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1972 Yamaha XS-2 (650cc)

3K views 32 replies 22 participants last post by  tbone 
#1 ·
What's up everybody? I haven't posted in awhile, but thought what better way to get back into the swing of things than showing you all my new project. I was working at an old ladys house last week and noticed a sweet classic mustang in the open garage. I walked in to check it out and a front wheel poking out from some blankets caught my eye. As we were leaving, I metioned to her that I was into old japanese motorcycles and that if she wanted to get rid of it I'd be interested. Her exact words were "That was my husbands bike, but he's been dead for 6 years. No one in the family wants it and I just don't know what to do with it. I want someone to have it who's going to fix it up, so if you want it come get it this weekend. You can have it." So that's what I did, and here it is. It's a 1972 Yamaha XS-2, which is the predecessor to the 650 special. The best part: it's got 2650 miles on the odometer. He bought it new and last liscensed it in 1975, so it spent three years on the road. It even still has the protective film on the back of the mirror. All solid, original equipment, all the way down to the mufflers. Even the tires are some how like new, with absolutely 0 dryrot. Even better, he drained the carbs and case before parking it, so all I needed to do was scrub out the tank, clean out the petcocks (yes it has two, one for each cylinder), and install oil and a new battery. 2 hours worth of work and I was driving it around the block. Check it out; the first two pics are when I brought it home, the third is after a good scrub. I haven't removed much rust yet, but it cleans off easily so far.
 

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#2 ·
WOW! What a find. I love the "found in a barn, got it running" stories. Bikes were meant to ride, not store. Glad you've got her back on the road. Looks great.

Nice price too.
 
#4 ·
Sweet! I've never had much luck w/ the "found it in the barn" thing. Maybe I need to start doing work for more old ladies...
 
#5 ·
Ok, so here's a little update. I didn't want to ride it due to the front brakes not working, so earlier I set out to find the problem. It turns out it just had some blockages in the rubber lines from sitting so I cleared out the lines, scraped the crystalized goo out of the master cylinder, filled it with fresh fluid, bled the system, and WAH-LAH! I now have front brakes. I took her on her maiden voyage, riding for about an hour and putting 30 miles on her. All I can say is WHAT A HOOT! This thing is a blast to ride. The engine reminds me of my Suzuki Boulevard that I had, just with more vibration. I had read that they vibrated a lot, but I swear it vibrates like a big twin. It's enough that it shakes the front wheel to the point of making noise at an idle, and at certain rpm's the mirror is useless. It's a torquey s.o.b., with the redline at only 7500rpms. It almost feels like riding a harley. The factory exhaust is really loud by todays standards. It's not as loud as a bike with aftermarket exhaust, but it has quite a rumble. I think I'm gonna have the seat foam redone though; my arse is killing me after just a short ride!
 
#10 ·
My buddy just got a 1973 XS 500 for free here about a month ago. It had been sitting in a shed for about 17 years. The carbs were drained and it was stored on the center stand it has 4960 miles on it and after it was washed it look like new. I still can't believe the seat wasn't cracked or eaten by mice.

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#12 ·
Same here; I just couldn't believe that the seat and tires and such on my bike were in such great shape. I did find a mouse nest in the battery tray, but luckily the critters didn't cause any damage.

So did your buddy get his going?
 
#17 ·
Hopefully for him it goes as smothly as mine did. I didn't even have to pull the carbs; I decided to be optamistic since they had been drained and it paid off. I've probably acquired at least 30 old motorcycles like this that had sat for a lengthy period of time and this is the first that I didn't have to clean the carbs out. Now the petcocks were a different story. They were filled with what seemed like tree sap. I used a small drill bit by hand to clear out some of the passages, as carb cleaner didn't even phase it.
 
#19 ·
UPDATE

So, I am very happy with the way the chrome is cleaning up on this bike. It looked as if there was a lot of pitting, but much of it cleaned up pretty well. So far I have completely dissassembled the entire front end, from the gauges and bars down to the front wheel, and cleaned and polished every part, nut, and bolt. I also removed the exhaust and cleaned/polished the entire system. I think I'm going to do it in stages: chrome first, then aluminum, then paint touch up. Anyhow, here's some pics of the progress. The gauge cluster/ handlebar assembly almost looks new!
 

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#20 ·
So, I am very happy with the way the chrome is cleaning up on this bike. It looked as if there was a lot of pitting, but much of it cleaned up pretty well. So far I have completely dissassembled the entire front end, from the gauges and bars down to the front wheel, and cleaned and polished every part, nut, and bolt. I also removed the exhaust and cleaned/polished the entire system. I think I'm going to do it in stages: chrome first, then aluminum, then paint touch up. Anyhow, here's some pics of the progress. The gauge cluster/ handlebar assembly almost looks new!
Lookin' real good!:thumbup1:
 
#23 ·
Well, I have to admit that the pictures make it look better than it really is, but it is coming out better than I expected. Once it's done it will look very nice.

Total investment thus far: $75 and a lot of rubbing on tarnished parts.
 
#26 ·
The early ones are way cooler than than the specials, less choppery. Wouldn't that make a bitchin' little cafe? Nice bike! I'll bet a lot of WT members are jonesing for an early project. After seeing the last few around here, I'm ready. Something in a 2 stroke please, RZ, RD? Maybe a Kawi triple.
 
#28 ·
I've had a bunch of old bikes, but I can honestly say the meanest one I've had was my 1972 Kawasaki H2-750. That 3 cylinder 2 cycle makes a sound that you cannot duplicate; not poppy like a single; not buzzy like a twin; it just howled, and when the power band would hit it was all I could do to hang on to that thing. I guess that's what you get when you put three 250cc motorcross engine cylinder heads on one common crankcase! I've had faster bikes, but none of them had the propensity to kick my ass all over the road like my H2.
 
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