1974 XS/TX650 rebuild

[th62]

Some painting today. Frame is still at the blasters, soon as I get it back, I'll paint that too. Undecided on tank, guards and side covers, probably black, perhaps with a little sparkle. Either that or metalic charcoal.

[th62]

Some nice shiny triple trees. Couldn't get underneath the top triple tree for polishing so that's just a bead blast finish. Top had some difficult sections, but I managed to get in there with nylon fibre wheel and narrows mops. The large chrome washers under the handlebar mounts were rusted, so I spun up some aluminium ones and polished them. Lower triple tree had a rough cast finish, so I sanded the areas I could get to with the belt sander and nylon fibre wheel before painting.. Finally, I bought some stainless fasteners, cut them to length and polished them. When I find a magnetic sensor speedo I'll mount that on a polished aluminium plate and use the stock mounts. Triple trees look good so far. Picked up the frame from the sand blasters this afternoon and bogged up the rough areas, I filed most of the weld joints prior to blasting so that saved a lot of bog. Hard to know when to stop bogging on these Japanese frames, talk about rough. Paint day tomorrow, sand the bog down and apply a few coats of primer before I hit it with a top coat, then float coat it. I also removed the pins from the footrests, bead blasted everything, rammed a 16mm square bar down through the hollow pegs to straighten them, belt sanded the main bodies smooth, removed the casting joins and hit them with gloss black. Instead of Inserting pins, I polished up a couple of allen heads and fixed them with polished stainless nyloc nuts. Rubber peg mounts were buggered, so I bought a couple of rubber bungs from Clarkes. When I've finished the frame I'll shape the rubber bungs and insert them in the pegs.

[th62]

First colour coat on the frame today, I'll finish of with a final float coat tomorrow after scrubbing down. Managed to get the front down tubes pretty straight and smooth with a belt sander and bit of bog, but the area where the footpegs mount, what an abortionate mess, bits and pieces tacked on, welding looks like a five year old did it, folder marks all over it. What a bloody mess these frames are, bits and pieces tacked on everywhere, abysmal welding and fit. I'll have another go at flattening the area tomorrow. This abysmal frame is going to ruin this build.

[tonyfoale]

This abysmal frame is going to ruin this build.

You obviously have the ability for another solution. Have a look here
Making a motorcycle chassis or this is what tools are for.

More ideas here https://motochassis.com/photos/

[th62]

Looks a bit better with some paint on it. Have to slip the motor in now so I can knock up some exhausts. Should look - black!

[mbshop]

I bought a new one in 73. It had the gold color scheme. Great bike. Only thing I did to it was pull the engine to paint the cyl black and polish the ends of the fine. Looked much better after that. Forgot why I eventually sold it but most likely it was to buy a newer bike. I bought the first xs750 that came to hawaii. Was also a fun bike. But as I was getting more and more into dirt bike riding and soon to be married, I sold it to get a van. Still miss those bikes.

[th62]

Managed to get the motor in without scratching the frame, now I can fabricate an exhaust and a few other bits and pieces. What a struggle though, I'm sure the Japanese have some sort of robotic device that installs the motor, but surely they realise at some stage the motor may have to be removed and not everybody has access to a a robot, what a stupid design. Next problem is to get it up onto the bench, then after that I'll have to remove the motor again at some stage to fix a leak at the bottom of the barrel. Getting the motor In wasn't the only struggle, the Japs in their wisdom use 10mm bolts, but the holes into which they fit are nearly 11mm, put the two lower bolts in place then you have to jiggle the motor around to get the upper bolts through the upper mounts. Probably easy for an able bodied person, unfortunately, RA has robbed me of my strength and much of the use of my hands, had to get the wife to help. I did make a stand to sit the frame on utilising the centre stand mounts, works well stopping the frame from wobbling around.

[tonyfoale]

Getting the motor In wasn't the only struggle, the Japs in their wisdom use 10mm bolts, but the holes into which they fit are nearly 11mm,

I came across that problem quite often when I had the frame making business. My solution was to ream through 7/16" (close to 11mm) and make new bolts from 7/16" rod. England in the 1970s, so 7/16" was easier to get than 11 mm. The reaming was necessary because the holes in the cases are tapered (for die extraction in casting) and are not 11 mm all through.

[th62]

I managed to get the bike up onto the bench using a very technologically advanced method: Around 90 paving stones stacked on top of each other. I lifted one end, While the wife slid a few paving stones in then lifted the other end so she could slide a few more pavers in at the other end. Lifted it up one paver height at a time until we got to the right height then slid it across onto the bench. Wife got a little worried at times, the higher we got, the more wobbly it got. But we got there in the end. Helps if the wife is a good sport. I welded a frame mount together from 32mm tube and fitted that first to save some paint and keep it from rocking around all over the place. It bolts onto the frame using the centre stand mounts. Now I can start on an exhaust.

[th62]

It's a long road, but I'm getting there, ever so slowly. I mocked up an exhaust to get the angles right, tomorrow I'll get the local muffler shop to replicate the top and bottom angles then weld them together. Looking at it now, it doesn't look too back with the squared bends. Bet you can't spot the tiny LED rear indicators! Very unobtrusive. Still a way to go: Mudguards, battery box, air filter, electrics, exhaust, upper engine mounts.