Maybe...

SClay · Full Member Joined: May 30, 2008 Posts: 93

..this fits in here. It's not really one specific style, but it probably fits better in here than anywhere else. May not be everyone's cup of tea, but then again, I didn't build it for anyone but myself, and I love it. I've asked a lot of questions on here and got a lot of help, so certainly thought I should post some pictures up here. This will be a copy/paste from another forum.

If you guys have any questions or comments, please, post em up, I'm waiting for my paint to cure and I need something to do in the meantime. Obviously there is no seat(almost done), and the tins are only laying on the bike. But you get the idea of what it is going to look like. Still have wet sanding on tins, clear on the tins, and then curing. Ugh, hate waiting for paint... lemme know what you guys think...

Before:

God I know, how could I possibly improve upon that!? Don't hold it in, I know you love it!

Haha, but no, seriously, here is where it sits now:

Steve.

And this is the other bike, because I know people will say something about the lowering and not being able to corner, I don't need a carver, I have one:

One for carving, one for cruising with the lady friends.

And yes, that is a single carb. Ask any questions you want about it. I'll be happy to answer.

Edit: due to interest in the single carb setup, I've decided I might as well amend some pictures here as well:

Ok, roller her out and shot some pictures of the manifold. Here they are. Nothing complicated here.

Disregard the crappy joints. My welder blows, it makes sound welds, but it looks terrible, so there is high temp epoxy on the joints to make it look semi-presentable.

calicruiser · Posted: May 9, 2009, 12:03 pm Post subject: Re: Maybe...

looks slick as hell! nice job man!!

BigGeorge · Full Member Joined: Apr 13, 2008 Posts: 267

Nice job... Two questions.. Tires size front and rear and is the rear fender the stock fender just painted or off something else? Thanks..............BG

xs1961 · Posted: May 9, 2009, 7:09 pm Post subject: Re: Maybe...

Nice bikes!
Two questions;
Does the single carb manifold work ok?
Does the rear guard smack the frame loop or are you using hard shocks ?

SClay · Full Member Joined: May 30, 2008 Posts: 93

I think the tire size from memory is, front, 19x4.00, rear, 16x5.00. The fender is the stock fender, hacked and slightly shaped to fit.

The single carb manifold works perfect, as good as or better than the two carbs. It could be a better design, but it works perfect for me. Ask any more questions you want on it, I'll entertain any of your questions.

And to clear things up, that fender is just laying on the tire, and will be mounted to that rear frame hoop. So the tire smacking the hoop is a moot point. Above, I mentioned the tins are just laying on the bike, not bolted down.

Any other questions, just ask. Thanks for the compliments guys. It's something I built for myself and I'm super stoked it's gotten such high accolades with the members of the forums I frequent.

Steve

blackwidow · Posted: May 10, 2009, 5:00 pm Post subject: Re: Maybe...

that red and white bike or cream color is really cool I like it did you make the manifold for the cars yourself??

pumps · Posted: May 10, 2009, 9:14 pm Post subject: Re: Maybe...

Usually I like my stock bikes..I know , might be kind of boring but it is what I like. I think you're converting me...I'm digging that bike.

scotts · Posted: May 11, 2009, 6:57 am Post subject: Re: Maybe...

Looks good so far, but I'd lose the glass fuel filter. Coming from the air cooled VW world, I've seen way too many engine fires because of those filters breaking.

borjawil · Posted: May 12, 2009, 9:32 am Post subject: Re: Maybe...

Just wondering what your method of painting is. Such as prep and in between coats. Im about ready to paint and dont want to waste money or time.

SClay · Full Member Joined: May 30, 2008 Posts: 93

Here it is guys. As promised, the 'done' photos. Glad to finally be riding it.

And the two girls together:

There we go. I dig it. I'm happy with how it turned out. Questions/comments? Go right ahead.

Steve

P.S. Have more pictures too, and intend to get some rolling shots soon. So let me know if there are any requests.

dpmphoto · Posted: June 8, 2009, 4:48 pm Post subject: Re: Maybe...

Nice I like the color scheme.Man that honda has a short wheel base

idahoscreamer · Full Member Joined: Mar 13, 2009 Posts: 24 Location: Idaho

love the bike I am really impressed with it what sort of battery and wiring did you go with on this bike you hid the battery very well

rhilker · Posted: June 8, 2009, 5:37 pm Post subject: Re: Maybe...

Nice
Front and rear tire size?
What size carb?
Cylinder heat? Equal?
Tanks badges from MikesXS?
Shock length and source?
Rear fender from?

Thanks

SClay · Full Member Joined: May 30, 2008 Posts: 93

Haha, well the Honda is a small bike. A MUCH smaller bike than the Yamaha. I swear the XS's are built like sherman tanks.

I'm running a sealed lead acid battery in the tray under the front portion of the seat. You can see the tray in the pictures with the fuse panel mounted on the bottom with a toggle for the high beam next to that. Running a similar battery on the Honda. For me? Only way to fly. Forget paying 60+ for a MC battery. These I can source for 20 or less and they are far better. I had the Honda down for a rebuild and that battery sat attached to the harness, on the garage floor, for 6 months. Put it back in the bike and hey, lookit that, 11 volts and she fires right up(thank god for points, high discharge coils, and kicker only).

rhilker, whoa buddy. Lotsa questions there...

front: 4.00x19 rear: 5.00x16
36MM
Bike runs perfect. This is an air cooled archaic engine, I don't expect amazing efficiency. I want it to be simple, easy to tune, and reliable. And an interesting side effect of the single carb is the fact that the bike absolutely pulls like a freight train. From right off idle on up.
Yes, MikesXS
Shocks are 11.5? I think, they are off a Honda Rebel or something.
Rear fender is a factory fender. On a very significant diet.

