Any experts on here in these bikes , I was at a family wedding at the weekend and was offered a free Yamaha XS650 that has been sitting unused in a garage for over 20 years.
With visions of it being a later UK model twin disc , spoked rim classic in mind I went to look at the bike today .
Unfortunately it is not , it looks like a late 70's single disc XS650 Special (semi custom) models with the 16" rear wheel but the side panels are from an earlier non custom bike and it has not got the Special's deeply stepped seat with the oblong rear light tucked up against the seat nor has it got the UK spec flat seat .
I suspect it may be some kind of US spec standard bike with high bars, slightly stepped seat and standard mudguards plus the FS1E style rear light cluster that has been fitted with the wheels from a later Special model .
It will need a full restoration but at least the engine turns over and apparently with fresh fuel and jump leads has been started and running on a yearly basis.
Now the question is , have we got any experts on here regarding the model as I want to know if the frame and geometry are the same on both models as I would much rather restore it as a standard bike (lookalike ) instead of a semi custom thing
With visions of it being a later UK model twin disc , spoked rim classic in mind I went to look at the bike today .
Unfortunately it is not , it looks like a late 70's single disc XS650 Special (semi custom) models with the 16" rear wheel but the side panels are from an earlier non custom bike and it has not got the Special's deeply stepped seat with the oblong rear light tucked up against the seat nor has it got the UK spec flat seat .
I suspect it may be some kind of US spec standard bike with high bars, slightly stepped seat and standard mudguards plus the FS1E style rear light cluster that has been fitted with the wheels from a later Special model .
It will need a full restoration but at least the engine turns over and apparently with fresh fuel and jump leads has been started and running on a yearly basis.
Now the question is , have we got any experts on here regarding the model as I want to know if the frame and geometry are the same on both models as I would much rather restore it as a standard bike (lookalike ) instead of a semi custom thing