Great Note

Wocker · Posted: October 20, 2009, 4:18 pm Post subject: Great Note

Cannot believe the great note my XS makes, sweet.

Purchased the bike 16 months ago, which had been sitting in a garage partly restored for "about 8 years or so" the previous owner told me.

Bought it sight unseen from flea bay from Melbourne VIC and had it transported to Newcastle NSW (land of Oz for those that dont know). Most of the hard work had been done. Full dismantle and frame respray, rewire and the top end had been refreshed. New chrome on the guards. Also come with new exhaust system, headers where fitted but mufflers where in a box, unused.

When the bike arrived it had a complementary layer of dust and chromeing had some sort of grime build up which disappeared with some elbow grease.

Inside the tank had a started to rust and needed cleaning out and creme lining. The front brakes where rusted/sieged at both ends. The left side carbie had build up of scale, the bike was only running on one cyclinder.

There were numerous other parts that needed replacing/repairing, but finally it is running sweet and have taken it for its first run in what would be about 10 years.

It starts easy off the kicker (starter needs attention) and idles nicely. I must say, I am chuffed at the note this bike makes, sounds meaty too (as you already know).

The bike is now almost ready for rego, just the front brakes to sort. Than I can enjoy riding it while I have the suspension upgraded, have the tank and covers resprayed and the wheels refurbished.

I like the look of it and won't be modifiying it to much.

Ciao from a happy xs owner.

pumps · Posted: October 22, 2009, 6:27 pm Post subject: Re: Great Note

Glad you are a happy new owner, like myself. If you need some help sorting out the starter I have a small bit of experience. Did you have to give a lot for it? There was a recent post by one of your down under brothers on one that sold for what seems to a yank like myself, a lot of money. Get us up a picture to drool over when you get a chance and I hope you have as much fun on yours and learn as much as I have. They do have a sweet sound , yes?
First run in 10 years huh? The motorcycle writer, Peter Egan said roughly, "There is no abiding patience like that of a forgotten motorcycle."

Wocker · Posted: October 22, 2009, 8:00 pm Post subject: Re: Great Note

Hey pumps.

I paid nearly $2K for mine, owners of good unrestored examples are currently asking $4K+, thats AU dollars of course. I do see the US market for XS is very cheap. Maybe a shipping container full of them would make a tidy profit?

Starter turns over, but just doesnt seem to have any grunt. Also, the wiring could do with replacement there. Have not really looked into want needs to be done at this stage.

Have I mentioned how good my bike sounds? hehehe

pumps · Posted: October 22, 2009, 9:44 pm Post subject: Re: Great Note

About my starter. It worked fine for a while. Then it just would click at the relay. Upon inspection I noticed a lot of green corrosion down in the strands of the cable. I decided it was the cables after removing the oil and starter and using a jumper cable set up to test it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIrJVqJ6kRc
So ordered new cables, reinstalled the starter and it worked for about a couple of weeks. So it had tested ok without a load. Picked one up from ebay for about $25 plus shipping. Drained the oil and installed the ebay one and it's fine since. A tip is that the lower cable on mine had to be installed on the starter, the cable threaded up through the frame behind the motor and THEN the starter installed. Oil must be removed to remove the starter and be careful not to bugger up the oil seal. If the one I have installed ever goes tits up, I'll look to getting the first one rebuilt. Good luck.

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