Triple down memory lane

[T.W.R]

XL250 back there is it?

Think it was a 73-4, looked fairly original too. With what else was there these two may have lived together for a while.

Looks like the important and expensive bits are straight. I was looking at some original (or original looking) replacement pipes and mufflers for the GS1100 - would cost more than the rest of the bike is worth.

Around 90% original but some bits haven't weathered time well; I can see some getting ditched as I get to them. The bones are solid for which ever direction I take it, there wont be any extravagance involved but it should be OK at the end. The monetary aspect doesn't work into it for me, it's part of a different equation.

[T.W.R]

Bit of a read from back in the day, 1-4 Long term report from Cycle World June 1980.

[T.W.R]

Well a week in and tools haven't hit it yet, gave her a good visual & got a list of bits needing attention. Got a box of replacement parts & spares on its way and investigated some other parts for further down the track.
Found some interesting stuff & a few home brews....some appealing & some
Plenty of cafe'd & scramblerised bikes and a real concoction of pipes that fueled a few ideas but I've got the 12R for head down arse up carry-on, so I'm looking to keep the original lines albeit tweaked to personal taste.
Something along the lines of the bike below with those style of twin pipes

[T.W.R]

Well after getting most of the paper work together it seems the old girl hasn't seen much time out of a shed in the last 27yrs.
Looks as if it was brought into NZ & 1st reg'd by Pacific Motorcycles in Dec 89, 1st private owner took purchase Nov 90 and rode it for just over 3yrs then parked up & plates wiped 2yrs later.
So roughly 22yrs in the dark without proper steps being taken for a long-term park up it's survived pretty well.

Had reasonable plans for the wk/end just gone but got nailed by a evil dose of the flu that started Friday pre dawn tossing my breakfast at my car before work & it was all down hill from there; only managed 1 solid meal all wk/end so things haven't been great.
Sunday out of desperation I stripped the bodywork off & wrestled it into it's new abode (or will be for a while anyhow)....bloody 240kgs of dead weight is bloody handful in a tight spot when your crook.

Here a couple of up date pics

1) A bit scary seeing this, inside the carbs could be interesting. Had a nosy down the plug holes & each cylinder looks clean with no scores etc.

2)Some of the parts...was only really after the badges but discretion is the better part of valor so the CDI, coils, solenoid, were clamped down on.

3)A lot of work ahead; dealt to worse in the past so time to roll back the sleeves

4) A view from top side, dirty as buggery but least it's easy to get at. Nifty wee gizmos they thought of back then, headlight over-ride relay if 1 filament blows it kicks the other into action automatically; It's also got auto cancelling turn signals

[BMWST?]

Well after getting most of the paper work together it seems the old girl hasn't seen much time out of a shed in the last 27yrs.
Looks as if it was brought into NZ & 1st reg'd by Pacific Motorcycles in Dec 89, 1st private owner took purchase Nov 90 and rode it for just over 3yrs then parked up & plates wiped 2yrs later.
So roughly 22yrs in the dark without proper steps being taken for a long-term park up it's survived pretty well.

Had reasonable plans for the wk/end just gone but got nailed by a evil dose of the flu that started Friday pre dawn tossing my breakfast at my car before work & it was all down hill from there; only managed 1 solid meal all wk/end so things haven't been great.
Sunday out of desperation I stripped the bodywork off & wrestled it into it's new abode (or will be for a while anyhow)....bloody 240kgs of dead weight is bloody handful in a tight spot when your crook.

Here a couple of up date pics

1) A bit scary seeing this, inside the carbs could be interesting. Had a nosy down the plug holes & each cylinder looks clean with no scores etc.

2)Some of the parts...was only really after the badges but discretion is the better part of valor so the CDI, coils, solenoid, were clamped down on.

3)A lot of work ahead; dealt to worse in the past so time to roll back the sleeves

4) A view from top side, dirty as buggery but least it's easy to get at. Nifty wee gizmos they thought of back then, headlight over-ride relay if 1 filament blows it kicks the other into action automatically; It's also got auto cancelling turn signals

the xs 750e and the sr500e prolly had the best headlights of the bikes i had back then

[T.W.R]

the xs 750e and the sr500e prolly had the best headlights of the bikes i had back then

got a full test on the F and they rate the headlight as one of the best of the era, Koito H4s were the biz but their 8" fitted to the 850, SR500G, & TR1 was a beast.....taken straight of a loco

[BMWST?]

got a full test on the F and they rate the headlight as one of the best of the era, Koito H4s were the biz but their 8" fitted to the 850, SR500G, & TR1 was a beast.....taken straight of a loco

That's right,did the 750e have a 8" too???

