The start of the 650

Right, so onto my first attempt at building a custom motorcycle. Its a 1980 XS650 US import. Its only done 10500 miles and has spend the last ten years sat in the back of a garage so its in pretty good nick.

 

It drinks loads of oil at the moment, so I have decided to strip the top of the engine down first, replace seals, rings etc, and then get it back together and make sure it runs right as is, before I start chopping the frame. So first job is engine out.

Boom! This bike is great to work on, soo much easier than the bandit, I didn't shear one bolt!

Bleaugh! Black cack on the pistons and valves, will get all that cleaned off. On the plus side tho, the barrels look nice and undamaged.

So now its time to get the wallet out and get some new pistons rings and gaskets etc, so I can tidy this baby up and see if I've cured her drinking problem!

Bandit complete

Here is my first 'project' just about complete. The only thing left to do is stick some decals on it and get it running right (there seems to be a fueling issue). But for me, its finished enough that I can start on my next project guilt free...

Before:

After:

OK so its not a custom or anything, but I've learn a hell of a lot about bike mechanics, and more importantly, removing sheared bolts.