whatever goal I set for myself, I will achieve. I'll finish a build, get a bike running, have a great ride, blah blah blah.

Earlier today I said I'd try to get the big black beast going. To be fair, the engine was bolted into the frame, and the exhausts were (loosely) attached. No carbs, no battery, no fuel petcock, no throttle assembly, and looking at the last registration certificate, (2007) it may not have been run in 12 years. Wow, that's longer than the Swamp Rat!   

First problem was the missing fuel petcock. I remembered that my spare Kawasaki tank had one that had been modified from "Vacuum" to fully manual. I took it off and compared the mounting holes, and it looked perfect! "Looked" wasn't close enough sadly, so I had to "redneck" it, and I took to it with my chainsaw file, and hoped (see, it's a sickness........) that the copper washers I added would seal aroun the mounting screws. Sweet.

Terry's Yamaha XS650S 17 Dec 2019 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Next thing was to open the lid. Over time, it's a well known fact that keys disappear into a black hole, never to be seen again. I've ordered a new ignition switch, but in the meantime, I used my cordless electric key.

Terry's Yamaha XS650S 17 Dec 2019 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Okay, so I could open the tank, and I had a petcock. What next? I know, clean the carbs. I removed the floatbowls, and to my surprise, they were very clean. First time for everything, yeah?

Terry's Yamaha XS650S 17 Dec 2019 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

The bowls are just as clean, with a "sandy" film that just blew out with compressed air. I pulled the jets and blew everything out, and called it good. A bit of vaseline and a plastic hammer persuaded the carbs back into their rubber insulators.

Okay, tank, check. Carbs, check. Spark, yep, spark is required. I hooked up the coils once I found them, threw in my new Motobatt battery, (love Motobatt batteries.......) found some new plugs next to Amelia Earhart in the back of the Tardis, and sprayed a bit of RP7 down each plug hole for good luck.

Spotty reminded (well, I don't know if I was "reminded", but it was good that he told me) to clean the mesh strainer behind the little cover on the right side of the engine. It wasn't too bad (certainly not "Swamp Rat" bad) but I gave it a good clean in fresh petrol.

Terry's Yamaha XS650S 17 Dec 2019 6 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Okay, so I hotwired the coils, and was pretty happy with my work..

Terry's Yamaha XS650S 17 Dec 2019 7 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

So I put the tank back on, tipped a couple of litres of fuel into the tank, and gave it 4 kicks (fcuk it's got some compression, for the first time that I can remember, I stood on that kicker with my full weight, and it didn't go down very fast at all) but around the fourth kick, VAROOM!

I rednecked the throttle assembly and there wasn't enough cable slack to just let it idle, but I have an OEM used switchblock on the way, so next time you see it running, it should be idling. I was happy that there wasn't a lot of smoke, and the engine sounded pretty good. I need to put it away now, and clean the place up for Christmas, so I might not be doing much until after the 25th, when I'll start on the big Kawasaki Mad Max bike, it needs to be on the road by mid February, luckily I'm on leave until mid January, so hopefully that'll be enough tiime to half-arse it into some sort of a bike. Wish me luck!

[web]

It's alive! Sounds great for a first time in xxx years...

[PeWe]

Interesting build Terry.
I heard about crank mod to make the engine to run different.
Something for those 2 cyl 650 down under too?

Not many stock left of this bike, right? They sound nice with right exhaust. Almost like an old Triumph.

[scrambler]

On the contrary, chance of having a TX is positively correlated to your IQ or else you wouldn`t have the brainpower to keep those things alive  Owning one also tells you something about your masochist nature
I saw that CB-powered TX somewhere on the web. There`s quite a big TX community in Australia, some even race with these beasts. 

[Terry in Australia]

Interesting build Terry.
I heard about crank mod to make the engine to run different.
Something for those 2 cyl 650 down under too?

Not many stock left of this bike, right? They sound nice with right exhaust. Almost like an old Triumph.

Thanks Per, and welcome! The big Yam twins were very popular here back in the day, so plenty around, but not in the same numbers as CB750's. They're great bikes to customise, and there are probably as many or more 650 Trackers, Bobbers and Choppers out there as there are stock bikes.

Yep, there's the ability to "re-phase" the crank to 270(?) degrees, which smooths it out and makes it sound like a Ducati, 750 kits, cams, carbs, pipes, body kits, hardtail frame mods, you name it, the sky is the limit. I just bought it because I've never owned one, and my intent is to get it back on the road and do a few rides before I decide whether to keep it, or pass it on, we'll see.      