[T.W.R]

That's right,did the 750e have a 8" too???

Nah the 8 made it's debut on the 850, think the E had the 1st generation halogen Koito in 6"
Like the 750 below but noticeable in size difference to the 850
easy retro fit though

[Supertwin Don]

Hi, Guys,
Doing a bit of a cosmetic refurb on my old XS - had it for coming up 30 years! - cleaned and repainted the frame, cleaned and repainted most of the bracketry, and now looking at the seat - urgh! - really could do with a new base! anyone know of one available? even a good one I can borrow to get a fibreglass replica from.
Haven't really started on the motor, but will probably need pistons/rings and valves/guides - as far as I know, still on original pistons (but I did put new rings in 20 odd years ago)
Also looking for the little rubber mounts that go on the frame for the side panels.

[T.W.R]

Well best laid plans & all that, things have come to a grinding halt at present due to a bereavement of someone very close to me.
The bike was coming along reasonably well until this unexpected event, hadn't concentrated on one particular area specifically but each piece is complimenting others so in all it's taking shape nicely.

Do need to source a driveshaft cv boot/bellows so if anyone knows where one is ........
Once things settle down & get back to the relms of normality again and the vultures have fucked off to their wee sickly sterile offices I'll be able get back to sorting this old girl out.

[T.W.R]

and now looking at the seat - urgh! - really could do with a new base! anyone know of one available? even a good one I can borrow to get a fibreglass replica from.
]

Hey Don,
Years ago there was a couple of companies in the UK & one in Aus that made fibreglass replacement seat pans so there should be the odd one floating around somewhere, yamahatriples.com may be worth checking through too.
Rubber grommets for the side panels should be easy enough to source aftermarket....there is a UK site still selling a lot of OEM & aftermarket parts for the XS.

On a side note I found a supplier advertising a complete NOS exhaust for a XS750 Spec on ebay $5k cost with freight landed here yikes!

[Supertwin Don]

Hi, TW, got a complete second hand seat from the States - $175 all up, 6 days Ohio to Auckland, and another 5 Auckland to Orini! The rubber grommets are not a priority at the moment, I'm having a look at the motor, now. Surprisingly little sludge in the sump, even after a significant number of years!
Might have to cobble together an exhaust system from the bits and pieces I have, then get a proper one made up in stainless.
May have a spare driveshaft rubber boot - still on my "spares" XS850 - I'll have a look.

[T.W.R]

Well after a few weeks of times being consumed with other priorities I took a couple of days from work to get things back in balance and decided to get back into the old girl.
I've stripped down the arse end ready for new bearings, paint etc.
Initial check of the electrics showed all worked but I couldn't get spark or juice to the starter motor,so today I focused on chasing that issue down; after a couple of hrs of testing and cutting & re-soldering dodgy connections I got life to the important bits
Got nice fat healthy spark across all 3 pots but the S/M isn't wanting to play nicely so it's be a pull out strip clean & rebuild for it.
Temptation got the better of me so I threw some fresh fuel in the tank and bled the carbs through and went for the big test
Bugger me 2 good prods on the kick start and she farted & banged and almost fired into life, couple more boots & she lit up on 2 pots with the 3rd trying hard. A bit of a fiddle and couple more boots and she barked into life, ticking over quite nicely with no horrid noises to be heard...not bad considering its probably somewhere around 20yrs since it ran last

I'll get some more pics up shortly

[T.W.R]

May have a spare driveshaft rubber boot - still on my "spares" XS850 - I'll have a look.

Hey Don thanks for the offer, but after a bit of investigation I'd suggest if it's in good condition keep it they're in the class of rocking horse poo!
I managed to locate 2 NOS....the only 2 available in Australasia so have purchased one

[T.W.R]

Well one thing & another and time got away on me

Progress has been a bit slow on the bike but there have been a few steps in the right direction.

Got new filters (air & oil), new manifold gaskets, new bearings throughout, & new clutch & throttle cables.
A set of nice new reverse megaphone mufflers are making there way here at present.
After a bit of a glitch with the old exhaust & gaining an idea or two via a couple of pictures Triplenut sent and very tactful use of a cutting disc on the dremel I managed to salvage the header pipes ready for use again.... no major deterioration apart from the original mufflers suffering badly from cancer.

Pretty much everything is almost ready to go back together, just cleaning and refurbishing as I go