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New to me XS650

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Zonie

Zonie

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Joined
Jan 29, 2017
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Location
Granbury, Texas
First Name
John
Last Name
Ebert
Well I have gone over to the dark side. Picked up a 76 Yamaha XS650.
I had one back in the early 70's and enjoyed it. This one only has 20K on the speedometer.
Needs the forks rebuilt, tires and a hard look at all the rubber bits. Needs a battery too.
Good thing is it came with a title.
I'm laid up for a bit so no work being done for several weeks.
 

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I test rode one of those back in the day but couldn't afford it. Wanted one real bad though.
 
Well I got a care package from Mikes XS and my knee is doing much better and I'm off the crutches.
Need to get it up on the lift and do some serious cleaning, it sat in a barn for many years! Next is to order new tires although the old ones might have a few feet left on them. Not miles, feet. Dry rotted.
Also need to replace the rear tire on my 2019 Enfield, got as much use out of it as I can. See you soon Doug?
 

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Looks like it's in great condition for a 45 year old bike. I hope you'll be riding it soon on a slackers ride.
 
Zephyr said:
Looks like it's in great condition for a 45 year old bike. I hope you'll be riding it soon on a slackers ride.
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Well lets see how quickly this project proceeds. All it will take is time and money.
Bet my carbon footprint is bigger than yours.
 
I can't afford a big carbon footprint, my carbon dollars are limited as all my dollars are :)

Maybe eight years ago I wanted a kick start bike after kick starting a 400cc nostalgia thumper Yamaha had introduced. Looking for kick start bikes, I found quite a few Yamaha XS650's for sale. but they seemed to be miles away, in Ohio or further. Now, I'll just appreciate your project.
 
All but the first two years are button bikes. Do know where there is another one that is in about the same shape.
 

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Well I have hit a bit of a roadblock of the mechanical kind. This poor thing has been sitting for some time.
The issue I have hit is that the front axle won't budge. I have heated up the RH fork slider and put PB Blaster penetrating oil on it. So far nothing. You can see how the aluminum has corroded around the axle. Ideas? I will be replacing the axle and the wheel bearings once I get it appart.20210805_145243.jpg
 
Have you tried rotating force on the axle while heating the fork? Might be nice if you put a bar in the slot and go at it. Is there a slot on the other side too?

I bet we could drill a socket, put a pin through it, tack weld a rod in the socket and spin it with an impact, might break her lose, bring her by, or I can come to you, let me know, I have a DeWalt impact and an a/c corded Kobalt that would do the job. What could go wrong? Might even use a piece of drill bit for the pin, a little heat, how exciting to get it loose and knock out those bearings.

Let me know the diameter of the axle and the hole through it and I will check through my 1/2 drive stray socket pile and pick one, Then I can drill it and cut up a bad drill bit and head your way. What say you, sir?
 
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OldTLSDoug said:
Have you tried rotating force on the axle while heating the fork? Might be nice if you put a bar in the slot and go at it. Is there a slot on the other side too?

I bet we could drill a socket, put a pin through it, tack weld a rod in the socket and spin it with an impact, might break her lose, bring her by, or I can come to you, let me know, I have a DeWalt impact and an a/c corded Kobalt that would do the job. What could go wrong? Might even use a piece of drill bit for the pin, a little heat, how exciting to get it loose and knock out those bearings.

Let me know the diameter of the axle and the hole through it and I will check through my 1/2 drive stray socket pile and pick one, Then I can drill it and cut up a bad drill bit and head your way. What say you, sir?
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If you are up for the adventure I can bring it by later today? I will call you in a bit.
 
Well it is on like Donkey Kong. We will hit it at Pee Paw's Scooter Shop and see what we can do. I could weld a bar on it or a nut on the opposite side and see if that will do it. Lots of options, I think Zonie is now nervous that my ideas are flowing out. I will start with a 4 lb sledge hammer and some smacks, then escalate. He said he is getting a new axle, so that relieves some stress. HA! Got to move the KLR so we can play, should be fun. May even drop the forks out to get a better angle and stuff.
 
mr72 said:
I don't know if you remember Donkey Kong ... that game is Grade A, Certified, Very Hard.

Let's hope your luck with the XS is on more like something easier ... Galaga maybe.
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Level of difficulty is just a learning experience. Without difficulty, there would be no sense of achievement. I thought Donkey Kong was fun back in the day, but I was younger and drank more....
 
OldTLSDoug said:
Level of difficulty is just a learning experience. Without difficulty, there would be no sense of achievement. I thought Donkey Kong was fun back in the day, but I was younger and drank more....
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Well, I am not quite so old. When I was good at Donkey Kong, I was about 9 or 10. Now nearly four decades later, I just don't know what happened. ;) I guess the jumping barrels skill doesn't keep like shooting aliens.
 
Well I would like to thank Doug, it took him 6 minutes to get the axle out. I was way to timid and afraid I would do more damage.
He wasn't afraid to whack it with a BFH. Didn't even have to take it out of the truck. My friend thank you.
Now I get to rebuild the forks and front brakes and of course the wheel bearings. Report to follow.
 
mitchntx said:
I taught him that ....
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He is right. Of course, like I told Zonie, "Hey, what do I care it isn't my scooter". With that in mind these sort of fixes come easy. Now I need to build a press I can put a front wheel in to press out aa axle? Nope, the sledge did the business. I think the only improvement we could make to the methods used would be to part in the shade next time. That is probably good advice. Looking forward to seeing that puppy up and riding around. I am wondering if I will get to play with the forks at all.
 
OldTLSDoug said:
He is right. Of course, like I told Zonie, "Hey, what do I care it isn't my scooter". With that in mind these sort of fixes come easy. Now I need to build a press I can put a front wheel in to press out aa axle? Nope, the sledge did the business. I think the only improvement we could make to the methods used would be to part in the shade next time. That is probably good advice. Looking forward to seeing that puppy up and riding around. I am wondering if I will get to play with the forks at all.
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Don't raise your hand if you don't want to be called on. I learned that in grade school.
Looking at the shop book the forks are as simple as a stone ax.
 
Took the LH leg apart yesterday. Leg is in good shape sludge in the bottom of the slider. Been running solvent through it. Hope to finish cleaning out the crud and then polish up the slider later today.
Paint work scheduled for the 53 BSA , 74 Norton and 63 Matchless. I need to keep my hand down when old bikes come up for sale.
Off to Davenport for the Chief Blackhawk motorcycle show and swap meet over Labor Day.
 
Not gonna lie, Pee-Paw’s Scooter Shop sounds like a mechanical wonderland. Glad y’all got the axle loose because I’m excited to see this XS come back to life!
 
Well the Chief Blackhawk swap was fun until it wasn't. Thursday was nice but few treasures were found. It started to rain and rain hard of Friday. We bailed.
The ground was soft from rain and my 63 Mobylette fell over. Broke the LH lever mount! Couldn't find a replacement one there, did find one in the UK for $28 with shipping.
The forks on the XS650 Yamaha are rebuilt, front caliper rebuilt and mounted. Removed the exhaust so I could remove the aftermarket foot peg mounts. I think the exhaust has more mounting points than the exhaust on my truck.
Clear coat for the tanks should be done tomorrow.Resized_20210902_085018(1).jpeg
 
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