I have been wanting to build a chopper for quite some time. I always see Harley’s and triumphs, but I wanted to do something different. At least for around here. I haven’t seen one xs 650 around, so I figured I would build one. I’ve made a couple bobbers stripping off any unneeded parts, but this would be my first ground up build.
In 2019 I spent several months looking around locally and saw a basket case. It was pretty complete. Guy was getting parts together for the build. Best thing about it was the TFMW frame that came with it.
we came to a fair price and I loaded her up in the back of my truck and off I went. Slowly I started mocking up the bike. I had to source bungs and tabs and some other doohickeys. The frame came with just the motor mounts in place . So, I had to weld everything else up.
Mid controls brakes seat mounts rear fender etc. I had to weld up. Bought a Harbor freight cheapo welder, and it did the trick. The motor was in pieces and the carbs were shot. Sent out the motor to Kiana Wheeler of wheeler racing of Virginia Beach to do my motor. Super great guy and did a Great job.
I did some research and saw the single carb concept. So I scratched rebuilding the 2 carbs. I relaced the original wheels with stainless spokes. What a pain in the ass.
Had to use a cutoff wheel to remove the old ones. Shaved the triple trees sent them and some other odds and ends out for powder coat. Had to wait for what seemed forever, but I finally got the parts back. I assembled bike into a roller sent it over the the shop.
Kiana installed motor for me. He let me do all the wiring there . Huge help having the bike up on aloft to do wiring. Bike runs with Hughes hand built ignition and capacitor. Put it on the dyno tweeked the timing and the jetting of the single vm36., pain in the ass, but we got it rocking.
1 kick prime and another to start. the thing is an absolute rocket and super reliable. I’m pretty proud of the bike. It’s super narrow and fast. I would love to give a shout out to all the vendors I sourced my parts from. However, I can’t remember them all.
The bike was left in the raw except for the few parts that are powder coated. I like the way it looks. The patina is fantastic in my opinion. It was a long process, but she’s on the street.
She’s a real looker and I get a ton of compliments on it. I’m 57 years old and unfortunately my days of riding a rigid are numbered. We’ll see how it goes. I still take her out on occasion mostly on visits to friends or to the gas station.. she’s a thirsty one for sure. Hope you enjoy!!!!
Sent by Michael Walker
