1982 XJ650 stock to bobber project - on a budget

This is all very Deja Vu to me.

 

Looks great! You must be very meticulous (sp?) You even bondoed the welds! Very nice handywork, can't wait to see it finished.

 

kevinelevin, do you have a thread or pics anywhere of yours? I would like to get some ideas. Thanks

maximuschop, yea, I get kinda picky about some things. Hopefully it will come out nice, it's the final paint, fit, and finish I am worried about.

 

Kevins thread is "cosmetic mods done", should be near the top of the thread list. You should go from beginning to end though, makes you really appreciate the work he has done on that bike. I think yours will come out great. I don't gotta worry about mine, it'll be flat black. Hope to have her painted this weekend

 

I like the point of still being able to remove the rear wheel--maybe I'm missing something, but how else would you be able to get the rear end apart, if you welded the LHS?

I like the look of this...and I especially like the attention to detail. I think that will really pay off in the final look. I'm thinking of turning mine (xj700) into something interesting, but I will probably wait until winter comes again, since I want to ride. Inspiring work, IMO.

 

Thanks for the comments guys. I cant wait to get out and ride. I've been riding my Honda, but can't wait to get out on this.

Just a note, you have to remove the stud on the left side to get the rear end out. It's kind of a PITA, but I got it out. I'm not sure how you could weld the left side up and still be able to get it out, unless you welded the frame to the steel housing, which is a little far back in the swing arm IMO.

 

Maybe make the left rear a slot instead of a hole? Like a bicycle drop out?

 

Yeah, that could be a good alternative.

BTW, the seat is now sold, thanks to those who were interested.

 

If I had a stock bike, that seat would be the nuts!

 

Great job on the frame. I like that it's straight from the swingarm up the length. Makes it look like a solid custom frame.

Looking forward to the rest of the build!

(and it's no wonder that seat sold - very cool)

 

Don't even worry about it, the guy woulda sold to whoever got there first I think.. I heard the same thing "Your the first to call" and all that. I even told him on the phone I would guarantee him the 300 if it checks out... He even flat out told me "the guy that left had the 300 in cash, so I took it".

oh well, I'm glad it didn't go to a junk dealer!!

 

We'll have to go for a ride when it gets nice out

Here's what I got done since my last post...

I made the mounting for the battery box. Aluminum strap with threaded rods. I put the rods up on a lathe to knock the threads off where I didnt want them.

 

I got the tank back from the radiator shop. It was filthy inside. There was sand in it. It even had a pair of finger nail clippers in it!!! So they baked it, media blasted inside and out, and resealed it. After I got it back, I circled all the little dents and got to work on smoothing things out






I also smoothed out the stock locations of the side markers. I also cut and smoothed out the mounting points for the front turn signals. Now I have these holes. Any suggestions to solve this???? I may just leave it.....






While I had the bondo out, I went to work on a few other problem spots. I am started to get tired of body work. I think it takes a very special person to do this for a living. My patience grew short. I didnt do a perfect job, but it's better than it was. I'm not really trying to make any kind of all out show bike anyways.

 

I really appreciate someone who works on my level. Your bike is great, Crath.

Edit-- I'm crazy jealous of your lathe.

 

A blue dot with a clear LED behind it would cover the offensive hole left in the turn signal's wake,or perhaps a gel dome "tuning fork" emblem.You could even epoxy a quarter over the hole,if you have that kind of money to throw around...

 

crath it looking really good, asfaras the weld on the right side of the swingarm goes i cut off the eye from some spare shocks ad welded the to the rigid strut
mainly because i have such a large rear fender welded in place. that way i can drop the rear and get my tire off . and i love how you brought the frame
with the full conversion of a hardtail, looks very pro.
check out my gallery for any ideas if it will help, i'm sure i just might borrw a few from you also, thanks again

 

kevineleven
Thanks for the encouragment. I've been slowly reading through all TWELVE pages of your thread. JEEZE, what a lot of work and changes your bike has gone through!! Big props on your project for sure. And yes, lathes kick butt

Danno
Great suggestions! I really like the retro blue dot idea - like what you see in old tail lights. I'm wanting to roughly follow an old school look with this bike. So nothing too fancy. So without the LED, that would stay along those lines. I think the quarter may be an even better idea!! You're right, if I can fork out the extra cash (haha), two 1982 series quarters would really compliment this 1982 Yamaha. (Like this bike, I was also born in 82'.... freakin rad)

yamabobber
I'll be sure to check out your gallery/posts also. Sharing ideas and suggestions is what these forums are all about.

 

Here's the seat I got off ebay for only 40 bucks. It came with 2 inch springs and a bracket. I will be using a set of 3 inch springs instead.







Not a whole lot of room for it. I forgot to snap some pics of it mounted and together, but I will tomorrow. I also put a slight radius in the seat to get it to fit a little closer to the frame rails. The seat was fairly flat to begin with.






I made a license plate bracket also. I had to notch out the left side to allow the rear brake and wheel to come off. Kind of a tight fit there. I also drilled and tapped all four holes to make it a little easier to mount the plate - less hardware too.






I also made my own handlebars today. I started out with a spare length of 1" O.D. for mockup purposes only - I 'professionally' zip tied in place since the bike only accepts 7/8" O.D. I didnt want to hack up my only piece of 7/8" and then not like the way it came out.






I liked the way the first set with 1" O.D. came out, so I went with that. I used an angle finder to match the angles side to side and between both sets of bars. Anyone need a set of 1" O.D. bars??? I got em'







These two pictures were taken prior to cutting the overall length of the bars down by 3 inches - just a little to long for my taste.

 

I also forgot to mention relocating some of the electronics. The ignition module and the other little black box (whatever it does, lol???) One is mounted upside down just in front of the battery. The other is 8 inches farther forward, upside down, above the carburetors. I welded studs in place for the modules to bolt in place to.







I snapped these pictures of my seat mounts as well. I used threaded studs to allow for a slight amount of adjustability, depending on rider weight.

 

Just a thought, but are those bars going to hit the tank?? Hard to tell from the pics, but they don't look like they have much rise.

Other than that, the bike looks like its coming along great, I wish I had the shop and gear (and talent) to really tear min apart like that