1982 XJ650 stock to bobber project - on a budget

My bike made it into MiniTruckin Magazine. Here's a few pics I pulled off their website.

 

congrats!!!!!
i like the foot warmer head pipes

 

thats awesome dude! now you wear a helmet standing there but not riding? lol jk

 

haha, yea I was in Missouri and had to wear my helmet then.

 

Awesome

 

awesome build man.
Question tho... where'd you get that German style helmet? I ordered one online and it made me look like Dark Helmet from Spaceballs... i'd like to snag one of those.

 

I picked it up from one of a thousand random vendors at Dayton Bike week. It's made in Pakistan if that helps, lol. Pakistan is known for their 'quality' German helmets, lol

 

Thats hilarious. I actually am from Pakistan and Ames, IA is my current adopted home. Maybe i should call my uncles back home to see if they know anyone who knows somebody who makes them

 

haha, you gotta be kidding me, no way, lol. Ames, IA??? Thats where J&P Cycles is based out of. Ever visited there?

 

J&P Cycles is based out of Anamosa, IA i believe. Its 2.5 hours away from here. But nah, i havent visited yet. I just bought my bike last year and havent done much riding yet. We've probably had one of the worst winters yet and so i havent had a chance to do much riding for a while. I currently have a '02 Honda Shadow 750 ACE and a '79 XS750 Special which i kinda want to fix up before the riding season. I intend to make a trip there on their open house which is sometime this summer. You ever been there?

 

I've got a similar bike - 07 Honda Shadow Spirit C2. The Shadows are nice bikes. By X girlfriends dad has an ACE, it was a great bike. I've never been to Anamosa to visit J&P. If I was in your situation, I would though!!! Lucky you! Maybe I will someday though.


....I recently had my seat recovered in real lambs skin leather. I will post pictures soon.

 

congrats! bike looks geat in the pics

 

I love my ACE and will keep it stock for sure. Which is why i got the '79 XS.
I've heard good things about the open house. I'll post pix if i go. Maybe you could ride out to it Its only 200 miles from Bloomington

 

8) One bad ass ride for sure.

 

I haven't had much time to do any additional work on this bike lately, or do any complete builds all winter. I've put all bike work on the back burner this whole time for a good reason. I've been completely rebuilding my 2001 GMC Sonoma from the frame up - including rebuiling most of the stock frame. For those who are interested, here's just a few pics from along the way and how it sits today. I still have quite a bit of work left to do, but I at least have it driveable.

















I'll be starting on a Kawasaki KZ900 when I'm done here

 

thats awesome man. you've got mad skills...

 

nice bike bro....glad to see another mini trucker on here!...i got a 86 nissan 720 king cab....its @ the House of Hack right now gettin body dropped on 18"s...should be done soon...

 

Hell yeah reppin ///RA Illinois Chapter here!

 

Great job on the truck, I can't wait to see what you do to your Kawasaki KZ. 8)

 

I did a little work on my 82' XJ yesterday. I put in a new battery and de-winterized it. I also put my newly recovered seat on. It was originally covered in cheap vinyl when I bought it.

I went to the thrift store and bought a women's leather jacket made from genuine leather. I cut it up to get the large un-sewed sections from it. I gave the material and the original seat to my father. He made some patterns and stitched up a new cover and installed it for me. He did a great job!! He said it was very easy for him to do. He is really good at sewing and apulstry. The new leather is very soft to the touch. It is much better looking now. The original vinyl looked too cheap.

I also changed the front and rear seat mounts. I moved them both rearward by about 1 1/2 inches. I did this to reposition the seat. This makes it much more comfortable. Before, I was about to slide off the back of the bike when I wacked the throttle. I was almost doing a pull up, lol. After the first ride this season, I knew the new seat setup is much better - no more sliding. I also have more of my butt on the good part of the seat.

I also changed the seat springs. I did have some 3" coil springs from ebay. Now I am using some valve springs from the inside of another jap bike. I found a set laying around the garage that uses an internal/external spring. This makes for just the right spring rate. Two single wound valve springs were not stiff enough for my setup. If you look closely, you can see a second spring inside of the outer spring. I also had to weld two springs together to make an appropriate height.

You'll notice there is mud on the fenders in some of the pics. That's what I get for riding it around at the junk yard, lol!!

Thanks for looking, happy riding!!