Started work on the 1980 Yamaha XS650

I've had the new XS for a few weeks now, so this will be a pretty big kickoff. Here's a quick list of my plans for this bike:

-Remove the electric starting system and battery. Will be kick start only

     -To do this, I need a higher output alternator setup, and large capacitors (at least 30,000uF)

-Upgrade brakes and suspension

-Build custom exhaust and cafe racer style seat, which will hide the capacitors

-Upgrade the carbs (cheaplyf. Instead of jetting the stock carbs, I Found a set of carbs for a Ninja 500 that fit the Yamaha. With the right jets they will perform better than anything else I could have done for the money.

-more to come...

Started off with stripping out a lot of useless stuff like the battery box, stock wiring harness, and all the components that wont be used.

After:

New clip-on handlebars:

The last guy cut the stock springs, so I needed new rear suspension anyway. So I picked up a set of used Koni's meant for a 70's BMW. I have a rebuild kit coming in the mail now. 

I also spent this afternoon mocking up the seat design with cardboard.

New blog, new bikes.

Well I finally got around to starting a new blog. Here I will be keeping all things related to any bikes I work on.

I recently sold the 79 XS650 chopper and got an '80 XS650 as part of the sale. I also found a '79 Honda CB750F for real cheap on craigslist. The guy said if i came and got the Honda that day he would throw in a 1992 Kawasaki Ninja 250! So now I have all 3 bikes here waiting for work. I'll be focusing mostly on the Yamaha first, then the Ninja will hopefully be a quick flip, then the Honda.