XS650 Appresh

That's pretty slick. Thanks for posting up the pics. I'm thinking that I'm starting to like the way the Guzzi tank looks on your 650, too. Did the '74 need seat pan mods to run the tank? You mention that the '81 did, but didn't say anything about the '74.
Now the only problem is finding a good, used, Guzzi tank for a decent price. That Italian stuff is generally a lot more than I'm used to paying for my Japanese stuff.

Yep, had to modify the seatpan on the '74 too, about 1/2"-1" needs to be bent upwards or back, this allows the seatpan to clear the tank & not rub on the tank :eek1
hope that helps, pretty easy conversion all things considered,

about the only photo I could find of the '81 without gear hanging off it everywhere,

Cheers
Baza

Did a 500km day ride down into the Snowys on Saturday, more photos later
Cheers
Baza

the lone XS650, in its native habitat, prowling around backroads of the Australian bush, & rally sites!!!
Cheers
Baza

I'm usually the only XS and the only sidecar at the MC events I attend.

Looks like its warming up down your way. Its starting to get colder here and my poor old XS has been giving me some trouble starting when the temps drop below 50 F. Engine cranks over fine but it wont start unless I spray a little starting fluid in the carbs.

I plan to go thru the carbs but I dont want to tear it down till the weather gets too bad to ride. I always wanted to ride a sidecar in the snow!

Ahhhh!, not the 'kickstart in a can' routine, you'll turn ya bike into a junkie with that stuff, bad ju-ju :eek1
Cheers
Baza

Hiya people,

I've been a member of Adventure Rider for quite awhile but this is the first time I've visited this thread. My XS-1 is a green 1970 model that I bought new as a birthday present to me from me. I seldom ride it, maybe once a year and the rest of the time it hides under its cover in the barn. I guess I'm one of those old geezers who croaks and someone comes along and discovers a "barn find." If I can remember how to post pictures I'll put a couple of them up.

LL75

Good to have ya join us on this thread, now those photos of someones future barn find? :eek1
Cheers
Baza

I've fussed with this thing for an hour and it's cutting into my riding time so I'll give it exactly one more shot, then I'm bunching it. Our satellite system keeps puking too so who know's, everyone involved is finger pointing! If it works a photo of my XS-1 should show up. Not the best color, looks sorta blueish tinged when it's actually the original candy green. Oh well...

https://larrylarry75.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/Bike-Photos/i-bBGJHHp/0/M/1970 Yamaha XS-1 650-M.jpg

Sweet looking bike. Nice to know that there are a few old XS's out there not chopped up.

Beautiful example - keep it that way please! :eek1
Cheers
Baza

Beautiful example.

I had one just like that back in '81 when I was in high school working for a Yamaha shop.

I sold it for like $650 bucks!! What the hell was I thinking??

I'd give a hell of a lot more now just to have another one like it.

Great thread! I'm perusing this with great interest...if the road conditions are decent (light snow right now), I'm heading up to Denver with my trailer to pick up a '78 XS650 (complete, running, very good condition), and a TON of spare parts. The soon-to-be previous owner did a great job of converting it to a Scrambler-style bike, without doing any irreversible mods. As I talked with him, I quickly realized that he's about as OCD as I am, and I mean that in a good way. Mechanically sound, no rust, runs well, and he's already done pretty much most of what I would have done.

I'll jump in with pics and details later once I get the bike home and in the garage.

Was that the one on eBay?

Don't know if it was on ebay or not. I saw it about a week or two ago through a daily craigslist finds thread in the Rockies regional section, but didn't call. I saw the ad again yesterday (Saturday), called, drove to Denver to take a look, and put a deposit on it. Got it in the nick of time too...the owner is leaving the country very soon. If I'd have paused, the bike would have gone into storage.

Looks like roads may be good...wet, but good. So I may be heading to pick it up today!

Thanks for the nice comments everyone. At 72 I'm at that point in life where I need to be thinking about downsizing a bit. Quite a lot actually. With the economy partially in the crapper these days I'm not sure what the Yamaha might bring, I've seen them go for silly money, at least the original ones like mine but it's anyone's guess what might happen today. I suppose the only way I'm going to find out is post an Ad here and see. I hate it when people fish around asking inane questions like "what do you think I should ask", etc., so I'm not going to go there. What I'll do instead is this, if and when I post it in the for sale forum I'll put a note here in this thread to let everyone know. In the mean time thanks again for your kind remarks.

LL75

Don't know about over there where you're located, but down this way that green XS1 would be a $10k+ bike :eek1
Cheers
Baza

She's home in the garage! Probably thawing her bones...it was quite cold outside, and pretty windy. But she's home! Tomorrow will come the initial cleaning, fluid checks, tire pressure, etc, and then maybe a little run around the block. And before anyone asks...the number plate was put on by the previous owner, and I think I like it. So for now at least, I'm PIMPIN'

Here she is in the trailer on the way home.

I remember that bike from XS650.com. This should be the build thread http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1254&highlight=scrambler I always thought it was a well done bike, congratulations.