Two to Spare

RL came by last night and gave me a hand remounting the xs650 motor back in the bike. A quick process. We knocked out the timing, carbs, and wiring in about an hour and after some uneventful kicking, she eventually fired up for the first time since last September. Called it a done deal with two PBR’s to spare. I’ll revisit this thing in the spring to adjust the valves and timing and to mount a new rear fender but for now, this one is destine for storage.

Save A Buck ~ Fix it

The sh*t I’ll do to save some scratch is pretty low. My XS timing chain snapped on me while bombing back into the Twin Cities last September. After I pulled the top end off, I could see that the teeth on the cam were perfect. The crank sprocket on the other hand… DESTROYED. Not a single tooth left. Unfortunately, this crank sprocket is an obsolete part meaning I’m up sh*t creek. My options are wait it out for  an old xs motor on Craigs list for around $100 beans or just swap the crank and buy a gasket set on eBay.

I went with the replacement crank and a gasket set. The crank ran me $1.99 and the gasket set… $60. Other than an hour of open heart surgery, at least I know I’m running a clean motor with new timing chain and gaskets. The top end was still well within tolerances so I’m gonna let sleeping dogs lie with that one.