XS650 Chopper
As far as XS650 Choppers go, this one easily ranks in my top 10 - scratch that, top 5 that I’ve ever seen. The bike is seamless front front to back and designed perfectly - from the proportions to the choices in parts. Ever notice how it’s the really simple parts that can make a bike really stand out on it’s own? The pipes on this XS are a great example of that. Nothing crazy or fancy, but perfectly designed for this bike. Well done. Another great example that proves that anyone who thinks that cool chops can only be designed with american or british iron is full of shit.
September 26th, 2008 at 1:37 pm |
what’s the tank on this, do you know?
September 26th, 2008 at 2:43 pm |
looks like a wassell peanut.
September 26th, 2008 at 5:23 pm |
Have a stock XS, seen loads of bobbers. You’re right, this one is exceptional. Flawless and easily ahead of the rest.
September 27th, 2008 at 3:14 am |
Frame?
September 27th, 2008 at 9:05 am |
saw this bike at “beatersville” here in louisville. the guy has a truck that matches. both are super well thought out and put together.
September 27th, 2008 at 2:01 pm |
Note that the ‘YAMAHA’ is missing from the engine cover….
September 28th, 2008 at 1:05 pm |
he it looks great! i have a xs 650,would love to do something like that!
have specs on frame?
September 29th, 2008 at 1:27 am |
Frame looks to be a homebuilt or custom job - the tabs on the axle plates look like the stock tabs off of the swingarm. I’d say 3-4″ stretch and a couple of inches taken off the overall height in the fork and rear axle height.
November 8th, 2008 at 9:59 am |
no stretch, no rake. stock frame home brew hardtailed using swingarm weld/cut method. hap jones tanks are filler to the side. wassell are center filler. both made in englad.
his air filters look like fence post caps with hacksaw slashes through them. not a bad idea if it runs good.
January 3rd, 2009 at 7:04 pm |
This is definitely a great xs650. I like how he used the stock axle amounts. I’d like to get him to post pictures of the build before and after style on my blog xs650chopper.com
February 7th, 2009 at 9:47 pm |
I think there was a whole build thread of this on Jockey Journal before they deleted jap bikes
February 9th, 2009 at 2:28 pm |
Does anyone happen to have the build details, or even know who the owner is - I went looking for the build thread on the JJ and they do look to have been deleted. This is the nicest XS I’ve ever seen and I’d love to see more detail on the buildup.
February 9th, 2009 at 2:38 pm |
I wish I had more info, I went looking for the same thread, but couldn’t find it.
February 9th, 2009 at 8:42 pm |
There was a long while documented build thread of this xs650 on Jockey Journal however, it got deleted which was very disappointing. I do not know the guy’s name but I know he sells electrical schematics for choppers on eBay. I asked him if he would repost his detailed build on my site but he didn’t seem interested. Too bad, it was a really great resource.
February 10th, 2009 at 9:24 am |
Damn that is a real shame. If anyone else has any clues then by all means let us know!
August 8th, 2009 at 4:36 pm |
He goes by “the-rodster” on the H.A.M.B.
Here is a quick bit about the bike, super sweet build, and was the reason I started to build mine… Stock wheelbase, low, and really cool…
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3050033#post3050033
September 19th, 2009 at 9:05 am |
AWESOME BIKE DUDE! LOVE THE TANK!
November 17th, 2009 at 11:24 pm |
Late to the party, but why’d they delete japanese bikes from jalopyjournal?
We all can’t afford/find a Norton, Trump, BSA or H-D to fuck with.
Some of those old 70’s and 80’s metrics are plentiful and well-made. My Honda turns alot of heads and my XS650 is going to do the same, on a shoestring budget.
Fuck elitists, of every stripe.