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Yamaha xs650 motor

timebombprod

timebombprod

Forum Sage
theres a bottom end for sale and I've spoke to the dude before with the interest of old 2 stroke motorcycles, and also he has a dragbike GS with the most basic of lights to rip on the street legally, hes just a cool guy who has had plenty of fun and now is getting rid of some stuff.


He said he has many other xs650 parts, and honestly I bet he has the rest of the engine, I know he has heads and I didnt ask about the walls but I'm sure they're with him.

What do you guys think about this engine? I'm guessing it's a great simple twin but maybe theres a bit more to it I should know. Any maintenance things with this motor like how the GS has the shim valves and more common adjustment procedures on them.



Planned to be a chopper, If it was a complete xs650 i wouldn't dare, but this is just an engine, half of one if that.
 
Best way to approach that would be to see how much a freshly rebuilt xs650 engine/trans goes for then find an old lawnmower to flip.
 
They're pretty much bulletproof. If the bottom end is good the rest is quite easy.
There are several specialists supplying parts for them. They're a popular engine for a couple of classes of vintage racing.

Even if you buuy it but don't complete it, it will have a good resale value.
 
GregT said:
They're pretty much bulletproof. If the bottom end is good the rest is quite easy.
There are several specialists supplying parts for them. They're a popular engine for a couple of classes of vintage racing.

Even if you buuy it but don't complete it, it will have a good resale value.
Click to expand...

Awesome great that's good to hear, I have seen that they're very popular but never a real insight on the motor. I guess I dont though i just should know they're a very strong motor. (No specific procedures)

Haven't asked him how long the bottom end has been sitting, so those most likely years may make a difference, I'm sure he knows though.


Completing it's the plan! I want a challenge and dont want to open my running motor but I dont want to be afraid of the task if I ever needed to, so I thought a bottom end of a twin engine with most of its top end parts would be a good way to learn. Also i really want to build a chopper and I already have the spoke wheels ( LUCKY FREE POST)
 
The XS650 engine was aimed at the British market and their love/preference/heritage with 650cc inline twins. But it is a superior engine to any Brit twin of the time. Some say the Yamaha "has no soul" but if reliable and torquey means it has no soul then count me in. The XS650 is a good bike to own in addition to a Japanese inline 4. It vibrates but the sound is great the acceleration fun and best of all- the engine looks FANTASTIC.
 
mharrington said:
The XS650 engine was aimed at the British market and their love/preference/heritage with 650cc inline twins. But it is a superior engine to any Brit twin of the time. Some say the Yamaha "has no soul" but if reliable and torquey means it has no soul then count me in. The XS650 is a good bike to own in addition to a Japanese inline 4. It vibrates but the sound is great the acceleration fun and best of all- the engine looks FANTASTIC.
Click to expand...

I had far too close an exposure to British twins to ever want to own one.
Then I took a ride on a new XS650 Special in 1979, and even though I thought the bars were ridiculous, the character of the engine and the rest of the bike shone through. It was basically a British twin without all the downsides, save one - it can vibrate like a belly dancer sometimes.
Even at that though, it's well enough engineered that all that vibration doesn't promote leaks, unless you get careless.
It's much more tolerant of casings being taken off and replaced without leaking its guts out - something that every British twin I ever had contact with was supremely good at. What makes it all the more remarkable is that it can go through the rough brutish hands of several owners and still not leak, or if it does, can be easily fixed.
 
Grimly said:
I had far too close an exposure to British twins to ever want to own one.
Then I took a ride on a new XS650 Special in 1979, and even though I thought the bars were ridiculous, the character of the engine and the rest of the bike shone through. It was basically a British twin without all the downsides, save one - it can vibrate like a belly dancer sometimes.
Even at that though, it's well enough engineered that all that vibration doesn't promote leaks, unless you get careless.
It's much more tolerant of casings being taken off and replaced without leaking its guts out - something that every British twin I ever had contact with was supremely good at. What makes it all the more remarkable is that it can go through the rough brutish hands of several owners and still not leak, or if it does, can be easily fixed.
Click to expand...

I see you have a xs650, is that the very one you bought new? If it is how well has it held up as in has at had any big repairs engine specifically ( this bike ain't gonna be for handling that's for sure )
 
timebombprod said:
I see you have a xs650, is that the very one you bought new? If it is how well has it held up as in has at had any big repairs engine specifically ( this bike ain't gonna be for handling that's for sure )
Click to expand...

No, many years passed between that test ride and finally getting one, hence the comment about several brutish owners before me.
 
I think one of the better places for parts would be here... https://www.mikesxs.net/ I have used them for a few things. They are now somehow affiliated with Z1 enterprises which is very well thought of here.... :)
 
Good stuff will be a bookmark on the computer when the engine is.mine! I'll probably join a xs forum too knowing howmuch this forum helped me, more than I ever thought!
 
Get the engine running, bolt it to your workbench and use it as a paint shaker. Them things vibrate. My first 2 bikes were XS650s. On the old one, the oil feed pipe at the front of the cylinder block developed a hole. Would have required taking the head off to fix. I just cut it and put a rubber hose on there. Worked great.

Mad
 
Maddevill said:
Get the engine running, bolt it to your workbench and use it as a paint shaker. Them things vibrate. My first 2 bikes were XS650s. On the old one, the oil feed pipe at the front of the cylinder block developed a hole. Would have required taking the head off to fix. I just cut it and put a rubber hose on there. Worked great.

Mad
Click to expand...

Perfect! I want the paintshaker bike, after all it will be a hardtail.

Whatever keeps the bike going! And with the ugly shine of the block those type of fixes might be done, aslong as it keeps it running!
 
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