1971 Yamaha XS1B (XS650)

[Guest]

So a client of mine told me her sister-in-law had an old Yamaha that belonged to her deceased husband and did I want to take a look at it. Went over and found this sitting in corner of garage. Sweet!



No title, will need battery, carb clean, chioke cable and tank cleaned . All original though. just under 30,000 miles. Check out the oil cooler that looks like it came out of a refrigerator.

[russr33]

Will start on the clean up this weekend.

[jwhelan65]

Great project, I see a cafe/fighter/tracker in there somewhere.. Isn't that what they call them now?

[russr33]

Man wouldn't it be a shame if someone did that to that bike Joe? Not that I have a problem with modifications (obviously), but don't do it to an example like that. One's that are that clean and original should stay that way. I wouldn't even restore it; I love the patina on this thing. REALLY like the color.

[steve murdoch]

Very nice!
Kick start if i remember right?

[russr33]

Very nice!
Kick start if i remember right?

Yep kick start only. Electronic start didn't begin until '72 I believe. That's the one bad spot for me. My only other XS650 left me writhing in pain on my garage floor twice. Once from a kick back but by far the worst on a free kick. I thought I had tore my damn ACL on that one.

[chef1366]

My first street bike was a 70
Thanks for the memories!
Mine was burgandy red. Awesome bike!!

[TheCafeKid]

The Triumph Triumph SHOULD have built.

Another local guy Steve and I see from time to time has one of those...not sure of the year but it was before the "XS" designation. Got some aftermarket pipes on it lil more open, and he's "slimmed" it down a little bit. Not quite original but not quite cafe racer. Sounds fantastic! Love the sound of a Ptwin. Lil too small for me or I'd have considered buying it as he was asking around $1500 for it.

[eil]

Awesome find! If that were mine I'd get it running good, dust it off, maybe a little polish and ride it just like that.

[chef1366]

The Triumph Triumph SHOULD have built.

Another local guy Steve and I see from time to time has one of those...not sure of the year but it was before the "XS" designation. Got some aftermarket pipes on it lil more open, and he's "slimmed" it down a little bit. Not quite original but not quite cafe racer. Sounds fantastic! Love the sound of a Ptwin. Lil too small for me or I'd have considered buying it as he was asking around $1500 for it.

I had a 77 and people always asked me if it was a Triumph. I told them it was a BSA.

[sedelen]

I had a '76 XS650 I picked up while stationed in Alaska, it had about 1,000 miles on it and I believed I paid $900 for it, or vice versa, can't recall exactly. Lots of low end torque, but boy did it vibrate! A real challenge to red-line it and keep your hands on the grips. Didn't get to put many miles on it, started snowing soon after I got it and spend most of the time under a tarp until spring when I sold it as I had just bought a '78 GS1000E.


I really liked the styling of the bike which I referred to as a Japanese Bonneville.

[hjfisk]

My brother was into these for along time, and as I recall the real early ones had some handling issues with frame flex in the neck area. As I recall if you look at the newer ones Yamaha did some bracing in that area.I believe if I remember correctly 72 is the first year electric start and disc front brake. Check out Mikes XS all these things can be answered there.

[jwhelan65]

Man wouldn't it be a shame if someone did that to that bike Joe? Not that I have a problem with modifications (obviously), but don't do it to an example like that. One's that are that clean and original should stay that way. I wouldn't even restore it; I love the patina on this thing. REALLY like the color.

Agreed it so cool like it is

[bwringer]

So nice to see a survivor that hasn't been tossed down the road a couple of times. Such groovy paint, too.

Looks like it will be a worthwhile and rewarding project. I am also in the "keep it as original as possible" camp. Far too many of these bikes have been cut up already.

Hope the lack of a title doesn't pose a big problem -- here in Indiana, it's pretty much a show-stopper. I seem to recall Texas has more enlightened laws.

Post lots of pics!

[850 Combat]

X1's are rare enough that they should be saved rather than cut up. My best friend had one in the 70's. It was super reliable, but anything but fast. He was very angry that my Atlas was quite a bit faster. Wonky handling, too.

Still, they are very pretty. The electric start XS650's are a dime a dozen, especially Specials,but those X1's were two years only I think, and there just aren't many around.

Nice find.