[mrbreeze]

Back in the early 70's a buddy of mine bought a 650 that looks like the one pictured while on a west pac in the Navy. He had it brought back to California on the aircraft carrier he was on. It was still in the crate. He wanted me to go riding with him one day but my bike wasn't running. He let me ride his brother's Triumph 500 but shortly after we took off swapped bikes so I got the Yammie for the day. Besides not being used to right side shift I didn't care for the buckhorn bars on the Triumph. He didn't care cause he used to ride the Triumph all the time. We went from San Jose over the mts. to Santa Cruz and got off onto some fun little side roads. We were putting along and suddenly got passed by a guy on a go cart. It had a screaming little mac 90 smoker for an engine and gave us a good run for our money. We could take him on the straights but he got us on the corners. We had to slow way down because there were lots of trees and the sun wasn't letting the wet roads dry up too good. Anyhow...it was a fun day and I'll tell ya.....Yammi 650's do vibrate!!!

[754]

 I had to laff when Terry said , hey it's all rubber mounted..
 And I thought it's probably better  than a CB 350 Throbber, but maybe a bit better for Highway.. I got one of each, but think the 650 AHA may be able to tour a bit farther...
 

[Terry in Australia]

Back in the early 70's a buddy of mine bought a 650 that looks like the one pictured while on a west pac in the Navy. He had it brought back to California on the aircraft carrier he was on. It was still in the crate. He wanted me to go riding with him one day but my bike wasn't running. He let me ride his brother's Triumph 500 but shortly after we took off swapped bikes so I got the Yammie for the day. Besides not being used to right side shift I didn't care for the buckhorn bars on the Triumph. He didn't care cause he used to ride the Triumph all the time. We went from San Jose over the mts. to Santa Cruz and got off onto some fun little side roads. We were putting along and suddenly got passed by a guy on a go cart. It had a screaming little mac 90 smoker for an engine and gave us a good run for our money. We could take him on the straights but he got us on the corners. We had to slow way down because there were lots of trees and the sun wasn't letting the wet roads dry up too good. Anyhow...it was a fun day and I'll tell ya.....Yammi 650's do vibrate!!!

That's a beautiful bike mate, took me back to my youth when a couple of local guys had them, I'd love to have an old TX650 or XS1, they are a better looking bike than mine, IMHO, but that's not to say I don't like mine either. Definitely vibrators (hence the thread name) but I don't remember that being a real negative, I've had a couple of BMW's over the years that didn't really vibrate, but after riding one for awhile at 4K RPM (60 MPH) my right hand would go to sleep, which really pissed me off. I'm looking forwards to getting a seat and a wiring loom etc from MikesXS, so I can take it out on the road.

[Terry in Australia]

Well I looked everywhere for XS650 parts here in Oz, but nada, so bit the bullet and bought a used seat and some other parts from the US, for mucho dinero. Today a fuel tank with a big dent (but a fuel petcock) showed up on FB (cheap), then a perfect seat, (not so cheap) so I contacted the seller and he has heaps of parts for sale, all in good condition. Too late to cancel the Ebay bids, but I want to ride the Yam sooner rather than later, so looks like I'll buy all the local parts, and have some spares when the US items show up, bugger it.........

[754]

Try to pay the eBay guy to cancel your sale..
 Going a little fast I think ..
 Take your time and find it closer/cheaper.

[spotty]

my slowly moving brain just clicked into a higher gear and i remembered i had 3 of the buggers in my lounge room for years, all in ( big ) parts, powder coated frames, alloy rim spoked wheels , literally a very large van load of stuff, they were all non special models, quite early from memory

no recollection of where they came from, i remember selling them to a mates nephew who built a couple of bikes out of the lot

if only i'd knowed you then , i could have relieved you of a wedge of that government sponsored paycheque of yours

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, can't cancel as they're in transit, but no worries, it's all coming from Swamp Rat profits, so no biggie, hopefully I'll have enough bits after tomorrow to venture out into the street for a quick blat around the block.

The throttle/switchblock assembly turned up this morning so I installed it in the 100 degree heat, and it's nice to see that the wiring harness was intact, so one more piece of the puzzle is resolved.

[seanbarney41]

Terry, I love vibrating yamahamies as much as the next guy...wish I had one...but don't neglect that oh so bad ass kawasaki.

[Terry in Australia]

Terry, I love vibrating yamahamies as much as the next guy...wish I had one...but don't neglect that oh so bad ass kawasaki.

Thanks Sean, and no, the Yamaha is just a quick distraction, I hope to be riding it by Sunday, but the beastly Mad Max bike is my next project, I spent a lot of money on parts for it in 2018, and if it wasn't for the Swamp Rat K2 coming along and looking like it needed some love this year, I'd be riding the big Z by now. Don't worry, I'll just be happy when the 650 is a ratty rider.

I will spend a little time putting my K2 "Bitsa" back together next week, I've bought the Lesters, Delkevic pipe and now a Kokusan electronic ignition for it, and an XS650 front end so I can run Brembo brakes, and I'm dying to ride it again. Once again, just a side show, not the main feature..........

[Terry in Australia]

Well Ken, the guy who had the seat and tank on FB turned out to be a top bloke, he's a Vietnamese guy with a love for bikes, so he's got a couple of XS650 Cafe Racers, and a really cool old German 250 scooter from 1958. He wanted me to take his XS650's home and tune them up for him, but I explained that if I brought home any more bikes, my wife would murder me.

