A few finishing touches…uh ok maybe more then a few.

So a little back story as to how I came to own this XS. I first became interested in the XS a couple years back when bored at work, browsing ebay. My coloring book was full and my Crayons were running low, so I had to occupy my time elsewhere. It was a hardtailed XS that caught my attention on ebay, so I read up on them and had no idea such a huge following existed for them. Over the next couple years I always kept my eye out for one but was never really serious about it. Fast forward a couple years….

So about 2 months ago my dad went out and bought a brand new, shiny Harley Street Glide. Not that I dont have love for the Harleys, but I told him I could build something way cooler for a fraction of the cost. He chuckled when I told him my intentions and what I was planning on doing but, alas the search was on. I looked EVERYWHERE. Ebay, Craigslist, local classified ads, under rocks. ones I could find were junk, the ones that weren’t junk sold QUICK. So I expanded my search perimeters a little, only pansies fear a road trip. Within 10 minutes of expanding my search I found one. The ad read…

“yamaha xs650 – $1000 ”
“72 xs650 Bike looks, sounds, and runs great.Just about everything on it new or rebuilt, top end, forks, carbs, electronic ignition,ect. About the only thing that hasnt been replaced or rebuilt is the lower end and the front tire. It has developed shift problems. It is inspected and I have a clear TX title in hand. The price is firm and I will not answer emails with a lower offer.”

However the ad had been posted for a couple weeks, surely it had been sold, right? I quickly emailed the guy and it was still available. We emailed back and forth over the weekend and I called him on the 4th. He had a guy coming to look at it the next day but he wasnt going to be there until the afternoon. I asked if he had a problem with me coming earlier and he said as long as I was there before the other guy left to head that way he was cool with it. So I jumped in the truck that night and headed up to Tyler, TX and was at his house at 7am. It was perfect for what I wanted. I had intended to find a stocker to build myself but this one already had most of what I wanted done and it was priced right. Hardtailed, sportster tank, spoke wheels, pretty fresh engine. I was so excited I forgot to even try to negotiate and just handed him the money. While we were loading up the guy that was supposed to come called. Needless to say he wasnt happy, oh well. The seller got his money, a
nd I got my XS.

So my plan originally was to just repair the shifting issue, clean ‘er up, make a couple suttle changes and roll with it. Then I got to looking at it. I wasn’t very fond of the exhaust…or the forward pegs, or the battery box, or the sissy bar, or the tail light, and(probably my biggest peeve) was the tank sat too high on the frame. So the last pic you see is how it sits currently. Patiently waiting for its partslist to turn into a parts pile which Im just waiting on a couple more things. Currently in the pile/on the way is TC Bros forward controls and linkage, fake oiltank and battery box, Gordon Scott Engineering custom pipes, Sportster tank with a deeper tunnel, and some other crap.

I’ll do a full update once it’s completed with fresh paint and powder. This weekend I’ll be going at it with a grinder and cutting wheel removing brackets/mounts the original owner added. My dad is even coming around to see that this thing will indeed be cool. Will it be original, probably not. Oh and this bike is almost twice as old as I am.

Justin