The best $25 I ever spent.......

(except for that one EPIC table-dance for a buddies bachelor party...that girl was something else!)

A while back I was at the shop doing what I do (a little work, a little fucking off etc) and the kat next door wandered over and said he had an old Yamaha 650 sitting in his backyard, would I be interested? 

Now, I've had lots of people offer me carcasses for cheap but Rex was a decent guy and told me $25 and it was mine, he'd even drag it to my shop the next day. I said sure, what the hell....$25 is not much to gamble on pure potential. I forgot to ask WHICH Yamaha 650 he had but I figured it didn't matter much since I'd likely gut it and sell off the bits for beer money.

Well whadayaknow!? No hair on this deal at all:

There's some potential here.....

So here's what showed up the next day with a new chain in a box along with a few little bits and baubs. One complete and largely unmolested 1982 XS650, with a good title no less. He said it hasn't been run since 2005 or so when he parked it after being scared to death by some crank in a cage. Been there, I just didn't lose my compulsion for the damned things.

Hadn't been run in over 5 years huh? Well...what the heck, not like I'm losing anything.....a quick check of the oil showed what looks and smells like nice fresh dino squeezin's, open the tank and the gas doesn't smell...'that bad'....the carbs are pretty gummed up but a little lube in the throttle cable and a bit of working and at least the butterflies are moving, no telling what the slides are doing til I check.

Again...hmmm.....not bound up at all. Weird. The plugs look like poo so I gave'm a quick scrub too.

Throwing caution (and any sense of my own welfare) out the window, I squirted some ether into the carb throats, hooked up some jumper cables to the shop van and started cranking.

Zhing-shing-shing-pop-shing-popop-shing-Pop-Pop-POP-POP-KER-POW!!!!!!!!!

After 15 seconds or so it actually fired up. Now, by fired up I mean it was sorta running, rough to say the least and the foul stench that came from the exhaust told a sad tale of rotten gas and despair. But...it runs. It's clear that the exhaust hasn't fared well in the backyard...this is Oregon after all. The crossover tube that runs between the left and right pipes is so rotted that the pressure from running blew it right out. As well I believe some little furry critter made it's home in one pipe because something I'm fairly certain was alive at one point kinda launched out!

Not bad for $25.......

Here's a factory "security chain" and the plastic housing it lived in. Never been opened from the looks of it, nor had the chain been handled. It's keyed to the ignition key.

This front end will be transplanted into the Sakura bike after some heavy cleaning and equally heavy modifications. It's already laced with a 21" rim, but I doubt these forks were ever 'set-up' beyond the final assembly at the shop that originally sold it. The oil in them is thin thin thin...and yucky stinky, not nice. No worries, there are plans afoot to handle these and other issues. But....you'll have to wait for that til later.....

Nice and clean under the headlight ears/tube shrouds, nice. I was a little worried that maybe the rust monster had visited whilst she stood in wait. Guess the fucker missed this one...score one for the home team!

...and after and hour all the 'extra shit' comes off to reveal a clean frame and engine, a wee bit of surface rust under the battery box but no damage to speak of.

All in all a good score I think, more to come on this one later....probably much later.