Anyway, Ken had the tank and seat advertised for $170, and told me if I'd like anything else just to grab it and we'd do a deal. Well the more I looked, the more I saw things that I either didn't have, or were better than the parts I had, so I had quite the pile, when I nervously asked how much all this stuff was gonna cost? "How about $200 for everything?" says Ken, fcuk, I couldn't get the money out of my wallet fast enough!

Terry's Yamaha XS650S 21 Dec 2019 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

What a great guy! I scored a good set of gauges with the correct bracket, the idiot lights that were smashed on mine, a centre stand (missing on mine) blinkers (missing on mine) a spare disc as my rear one is a bit chewed up, a caliper with as new pads (one of my calipers looks buggared) some spare coils, a horn (missing on mine) headlight brackets, and a new oil filter. All for $30 over and above the 170 for the seat and tank, which I'll probably need to repair and put on my bike eventually, as my tank has been cut, shut, welded and generally bodged.

Anyway, as much as I'd promised the wife I'd be cleaning the place up for our Christmas BBQ, I couldn't help fitting some of those parts (especially the seat) and thought I'd try to rig the brakes up so I could ride it. I have a new MC coming from MikesXS so I dug around in the Tardis, and just beside a box marked "Arc of the covenant" I found a milk crate full of CB750 MC's. Most were seized, but I found one that didn't look too bad, so hooked it up.

Terry's Yamaha XS650S 21 Dec 2019 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

It was a pr1ck to bleed these brakes, so after spilling brake fluid on the crappy paint on the tank and watching the rattle can enamel instantly lift, I gave it away and went to work on the rears. I had a new set of pads so installed them, did a quick bleed job, and was rewarded with a fairly hard lever. A hard lever is good to have. OK, so I (sort of) had brakes, so it was time to fire the old beast up and take it for a lap around my dusty back yard, scaring my cats silly, and having a ball. It was good to know that the gearbox and clutch seem to be working fine also.

And if you're wondering what's so "Redneck" about this thread, check this out, what's wrong with this picture? More soon.

Terry's Yamaha XS650S 21 Dec 2019 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[PeWe]

Great find that conpensate for other  buys!
200 is what  a centerstand to a CB750 cost.

I always cover all painted parts with an old clean sheet before open the brake fluid bottle. MC will always squirt when working with the lever and cap is off. I have also got rattle can paint to flow off as water paint for kids.

[spotty]

I see nothing wrong with a stack of washers to compensate for a slightly too long caliper bolt

[Henning]

The bleed screw is at the bottom of the caliper?     Do I win anything?

[jaytee-nz]

Besides the caliper issues, is that a crack on the rim of the wheel or maybe just a mark (hopefully) ?

[Terry in Australia]

The bleed screw is at the bottom of the caliper?     Do I win anything?

Ta-Dah! Well done mate, and welcome to the thread, send me your address and I'll send you an XS650 seat, tachometer, and a few other bits that are still in the US, that I don't need now.

Spotty did good with the washers, it seems that I used the caliper bolts to mount the rear fender, and I would have had to remove the rear grab rail to take out those bolts, so I found one CB750 bolt that was the correct length, and bodged the other one with moocho washeros.

I went to Bunnings (big box hardware store) and bought some plastic tubs to put all my crap in as part of my cleanup operation today, they're nice big ones, so I thought I'd shove all the Yamaha crap in one, all the CB750K1 build stuff in another, and all the Kawasaki Z1000 build stuff in another, that way once the Christmas BBQ is done and dusted, I can just move those tubs back into my "semi-outside workshop" without forgetting where I'd shoved everything. As I get older, my short term memory loss is getting much worse. Oh well, as long as I can still ride, I'll be happy.

What I do like though, is how willing the big twin is to start. It has some serious compression, and when it kicks back, it's a b1tch, but it usually starts on the first or second kick, which is great. Once my new wiring harness arrives from MikesXS, I'll be able to hook up the electric leg and see if it works (high failure item on XS650's) but for the time being, there's an almost romantic charm standing on a kick starter pedal and hoping my (now puny) 187 pounds is enough to turn the engine over. I have to move the drag bike out today, and I remember that I had trouble kicking it over when I was 150 pounds heavier, so it'll be interesting to see what's got more compression, the Yam or the Z. We shall see........

Terry's Z1000 4 November 2019 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[Terry in Australia]

Besides the caliper issues, is that a crack on the rim of the wheel or maybe just a mark (hopefully) ?

Ooher, I better go check that out mate, thanks for the heads up! I think it might only be a shadow, but as we all know, safety is my middle name!

Swamp Rat Sunday Clutch Repair 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

The kick-back on larger twins can be a pain in the foot!

[754]

 Nothing wrong with having a stack of washers on a bolt if you dont own a lathe..