It's 1979

[Grimly]

It's an XS 650
It leaks oil...


...and it's purple. Purple. I mean, purple. What on earth possessed the PO to paint it that colour? It's not even as if it's candy metalflake purple with iridescent flares or something; it's a plain bare flat purple. The same kind of purple your big toe goes when you drop a weight on it and your toenail is about to fall off.

So, get it running again, fix the leaks, throw a tin of black paint on it and good to go.
The brakes are in bits, but all the bits are there, new hoses, etc. Some of the chrome is a bit tatty - rear fender, as usual with these. On the good side, the rubber is good, the tank is sound and the cycle parts at one time were very well maintained and improved, until the PO. I don't think he really gave much of a stuff about it.
48K miles - not really a huge amount for one of those if looked after properly. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it has been.

 

[chuck hahn]

Check out Mikes XS for lots of still available OEM parts. I getb stuff from them for my 73 TX 750..same valves, cam chains and a few other things that are model interchangable.

 

[Grimly]

Yep, cheers Chuck. Between him and some German suppliers (the Germans were big into the various models of the XS650) there's enough to keep this running until doomsday.
I'm now kicking myself for having sold an XS650 lump in '97 - never thought I'd need it. Two Germans from the W. of Ireland turned up to buy it, funnily enough.

 

[chuck hahn]

Mine was an 80 model.

 

[850 Combat]

48,000 miles wasn't much on those I don't think. My buddy tore his X1 down with 60,000 on it. He thought it needed a rebuild because it wasn't running well, but it had a bunch of air leaks. Inside, it was all in spec.

I'm not a fan of the XS650, but they were good usable motorcycles.

 

[Grimly]

Just pushing it around today, I was immediately struck by how light it felt compared to the 850 - really chuckable and that's with the yeehaa bars on it. I would think a set of Euro bars would complement it nicely.
Purple...

It looks more blue-ish there, but I can assure you, it's purple in reality.

Got a Boyer Bransden ignitor...

Mikuni carbs, which I discovered were a worthwhile replacement for the stock carbs, but not sure which model these are. MikesXS is selling the Keihin PWK33 for $200 each - These ones are not L and R handed - they're both L-hand ones. I suspect they may be off something else. The side is stamped 'H9 B1' on the left one - I presume the R one is the same.

Also got a Telefix fork brace

And, buried behind a panel is a Scottoiler.

 

[Grimly]

This one turned out nicely - none of that purple nonsense in it.

 

[Grimly]

First up - attend to the oily bits and have a look at the filters and where the oil leaks are.
When I dropped the remaining oil, there wasn't much debris adhering to the front drain plug, but a few flakes on the rear one, one of which looked like the result of a botched gearchange some time whenever.
The main sump strainer needs replaced as there's a tear in it (but not a huge one) and I doubt if soldering it would work - but I'll give it a go. Virtually no debris was found on that strainer and since the front magnetic plug pokes up into the middle of that one, I'm inclined to take an optimistic outlook there.
It was a different story with the side strainer, though.
Plenty of debris at first glance, but not knowing the history, how far back does this debris go? I had mention from the PO that it leaked so much he never actually changed the oil, just kept topping it up, so this debris is likely accumulated from many thousands of miles.
Here's the side strainer...

And here's the accumulated steel debris on the end of a magnetic rod.

The oil leaks are several - there are one or two from the top end, but not that serious and I won't know exactly what or where until it's running. Bottom leaks are likely from the gasket around the main strainer/sump (two stripped 6mm bolts) and the O-ring around the starter. Also, the clutch casing gasket and there's another ribbed casing at the back of that, forward of the drive chain sprocket - those are oily at their bottom edges.
I might be lucky to get away with just replacing a couple of gaskets, an O-ring, a couple of helicoils and maybe a couple of valve-access gaskets up top.
The stripped threads hack me off mightily - I can't stand gorillas who do that.

 

[Grimly]

Mucked around with the front calipers on the XS650 - totally stock; was pleased to find one had been rebuilt not long ago (in mileage terms) and was fine, but the other one is a seized bear, missing boot, so need a kit for it. Cheap enough.
There seems to be the same opinion about the OEM brakes on the late early80s XS 650 bikes as I have of the same era GS brakes - they work fine when in good order. Of course, there is the option to fit later Brembos, same as the GS.
I'll get these ones fettled up and fit the new lines (one SS line came adrift from its termination - lucky that didn't happen on the road, a bad comment on the maker of that) that I bought shortly after buying the bike - heyhey, only 9 years later.

