I bought this 1979 Yamaha XS650F for $50.00 on May 6, 2004.
I heard about it from a friend of a friend kind of thing; the guy had a
new bike and just wanted to unload this one. He was told it needed a valve
job, even though it ran (roughly). I figured worst case scenario, I could
part it out for more than $50.00. Anyway, I bought it, adjusted the valves
and the timing, and it runs great. Since buying it, I have found out what
a large and dedicated following the XS650's have. There is a great email
listserv (YAM650-
click to join) that I am a part of, as well as loads of sites on modifying
and parts.
It's a fun bike to ride- the parallel twin is a great motor.
So far every problem I have come across, and all work I have done I have
been able to do by myself.
Here is what I did to
it: I bought a better looking (in my
opinion)
sissybar/rack combination (on ebay), I bought the saddle bags (again,
on
ebay), and I bought and installed a new seat cover from the Saddlemen (www.saddlemen.com). After a
long
ride my odometer and tripmeter went out, although the speedometer
still
works fine. So, also on ebay I bought a Panoram bicycle computer,
and
it works *great*. On the last pics you can see how I mounted the
sensor
and magnet.
To mount the magnet, I heated it with a torch, took
a
pliers, and melted it into the left hand disk bolt-hole cover. I
mounted
the sensor with the zip-ties, and off I went! It works great! Since
this thin already had the tank badges covered and such, I made it into the
Street Tracker.