Hardtailed 1980 Yamaha xs650 w/9,000 original miles. Was stock and non-running when bought. After some hours of tinkering I was able to get the bike to start via Kickstart as well as with the electronic ignition. The bike did not run well at all, but it was running nonetheless.
After pulling and inspecting the carbs they were filthy and no doubt the cause of the bike running poorly. The carbs were thoroughly cleaned and left off bike to this day. I’m waiting on a Sigma 6 jet kit(the correct one for mikuni bs34s) to arrive. It was time to move on to the rest of the bike.
I put the bike on a jack and removed both wheels. I took the wheels to get the new tires mounted and balanced. I thoroughly cleaned both wheels. Once that was done I deflated both of the tires enough the put playing cards around the circumference of both wheels on both sides to catch any overspray from paint.
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Both of the wheels got 4 coats of Primer, 4 coats of Gloss Black Paint, and 4 coats of glossy clear coat. Scrap metal was measured cut and welded to support the new battery box and battery box was mounted. Since the bike was hardtailed all of the stock Mounts for the rear disk brake setup were gone. Since I was switching to forward controls the entire rear brake setup needed to be thought through in design and then I started chipping away at making it happen.
Forward controls were installed and brake and shift Levers were chopped and drilled to accept new Linkage. Linkage was cut to length and edges beveled. Rear brake actuator and master cylinder were positioned and then Mounts fabricated to hold the actuator in place and rear brake master cylinder was mounted to the new battery box. Fender was positioned, measured and cut to length. Scrap metal was measured cut and welded and lower Mounts for rear fender were welded and installed. The same process was repeated for the upper mount for fender.
A piece of old handlebars was cut and welded to the frame to hold the upper mount for the fender. New chain was cut to length and mounted on new sprockets. New Risers were put in place of the old and 15 inch ape hanger handlebars were installed and was as new Levers. Stock ignition was removed. Wiring was chopped to eliminate unused wires as the follow items were deleted; tach, speedometer, horns, and turn signals.
New parts used in build; gas tank, fender, electronics tank, battery box, forward controls, tires, Risers, handlebars, Grips, levers, exhaust, chain, chain tensioner, pod filters, front and rear chain spockets, seat, Solo air ride seat suspension, clutch and brake cables, brake lines and pads, fork gaiters, tach plug, carb jets, Headlight and mount. Ignition, starter button, and hi/low switches relocated to electronics tank. Wheels and frame painted Gloss Black. Gas tank, electronics tank, fender, and battery box custom painted. This bike isn’t finished yet but I’m only a week or 2 out from being finished.
Submitted by Adam Miller
