First custom project ever!... Meet the VOODOO CHILD!

yamaha_dave

Introduction to my first bobber project... the VooDoo Child!

I purchased the bike on Ebay for a whopping $300! Spent another $325 shipping it from Iowa to Austin Texas and whalla... I had me an XS650!

A little dirty. Okay... A LOT dirty!!!

y journey to the "bobber side" began the night I unloaded the ride from the moving truck.

Right side engine clean... Left side still to go...

Received my package in the mail from TC Brothers.

Went to chopping an hour later!

I'll definitely post some more pics later, but to make a long story short...

A month and a half later...

Go easy on me... Remember... It's my first project!

mdrathank

nice job!
y 82 looks a little worse than your beginning pic.
hp

easytravel

Love it! totally rocks. What's the stretch on the weld on hard tail? Very clean style, white grips and all...

Blacktooth_Grin · Full Member Joined: Apr 01, 2009 Posts: 29

Got any close ups of your mid controls?

weekendrider

Lean and clean. Well thought out build yamaha_dave.

ghostyder

very nice, not sure id want to try that right sided jockey shift though, but it looks cool

yamaha_dave

Thanks for all the great posts guys! You've really made my Sunday after 24 hours of blues...

I wet the tank last night and tried attempted the "virgin start". Shortly after I turned on the petcock, I heard gas pouring on the floor!

Apparently I had a sticking float in my left carburetor. Quickly disassembled, cleaned, straightened, and put back together. While I had it apart, I re-checked the float clearance according to my Clymers guide. The manual suggests 27mm and I think the floats were sitting at 18mm. That's quite a discrepancy. Getting them out to 27mm required quite a bit of bending on the tang. This didn't seem normal??? Seems to work though.

After putting the carburetors back on, I realized my gearing was slipping on the starter. I think the friction clip needs to be "squeezed" a bit. I lost my friction clip all together on the kick starter and had to fabricate one from a one gallon paint can handle. The metal they use is pretty rigid and damn near the same diameter. I first bent the "tab" on the bottom and then wrapped the sides around the top of my WD40 can. Worked like a champ!

I'm tearing the crank case down tonight and checking the friction tab on the electric start. Hopefully, I can get it to quit grinding like banshee!

xsjohn

27MM on the floats would be the 80 brass floats only....the black plastic floats says 22mm ...........every plastic set I have seen in here were 23MM......

If those are plastic floats at 27mm something bad is going to happen......

And on the plastic floats you should measure at the far end of the top ledge.....not the next one down that is rounded out.......

xsjohn

drifter

Yamaha Dave....that is a dynamite rigid! You rarely see a rigid with clubman's bars and they do look right on that one! GO with a correct type rear fender, (maybe a reversed FLH front fender) but not one of the Softail styled ducktail fenders. They wouldn't look good on a classic Brit looking rigid. Even a simple flat style rear fender would look good. At any rate, Two Thumbs Up! Great job.

Dave

yamaha_dave

Thanks Drifter... I'm looking at a "ribbed" rear fender from a Triumph or BSA that will hug the back tire and terminate just beyond the back of the seat. The reason I haven't mounted one yet is because I plan to purchase the "old school" Firestone Deluxe Champion blackwalls from Coker. Not sure if I want to mount the fender before I get my tires, but I know what you're talking about... Wink

Thank you for the compliments! The old European style is exactly what I was going for. In fact, I have a picture in my garage of a 1933 Zundapp that I modeled the bike after. LOVE those old hunks of metal!

drifter wrote:

Yamaha Dave....that is a dynamite rigid! You rarely see a rigid with clubman's bars and they do look right on that one! GO with a correct type rear fender, (maybe a reversed FLH front fender) but not one of the Softail styled ducktail fenders. They wouldn't look good on a classic Brit looking rigid. Even a simple flat style rear fender would look good. At any rate, Two Thumbs Up! Great job.

Dave

yamaha_dave

John, Thank you for the great advise. I'm finding that the Clymer's manual isn't much good for an 81 special. So so so many conflicting specifications!

I'll re-adjust the floats to 22mm. In fact, I'm ordering a full rebuild kit from Mike's XS and plan to re-jet the carbs for my (beautiful) K&M XS filters.

Got any suggestions on the jets?

xsjohn wrote:

27MM on the floats would be the 80 brass floats only....the black plastic floats says 22mm ...........every plastic set I have seen in here were 23MM......

If those are plastic floats at 27mm something bad is going to happen......

