Yet another Bobber Project: 82 Xj650

bike looks sick man

 

That's Freak'n Sweet! Now yo ugot me Drolling, and starting to call around for a 750 tank... DAMN! going to have look through posts and get some Volume sizes of the tanks again. Any mod needed for the 750 to fit on? or straight line up? compared to the 650?

 

Great looking bike. Out of curiosity what are the measurements of that seat?

-Alex

 

The tank fits right on. Its a little taller and wider in the front which makes it about a gallon larger IIRC.

 

15.5" long, 13" wide give or take half an inch on each.

 

man - this bike is so sweet.

so so sweet

 

uuggghhh, paint the centerstand, unless you're going to take it off.. im not sure if im going to do that yet... cuz i need it for the project

 

I actually removed the center stand right after i snapped this pictures. Im going to keep it around, its super easy to put back on if I need to use it.

 

ya thats what i was thinking, you dont need the spring, jsut bolt it on when u use it, and take it off when you dont

 

Sorry I traded the old tank for some new sportster lowering shocks

 

Blackout550,
You'll have to keep in touch so we can ride together this summer. I'd like to see that scoot in person! I'm up here in St. Cloud and ride down around the St. Croix alot during the summer.

 

The taillights that I bought were single filament bulbs and would need some custom wiring to make work. So instead of duing that I converted them to a dual filiment bulb. They are a BA15 socket. I took apart some BA15D sockets to scavenge the parts for them.

 

yeah thats what i did, comes in handy when you want to work on the bike, oil change etc. plus it takes only a few seconds to bolt it on quick

yeah for sure,sounds like a plan. that area is nice to drive/ride around

 

I got a free set of Sportster lowering shocks, so I modified them tonight so they would work. They are 10.75" eye to eye. Dont worry the service stand was just on to get the shocks on.

 

we also picked up a new bike for my buddy.

69 Harley Sportster, it has a custom hardtail frame.

 

Looks good with those shocks on. I assume the Sporty is a bit heavier so you may have a stiff ride with those shocks? It looks good so far. Are you planning on running a rear fender?

 

The shocks are pretty stiff, they dont sag at all when I sit on it. Which is a good thing. After I cut the coils on my stock shocks they became super soft, which I was expecting but these will defidently be alot better. Im still deciding on what to do for a fender. If I do run a fender it will be a generic 6" wide fender most likely. Im also looking into cutting up the plastic inner fender that comes stock just to project the bottom of the seat and the electronics then not run a fender.

 

hey what size shotgun shells fit in the frame like that?

 

Those are 12 gauge 2-3/4" skeet shot. they are slighly smaller. I put a few wraps of electrical tape around the shell to make it fit snug so it wont fall out.

 

the sportsters look great on there. And nice find with the Harley, looks sweet

 

Yea he lucked out, he only paid 900 for it.

 

I got my switches installed, and I hooked the harness up enough to turn the motor over and make sure I had spark.

 

Well I have good news and bad. I tried to start the bike. The good news is it runs, but only on ether. The bad news is I took the carbs apart and there were a couple clogged jets and the third carb was missing the float. I have a float on the way from chacal so hopefully I can get it running this week.

 

hey, did you end up staying with the bare metal tank?

 

cleared it I'm guessing? or just keep lots of WD40 on it hah

 

your pipes are missing

 

What did you use to paint the shocks black? it doesn't chip as the springs flex ?

 

I might be wrong but that almost looks like liquid graphite.

 

Looking Bada** .. I got xj650 too that I just started stripping (back end first) didn't go for hard tail yet "need the shocks for my bumpy road route lol" also just wondering, what size and where you got u'r handle bar thats what exactly I'm going to put into my project..

 

My bars are some old dirtbike bars I found laying around.

 

Love the bobber projects! I really hate to molest my bike because it's bone stock and in great shape, but I am seconds away from chopping it.

There is only thing that is slowing me down a bit. A bobber is typically a one seater and my wife likes taking a ride with me now and then. I don't like the idea of the "bitch pad", but I guess that's the only option. I am definitely leaving it a soft tail for comfort reasons for now. Where are you guys getting your fenders? How do you get them to support a pad for a rider?

I don't really have the fab and welding skills you guys have. But I think I could pretty easily cut off the back end, change the bars, and throw some paint on it. How loud are they without the rear pipes? I don't want it obnoxiously loud, but I wouldn't mind a little louder.

 

i just got mine running and its not too loud with the pipes chopped like that. no louder than your standard harley with nice pipes. I got a vid in my build thread.

 

I love your bike. I can only dream my bike looks that good some day.

I'm just terrified to take the first step. Trust me, I want to. But it's nerve racking tearing into a perfectly good bike.

 

What are you guys using for rear fenders? Can you make them able to support a rider pad without too much welding and modification?

Maybe you should come up north and chop it for me. I don't think I could do it myself anyway.

 

i'm using the stock fender relocated. you can make a seat on it but you'll need to make some support bars on the sides to support rider weight.

kinda like this rear fender

 

Ill give an update.

She LIVES!!!!!!!

after going through the carbs a couple times, rejetting to 116 main and 42 pilot and rebuilding the petcock the bike runs. Not only does she run but she starts with no problems and after warming up a minute or two she runs well. I took it for a ride down my street (no headlight, no front brakes, one rear shock, no seat) all that joy was quickly quenched when I figured out I needed a new clutch. Well I installed the clutch today. Im waiting on a new clutch cover gasket so that I can finish it up and take it for a ride again. All thats left to do is to finish some small wiring for my headlight and taillights put the other shock on and mount my seat.

 

heres a short vid of it running too.

 

Quite nice!

 

Speedo mounted


I also put the front fender back on as I took it for a ride on the damp road and got covered in water. I did section out 4.5" from the front half of the fender.

 

looks rad, get some more pics up when you get the seat mounted. Also what did you end up using for a brake light?

 

I just joined, so excuse my ignorance, but how the heck did you convert to chain drive?

 

..whos bike, mine? If so its a 550 which are chain drive.

 

Ah, ok, I wasn't aware of that. Thanks for the info!

 

I havent been on here in a while. I had a problem with my title and vin. Mass had it titled with a 9 number vin and CT requires it to have the full 17. I had to track down the previous owner (3 owners ago) who had it reg'ed last. After 2 months of messing around with the Mass RMV I finally have a good valid title. I plan on registering the bike this week or next. The most recent pictures I have.

 

lookin good, too bad you had to do all that, though glad you got it done, have fun pounding pavement

 

I joined after you stopped posting. Was reading back posts and found your build. Enjoyed all the pics and info. Bike looks GREAT! Glad you're back...
skillet

 

How difficult was it to chop the back of the frame off? My buddy and I are going to be taking a Hacksaw to mine later tonight. Cheers!

 

What filters and jets are you running?

 

I've been playing with the same idea using bullet and/or shotgun shells on my bike kind of in that same way. That looks awesome dude! Gives me more of a visual for what I'm thinkin.

 

To cut off the frame, I used a 4" diegrinder, which is faster and more accurate than a hacksaw (but if you don't have one, a hacksaw will work just fine.
Those shot gun shells are cool!
I had a pair of chrome caps I found at the local hardware store that fit perfect inside the frame rails. Then I got an idea. I mounted two little LED lights in each chrome cap and just threaded the wires thru the rails back to the wires under the seat. It turned out looking great and adds a little sparkle to the frame.