Save this bike!!!!!!

[fredintoon]

another update

I was just over to Eric's place and checked out the allegedly FUBAR XS650 frame.
Nothing wrong with it that an Oxy-Acetylene torch and a car jack won't fix.

Well we got the whole bent area cherry red and took a jack to it.
Nothin' moved.
Mebbe THREE oxy-acetylene torches might have got everything that's bent hot enough to be straightened but just ONE ain't gonna do it.
So it's back to plan one, saw off the back end and weld on a hardtail.
Karma's still a bitch.

[fredintoon]

Update

a mutual friend located a derelict '75 XS650 at a local scrapyard and over winter my son converted it to a pile of parts in his garage.
All the parts are there but the rear frame is FUBAR.
Eric sez as the rear frame ain't fixable with his skills and budget he's gonna have one of those hardtail kits welded in and build himself a chopper.
My own son! Karma's a bitch.

I was just over to Eric's place and checked out the allegedly FUBAR XS650 frame.
Nothing wrong with it that an Oxy-Acetylene torch and a car jack won't fix.
At least, fixed good enough to haul a sidecar with because a rig ain't all that fussy about how well the bike's wheels line up.
So he can fix the derelict and if a road test shows it handles all squirrelly he can take the sidecar off his other XS650, install it on the rebuild and run t'other one solo instead.
It occurred to me during our discussion on hardtails (He likes the way they look) that he has never actually ridden one.
I should borrow my friend's WW2 rigid frame 16H Norton and send Eric on a 100 mile ride on it.
See how well he likes hardtails after that.

[BA80]

There only so many of these bikes and I don't think anyone is going to find a freighter sitting somewhere full of XS's and XJ's.

Not the way these PROGRESSIVE bike builders think.

[latexeses]

I'm with Jerry on this one.

Watched a guy here take a real clean Venture and chopped and hacked and when he was done he had a bike worth about a third of what it could have sold'. Don't know if it ever sold. I can understand hacking some crapper that is shot.

There only so many of these bikes and I don't think anyone is going to find a freighter sitting somewhere full of XS's and XJ's.

[fredintoon]

History repeats itself

Hi Fred...that is rather humorous

Hi Max,
and it's absolutely true.
Building on that story, a mutual friend located a derelict '75 XS650 at a local scrapyard and over winter my son converted it to a pile of parts in his garage.
All the parts are there but the rear frame is FUBAR.
Eric sez as the rear frame ain't fixable with his skills and budget he's gonna have one of those hardtail kits welded in and build himself a chopper.
My own son! Karma's a bitch.

[fredintoon]

Yea Fred but I do my best to stay ON TOP of my bikes! I sure would like a latest generation Triumph to play with Nice big 860cc twin with lots of aftermarket goodies to customize!

Hi Mike,
don't we all? And wouldn't we all? But
1) sometimes sh1t happens and
2) Alas! for some, poverty rules.

[IanDMacDonald]

Don- Skip the '77 and go for the '78. 2D has points, E has TCI, better cams, etc.

[mharrington]

Yea Fred but I do my best to stay ON TOP of my bikes! I sure would like a latest generation Triumph to play with Nice big 860cc twin with lots of aftermarket goodies to customize!

[fredintoon]

I love my XS650. But its a small bike. When one is chopped bopped boobed floobed rat bike Brat bike bratwurst or whatever they become even smaller! A hardtail lowers the seat height so much that a even short guy looks to way to tall on one.

Hi Mike,
whatcha mean, small? As you lie there with the hot exhaust atop your leg you have to admit it's a tad heavy.
And if you've watched too many Orange County Chopper shows (like, more than 5 minutes) and DIY a rear suspended bike into a hardtail, you can build the seat at whatever height you want.

[tarzan]

and I thought I was the only 1 ,, I sat last night and watched a ebay auction to the end ,, It was a 1977 xs750 triple , was running a month ago , now running on 2 cylinders and the guy doesn't want to take the time or money to fix it !!!,, He said it was ignition related , and had a clear title , starting bid ,,,180.00 ,,, not till the last 10 minutes did someone bid on this , only 1 bid , if I had a way to go get this bike (16 hour round trip) I would of blasted that 180 right out of the water !!! , If you want to chop it up I geuss that's ok as long as you finish what you started with style ,, I don't know if I feel worse about the guy only getting 180 for it , or the simple fact that he listed it for the 180 ? ,, I wish I would have been able to get it !!!

That is the thing about ebay. I will put an amount just over what it is at when I look at it,if I want it.Then at the end of an auction, like 1 minute, I will place a bid for the maximum price I am willing to pay. That way, the only bids that can beat mine, is from a guy that is willing to pay more.

[mharrington]

I love my XS650. But its a small bike. When one is chopped bopped boobed floobed rat bike Brat bike bratwurst or whatever they become even smaller! A hardtail lowers the seat height so much that a even short guy looks to way to tall on one.

[madmax-im]

Hi Greg,
too late to save that one, eh?
Guy showed up at one of our CVMG garage tours, showing photos of his XS650 hardtail. We had this conversation:-

"Why did you do that, you effing Vandal?"

" I bought it after it's back end had been crushed when a truck drove over it.
I didn't have the money to get the frame straightened and buy a replacement swingarm, shocks, wheel, etc. What I did have was a pile of steel tube, a welding machine and a back wheel off a Harley."

"What a nice bike."

Hi Fred...that is rather humorous

[jjz28]

Wow, once I sell the GSX600, I would love to get a 77-78 XS750 Standard for me next bike. My first bike ever was an XS750 and I was to young and dumb to work on it. I need redemption for taking it to the bike scrappers and getting a clutch cover for my Honda CB750 for it.

Hey done, your close enough. What do you think about a trade? It just has a rattle can orange paint job now but is a nice bike with 16,364 miles on it. I am looking for something sporty for my second bike. PM me if interested.

[fredintoon]

This beautiful running XS650 Special is in danger of being bastardizied into a hardtail chopper. - - -

Hi Greg,
too late to save that one, eh?
Guy showed up at one of our CVMG garage tours, showing photos of his XS650 hardtail. We had this conversation:-

"Why did you do that, you effing Vandal?"

" I bought it after it's back end had been crushed when a truck drove over it.
I didn't have the money to get the frame straightened and buy a replacement swingarm, shocks, wheel, etc. What I did have was a pile of steel tube, a welding machine and a back wheel off a Harley."

"What a nice bike."

[MPittma100]

Me Too

I'm with you Jerry. It is much more rewarding to me to restore one back as close as possible to stock. Maybe upgrade a few things, but mostly stock. I am pretty sure that it is much easier to take off all the stock parts and call it a chopper, bobber, or whatever. JMHO

MP