And on the plastic floats you should measure at the far end of the top ledge.....not the next one down that is rounded out.......

xsjohn

yamaha_dave

easytravel wrote:

Love it! totally rocks. What's the stretch on the weld on hard tail? Very clean style, white grips and all...

It's the standard TC Brothers weld-on. I believe it's stretched less than 2 inches. I had to use a 110 link chain.

I gotta tell ya though... I HIGHLY recommend TC Brothers to ANYONE considering this type of project. Glad you liked the white grips. My wife is still trying to digest them...

yamaha_dave

Blacktooth_Grin wrote:

Got any close ups of your mid controls?

Actually... The only mid control is the rear brake. (No front brakes on this one!)

Shifter is a semi-suicide located on the right hand side. I have to release the throttle to shift, but for safety reasons, I still wanted the clutch located on the bar.

madskills · 650Rider Supporter Joined: Mar 28, 2006 Posts: 59

Good looking scoot, you did nice job, is it possible to show more pics of your shifter set up, I'd like to see how you've done it.

yamaha_dave

madskills wrote:

Good looking scoot, you did nice job, is it possible to show more pics of your shifter set up, I'd like to see how you've done it.

Thank you...

The shifter is just a closet wrench run through a section of pipe. The shaft is welded to a section of angle iron and bolted to those two small tubes that were originally connected to the down-tube on the frame. I had left them thinking that they would be a good place to mount the fake oil can. I'm really glad I did!

On the shifter shaft itself... I welded a 3/8 rod to the head of the closet wrench and on the other side I used an eye-bolt with a nut welded in the middle. It was just a temporary set up until I could find some tie-rod ends, but it worked so well I decided to keep it.

I'll try to find a closer picture.

VoodooXS

Hey yamaha_dave you're making me feel bad Ive had my bike a month and it's nowhere near the finish line like yours is. and I must say your bike is almost the exact style Im shooting for. simple with great lines. and it even has my name! hahaha I'd actually love tosee more pics of your right hand suicide shift as well. I've been trying to research that after I saw a bike with a right hand shift. I also want to keep the hand clutch but havn't found much good info.

We're neighbors it seems, hope I see that bike rolling around some time.

pumps

Very clean and simple! I really dig that headlight.

cretin75xs650 · Full Member Joined: Dec 24, 2008 Posts: 99

Looking good, I took my 81 XS650 in a different direction but hope to find another 650 for a bobber. I like that headlamp setup, what style is it? Did you use the original wiring harness when you put it back together? I still am trying to decide on a seat. I have a cafe style tail section but need to modify the frame. I'm a novice at this so I'm a bit timid about cutting the frame. May look for a brat seat. Any suggestions??

yamaha_dave

cretin75xs650 wrote:

Looking good, I took my 81 XS650 in a different direction but hope to find another 650 for a bobber. I like that headlamp setup, what style is it? Did you use the original wiring harness when you put it back together? I still am trying to decide on a seat. I have a cafe style tail section but need to modify the frame. I'm a novice at this so I'm a bit timid about cutting the frame. May look for a brat seat. Any suggestions??

I would definitely go with a flat-tracker/cafe style seat and maybe even a toaster tank! You have a GREAT looking bike there! Very clean...

The wiring harness on my bobber is home-made and very minimal. If you plan to use blinkers and running lights, I would suggest using the original harness or purchase a new one from Mike's XS.

Good looking project though!

engineer36

great looking project. excuse my ignorance but what is a closet wrench, i too would like more details on the suicide shifter, i think it is ausome

yamaha_dave

engineer36 wrote:

great looking project. excuse my ignorance but what is a closet wrench, i too would like more details on the suicide shifter, i think it is ausome

It is also referred to as a "basin wrench" and you can find it at Lowe's for around $15.

I'll provide some close-up shots tomorrow. It's a pretty simple set up!

oms1981 · Full Member Joined: May 07, 2009 Posts: 14

someone else mentioned it too, but I LOVE the headlight. What is it/where is it from?

gordonscott · Full Member Joined: May 06, 2009 Posts: 304

"Thank you for the compliments! The old European style is exactly what I was going for. In fact, I have a picture in my garage of a 1933 Zundapp that I modeled the bike after. LOVE those old hunks of metal!" "33" Zundapp? you sure about that? LOL.... nice job Wink

1980xsRider

Gordon,

That is arguably one of thw sweetest rides I have seen. I have visited your site with regards to pipes, I'd add the snake charmers to this setup otherwise it is flawless. Did you do the hardtail yourself or did you use a prefab one?

What Happened to 650rider.com?

Yamaha xs650