Hhhhmmmmm, nice looking framework, heaps of shiny goodies on the bench, TC Bros. Choppers gear sneaking around? I'd say you're havin' fun, concept is looking good, keep progress photos coming Got one of my own about to happen, TC Bros do nice stuff, think I'll be spending some money there somehow! Cheers Baza
Thanks "Hunter. This is how I bought it. The guy wanted to move on to bob a Sportster and this was in his way. You are correct about TC Bros. hardtail. Having some problems with the proper fit of the axel but I think it has been solved. Also the guy had had the fork lowers shaved and powder coated.:huh They look great but there are no tabs to mount a front brake. Picked some up at a local bone yard so another problem solved.
Here's the sequence... Had recently checked levels and maintainece charged the batt. Adjusted the advance rod's fit to spring back nicely. While off on a ride, I thought she was going to die with all the sputtering. Checked all the wires/coil and the pamco. went to electric start it and there wasn't enough power to turn it more than a few revolutions. Check for charge...eghhh, none. (batt at 11.30 volts) Check brushes...woooorn to mark! So THAT's how the pamco ign will run if there's not enough voltage left. Just got back from a 50 mile run with all as normal again.
Right, I would have thought that you'd be able to run down past 3V or so... But in my case it seems to have been solved with... 1) a full charge 2) brushes installed My brushes were down to the warning marks/my meter said it wasn't giving a charge. So not making power. Add in a head light and a turn signal and you don't leave much for pamco pete to run off I guess. But indeed, she seems to be solved as she didn't miss a beat under all the different demands I put on her yesterday.
Just got back from the 'Loaded Dog' rally yesterday was great [except for the cold wind!] Guess who forgot his tent? some silly old grayheaded bloke, I survived [but glad it didn't rain or snow!], must remember minor details like that! Bad boys & that was early on Saturday, & things only went downhill from there, good rally though. trying to snow @ this point coming home :huh More photos to come later Cheers Baza
Some more from the lastest adventure - 'Loaded Dog', a few photos I've borrowed of mates even called in consulting engineers on this one! Piss off ya bloody ratbag, Doctor Bloody rough mob to hang around, into retro bikes too! :eek1 Couple of bloody old smokers, the bikes I meant A rather exotic DR750 'Big' owned by RobMoto from Bathurst Cheers Baza
Winners of the Egg & Spoon race! :eek1 Study [on the spoon] & myself on the 'White Beast' beat allcomers Cheers Baza
Do you say snow???:eek1:eek1:eek1:eek1 I live were theres 4 months here sometime ! You get snow? I never would think you get the white stuff!! Oh, its your winter! ! BIG ED XS 650 Fan!!
Don't often get snow laying on the ground like you lot over there :eek1 South of here in the 'Snowy Mountains' & into northern Victoria, it's a bit more what you're use to, :huh Parts of Tasmania [that little island] too! Cheers Baza
It's my 1976 XS650C. Pretty much stock. Redwing shocks. Sargent's seat. Pirelli Diablo tires. Pamco Pete ignition. Total joy to ride.
Check out my old '76 in the picture above, bloody nice bike - XS650's really came together with that model! :eek1 Notice the standard twin discs we got in Australia Cheers Baza
Yea, right after I posted I saw your pic and realized it was the same model. I do like the twin disk front, and aim to eventually do that. I have to piece together the stuff. I have the spare rotor, and the splitter to allow for the two hoses down to the calipers. Now I need to get another caliper and some odds and ends brackets and hose guides. Do you live near a junk yard . At least the caliper can be swapped side to side, if you swap the top bolts. My favorite road test of the '76 XS650C is titled YAMAHA FINALLY WALKS ALL OVER THE BOYS FROM BRITAIN. I do love the '76 XS. Every single ride is a joy, and even though I own newer stuff and faster stuff, in my opinion the XS is visceral and elemental motorcycling at its best.
How do you like the Redwing shocks? I was about to order a set from Mikes but noticed Omar's has NOS redwings (with new progressive springs) for only a little more money.
I got a set of those from Omar's. I also had the ones from MikeXS. LOOOVE the redwings. Look good and ride really well. Originally I had ordered the really soft springs, and those failed me. Even though he claims he uses them on both his standard bikes. I got those because I am only 140 lbs, and did not want to be bouncing all over the place, we have a lot of bumps and potholes in Guatemala, but they proved to be too weak. I spent another $50 and got the next rate ofsprings, since they are rebuildable, unlike those from Mike. The bike is really good with them on and Pirelli MT66's on. I think the problem with the cheap ones from Mikexs is that the spring are VERY VERY hard, the shock absorbers are probably fine, but they don't have any options for spring rate. Cheap Chinese product here. The ones from MikeXS were really hard, bushings were plastic and poor quality at that, and the bike felt more like a hard tail. Hope this helps. I also got a set of Hagon's for $200 from dave Quinn Motorcycles (also good people like Robert Ward at OMAR, very good customer service from both), same size and fit, for my GS650GLD Suzuki. ALSO VERY GOOD , specially for the money. If I had to choose again, I would probably go for the Hagon's. JUST NEVER for MikeXS.
Still have some issues... You can look back and see what happened so far... But tonight was flashback fridays at paco's tacos in Grass Valley. I wanted to take the XS cause it's a freeway run, but wasn't completely sure it was finished acting up. I had heard before how the engine run switch can be corroded so I took mine apart. It was a little crusty, but the big thing was the plastic switch parts were cracking up. Spares I had were worse until I got to the last one on my test bike. I robbed it and reassembled mine thinking I did some good. I used the bike for the day's activities and further assessed it's road worthyness. At the store I heard some racket. I looked into the advance there and found it was hanging up again. Rode home on it (easy) and found that the screw that holds the diode board down to the pamco backing plate had backed out but was still in place rubbing the back side of the magnet rotor. Due to end play on the advance rod, it could either miss or scrape the scew head. Well I put the screw back in and buttoned it back up. Still, I dont like so much end play back and forth on the rod. thought I had heard of some one adding a washer to remove end play on their's... Was that here? After this 50 mile trip to Grass Valley in the late afternoon, thought I'd have a look at things. That's when I found that one of the sirclips to hold the bob weights on was missing! Not much I could do bout that and indeed the bobber seemed to wanna stay on the post. This was the first trip over 2,500 foot and seemed to bog at elevation. Time to tweak adjustments to the stock settings on my carbs now that I'm running the cocktail shakers. That's the latest on that, along with the good food, a good ride, and a vintage "ride in". There was one XS650 there besides mine... A bobber.
I was tempted to do that, can't remember whether I did it or not! Or was that on the Boyer system on 'Kenny' ? :eek1 Both bikes now have over 50,000kms / 31,500mls since last major overhaul 'Kenny' has camchain noise [?], & 'White Beast' is starting to look like a Triumph with oil leaks around the head gasket etc. Just keep riding until I get some spare time to strip them down & have a look @ what's going on inside, maybe renew the rings & camchain too? Cheers Baza