XS650 Chopper

[tntmo]

A lot of interesting things go through my garage, people know that I'm into working on things and pass my number onto friends and neighbors. I don't complain, it's fun having diversity in my motorcycle experience and I get some good deals quite often.

This one is a first for me, a custom Yamaha XS650 Chopper. I don't think this is something that I would want to keep, but I really want to get it running and take it around the block a few times. Probably best to wear comfortable shoes, might end up walking. Anyone ever owned something like this? I'm going over to see if it has spark, maybe try to get a bit of life out of the old beast.

 

[regder]

That is badass, would totally ride that around.

 

[Superraid]

That is badass, would totally ride that around.

That's great, be cool to run that around, the xs650 is a nice simple motor have had mine rephased so the torque curve is similar to the s10 never had the nerve to chop it had it 26 years it's sort of part of the family now.

 

[Bill_C]

I used to build vintage chops back in the day. I've built a few Japanese powered chops, an XS650 among them (actually a 1972 XS2, but they are the same beast).
I'm here to bounce stuff off of if you have questions. Been a while since I built one but I probably still have a memory or two that could be useful. MikesXS is a great resource for hard to find parts... I may even have parts laying around I can give you. I'd have to look.

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[Cycledude]

Bought a brandnew XS650 sometime around 1973 or 1974, they were very reliable motorcycles, lots of folks used to chop them.

 

[Sierra1]

I read somewhere, a long time ago, that it was one of their most reliable engines. Introduced in '69.

 

[tntmo]

Well I went over to help my friends who have this bike this morning. I got a Suzuki Intruder 1400 running, a KTM 300EXC and a lawn mower. Since I was doing so well, I decided to push the chopper out to the light of day.

I put some air in the tires and then looked at the wiring. It wasn't pretty, but I figured out the ground and the positive leads and hooked up a battery that I had laying around. I splashed some fuel in the tank and proceeded to kick. Took about 10-20 kicks and the old beast roared to life. The folks I'm helping are talking about giving this to me. I might go for it....would be fun to clean up a bit and maybe make a bit more ridable. It's downright dangerous as it is now.

 

[Bill_C]

That "uphill" stance needs to be sorted to make the rake and trail right, but otherwise it's a no-brainer to me.

Heck, if I lived closer I'd come by and help you get her set up better. I love old chops and I love to see them brought back to life.

Let me know if you need anything and I will sort through my parts box and see if I have it.

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[tntmo]

That "uphill" stance needs to be sorted to make the rake and trail right, but otherwise it's a no-brainer to me.

Heck, if I lived closer I'd come by and help you get her set up better. I love old chops and I love to see them brought back to life.

Let me know if you need anything and I will sort through my parts box and see if I have it.

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Well the price is definitely right, I may be getting it for free.

I have no idea how to sort the front end, could use some advice there. I love getting things running and improving them a bit, then passing them along to someone as a good deal if they want to keep making them better.

It's 99% sure that it will be coming home with me, I need to make some room in the garage.

 

[holligl]

Do they have a title to go with it? There was a titleless bike I was looking at, but it would be nearly impossible to get it titled and licensed.

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[Bill_C]

I have no idea how to sort the front end, could use some advice there.

You have two "good" choices and a couple of poor ones, but let's skip past the poor choices.

If you want to keep the springer then you need to cut and rake the neck. If you can weld, this is a good choice. I can walk you through the geometry. It's not that bad. Personally, I have built raked out chops and they handle great in a straight line but pretty poor in a turn. They tend to provide a lot of sprung feedback in a corner (Sugar Bear springers are the exception to this).

Option two, sell the springer and pick up a stock front end from a wrecker or ebay. The sale of the springer should more than cover this no problem. I like this option as it turns the bike back into a proper lane splitting masterpiece. Light, quick, narrow and flickable. The xs I built had a stock front end with all the yami chromework pulled off of it and the mounts cut and cleaned off. It was super clean... I'll try to find pictures. Of course, then you need to ditch the king-queen and drop on a solo seat... I might have one I can give you. Gotta look.

Of course, the cheapest option is to keep the uphill stance and add a proper sissy bar a la 1970's. Peter Fonda's chop in Easy Rider had a mild uphill stance, for example. The issue is oil starvation. The higher the stance, the greater the risk. No one ever thought about that back then. You could flush the engine with diesel and then pull the engine, drop the sump, clean the sludge, replace the oil sump filter and call it good.