Ok. There ya go.

Steve

rhilker · Posted: June 8, 2009, 6:31 pm Post subject: Re: Maybe...

Thanks Steve.
I think of all the mods you can do to this bike a single carb makes the most sense. I'm suprised that a 36mm carb will deliver. Considering the stock had 2 x 38 mm.

You re-sprocket it?

Thanks

rhilker · Posted: June 8, 2009, 6:39 pm Post subject: Re: Maybe...

BTW: The "not for aircraft" is cool. Flyin down the interstate?

idahoscreamer · Full Member Joined: Mar 13, 2009 Posts: 24 Location: Idaho

so where do you get the lead sealed battery from I have been looking for something similar I am going with kick start only as well.

easytravel · Posted: June 8, 2009, 6:54 pm Post subject: Re: Maybe...

Nice and clean...great tires, single carb Very cool, nice color choices really nostalgic, tell me....what handle bars are those? I'm using either K/N 34' wide or euro sport bars at 27" wide but yours look like a good comprimise, nice job!

SClay · Full Member Joined: May 30, 2008 Posts: 93

Yah, but the factory 38's are poor compared to the straight through throat of the VM36's. Think, there is no throttle shaft or plate to restrict any flow in a VM.

And how about this for something to chew on: So it has two 38's from the factory, cool, but when is it really using both those carbs at the same time? 360 crank...thinking...thinking...never. Only one cylinder is demanding fuel at one time. Sure, there is a split second of time between the two 'Suck' parts of the four stroke cycle, but the gap is there. That is why this works. The jetting was bumped a bit to fill the manifold space, but that's it. When I first did the conversion, my brain said, "Two cylinders to feed, twice as much fuel!" So I jetted accordingly. Imagine my surprise when it ran like crap! Couldn't figure it out, then poof. There it was, the spare crankshaft I have reminded me that I totally forgot the way the engine is designed. I got this idea from a KZ twin forum, but didn't find much information on the XS's for a conversion like this. There is a fair amount of information on the other forum indicating there is not much, if at all, any power loss when doing the swap. I wouldn't be surprised. This isn't a MotoGP mill with pneumatic valves or anything, it isn't ridiculously sensitive to small differences in fueling. And I know the claims I make as far as it's ability to be just as fast if not faster than before seem outlandish, but that's ok. Because when I first approached the XS community with the idea there wasn't much of a warm welcome. But when everyone is having problems screwing with their twin VM's, trying to get them jetted, taking them off and all. I'll be swapping jets, on the bike, without losing fuel, and changing my mixture and idle settings without even thinking about it. Carb syncing? Ha, yah. I'll get right on that. All I need to worry about is making sure the idle is high enough to not slug the engine off the line.

And the sticker, I have no clue why that's there. Came on the suckers when I got em. Anybody have any other info? I figured that maybe at high altitude they ice up or something. Who knows?

Bars! MikesXS has got em, "euro" bars or something similar. Great style. I love em. And I think like 30 bucks? Can't beat that... Oh and FYI, these are cut down..a fair amount..note the lack of switchgear up there, it allowed me a lot of room to narrow them...

Steve

SClay · Full Member Joined: May 30, 2008 Posts: 93

Oh and here is a few more pictures I took for another forum. Figured I'd post em up. Hoping this shows up the paintwork a little bit better.

I also thought this was really interested. Saw this on a TV program, this is after I had painted everything, and was just finishing up the seat. It's the first Yamaha production motorcycle(if I remember the program correctly). The resemblance is uncanny. I did not plan it, didn't even know the bike existed until I saw it on the tube, nor do I know how I accomplished such a thing. My dad says I'm channeling dead and gone Yamaha designers...who knew?

Pretty cool though. My jaw about hit the floor when I saw it on the program. I think it's the YA-1 or something like that. But I must've looked pretty dumb gawking at the TV and then running out to look at my own bike to make sure I wasn't just hallucinating.. Very Happy

Steve

borjawil · Posted: June 8, 2009, 8:46 pm Post subject: Re: Maybe...

haha nice. that old yammy looks pretty cool. Just wondering, i like the one carb setup and was wondering where to get a 2 into 1 intake like that. also, and i know this might be an obvious question but would a 34mm vm work with a 2 into 1 setup?

SClay · Full Member Joined: May 30, 2008 Posts: 93

borjawil wrote:

haha nice. that old yammy looks pretty cool. Just wondering, i like the one carb setup and was wondering where to get a 2 into 1 intake like that. also, and i know this might be an obvious question but would a 34mm vm work with a 2 into 1 setup?

Well I built mine. Pretty easy to do with some basic metal working tools. And would a 34 work? I can't say for sure. Since I've only ever had this setup...but I'll bet it would..

Steve

borjawil · Posted: June 8, 2009, 11:23 pm Post subject: Re: Maybe...

i see, well i personally dont have the tools to do it so ill have to find someone. i like the idea of it, simple and works just as well.

borjawil · Posted: June 9, 2009, 12:22 am Post subject: Re: Maybe...

one thing that was brought to my attention. the left and right side dont run the same temp as maybe you've heard. how does the bike run with one carb setup? issues? difference in temps?

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