XS 850- TEAR DOWN AND DESIGN IDEAS

I figured the first thing I should do is make the bike rideable and as safe as possible, so I decided to start with the rear brake. I've never worked on disk brakes on a motorcycle, and my experience with them on bicycles has been limited to cable controlled, not hydraulic. The problem was that the brake would stop the rear wheel but only back off very slightly when the brake was released, causing some very noticeable friction. I wasn't quite sure what was happening inside the caliper. But that's what the internet is for, right? I started watching some instructional vids on how to free a stuck piston; however, most of them recommended taking the brake to a shop, or buying a rebuild kit. I figured, though, that a combo of common sense and Firestone DBA was all I needed. 

My buddy Karl came over and, seeing as he had never worked on hydraulic motorcycle brakes either, we figured between the two of us we should be able to fix it easily. After both of us put flathead screwdrivers worrisomely deep into our respective palms, we decided it was time for a new plan. Karl pulled up some more videos on his iphone, and we agreed the best plan of attack would be trying to push out the piston with compressed air. My compressor decided it was too tired to help, so after giving up on that, Karl pulled the end off my bicycle pump and attached the rubber hose to the bleed nipple. He gave it 2 pumps and the piston shot out immediately, almost snaking one of my fingers. Underneath, the seals were soft and in great shape, so I cleaned all the corrosion off the piston with some brake fluid, reassembled the who thing, and mounted it back on the bike. We bled the line (another thing neither of us had done) and called it a night after testing what is now a smooth, correctly operating rear brake. I'm going to buy a new rotor at some point, as this one is pretty bad, but at least it stops well and doesn't lock up.

Next I started taking shit off... anything I don't absolutely need is going: rear fender (soon to be bobbed... somehow,) blinkers, passenger pegs, broken horn and blinker control assembly, running lights, old sponge grips, etc.. I also started cleaning, got rid of the wasps and most of the spiders, and started Google searching for design ideas. I don't like cafe' racers all that much (although some are definitely cool); it's not really my style. Since this bike is already a beefcake, I don't think it makes much sense to try to get it too slim. So I'm thinking lean and mean, but not anorexic and bitchy. After some searching, I found this pic:

I don't know who built this bike (it comes from an online used vehicle database) but as soon as I saw it I knew that this was the style I was looking for. I recently met a dude at a poker run my band played who has a Street Bob set up in a similar way and it looks badass... so I'm using this as a template. I like the satin black with tasteful chrome highlights, and I like the short rear end. I also think the black mags are killer. The gauges sort of create a little extra hight in front too. 

So I've got my inspiration. But I think I can make my bike look better than this one. For one thing, it needs a rear fender that comes up past or flush with the back of the seat, and I don't like the tank he used... the stock one looks better (even though it's a goddam whale.) So here we go; next post, new paint and new, lo-pro seat mounting.

UH OH. XS 850 PROJECT BIKE!

It's been a bit since my last post, mostly because I finished the SL125 (dubbed the "Nazgul") and haven't had anything to do (except work 55 hours a week.) Lately, though, I've been itching for a bit more power and reliability than the Nazgul can deliver. This is probably the fault of my buddy who lets me take his 883 Sportster for a spin every now and then. I even started thinking about dropping an old 250cc motor in that little frame (which I have been told, categorically, is a bad idea.) But a few weeks ago I was helping my friend's dad clear out his garage and (cue singing angels) lo and behold, in the back, covered in spider webs (and, as it turned out, filled with wasp nests) was this 1980 Yamaha XS 850.

                                                                   




The bike had technically been for sale for a while, and had been sitting for about 3 years, so the owner was anxious to get rid of it. I payed $500, loaded it into the trailer, and that was that.

I got her home and took a quick ride around the block before the battery died, and the motor runs fine considering it hasn't been started for a long time. I'm used to the Nazgul (top speed, 55mph) so when I hit 60 in second gear I realized... this is going to be fun.

