Rat bike change #?

nj1639 · Posted: October 12, 2008, 12:39 am Post subject: Rat bike change #?

Originally an '83 Special.

Lowered shocks
'78 rear fender
Standard tank
shortened turn signals
trimmed seat
sissy bar
All easily returnable to stock.

Shot of the shortened stock turn signals.

'78 taillight fabbed on an '83 license lamp mount. Red signal lenses.

jayel · Posted: October 12, 2008, 10:05 am Post subject: Re: Rat bike change #?

looks good nj, hope you know those lower side covers are worth there weight in gold make sure they're secure I'd drill a small hole and ty-wrap them on or use a hair-pin clip thru the mounts

weekendrider · Posted: October 12, 2008, 9:34 pm Post subject: Re: Rat bike change #?

Nice job. I like how you reworked the seat. Was that fender change just a swap or was there a mod?

nj1639 · Posted: October 13, 2008, 5:59 am Post subject: Re: Rat bike change #?

The fender was a swap, no mods. Basic differance between the 2 fenders is the mounting holes for the taillight/plate light.
The seat foam was moved back from the tank to get away from the 'rub' and trimmed the sides down to fit on the frame rails. Also timmed the underside where the fender starts it's upward sweep. I've got a 1/16" aluminum plate with the stock seat fork attached as a base for the seat now, an old cobra seat pan fabbed to fit, though with inline fuses and the stock battery cover I may just remove that pan and do a snap cover to the rails to hold the seat in place and lower that seat a bit more.

nj1639 · Posted: October 13, 2008, 6:05 am Post subject: Re: Rat bike change #?

jayel wrote:

looks good nj, hope you know those lower side covers are worth there weight in gold make sure they're secure I'd drill a small hole and ty-wrap them on or use a hair-pin clip thru the mounts

Once I get some of these 'Honey Do' projects out of the way I may look into building some fiberglass covers that will be a one piece for these '80's sidecovers, lower and upper in one.

nj1639 · Posted: January 27, 2009, 11:06 pm Post subject: Re: Rat bike change #?

So, this is about it for now. Feels right, runs right and looks right to me. Cool

nobradovic · Posted: February 17, 2009, 10:40 pm Post subject: Re: Rat bike change #?

Where did you get those lowered shocks ? It looks perfect.

nj1639 · Posted: February 17, 2009, 11:37 pm Post subject: Re: Rat bike change #?

Hey Nikola, thanks for the compliment!
Picked them up on ebay, T.A.S. motors(?) out of Indiana. Sometimes you see them on there with a "Buy it now" for around 76 dollars. 11 inches eye to eye. They were one of the first things I changed out on my '83, get rid of that gap between the fender and tire.
I was thinking your xs would look even better than it does now with a lowered rear, but that's just me. Wink

Rick

2-Skinny · Posted: February 18, 2009, 2:40 am Post subject: Re: Rat bike change #?

Nice bike, but IMHO the sissy bar is a little off looking...

nobradovic · Posted: February 18, 2009, 8:08 am Post subject: Re: Rat bike change #?

nj1638 sad:

"I was thinking your XS would look even better than it does now with a lowered rear, but that's just me. "

Yes man. You are 100% right !!! I should do this asap. Your shocks fits just perfect !!!
They are 5 cm (2 inch) shorter then mine. Stock shocks should be like yours. The bike is much lower and thinner.

Best regards,
Nikola

nj1639 · Posted: February 19, 2009, 8:23 am Post subject: Re: Rat bike change #?

2-Skinny wrote:

Nice bike, but IMHO the sissy bar is a little off looking...

Well 2-Skinny, my first bike was a t-100 back in '73. When I got back into riding that was the time and semi-custom look that I was going for.
There's an old expresion of 'pretty is as pretty does', when I head out to work in 50 degrees and come home in 80 degrees I need something to attach the shed clothing to, so this fit the ticket for form, early 70's look, and function.
What I love about these 650's is the way you can change them around, if you like, to make them an individual statement. It's like one of our members said, 'You won't pass yourself by everyday on one of the these.'
Good luck on your ride.

JeffM · Posted: February 19, 2009, 1:38 pm Post subject: Re: Rat bike change #?

Not a sissy bar guy myself but it really is a finishing touch on your bike. I am a bit too young to have been riding in the 70's but I was looking at bikes then and I remember the 'semi-custom' look well. Yours looks caught in a time warp... well done. You need a fringed Billy the Kid jacket go with it!!

Barbara · Posted: February 19, 2009, 4:35 pm Post subject: Re: Rat bike change #?

Sissy bar or not, buckhorn 'bars or not---the important thing to me are the slightly blued exhaust pipes! They tell the tale---this is a bike that is ridden, and that makes it really cool!

