it’s easier to take a bike apart then it is to put it back together
My old 79 used to be a two seater (pic 1) but I decided to do a solo seat after dumping my ex bitch, and for some reason the bike and I run better since I dropped the dead weight. I wanted a new look for the bike but also wanted to keep the bike as original as possible.
I first started to take the bike apart (pic 2) and then sent the cylinders to a machine shop to get redone, I installed new pistons, a new chain, new sprokets, cleaned and polished every nut & bolt and checked every wire, If you look at the back of pic 2, you’ll see the entire bike wirering tied to a white board.
As you all know, it’s easier to take a bike appart then it is to put it back together, but I did it !
(pic 3) The final product… I did the paint job and also made the seat from scratch,… for the seat pan I beat a piece of sheet metal to the shape I wanted and then took part of the foam from my old two seater and coverd it with a piece of a old leather jacket, I also wanted to expose the beautiful back fender that was hidden by the two seater, at one point I though about cutting the fender but again decided to leave the bike original.
I have to say that the bike never ran so good and it gets attention where ever I go since these old 1979 XS 650 are really hard to find in these part of the woods (near Ottawa, Canada).
Let’s be clear when I say that the work I did on my bike does’nt even compare to what some of you guy’s did to your rides, but I’m still glad of the outcome considering it was my first bike project.
These xs 650’s are a breed of their own…. they were built to last..
Bones
