Hello Everyone from Michigan's U.P.!

gwamba · Full Member Joined: Jul 10, 2008 Posts: 29

My name is Tom and I live in Iron Mountain, MI (in the Upper Peninsula). It is about 110 miles north of Green Bay, WI.
I am a retired teacher getting back into cycles after over 25 years. My last bike was a 78 GS1000E Suzuki, full touring rigged, that took me across the USA a couple times.

y first bike was a Red/Silver1965 Triumph 650 and I always liked that style...

I recently purchased a red 1978 Yamaha XS650 SE from a neighbor... It is in great shape with 24,440 miles...not a scratch on the tank, sidecovers, fenders etc... My friend and I went over the brakes, electrical, new tires etc. He rewired the notorious turn signals and they work fine!

Two trouble spots... someone extended the fork tubes about 4" (makes the handling less stable) and the 2-1 aftermarket header exaust is too loud and backfires when throttling down. Overall the bike is really a joy to ride... especially after so many years!

Its nice to find a site where so many others love these great old 650 twins!

nj1639

Welcome aboard. My first bike was a '67 Daytona 500, 35 years ago. Love my '83 xs, feels like an old shoe. Got any pics? Would like to see what a 4 over would look like.

Retiredgentleman

Good to have you join the group, we need more retired guys and gals on here Laughing

. Yes, the 78SE I have is just too much fun. Be glad to help with any questions you have.

Fergie

gwamba wrote:

My name is Tom and I live in Iron Mountain, MI (in the Upper Peninsula). It is about 110 miles north of Green Bay, WI.
I am a retired teacher getting back into cycles after over 25 years. My last bike was a 78 GS1000E Suzuki, full touring rigged, that took me across the USA a couple times.

y first bike was a Red/Silver1965 Triumph 650 and I always liked that style...

I recently purchased a red 1978 Yamaha XS650 SE from a neighbor... It is in great shape with 24,440 miles...not a scratch on the tank, sidecovers, fenders etc... My friend and I went over the brakes, electrical, new tires etc. He rewired the notorious turn signals and they work fine!

Two trouble spots... someone extended the fork tubes about 4" (makes the handling less stable) and the 2-1 aftermarket header exaust is too loud and backfires when throttling down. Overall the bike is really a joy to ride... especially after so many years!

Its nice to find a site where so many others love these great old 650 twins!

I may be a year late, but nice to hear from you. I went to school up in the U.P. (Michigan Tech eh!), and during the summer it is great biking country up there. I have a friend that lives not too far from you, and he just purchased an old Seca that he's fixing up, and I might get up there later this summer to go ride with him.

What Happened to 650rider.com?

Yamaha xs650