Or maybe I'm just projecting the condition on the pipes on my own bike, and loving it.......

It really is a beauty. Very Happy

(Weren't those little T100's cute? Little 500cc of buzzing four-stroke, but with some low-end grunt, and that classic Triumph tank!)

I love bikes!!!

nj1639 · Posted: February 19, 2009, 9:05 pm Post subject: Re: Rat bike change #?

JeffM,
I was thinking that I'd do the fringe jacket if Barbara would do the white go-go boots. Ha!
Yeah Barbara, my Honey loved riding on that one. Something special there. Shame Yamaha doesn't have a tank emblem like the Triumphs, that'd be the topper.

bkmarsha · Posted: April 7, 2009, 8:21 pm Post subject: Re: Rat bike change #?

what years used the lower side covers

how do they attach

nj1639 · Posted: April 7, 2009, 10:21 pm Post subject: Re: Rat bike change #?

bkmarsha wrote:

what years used the lower side covers

how do they attach

I know that the '82's and the '83's had them, probably the '84's and I'm not sure before '82.
There's a stamped plate that goes up against the frame, held on by the front foot peg mountings that has a reciever for a tab that comes off the bottom of the lower side cover. The top of the side cover has a couple of tabs that go into recievers that are mounted on the frame, not unlike the way the top side covers attach.
I like 'em, am glad I got 'em but they're rare and expensive to replace.

steelburner · Posted: June 1, 2009, 2:58 pm Post subject: Re: Rat bike change #?

(Heh, heh!)

I've got a spare set of lower and upper side-covers for my '82 Heritage Special, in case I lose a set to some ... scrounger. I may leave 'em to my favorite nephew in my will if I've still got 'em. Confused

I wouldn't say that a few of my neighbors would steal, exactly; it's just that they sometimes tend to find things before they're lost. Sad

pumps · Posted: June 1, 2009, 5:10 pm Post subject: Re: Rat bike change #?

Steelburner I have heard of folks attaching precious sidecovers with black zip ties...sort of underneath, hidden, protecting them from opportunists...

nj1639 · Posted: July 28, 2009, 2:20 pm Post subject: Re: Rat bike change #?

8-1 compression, 18/30 gearing. What a cruiser! I think I'm obsessed.

joelbaax · New Member Joined: Jul 20, 2009 Posts: 5 Location: West MI

Nice bike. I see some of the same touches my son and me are putting on our bikes. Funny how the little touches add up to a different look.

How do you like the 18/30 gearing? My son will be commuting to community college next the next 2 years, about 30 miles one way, of course he wants to ride when the suns shining etc.

nj1639 · Posted: August 1, 2009, 11:32 pm Post subject: Re: Rat bike change #?

Thanks, love what these can be.
y work commute is about the same, mostly highway and then a bit of town.
The 18/30 is super in conjunction with lowered compression (8-1), along with the cam and timing a bit retarded.
Without changing the compression and the cam/timing, the bike is a bit grumbly in the lower gears, 'specially on low speed turns.
On a startout, I roll in first @ about 2k rpm and wind it out to about 3500, shift to 2nd, wind out to about 3500/ 30 mph, shift to 3rd, wind out to about 3500/ 40 mph, shift to 4th, wind out to about 3500rpm/ 50 mph, shift to 5th and cruise! and I mean CRUISE!!! 55 to 65 mph and I never go above 4grand rpm. Sweet!!! Helluva difference than stock which was shake, rattle and lose something @5500 rpm in 5th.
I won't go back to stock gearing/compression and I wouldn't trade this bike for anything, well maybe for another xs that I could do the same changes to.
Kudos to xsjohn, his needles and expertise, for without ,the previous message would not have been.

Joseph · Full Member Joined: May 22, 2007 Posts: 767 Location: NY

nj1639 is that the same tank. I liked the xs on the original tank was that a sticker? Love the bike btw.

nj1639 · Posted: August 2, 2009, 12:10 pm Post subject: Re: Rat bike change #?

Thanks Joseph.
That's a different tank, '82 Special @ 2.9 gal. The one on there now is a '78 Standard, 3.9 gal.
Funny, been thinking of a color change again, maybe go back to that duplicolor Dark Red Garnet but keep the larger capacity tank. The Garnet has a bit of sparkle to it and matches pretty close to the original Ruby Red.
That's a vinyl applique in a Baskerville Italic lettering with shadowing , closest I could find to the '650' that's on the cam covers that the Heritage Specials carried. I got them special order at a local sign shop.
Been thinking of filling the emblem mounts and going with the same lettering but a little smaller and add 650 (xs650). Hmm, next project?

Edit to add- The bike for this week. That Special tank does trim her up.

What Happened to 650rider.com?

Yamaha xs650