My little XJ 650

Before


After



I put drag bars on it, removed the front fender, the back fender, the windshield, the sissy bar, the grab bar, the crash bar and highway pegs, moved the blinkers forward, cut down and painted the tail-light housing, welded the old license plate bracket between the frame rails for the new taillight, built an aluminum license plate bracket that connects from the frame down to where the passenger foot peg was, braised the leaking rusty tank, put a new back tire on, new front brake pads, cut like 6 inches off the frame and made a custom seat for it.

 

I'm interested as to the fate of the sissy bar and highback seat. Is it still around?

 

I have every single piece that I took/cut off. But as for the seat, in a previous version of the conversion I cut off the high back and folded over the vinyl then trimmed it. sorry

 

Would you possibly be interested in selling the windshield, assuming it's in decent shape? It's a little bigger than I'd like, but it might be the way to go if the price is right.

 

looks good but you'll need scuba gear in the wet from that rear....

 

Love it!!! A tall guy like me wouldn't be able to deal with the low seat and stock mounted controls though, is it comfortable? Very unique, and I love the overall look of it. Can't quite put my finger on the style though, it's a little bit bobber, chopper, and cafe-racer all rolled in to one. Very nice! :wink:

 

To complete the look - it'd be nice to find a 16" front tire to swap in there... in this case screw the geometry, install the 16" and lower her down and inch or two on the front.

Looks good.

 

Thanx, I love it too.

As for the windshield, I wouldn't mind selling it for around $40 but its so big I don't know what the shipping would be like and I don't even have a box big enough. If your seriously interested PM me.

Yeah, but I try not to ride in the rain. I had to go home about 4 miles from my uncles a little bit after it stopped raining and my back didn't get noticably wet. Althought my visor got sprayed once.

I'm about 5'10'' or 11'' its fairly comfortable. I've taken her on a few ~70mile cruises and the biggest thing I have to complain about are the grips. I have to hold the throttle side very tight in order to get precision movements. After awhille my hand is very sore and I now have calluses. Can anyone recommend a nice grip? I was thinking about some foam cheapies.

At first I was going to try to make it a cafe racer type, with a rear fairing section and a viper front fairing but didn't really have the money at the time so I just started cutting and moving stuff. I like it better overall. It didn't cost me a single penny for any of the changes and overall I have about $115 in the bike.

I don't know about the 16'' tire, but I did want to drop the front. Unfortunetely because of the drag bars the hollow bolt that holds the brake line to the master cylinder is like 1/4in away from the top of the right shock tube.

 

The reason I say the 16" tire is that you've done a good job cleaning up the back - but the front is still relatively stock. A smaller tire will tip the line forward and flatter with the seat.

Also.. you could consider replacing the instrument panel with a small digital speedo on the back of the headlight bucket... that area is the busy part of the bike.

Nice job, as it is, it's clean and works.

 

Heya viper, very original!

I'm getting the viper fairing but I'm at something of a loss as to what I should do about the tail.

What rear fairing were you looking at mounting?

 

Woot - Yeah I understand what your saying and I like the idea, but is there a reasonably easy way to recalibrate the speedo? Do you happen to know of any 16'' wheel that would work off hand? And I was thinking of getting old bike barns mini speedo and tach but I have to look more into instruments. I think I'm pretty much done with it for this season though.

I have also been playing with the idea of mounting two 4 inch lights next to each other inplace of the headlight for that Buell street fighter look. But I'll prob just get an H4 clear 7in lense because of all the wiring that I would have to find a place for.

Hess - I hadn't decided on any particular design. If you go to ebay and search for "cafe racer" then click on motorcycle parts you can see whats around. I do like this one though:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-Cafe ... dZViewItem

Other than the obscene price I like it. Especially the flat back. I would probably flush mount an LED taillight thats an oval or half moon.

 

Okay, yeah...I was looking at those.

I think I can achieve a similar look with a sheet metal structure, thin layer of foam and upholstering over it. Mounting the whole setup to the current seat frame.

Thanks for the ideas

 

No problem and Good Luck! Just make sure you enjoy yourself, thats what its all about.

 

Definately

 

I was having extreme problems with the sportbikr grips I installed.

These are much thicker, and have good feel.

http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/product_c ... #altImages

I also filled my bars with #9 lead shot with a dollop of silicone on each end to seal the shot in.

Works pretty well with my new Joe rocket gloves.

Nachoman

 

Thanx for the link, I think I'll try those. How much difference do you notice with the lead shot?

 

If the other guy doesnt want that winshield I will take it for $40. Heck I will even pick it up

PM me on it.

 

As much as I would like that windshield, I'd know how much I'd hate to pack it, so I think I'll spare him the trouble. It would be a huge box, and it would probably just get broken in shipping anyway. If you're close enough to pick it up, don't let me get in the way of anything.

 

you removed the front fender ? On my xj550 the front fender helps hold the forks straight !

 

Nacho
what's the purpose of the #9 shot in your bars?
Mike