Sorry I've been a bit
quiet recently, but a mixture of being very busy at my new job, some
ill health, and not finding anything interesting enough to post, has
let to a bit of a silence.
This week's Friday bike
is one I've always had a bit of a soft spot for.
Yamaha XS650
The XS650 is
interesting in that it didn't start out as a Yamaha design. Long gone
Japanese manufacturer Hosk developed a 500cc twin in the late 50s
based on an NSU design. Hosk were owned by Showa, best known for
their suspension, and were sold to Yamaha in the early 60s. From the
Hosk design the XS650 was developed, being launched in 1970 as the
XS-1. This was followed by the XS-2, and later the XS650. Here in the
UK we didn't get the XS650 until 1975, when it was the biggest bike
in the Yamaha range.
I remember thinking
about buying one back in 1979, but I wanted to buy a new bike, Yamaha
had replaced the 'normal' XS650 with the hideous custom styled 'SE'
version, and it would have been more than I could have afforded
anyway.
Just........ no!
Very popular with the
custom crowd, very few good XSs still exist and are a bit expensive
as a result. Most seem to have been turned into choppers, flat
trackers, or hipster cafe racers. Back in 1986, I moved house and a
friend of a friend who lived nearby was working on an XS 650
'project'. He had fitted an XS engine into a Norton Featherbed frame
and was building a 60s styled cafe racer out of it. He moved house
soon after, so I never saw the completed bike (if it was ever
finished!). Found a picture on the Web of a similar bike.
Make Model
|
Yamaha XS 650C |
Year
|
1976 |
Engine
|
Air cooled, four stroke, parallel twin cylinder, SOHC, 2 valves per cylinder. |
Capacity
|
653 |
Bore x Stroke | 75 x 74 mm |
Compression Ratio | 8.4:1 |
Induction
|
2x Mikuni carbs |
Ignition /
Starting
|
Battery, induction coil / electric & kick |
Max Power
|
50 hp 36.4 kW @ 7200 rpm |
Max Torque
|
54 Nm @ 6800 rpm |
Transmission /
Drive
|
5 Speed / chain |
Front Suspension
|
Telescopic forks |
Rear Suspension
|
Swinging fork |
Front Brakes
|
Single 267m discs 1 piston calipers |
Rear Brakes
|
Drum |
Front Tyre
|
3.50-19 |
Rear Tyre
|
4.00-18 |
Dry Weight
|
215 kg |
Fuel Capacity
|
15 Litres |
I've always thought I'd like one of those too..a chance to buy several slipped through my fingers years ago...and like you say, they don't come up often for sale around here either.. Will be posting some pics of racing flat tracker Yamaha 650's soon...from this week ends races at Cal-Expo.
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