 

[Guest]

Check out Mikes XS for lots of still available OEM parts. I getb stuff from them for my 73 TX 750..same valves, cam chains and a few other things that are model interchangable.

Have a 75 XS650 project bike. Was running when I got it. Am about to pull the carbs off.

Have been doing some research on the XS650 forums.
Seems that some of the items Mikes XS sells are fine & others are of questionable quality.

Have no prior experience with XS650s, so I'm not sure what to make of the forum statements about Mikes XS.
Just figured I'd let you know about what I read.

 

[Guest]

I had a '76 Yamaha XS650, had less than 1,000 miles on it, picked it up for $900. Solid bike, ample power, but I had to fight to keep my hands on the grips opening it up, vibrated so badly.

I sold it the following spring when I picked up a '78 GS1000E Skunk that had less than 500 miles on it and paid $2,200.00. No more vibration, thank god!

 

[Grimly]

I wait to see what the vibes are like on this one - last one I rode any distance was when the SE model first appeared on the UK market and it being nice and new, everything was nice and tight and vibes were of a firm nature, if you know what I mean. I've no doubt the passage of time has leant the vibes a rackety, harsh, unfriendly nature, as evidenced by the elongated holes in the centre stand pivots... It took five times the mileage to do similar vibe-related damage on a GS.
With this one, I'll get up and running, then see what's what. I quite fancy acquiring another engine and doing a proper -but budget rebuild- and generally having a nice firm engine that breaths ok and runs properly. Not too interested in hogging it out, 650+ will do me nicely.
I always liked these bikes - they seemed to me that everything British industry should have been making 20 years before if not sooner, and if the UK motorcycle industry had survived, the XS might have had a British badge on it.
It would have taken somebody like Bloor to bring out one that didn't leak, and regain customers.
I have an un-matched pair of sidepanels; the left one looks same as yours - is that an XS2?

 

[tnrider]

Mines a 78 standard

Mines a 78 standard

Great bike. I repainted mine with rattlecans earlier this year since the tank was rust pitted and the sidecovers had been sanded on. Yeah it vibrates but is fantastic to ride. About a month or two ago rode it over to Deals Gap. What fun!

 

[Rob S.]

Those Yam 650's were so popular back in the day.

You had a nice one, Sedelen. I didn't recognize you without the girls.

 

[Grimly]

My word, it's so much easier to throw this Yam around and the advantage of it being an old snotter is I can simply tip it onto the floor to get at the awkward bits and know I can lift it easily.

 

[Grimly]

This was to remove the starter, which was leaking like a very leaky thing. PO's bodges included bathroom sealant around the nose of the starter (don't ask, it's a rubbish design), copper wire in place of split pins, loose front sprocket (I mean nearly coming off, type of loose).

The starter O-rings were both like this, just hanging out.

This is the oil seal that was plastered with bog-pan sealant...

I plugged the starter hole with a 46.5mm core plug...

 

[Grimly]

The core plug, and in place...

And, from the other side. The removal of the now useless starter gearing is a bonus...

The loose front sprocket nut...

 

[Grimly]

Progress has been slow, but a few odd things done.
Got rid of the YeeHaa bars and put a pair of lower ones on. These came from a vibey bike, I assume, because of the solid bar-end weights in them. They might help, but that wasn't my first consideration, that of height and width was more important.
Been straightening up the centre stand and attending to the vibe-induced wear on the pivot bolts and mounts - fairly takes its toll, that level of vibe on this bike. I don't expect it to be a pile-driver, but it's done 40K miles and that's long enough to have had an effect on cycle parts that are a bit loose. One leg of the stand was bent 15degrees forward, which made it impossible to pull it onto. I also welded on a substitute foot-peg for ease of use. Ugly but effective.

 

[wymple]

It's an XS650, it will be worth it when you are done. Great bikes, just not for me unless I'm riding Locally. Not my idea of a road bike, tho you can gear them up quite a bit. Stock gearing doesn't bother me until about 60 mph, and I have trouble with my hands. I use big and soft foam grips, not much problem. If you are into a rebuilding mode, it doesn't cost much to overbore some. We just did my son's chopper and pistons, pins, rings, and gaskets came under 250. If the stock bore and pistons are ok, it will be pretty cheap to refresh. One of the very best looking engines ever, and tough as a stone bridge if put together right. The entire engine is pretty much roller bearings.

 

[Rob S.]

I still have the '68 Cycle World that first reviewed it.

It was the cover bike, with the words, "An electric starter, and one hell of a stopper!"

It had nothing but praise for the twin, with it's single disc brake.