aaand Done.

Had bit of a lazy Sunday but I still made progress. Got 'dem mounts coped and welded to the frame. Drilled out the threads and the rod slips right through so they must be even right?

 

Started rearset mounts

Finally got around to starting the rearset mounts. My original plan was to use the passenger peg mounts and re-purpose them by first removing the studs and bracket then weld on new bungs for my pegs.

This however failed miserably... I spent way too long trying to cut all the welds cleanly to remove the brackets in attempt to clean up the look but I dug into the tubing too much. So I cut them off, cleaned up the frame and moved onto making my own mounts.

I had bought 7/8" DOM tubing for this anyway as well as the threaded bungs seen above on the threaded rod. The idea here is that the pegs are tapped for 3/8"-16 so I bought threaded bungs of the same pitch so I can use threaded rod to help keep them parallel when I weld them to the frame. Then I'll use a 3/8" drill to remove the threads.

To start the new mounts, I first decided on position by sitting on the bike a few times with boards on the ground to find where I liked to position my feet. I measured from there to the frame and then cut the tubing to length. I also chose to have the bungs slightly offset outwards from the frame. To do this symmetrically I needed some kind of welding jig. I cut a small length of threaded rod, drilled a hole in my cheapo work table, and bolted the rod through the table. The nut on top will provide the offset I was looking for. With a clamped piece of scrap angle steel into the table, I threaded the bung onto the rod and tediously tapered the tubing to fit onto the bung nicely.

No progress pics, but from here I tack welded the ends of the tubing onto the angle steel, then tacked onto the bung. Finish welded and some grinding later, and you see the right side is done below.

I repeated the same process and made the left one. Looks like my jig did its job pretty well. Tomorrow I'll fit and weld them to the frame using the threaded rod to keep them even with each other.

This post brought to you by the letter FFFF!!!!

Ok it's not that extreme, but it really sucks pulling the engine from these damn Yamaha's. It's easier to get the engine out by laying the whole bike on its side and pull all the mounting bolts, but to get the engine up into the engine stand is no fun at all! You can see her standing in the background between the Ninja and Honda.

Got ahead of myself here a bit, so I'm gonna back it up a few days. After a long Easter weekend where I planned to get a whole ton finished on the bike... I only got the base seat pan done.

I'm pretty happy with it so far. Have to weld the seams on the side and build the tail section which will store the capacitors, fuse panel, and have the flush mount tail light. An additional pan will go on top of this one with a similar shape that will be padded and upholstered. 

So as of now, the bike is engine-free so that I can start working on trimming some fat from the frame and build the rear foot control mounts. The engine starter will also be 'deleted' and the hole plugged with a 1-53/64" freeze plug. Engine clean up will probably also happen before it gets back into the frame, but nothing too extensive as it is pretty clean for its age.

Pod filters came in today. Pretty huge but very nice. 

Also invested in a collection of Molex connectors that range from 1 to 4 pins. Much more economical for these bikes because I build my own harnesses. These should add up to less than $1.50/connector versus buying pre-made sets for around $5/connector.

making progress...

It's been a cold and wet Spring so I've mostly been collecting parts before doing all the big work. The Yamaha now has used Koni rear shocks meant for a 70's BMW. They are in great condition with progressive rate springs and the dampers are rebuildable, which I haven't done yet. They are also slightly longer than stock which will make the front end a little more nimble in the corners.

You can also see in this pic the rear drum is a bit larger than the sprocket. I found out that it is from a TX750 not an XS650 which this bike is. That makes me very excited because the XS650 drum is only about the size of the sprocket. This will be a great improvement for the rear end.

Another upgrade on the bike are these carburetors. They come from a Ninja EX500. It seems to be a growing trend to put these on the XS650 for comparably little money because they are so readily available. Some guys on the forums have done most of the leg work figuring out what jets work with these carbs on the Yamaha so I just order the right ones, swap em in, and slap on the carbs. They should run better than any well tuned stock carb.

I also picked up the foot controls that will go on after I make custom rear mounts for them. I might still modify the passenger peg mounts to hold these. I'll give that a shot first and go from there.

Exhaust tubing is here as well. 1.5" and 2" mandrel bent tubing from summit racing. I'll be custom making 2-into-1 headers that run down the front of the engine and along the bottom with the 1.5" tubing, then join together at the rear with the 2" tubing which will exit out the right with a slight upward angle. After thats done I plan will be putting on a reverse cone muffler. This pic also includes new fork springs. They are meant for a Harley and have a linear spring rate slighty higher than the stock springs. This should balance well with the improved rear shocks with the progressive spring rates.

Found a really neat alternative to the usual round dial gauges. This is a Trail Tech Vapor gauge. It is mostly universal and has built in speedo, tachometer, clock, trip odometer, and even coolant temp sensor (which I don't need but might try and make it work for oil temp). I think it will look really good on this bike.

 I didn't really get a clear picture but I am also going to be converting the cable clutch to hydraulic. A basic 'pit bike' kit from eBay can be retrofitted to the bike and should work like a charm for an added bit of reliability and much easier actuation.