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[Sierra1]

. . . . Option two, sell the springer and pick up a stock front end from a wrecker or ebay. The sale of the springer should more than cover this no problem. I like this option as it turns the bike back into a proper lane splitting masterpiece. Light, quick, narrow and flickable. The xs I built had a stock front end with all the yami chromework pulled off of it and the mounts cut and cleaned off. It was super clean... I'll try to find pictures. Of course, then you need to ditch the king-queen and drop on a solo seat... . . . .

This would be my choice. Make a bobber out of it? Put some straight drag bars on it? I would look for a set of disc brake forks regardless of whatever direction you take. Couple of examples:

or or, maybe even

 

[Bill_C]

I wish I could find pictures of the one I built. It was very similar to the pics above.
Unfortunately these bikes run like crap with straight pipes, but I was able to run custom (homemade) pipes that were still thinner than stock but maintained a baffle for back pressure, so it can be done.

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[tntmo]

So many cool things can be done with these, but it's really not something that I am into that much. I think I will just bring it home, clean it up a bit and get things working and then pass it on to someone who loves the chopper idea. I don't believe there is even a title to go with it, so it's likely going to be a pain to get on the road (legally) with this thing.

 

[Bill_C]

Most people think that but it's not too bad. In CA you just need a statement of facts form and a CHP inspection. Then trailer it to the DMV and you'll walk away with the a title. The hardest part of the whole thing is dealing with the DMV.
It took me longer to fill out the statement of facts form than it did for the CHP to run the VIN and prove it's not stolen.
If it hasn't been registered in more than 7 years your golden. Less than 7 years and you have to pay back reg unless it's on a non-op.

 

[tntmo]

Most people think that but it's not too bad. In CA you just need a statement of facts form and a CHP inspection. Then trailer it to the DMV and you'll walk away with the a title. The hardest part of the whole thing is dealing with the DMV.
It took me longer to fill out the statement of facts form than it did for the CHP to run the VIN and prove it's not stolen.
If it hasn't been registered in more than 7 years your golden. Less than 7 years and you have to pay back reg unless it's on a non-op.

I have done that a few times, but from my quick look around the bike I didn't even see a VIN on it. I will check it out closer when I bring it home. I'm sure I can come up with a solution.

 

[Sierra1]

If the V.I.N. has been removed, I wouldn't touch it. Only one reason to do that. I would think the engine number should be visible though.

 

[Tenman]

my buddy was doing about 20 mph on his shiny new xs650. He hit a German shepherd. He gave up cycling. Puss

 

[Bill_C]

That could be an aftermarket frame, I can't tell from the video. If it's a stock frame then VIN is on the neck on the right side towards the front. Should be like S650-123456. If it's a stock frame with the VIN removed then the CHP can still run the engine number (early xs650's engine and vin matched) to see if it comes up stolen. That engine number is on the bottom front between the engine mounts, right side.

If it's an aftermarket frame then the engine number is what you register it to as "special construction." A little more work but not too bad.

These 70s choppers were a hodgepodge of chopped stockers and transplanted engines in custom frames. Each one was unique which is why I loved them. I wouldn't shy away from a non-titled chop, but I would definitely run it by the CHP first just to be safe

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[tntmo]

That could be an aftermarket frame, I can't tell from the video. If it's a stock frame then VIN is on the neck on the right side towards the front. Should be like S650-123456. If it's a stock frame with the VIN removed then the CHP can still run the engine number (early xs650's engine and vin matched) to see if it comes up stolen. That engine number is on the bottom front between the engine mounts, right side.

If it's an aftermarket frame then the engine number is what you register it to as "special construction." A little more work but not too bad.

These 70s choppers were a hodgepodge of chopped stockers and transplanted engines in custom frames. Each one was unique which is why I loved them. I wouldn't shy away from a non-titled chop, but I would definitely run it by the CHP first just to be safe

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I believe it to be a custom frame but I'm not familiar with these things and only did a quick look for it. There's a temp permit thing on the backrest that's kind of faded, I will look at that. I'm not afraid of it being stolen, the family that I'm helping are real straight shooters. I will be picking it up in a week or two, will look closely at the frame and see what comes up.

Anyway, I love all the ideas and the fact that we have people in this group with knowledge of these things. Never ceases to amaze me the depth of experience in a motorcycle forum.