These photos and question or only loosely related. The shots are of a killer XS built by Big Moon, Japan and shown to us by the excellent Speed Junkies blog. Now here's a question from a reader about XS650s...
> Could you please spare some time to answer a couple of questions and help me out? I have checked google and I am finding a lot of conflicting information.
> I am looking interested in converting my motorcycle to get the flat tracker look. It is an xs650 of 12/78 build.
> Is it possible to put a 19inch rear wheel on this frame/swingarm, and if not what would need to be done to do this? Would it just be a matter of bolting on an earlier swingarm or is it a major project? It currently has a 16inch rear wheel with disc brake.
> Lastly, will a 19inch front wheel bolt straight on (it currently has an 18inch front).
> Thanks for your time>
> Brian
Mule, are you out there? Can you help this man? GI
You have probably seen it if you have been looking on the net - there's a load of stuff out there but www.omarsdtr.com has kits and info about wheel conversions and all that fun stuff.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!
Front wheel- Yes a 19" will bolt right on. Just locate a stock wheel and you're done. Always try to go with wire wheels on the 650 as the stock mags are probably the heaviest mags ever made by any manufacturer! Building a streettracker is more than just "The Look". It's also about the "Feel" and light is the feel you should try to acheive. With the stock wire wheel hub, you can lace up any size or width of rim you want and there are a variety of Yamaha and Ducati brake rotors available with that bolt pattern. Good stuff out there!
ReplyDeleteSwingarm- A stock swingarm will accept the an Omars front wheel conversion kit if you want the cheapest way possible. You end up with a very narrow rear wheel. If you want a correct rear wheel of 2.75"-3.00 rim width, you'll find that a Radian swinarm will do the trick. They are available on EBAY and bolt right on. Caution though, if they are selling for more than $150.00, you can get a nice custom one built out of cromoly. But it does save a lot of running around. I use a stock Sportster aluminum rear hub for the rear wheel and lace up a rim of the proper width. I remove the stock (heavy) double row bearings and replace them with a single row, normal bearing. Then you can get any sprocket size you want from Sprocket Specialists. For a rotor, you could make or adapt just about anything you wanted. I use a stock Sporty rotor after thinning and reducing the diameter. This provides a nice light rotor that bolts right on. Wheels usually take a lot of thought and work, but give the bike the majority of its look and ride.