My Intro.

[Travis-Mc]

Hey Guys and I'm assuming Gals!  New member here and just thought I'd say hello and tell you a bit about me and my bike history.  I'm 23 and damn near 24, (where does the time go?) and live in Hudson, WI which is about 15 miles from St. Paul, MN.  I just picked up a 97 GS500 for the hell of it.  I've been huge into motorcycle for about 5-6 years.  I bought a 2003 R6 new as my first bike.  Had a blast on it and bought a 2005 R6.  I ended up selling that because of insurance prices, the urge to speed, and uncomfortable long rides.  I planned on taking the 05 to track days in Brainerd, MN but didn't have the money for those expensive weekends.  I couldn't be without a bike so I bought an 82 Yamaha XJ650 and put a 750 front end on it for the dual disk brakes along with a few other things.  Got the "fixin' up old bikes disease" and bought an 81 XJ550, 81 XJ750 for parts, an 83 Yamaha XS650 to Chop/Bob (if I dare call it that) that' I've been working on for about 10 months on and off.  I also bought an 80 XS1100, 84 Shadow VT700C, 80 XS 650, a 2007 Yamaha FZ1 (ridiculously fast, 90% of the power of an R1, with great looks, and more comfortable riding position), 78 Yamaha SR500 (500cc single, kicker only, oil in frame) and now a 97 GS500.   I haven't decided what I'm going to do with this bike yet.  I may try to get my girlfriend to ride it once she takes the MSF course this spring or I might mod it a bit for fun.  I have a friend with a EX500 so it would be fun to cruise on our 500 twins (Can't really ride the FZ1 with him on that..)  He weighs about 90 lbs more than me so I think we'd be close.  I might end up using it as a commuter since it gets crazy gas mileage.  I'll post up some pictures of some of these things if anyone is interested.  I'm looking forward to learning a lot from you guys who love your rides and hopefully can add something to this forum as well.

Travis

[yamahonkawazuki]

welcome aboard. got pics of the vintage collection? 

[Travis-Mc]

Not at the moment.  I'm pretty embarrassed of my garage right now.. I can hardly walk through it.  I have some of individual bikes though.  I'll post em up later.

[GSnoober]

If you're open to suggestions...

Pick up a pair of mid-70's OEM Mikuni carbs (either 34mm, or 36mm) for the XS650, and get rid of those nasty Hitachi stockers... The Mikuni carbs are actually tunable, while the Hitachis are a complete joke. Yamaha switched to the Hitachis in a pathetic attempt to stop people from being able to rejet, but the solution to that problem is as close as the nearest wastebasket. Slap some Mikunis on that 650, and start enjoying it...

Though you've probably seen this site, many others here haven't:

http://www.650motorcycles.com

http://www.650motorcycles.com/MikuniCarbs.html

Just some examples of what your XS could be:

http://www.650motorcycles.com/StreetTracker1.html

http://www.650motorcycles.com/ScottPickett.html

http://www.650motorcycles.com/PaulSpaulding2.html

http://www.650motorcycles.com/JohnJordan.html

http://www.650motorcycles.com/ToddVanMatre.html

http://www.650motorcycles.com/HansProst102.html

This cafe racer uses a Suzuki GS450E tank, which is an popular swap, and an easy mod:

http://www.650motorcycles.com/HalReid30.html

http://www.650motorcycles.com/IanMcCallum.html

http://www.650motorcycles.com/RLD.html

Lastly, an SR500 street-tracker:

http://www.650motorcycles.com/OwlMorris.html

Plenty more where they came from... have a look, it just might inspire you.

[Travis-Mc]

Oh trust me I've seen every one of those posted above and hundreds more.  I think I've looked at over half the bikes on 650motorcycles.com

I have brand new Mikuni 34mm VMs on the xs650 right now from 650 central along with new headers from MikesXS and tapered mufflers.  Very free flowing and sounds great.  Nice and loud.  I also have a boyer ignition on it.  Just had it running yesterday after doing some wiring.  I also had the swing arm extended 4 inches by Wise guys in Washington and had a brace made for it.  I cut the seat rails and bent them down and cut off everything rear of the upper shock mounts.  Center stand mounts and passenger peg mounts have been removed along with every litte tab and mount I didn't need on the frame.  I made a battery box for the swing arm and that will also be the fender mount so it can hug the rear tire.  It's got the heritage spoked wheels and a solo seat.  I also cut the mount for the tank and off and moved it a little bit to drop the back of the tank about 1/2 and inch.  The headlight is from a '40s Russian Ural and looks great.  I put drag bars on it and am currently working on a custom hydraulic clutch setup for it.  It sits very low with the stock shock length and the extended swinger.  Front lowered too.  Maybe I'll post some pictures later

Thanks for the links anyway.  Maybe some other member will get inspired to do a project of their own.

Travis

Edit:  I just remembered that I also have TC Bros forward controls on it too.