The XS 850 is a sweet bike. Shaft drive, 3 cylinder, dual front rotors-- all power and BEEFY. Check out the size of that tank! Usually these bikes either get restored as close to original as possible, or they get cafe'd out. I'm not sure what to do with her yet; the first order of business is to clean her up.

Obviously, she needs some work. A new battery was a must, as the old Wal Mart special was refusing to recharge and blowing fuses.  Also, the rear brake was stuck, and, unfortunately, had been ridden that way for what looks like a long time, judging from the glacial tills in the rotor. The whole thing is riddled with spiders, and there's a lot of corrosion and rust so most of the components could use a good scrubbing and probably some paint of some sort. The seat is giant, so if my feet are going to even get close to reaching the ground she's going to need a new, lower profile saddle, too, at the very least, and maybe shorter rear shocks.

Next post, I get at that rear brake, start slimming her down, and begin brainstorming design ideas.

ANOTHER FORAY INTO RECORDING

This week I took a break from working on the bike to do some rough recordings of some of my older songs. I gave myself a crash course in playing the upright bass, bought a handle of Gin and a pack of smokes, and went to work. I started with an older tune from a few years ago, and re-wrote a large part of it. After a couple nights in the garage until after midnight, I finished it to the best of my abilities... me and garage band ain't that great of friends, but still, it's not too bad. You can listen to it at http://jonbartel.tumblr.com/
I apologize for mixing my blog sites, but whatever. Tumblr is awesome for music. While you're there, check out some of my older tunes too.

Enjoy!

PICS!

Here she is, at least for now. Like I said in my previous post, I still have more to do, including new tires, brakes, sissy bar, etc., but I thought some pics were still in order at this point.

FINISHED SPRINGER SEAT AND FENDER

After I got the seat mounted, I went back to the welding supply shop and bought a prefabbed trailer fender ($19). It was designed for a 14" wheel, but I had to cut 1/3 of it off anyway, so the length I used is short enough to look good on my 18".

I made a mounting bracket out of an old framing strap and bolted it down to the original seat mounts. In the picture, I haven't ground off the corners yet so they don't show on each side of the fender. Next I notched the sides of the fender so it fit as low as possible under the seat. I drilled out a mounting hole and bolted the fender to the bracket, and that was it. I went back and did a little tweaking here and there, including shimming the seat springs up about 1/2" with some washers for some extra clearance, and remounting the tail light on the throttle side strut.

So what's next? Hi-Beam switch, maybe a rebar sissybar... I'm also going to replace the rear sprocket with something a few teeth smaller, put on new street tires and mount new foot pegs, My new brake shoes are on the way from Ebay as I write this (I figured better braking was a priority right now.) So there's still a lot of work to do, but as it stands right now, I have a pretty badass little machine that has come a long way from it's trail bike days. Next post, some full bike pics.

SEATS AND SPRINGS

My buddy Taylor was interested in my idea of building a custom springer solo seat, and decided to make one for his sportster. So we made a template and he cut out 2 seats, one for each of us, made from some 12 gauge steel we picked up at the welding yard for $14. Once the seats were cut, we got to work with the bench grinder and a ball peen.

This was my first time trying to shape steel using only a hammer, but it was surprisingly easy... just beat the shit out of it until it does what you want.

Next Taylor welded me up some seat springs, made from 2.5" of the old rear suspension with washers top and bottom to provide a solid mounting surface.

I stopped by Ace and picked up some mounting bolts (hex drive pan head). I drilled out two holes on the seat frame bracing and did the same to the seat. My fingers are huge, so it took a while to thread the nuts on inside the spring coil, but after a good hour of pinched fingers and a shit-ton of swearing, I had the seat mounted. Next post, steel fender.

DRINKIN'

I've been working on the bike on and off this week, but before I get to those pics and descriptions, I figured I'd post a few photos I took the other night when the boys were over getting drunk in the garage. The bike at that point had just been hardtailed. All pics taken with the Toy Camera Ap for iphone.

Kenneth Bonelove, trying to calculate his Bud Light count. 

smoke break 

The Dirty Rambler himself, gettin' his lean on.