My XS650 project...

[04zx6r]

Hope so, at least locally

was trying to have it done in time for some shows around here, but it might only be ready for next summer.

[04zx6r]

Hey everyone, been riding it a bit lately trying to work out all the little bugs. It's been fun zipping around. Need to get it registered so there's only 80% of the bike that is illegal

Anyway, just a few pictures of the bike outside my house in the grass. Obviously a lot of what you can see is temporary (zip ties, ect....) I think I've just about got the bike all worked out though, then I can tear it all down and get it painted.

Check it:











Thanks again for looking
Sky

[bluefin907]

It's alive... Unique chopper, Well done

[04zx6r]

Thanks.

It means a lot when you stare at something in your garage, not ever knowing if you're going to finish it. Then one day a couple years later you're riding down the street on it with the wind in your face.

It's a special feeling

[PoppaDLo]

Been following this one since day one and it feaking rocks. Wish I were closer, would love to see this beast upclose.

[robtech]

that thing is effin bad!!

[04zx6r]

Didn't realize I hadn't posted my newer pics on this thread.

Small update on the various issues I've had:

Chain was eating one of my jackshaft sprockets because I had the chain tension too tight, engine was cutting out because I didn't have the charging system hooked up right, bad spark plug on right cylinder even though the plug was only a day old, headlight burned out because I was overcharging because I still didn't have the charging system hooked up right

Anyway, that stuff is all fixed now, the bike rides like a dream, very responsive and easy to handle. the 650 is no speed demon, but it trucks right along, I was pleasantly suprised.

Just tracking down all the little things takes awhile, but I think I've got the bike sorted all the way now, just in time for winter to tear it down for paint







I love my blue grips

Thanks for looking guys!
Sky

[ImageOne]

good to hear you're gettin it all sorted out, had some similar issues with my SL350

[04zx6r]

Started breaking the bike down for paint the other day:

Here's some of it here:



Some more here:



and here and here:






I need to do some final fab and a couple extra brackets for the air system, then clean up all the metal for painting.

Paint scheme has changed again as well, probably going to be black and silver now.

Also today I was working on taking the gold anodized coating off of the forks. They'll be painted black eventually but I wanted to strip them first.

I had heard that oven cleaner will remove anodizing, but this is only partially true. It thins it a lot and removes it pretty well, but it definitely leaves a residue that must be sanded off. Also, the stock forks have little tiny ridges from the CNC machining when they are made, and the anodizing hides in these little ridges, so they must all be sanded smooth to get all of it. Giant pain in the neck, but here's a couple photos of the work.

Oven cleaner, let sit for about a half hour:


One fork mostly clean, viewed against an untouched one. Also here you can see my sander of choice:



Using the whiz wheel leaves a fairly rough finish, so I started sanding the forks starting with 220grit, then moving to 400 then 800grit. There's still some imperfections, but they'll be painted black eventually anyway:

One side mostly done:


Both legs polished fairly well:



Take a look and let me know whatcha think.

thanks
Sky

[PanEd]

Bad Ass XS,

[SylantBill]

FYI, Drano or regular Lye will remove anodizing. Just be sure to wear rubber gloves.

[04zx6r]

awesome, thanks for the tip!

[UrbanFlatline]

Lovin the forks... good job

[04zx6r]

More work today:

All this metal prep takes forever, because now I have to get the metal real nice for painting and just the way I want it because once it's painted it's done.

made a little gusset for the seat post area.



Had to cut the nose section of the seat pan down a bit to make it fit.



Made a couple of similar gussets for the pegs.



Made the battery hold down/air solenoid mounting plate.





also, on the bottom of the frame, there are little posts that the bike rests on, they were just tacked on before, and weren't quite the right size, so I cut them to the proper length, and bought some polyeurethane shock mounting bushings, cut those in half, and shaved them down to fit into the tubing. Then I drilled a hole through the tubing, in the final version cotter pins will be used to hold these in place.





Thanks for looking everyone, more work to come soon.....
Sky

[ImageOne]

those little rubber bumpers are a great idea!