FS. R1100GS light crash damage

Nice XS650 Special for you guvnor

 

Oooh, that sounds much more interesting.

 

Emailed!

 

It's a bloody nice bike, is that XS650.

 

Replied!

 

(The Older Gentleman) wrote in

Is it one which has been through yor hands TOG?

 

Yep. Very. very nice indeed. He collected it rom here in the middle of
last winter, and rode it to Stranraer. Rather him than me.

Unfortunately, the top end turned out to need attention, which Hog did.

I also bunged him a brand new set of cans, and a box of brand new useful
spares (oil seals, brake pads, washable oil filters, gaskets, etc).
Something like £200 worth of bits, including the cans, which I believe
he's now fitted.

And the spares got lost in the post between here and Belfast....

Amazingly, they turned up and were delivered something like three months
later.

The bike was a US import originally, with the shorter gearing, so it is
bloody snappy.

I really, really didn't want to sell it, but January was the month I
dinged my Triumph Trophy and was faced with a £1000 bill for parts, and
Hog had been waving cash at me for months for the Yamaha.

Got to say, I'd like it back now. I love XS650s, and this was/is a
corker.

 

Haven't you got a "light crash damaged" chopper to swap?


It was you, wasn't it Hog?

 

(The Older Gentleman) wrote in

Thanks for that, good to hear some spares come with it.

I know Bonwick had a well sorted one too, from the 140mph Commando wars a
couple of years ago.

Are the starters replaceable/refurbable still? I know they were a weak
point. I guess kick starting a 650 twin isn't too hard anyway.

Comment from a guide I found on the net for the 'special':

"Tough twin in dangerous chassis, which speed wobbles. Starters and
generators can burn out, worn examples of the former mangle the
crankshaft. Some XS650's had dodgy pistons at around 15k. Still usable
with as much as 75 thou on the clock, many broke the 100k barrier. Top end
engine rattles normal. Expect exhaust, caliper and electrical rot. Lots of
imports."

All sounds pretty normal and prolly down to tyre choice etc.

Doubt I'd be really pushing it's limits. Not for a while anyway.

 

snip>

The only thing I'd ask Hog about (he won't lie) is if he's had the
engine apart did he find wear in the small ends. The XS2 I owned had
problems with the electric boot because it should have been connected
to a de-compressor on the right hand exhaust valve but even after a
load of engine work it still kicked over easily enough.

I had one of the US imports for a while, the wheel size limited tyre
choice and the rubber mounted handlebars were a bit worrying.
Otherwise they're nice bikes.

 

alan@darkroom.+.com (A.Lee) wrote in alan@darkroom.+.com:

Thanks for that.
Picking up on what Andy said about tyre choices, what size does it use?

 

Hog is a good mate, I know he wouldn't misrepresent a bike to me. We'll
have a chat about it when he calls over next week. I'm considering a move
to Andalusia, and might prefer a trailee, but don't want an over tall bike
at the moment as it's too much strain on my back, so we'll see.

 

Worked fine on this one, but they are prone to going phut (the starter
gear packs up). Of the four XS650s I've owned, two had dead electric
starters. And you can start them first kick, when you've acquired the
knack.

The crucial thing with US imports is that the conrods are longer and the
pistons shorter, although the swept volume is the same. Why they did
this, I dunno. Some say the US models are smoother - certainly
mine/Hog's (the only US one I've owned) is remarkably sweet.

What this means is that you *cannot* put UK model pistons on top of US
model rods or the pistons collide with the valves.

Since Tony Hall killed himself and Halco folded as a result, there's
been no real UK specialist, although there is an amazing bloke in
Germany and a good US parts supplier (Mike's XS - google for him). Sp
parts are no problem.

The XS650 was Yamaha's biggest selling bike in the US for *years*.
Rumour has it that they only killed the bike because they wanted
everyone to buy the new 750/850 triples and the XS1100 four, and they
didn't: they carried on buying XS650s.

Here we only got five basic models: the original drum braked XS1, the
disc braked XS2, the heavily revised XS650B (double front disc with
opposed-piston calipers), the XS650C (sliding calipers) and the Special.

The US got the roadsters (albeit only with single front discs), but they
really took to the Custom in a big way, and there are so many different
versions: Special, Special 2, Heritage, you name it. They're all
basically the same bike, with different seats, panels, wheels, etc.

This is the bike I sold to Hog: the one we're talking about. It'll have
the new cans and some new tyres on it now.

www.chateau.murray.dsl.pipex.com/XS650.4.jpg

www.chateau.murray.dsl.pipex.com/XS650.5.jpg

Bloody nice, huh?

 

(The Older Gentleman) wrote in

Indeed, it looks like an exceptionally smart example.
Not a big fan of 'custom' styled bike in the past, but at the moment, it
might be the right riding position for me.

 

That's a "long rod" setup, and it will be smoother, because the conrod angle
of deflection from the bore centre line will be less for any given crank
position. It will also be a little happier at higher rpm.

 

Thanks for that. Yes, that makes sense.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/reader/184317216X/ref=sib_dp_pt/202-9485131-7519863#reader-link

 

(The Older Gentleman) wrote in

The shorter piston skirt also reduces reciprocating mass and friction,
which helps a lot, but shortens piston life. Maybe that's why the comment
about 15k piston failures int he clip I quoted. Hopefully, they sorted it
on later models. What year is that one by the way?

 

1982 or threabouts.

That quote came, IIRC, from the Used Motorcycle Guide, which isn't
always accurate.

My own experience of XS650s is that they're bilt like brick shithouses.
Like any big twin, you can expect piston/ring wear if they're abused,
but really, it's not a problem.

I rebored my first one at about 45k miles. Never touched my second one -
it had a Hagon 750cc kit in it anyway and drank oil. I bought my third
one as a project, and rebored that as a matter of course. I can't
remember if Hog rebored this. I think he fitted new rings, valve guides
and cam bearings[1].

When I had it, the left hand camshaft oil seal was leaking badly, so I
put a new seal in and it was fine: I did about 1000 miles on it. Hog
rode it to Belfast via Stranraer, and it started leaking again, which
was when he found the cam bearings on that side were worn and the end of
the cam had about an eighth of an inch of vertical play in it, which
presumably is what nadgered the seal.

So he replaced the bearings and seal (easy job, albeit an engine-out
one) and at the same time replaced the valves because the stems looked
like they'd been hammered. I think he replaced the rings as a "might as
well" basis.

[1] Four ball races

 

My father's XS2 used to eat head gaskets.
Replaced with genuine Yamaha parts (twice) checking the faces for
damage/warp and finding no obvious problem.
When it went for the 3rd time there was only a pattern gasket kit available,
so I used that, which never failed again.
Guess it was an issue with the OEM gaskets...