Ducati Monster Forum

My brother and I drove to North Carolina yesterday and bought a 1977 Yamaha XS650.  This is bike is for my brother.  Hopefully we will have some fun riding around together on my Guzzi 850T and this Yamaha.  What do you think?  Will these two bikes make for complimentary rides?   We plan on switching off anytime one of us wants to try the other bike.

(http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm21/JonTravisKing/Misc/20110501_77XS650_01.jpg?t=1304339590)
(http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm21/JonTravisKing/Misc/20110501_77XS650_02.jpg?t=1304339782)

http://s292.photobucket.com/albums/mm21/JonTravisKing/Misc/?action=view&current=20110501_77XS650_06.mp4# (http://s292.photobucket.com/albums/mm21/JonTravisKing/Misc/?action=view&current=20110501_77XS650_06.mp4#)

 [thumbsup]

That's a beautiful bike Travman!! Nice find and looks really good for the year. I used to have an 76' SR500. I love those old Yamaha's. Great looking bike!! ;D

Hard to believe it's 34 year old, it's in great shape. Nice score.

great looking bike.  My buddy picked up a XS650 Special Edition over the winter.  It's nowhere near how clean yours is.  It's a good "little bike" and does very well around town.  It struggles a little bit cruising at highway speed.

my buddy had one with some 34mm carbs with K&Ns, the mikesxs performance 2-1+performance shorty megaphone and it would cruise at ~80 mph and if you throttled the guts out of it it would get to maaaybbbbeee 102 (indicated on a mini speedo)

not the most capable bike performance wise, but its classy and clean and fun to cruise around on.  I rode his from Portland, OR to Missoula,MT and the whole time I was thinking "this is a nice bike, but my Duc could do this soooo much quicker."

I wouldn't take this XS650 past 80 mph yet.  It definitely isn't the same type of bike as our Ducati's.  I don't really like it on the highway.  I enjoy it on the backroads in the 35-55mph type areas.  Definitely not in the same performance category as the Duc.  However, when I change my frame of mind and start riding bikes like this and my Guzzi 850T I start to think we are going fast.  The reality is I may be going 40 in a 45mph zone, but I feel great and think the bike has good acceleration and handling.  Then the next day I ride the Ducati and know I wasn't going fast.  In some ways these bikes may be safer since you rarely push it and are more likely to be going an appropriate speed for enjoying the scenery and cruising. 

Here is one more picture.  This time with the happy owner after we rolled her off the truck around 8:00 last night.  It was a long 5 hour ride home. 
(http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm21/JonTravisKing/Misc/20110501_77XS650_07.jpg?t=1304358352)

The paint job is really nice.  The previous owner thought the paint job was orginal, and it may be, but I'm thinking it was repainted sometime is the past couple of years.  There should be more nicks and small blemishes on a bike with 20,000+ miles, not that it really matters.

Wow, that's super sweet! Looks to be in great shape. Kind of a Japanese Triumph Bonneville that doesn't leak oil and has a working electric system... talking about the old Triumphs, not the new ones. ;D I wish I still had my '78 SR500. It would make a neat retro cafe. [thumbsup] But I'd leave that XS just like it is. [moto]

Nice  [thumbsup] If the mod bug hits.


(http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa91/chiflado/mulexs650.jpg)

 [thumbsup]

That thing looks exceptionally clean and nice. Love the paint scheme too.

Good score.

+1

looks like it just rolled off the factory floor.

Nice XS!  Have fun modding: http://www.mikesxs.net/ (http://www.mikesxs.net/)

No mod, just ride!! [thumbsup] [moto]

<Snipped>

Um excuse me, that is an XS650D.

Mine was the maroon, and it was my first ride.  20k miles in 2 summers with nothing but maintenance items, and things I rashed learning to ride.  Man I wish I had the dough back then to keep it.

WOW! Great score.  Its not often we northerners get a stab at a bike in that condition.  Its also a rarity to get one with the OEM alum shouldered rims as well.  Dont mod it.  Its perfect just the way it is. :)

   Cafe` to the death, or keep it as a "showpiece" Awsome either way, very nice...

Great find!!!

My first bike was an '80 XS400, didn't appreciate it at the time.

Everytime I see one, I regret selling it.   :(

 [moto]

I totally agree!
Centerstand and kick starter:) Reminds me of my first ride- a Yamaha 1978 XS-500! Funny that it was the same dry weight as my current ride (M1000S), minus 500cc.

It can be tough finding a good bike from the 70's. The prices are reasonable, but more often than not, the bikes are not in very good condition. Both this bike and the Guzzi 850T had good long term owners that maintained the bike well and stored it in a garage.  I can say from experience that "barn-find" is not something you should be looking for.  You want a bike that is being used therefore being maintained.

I like the shouldered aluminum rims too.  So these rims are OEM.  That is cool since they have the look of expensive Italian rims like Borranis.

What a great looking motor cycle... [thumbsup]

Tell your brother to keep it original and enjoy riding it... [moto]

 [coffee]

i've read on the series of tubes known as the internet that the cool thing to do is rephase the crank

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=103 (http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=103)


I was reading up a lot on them before I gave up the search for one of my own.  from what little seat time I got on a stock one, they're fun bikes.

In the 80's a friend of mine gave me one of those, same paint, but it had been sitting outside, so the seat cover was all dried up and about half duct tape.   It had the same Akront wheels, and the mufflers were rusted off.   But it ran.   I rode it for 2 years, one day going to work, I was running about 80 or so, that's how fast it would go before the clutch started slipping, hit the railroad track jump, where  at 80 you could catch maybe 6 inches of air, and go about 20 feet out, maybe, and a second or two after coming back on the ground, the rear wheel locked up, and I pulled in the clutch and coasted to a stop.  I leaned it on a fence, since there was no kick stand, and picked it up after work.   Upon inspection, there was a crack from the exhaust port flange, all the way down the cylinders, and the crack went into the lower cases!!!  When I looked further, there was a piece of cylinder liner inside one of the carburetors.   It had dropped a cam chain at about 6 or 7000 rpm.   I think I got $20 or so for the wheels.   But for 2 years, I beat the hell out of that bike, and it only left me walking that one time.

^^ what geoffduc said.

Hell Travman, is there any bike which you like which I dont also like??  Very nice find  [clap].

My brother will keep it stock.  Mainly because he is a cheap bastard.

I don't like any bikes with rectangle headlights or styling that look like this. Moto Morini Excalibur.
(http://p1.bikepics.com/pics/2006/04/20/bikepics-568723-800.jpg)

There should be a name to identify all of the bikes that fit into the Moto Morini Excaliber/Suzuki Madura/Ducati Indiana/Suzuki Intruder/Kawasaki Vulcan/Guzzi Nevada/Yamaha Virago/Honda Magna funky crusier catagory.  They all have the same broke-back puesdo-chopper look.  There must have been one consultant at the time going around advising all of these companies on how to capture some of the custom cruiser market. 

[laugh] Such a cruel misuse of a Morini 3 1/2 motor....  [laugh] [puke]