For those of you who like the Old School look

Cooltouch · Last edited by Cooltouch on July 18, 2008, 2:25 pm; edited 1 time in total

Check out this one. It sold on eBay recently for $6,200. ( Item number: 330251187397)

s228.photobucket.com/a...G_6749.jpg

One of the nicest hardtail bobber XSes I've seen.

Best,

ichael

krunk · Full Member Joined: Jul 15, 2008 Posts: 75

Oh yes, I like very much.

What's with all the hardtails all the time though?

Cooltouch

Hardtailing the XS650 has been popular from just about the beginning. I worked with a guy, back in '71 and '72 it must have been, who rode a hardtail XS. It was an Old School bobber also. I rode it a few times, and was surprised it handled as well as it did.

Best,

ichael

NateDogg

That guy is from the jockey journal, the whole build of that bike is on there under "another xs650 build" or something like that. I intensely dislike "hardtailing" but he did it differently with a lot of attention to detail, not just a stupid triangle welded to his frame. I encourage anyone interested to look it up

drifter

>>I rode it a few times, and was surprised it handled as well as it did.

>>Best,

>>Michael

It's a common misconception that rigids handle poorly. I'm not sure where it come from, but it is definitely not true. A POOR rigid job will handle poorly, but a GOOD rigid will usually outhandle a full suspended bike.
The is the fact of an extremely solid frame with little flex and almost not tendancy to hop the rear wheel.
I've ridden both rigids and swing arm bikes, and the rigids will handle just as good as the swing arm ones.
Once again...this is if the rigid conversion is done right. If it is a cheap, poor design or mounting job, it will handle like crap!

Dave

acetek · Full Member Joined: Feb 24, 2008 Posts: 68 Location: PNW

the reason it looks so good is it doesnt have the usuall 6" stretch out back with a gapingtrunk size hole under the seat and a 4ft chain flappng in the breeze ;)and some goofy looking jetterrigged forward contrls. Laughing

That there bike is dope Cool

drifter

Acetek, you are dead on right! It's one of the best looking rigid XS650s I've seen. Another thing that sets it off is the 18" rear wheel. Most of the rigid conversions I've seen use the Special 16" rear wheel.
That one just looks RIGHT.
Oh, and I love the belt used as a battery strap!

Dave

xs1961

Lurvly...

Cooltouch

Call me weird, but I actually like the look of the "crude" handpainted graphics on the tank. Cool

Best,

ichael

xsjohn

Mike.......would have to agree that bike is very nice to say the least.... he even used tin tops....xsjohn

jimmythetrucker · Full Member Joined: Mar 12, 2008 Posts: 1283

It does indeed look mighty fine. Better your butt than mine, however.

BeanerBiker · Full Member Joined: Apr 01, 2008 Posts: 103

jimmythetrucker wrote:

It does indeed look mighty fine. Better your butt than mine, however.

Since I have no butt I guess riding mine will be fine! Wink

JOHN. What are tin tops? Question

All these bikes are so different. It really comes down to the owner/builders imagination.

weekendrider

The older carbs(38's) used a thicker aluminum top, the newer(34's) thinner steel.

slappy · Full Member Joined: Jul 02, 2008 Posts: 14

Anybody know where to get that throttle, reservoir, hand grips? Love the look.

drifter

Don't know about the resevoir, but the grips are replica Gran Turismo grips. Beston makes a fine replica, but the Gran Turismos are still available. Check eBay for Gran Turismo grips or Beston grips.

Dave

pumps

I saw that one for sale also. What do you suppose is the significance of the "3c" on the tank? I'd like to know what it sounds like. Cool

sirmacd

Hey Pumps, if you go to the link at the top of the page picture 41 has an old Ford with what looks like 3b on it. Must be a family code. lol.

Cooltouch

In the Ebay ad, the seller mentions that he wanted to incorporate the "old Ford" theme into the bike. There are a number of old Ford parts that were incorporated into the build. So it makes a bit of sense that he would carry over the 3x code to the bike. Dunno what it means, but you could send him a note and ask. I'll bet he'd get a kick out of learning about this thread.

Best,

ichael

slappy · Full Member Joined: Jul 02, 2008 Posts: 14

drifter wrote:

Don't know about the resevoir, but the grips are replica Gran Turismo grips. Beston makes a fine replica, but the Gran Turismos are still available. Check eBay for Gran Turismo grips or Beston grips.

Dave

Thanks Dave, checked on ebay also for 7/8" throttle and that gives a bunch under mini-bike and triumph. Looked at more of the pics and it's just a metal top that looks like he polished it. Smile

mseriously · Full Member Joined: May 08, 2007 Posts: 31 Location: Iowa

That guy posts on jockeyjournal and he has the whole build documented. Pretty talented guy. I learned about this site from lurking over there...this place has tons of info for me!! Hopefully I can build something great like this bike.

Here's the link:

www.jockeyjournal.com/...hlight=650

What Happened to 650rider.com?

Yamaha xs650