Glad I found this place

Cooltouch · Posted: January 7, 2007, 6:37 pm Post subject: Glad I found this place

I was just doodling with different URL names, ya know like "XS650.com" and "XS650.org" and then tried "XS650.net", which had a link to this place. So, naturally, I had to check it out. Honestly, a forum was sort of what I was hoping to find. So it's all good.

I live in Houston, Texas, and one of the good things I find I can say about this place is I can ride my bikes year-round. Another is that there are lots of good Mexican restaurants around here Cool

Beyond that . . . well, I prefer to look on the bright side of things whenever possible. Houston is Hog Heaven. BT Harleys everywhere -- on a day when the weather's pleasant, at least. Me, I ride almost every day, rain or shine. Nice thing about having old bikes with not a lot of chrome is, if they get wet, it ain't such a big deal. Just wipe 'em down before putting 'em away.

I bought an '81 XS650 SH back in 2000, which was my first bike in many years. Back in about '72 or so, I had a friend who owned an XS650, which he chopped and bobbed. Even though I'm personally not into the chopped look, I always thought his was a cool looking ride. He even let me ride it, and I was quite impressed. Enough so that when I came across the '81 almost thirty years later, I didn't hesitate. Price was decent at $700. It was tagged, inspected and running, so the amount of attention it needed was essentially nil.

A couple years later, I added two more to the stable -- a 1977 D and a 1980 SG. Picked up the pair for $350 delivered. The '77 had been sitting outside for several years, but most of it was there. The '80 had been reasonably well kept, and needed only a bit of work to get it running. Well, as things would turn out, I decided to tear down the '77 and cafe it. The '80 got parked in the garage, and has acted as an occasional donor for the '81. One of these days I'll probably get the '80 running and keep it and sell the '81 (the '80 is in nicer shape). As for the '77, after getting deep into the project, I ran into time constraints, then money issues, and the short of it is that it's been sitting in the garage in various boxes for a few years. Time is still an issue for me but money is now less of a problem, so I hope to start in on the project again soon. I'll most likely be posting questions as I have them here at the forum.

Oh, might as well add -- kind of making up for lost time in a way, I got on a bit of a bike collecting binge after buying the first XS. In addition to the XS's, my stable now includes two Beemers -- a 1976 R90/6 and a 1988 R100RS, a 1987 Sporty 1200, and a 1974 Norton 850 Commando. The Beemers and Norton are runners; the Sporty was running when I bought it, but is now another project waiting for me to find time to complete. Juggling priorities can lead to grid-lock, I've found.

Okay, that's it for now.

Best,

ichael

RainLand · Posted: January 7, 2007, 9:40 pm Post subject: Re: Glad I found this place

Welcome aboard.
The bike breeding thing is a common feature - right now I've got two
complete 650s, a frame, two motors, and a bunch of bits. My commuter
is a K1200S BMW.
Seems like mice - once a couple 650s get into your garage, the population
soars.

royfisk · Posted: February 12, 2008, 2:50 pm Post subject: Re: Glad I found this place

cooltouch nice start. Time and money seems to be everyones issue these days. Ive lost count of how many xs's ive bought and sold over the years. I personally like the on/off road performance oriented style. I am now specialiseing in dual sport type conversions. Choppers or bobbers as some call them are a ting of my past. As now I live in vermont and around 50% of the roads here are still unpaved. I have developped a taste for dirt road performance. The 650 delivers. It is the most versatile motorcycle that I know of out of its era. Its won road racing, hill climbs, flat tracking, motocross, ice racing, choppers, it even did some heavyweight at baja. I know of a guy who put a side hack on and went cross country with one. Point is here they do it all. Ive been working in a bike shop of my dads since age 12 when I laced and trued my first wheel. Ive owned everything from hd's to klr kawasaki's for the street. Ive worked for suzuki franchise, and several shops. I have many years experiance with motorcycles in general. You have picked the right bike to play with , no matter what year or model it is.

What Happened to 650rider.com?

Yamaha xs650