Can an XS be as fast as a modern sport bike?

chef.tay

Hey everyone,

I've been contemplating finding a late '70's XS and turning into a cafe racer for a while now...

How possible is it to turn one of these bike into something as fast as a modern sport bike?

What kind of mods would need to be done to it if possible?

I think it would be sweet to have an ancient xs be able to smoke a ninja on the freeway someday... Smile

thanks

Taylor

pumps

Ain't gonna happen brother. It is what it is.If you want that sport bike speed you'll have to buy one IMO. It's 30 year old technology.

81XSChopper

A turbo, custom exhaust, mikuni carbs, gma brakes, a modified frame, etc will make an xs fast, fun, scary & loud. But you are asking too much to think that you are going to be able to take on a ninja or a gixxer based on 40 year old technology.

jmho

greg

chef.tay

Hahah i was half expecting that that would be the case.

What all does a turbo involve as far as installing?

What if a complete transmission makeover was done to the bike. Would that make a difference?

schtipp

you just cant sqeeze that many horses out of this plant. it does't have the red line or the balance. or room for a sixth gear.

schtipp

stock gsx-r600 has more than twice the power of this old dog.

dwyatt

Only way it will outrun a modern bike is in the back of a fast truck ......

despecial

or just for fun and because you can, you could go down this road - his skills are awesome but what will the payoff be, that is the question...definitely a one off with high personal satisfaction factor, a fantastic skill developer and display platform, will be a realtime eyecatcher and show stopper but at the end of the day hes only ever going to cause a modern sports bike to momentarily s*** itself while giving himself that i did it my way glow

www.xs650.org.au/kev%2...0turbo.htm

tacoswild

Depends on what you mean by fast. I think most the biker boyz don't realize the GP bikes they're copying look the way they do because they make big trade offs to gain 0.05 seconds per lap. Over a 20 lap race that adds up to one second and can mean the difference between glory and a million dollars or failure and getting fired. There's nothing in real life that can compare to that. Will an R1 get you to work 10-30 minutes faster or 10-30 seconds? completely depends on traffic and route not on technology. In fact technology has changed very little other than electronic control. A mechanic from the 1930s would instantly recognize and be able work on a modern bike. Other than going to 4 valves instead of 2 we've been unable to increase the basic efficiency of a motorcycle much. All the horsepower gains come from running the engine up to a higher RPM which isn't really doing anything new, it's just making the same old engine do the same thing more times.

yamaman

Like Taco's said, depends..................

This XS ran a 9.4 @ 150 mph in 2002, anyone know if it ever went quicker?

www.dreadsbikersite.co...iplash.htm

A '06 R6 would do 10.5 @ 133..............

despecial

yea but thats rather extreme, not many are going to invest that kind of time and money to whip down to the local dairy
do something similar to an r6 and then compare

yamaman

Excatly my friend, just answering the question.

Whatever hp it's got, you could no doubt wring a few more out of it, might not be practical, but thats what you'd have to do.

A R6 would still be a better propsition if you wanted to go that fast.

Looks like fun but!

despecial

nothing quite like the finality of the law of diminishing returns

although i agree with tacoswild that the basic mechanical premise of internal combustion engines havent changed much-esp in terms of efficiency, i would however suggest that gains have not only been made in terms of electronic control but also in the fields of design, materials and reliability (although not necessarily wrt self maintenance) ...a good example being the britten v1000...

a reason why i like the xs so much...simplicity

pumps

That Whiplash is a bad ass though!

metalredneck · Full Member Joined: Aug 04, 2008 Posts: 308

In my experience, you may make it fast, but it won't stay together very long. And it will be expen$ive.

650skull · Support Staff Joined: Jul 19, 2007 Posts: 1186

Rephased 750/840 kit with welded and balanced crank, a set of VM's, ported head and a upgraded cam and stainless or over sized valves with stronger valve springs free flowing exhaust and a set of racing primary gears.
That will take you over 200kph
www.xs650.org.au/idle_talk.htm Go down to near the bottom of the page to see what happens if the valves don't get checked for clearence

despecial

i could never understand why my cousin insisted on building drag bikes so one day i asked...its better than sex-he explained

i found this rather odd as he has 7 kids and pointed out that there are cheaper forms of contraception

some weeks later we were trialling his new turbo set up and he offered me a ride - i have to say that very few things have ever made me feel so alive...some that come to mind are
bungy jumping
parachuting
paddling off a 30+ foot waterfall in a kayak
big wave surfing
40lb kingfish on 6lb line and releasing
running the bulls at pamplona
surviving an ambush in angola
the big open in denali

i now find it odd that he has so many kids

chef.tay

I like the conversation i'm getting out of this post. But i think that you're right about it being harder to do than it is worth it.

I think the bike would be toast if i tried doing al those mods to it, haha. I'll just stick to getting my XS1b all up and running first

Barbara

Hi Guys,

Years ago I was giving my then brother-in-law grief about the fact that my bikes would walk away from his 1960 Panhead Harley. His reply was, "Class has nothing to do with speed."

Right! Drop an XS into a crowd of new bikes, and see where the eyes turn, and where the cute little grins start, and where the "Dang, I remember when I had one of those..." comments start. The XS will be the center of attention, as it should, having earned that right through reputation and longevity.

Having said that, I wonder if a Routt supercharger set-up like the one he did for a Commando would work on an XS? And as important: how *long* would it work....? Laughing

RandyRyder · Full Member Joined: Sep 27, 2009 Posts: 33

dwyatt wrote:

Only way it will outrun a modern bike is in the back of a fast truck ......

A REAL fast truck. Maybe an airplane. I don't think a helicopter goes as fast as a sport bike.

Srinath

Barbara wrote:

Hi Guys,

Right! Drop an XS into a crowd of new bikes, and see where the eyes turn, and where the cute little grins start, and where the "Dang, I remember when I had one of those..." comments start. The XS will be the center of attention, as it should, having earned that right through reputation and longevity.

Only if there is a few in that set north of the 40 if you know what I mean.
y neighborhood kids all of whom are under 35 not 1 of them can recognize an XS, and most under 25, I have to scrape them like cats that been run over by a truck off my SV1000. Funny thing, they dont even know what that is, and its rather somberly painted, blue body and aluminum frame. My XS is going to be yellow, so its not the bright color either.

Old school - you need to have a certain mind set for that, and my kz 440 was the first one that I liked ... and my first xs650 was the second one, and I think I will keep comming back, my second xs, my first GR 650 etc etc.

Cool.
Srinath.

chef.tay

Quote::

Only if there is a few in that set north of the 40 if you know what I mean.
y neighborhood kids all of whom are under 35 not 1 of them can recognize an XS

I'm 17 hahah

chef.tay

But i do understand what you mean. Smile

Barbara

Good points, Guys. I've had younger people come up to me, look right at the big "YAMAHA" on the tank and ask, "Is that a Triumph?"

"No", I reply, "But I bet Triumph wishes it was!"

Seventeen and into XS's! How cool is that!! When I was 17 I had a Lambretta scooter and would have killed for a Ducati 250 Diana MKIII.....my, how things have changed!

What Happened to 650rider.com?

Yamaha xs650