I have to also make mention on a known neutral issue, The clutch leaves a lot to be desired while it is next to impossible to find neutral after engine has reached normal temp. at a stop sign. I know well by owning a 1982 Heritage Special. I also have learned how to make noise out of money. But have to admit I just love this old machine.
I own a '75 XS650B... bought it when I was 21. That was 45 years ago and I still ride it regularly. It's the most civilized motorcycle I own. Great video!
I’ve had an XS650SK since 1983. Today, my garage is full of them. ‘73 was TX650. The ‘74 TX650A got a frame change and longer swingarm. ‘76 got linked carburetors. ‘77 got thicker fork tubes.
Hey, I had one of those, a co-worker gave it to me about 1988. I put a dirt track front tire on it, K70 Dunlop I believe, and every day going to work outside Salinas, CA (a hotbed of flat track racing at the time), I'd stop by this little dirt lot and do 2 or 3 laps around this oval. Big time fun before work. On the way out of town, through Spreckels, CA, there was a set it railroad tracks, as nd if I hit them at 75-80mph, I'd catch a little air, maybe 6 inches, but at that speed, I'd cover maybe 30 feet in distance. The last time I ever rode that bike, as I came down from that little jump, the engine locked up, I got the clutch in before anything happened, and I coasted to a stop. I leaned it in a telephone pole, then my boss pulled up. After work, we picked it up, I pulled the carbs off it, and there was a piece of cast iron liner inside a carb, plus there was a crack from the exhaust port down into the center cases, I think it dropped a cam chain. But I must have rode it a year or two without doing anything to it. I'd get another if the price was right.
Don't forget the swing arm bearings. They are plastic bushings and there are brass upgrades available. Also the stator brushes wear out. There are replacements available.
Solid review. I think you missed one key thing to look for on these bikes. The speedo and Tach are notorious for "going slow" if they sat for some time. If you look on ebay you can see a big price difference between working and non working gauges. I've got a 77 XS650d and it's got the disease. I've pulled it apart and gotten it to free up by hand and with a drill, but it will go back to being slow after a week. Here is an idea for another video: Colors by year. I've spent time digging in to all the options and its pretty interesting what combos existed year to year. I've got Maxi Maroon. And when you are talking about paint, you can touch on the thinness of the tank and how many have dents on the top from people pushing on the tank when getting off the bike! Keep up the great content!!
The Xs2.... the most handsome of the series... had the brake rotor attached to the fork..not the wheel... this was changed in 73' on the Tx650.. both 72' and 73' used the combination starter-decompression for the electrical stater... the small lever opened the left exhaust valve and turned the start on... this system was dropped in 74' with a better starter. Yamaha is credited with the cruiser style with the introduction of the Special series. (1978) These machines have a huge following ...parts not a problem.... I have 3 in the stable Xs1, first year, 75' Xs650 Police and a 82' Special 😎
'...had the brake rotor attached to the fork..not the wheel'. I'm having trouble understanding how the rotor could be attached to the fork. Could you explain, please?
@@stevem2531 The rotor...disc ..sets on a collar that goes thru the lower fork left and has it's own retaining bolt... the rotor..disc.. has L think four male lugs that mate to the four female slots in the wheel hub.... you can remove the front wheel and the rotor remains on the machine.... Visit a website that shows the break down...
I bought seven or eight of these as barn stored in the early nineties. A little TLC and they all ran great. I swapped out the electronic ignition on them for points and that cleared all the problems. I was kind of poor at the time and fixed them up to sell and wish I never had sold them. I'd love to have another these days if the price was right. Very much like a Triumph and more power with reliability. I currently have four Triumphs, one running and three in the process of rebuilding. They are great on the twisties, as are the XS's.
Great bikes! Pre-computer designed & over-built, bulletproof, dependable engines. Big advantage over the British bikes in this way, altho they didn't handle as well as Brit. bikes. One tweak in '76 that helped the handling a bit was moving the disc brake caliper from in front of the fork to the rear of the fork. Also, the plastic swing-arm bushings deteriorated too quickly. The brass aftermarket replacements cure the issue. I had two 74's (Cinnamon Brown) & loved them. Many ills were cured by '77. 'Would love a '77 - '79 Standard XS650 (not the Special) & electronic ignition conversion.
Nav you hit most of the highs and lows but you missed the timelines on several issues. The XS1 went into production in February 1970 so there was no 1969 model. The 1972 XS2 and 1973 TX650 were mostly the same other than color. The real change to the chassis that led to improved handling came in 1974 with the TX650A that got a new frame that was redesigned with the help of Rob North. That carried on in all the standard models through 1979. The 1976 XS650C got upgraded suspension via Teflon bushed forks, a rebalanced crankshaft and a softer seat that made it much better all around. You made a big deal out of the noisy starter that if left unattended may fail but they are all fixable by competent techs. The XS650 is one of those bikes that every Yamaha looks very should experience if not own sometime in their riding career. Another thing, they are nearly impossible to kill and they don’t leak oil or warp their cylinder heads like your Triumph is going to do. In my opinion your 1975 XS650B was the best looking of all.
You didnt mention twin discs which my one has also the charging rotor the windings fail i have a xs2 ive had it for 42 yrs its been customised now has electronic ignition a pma an solid state rectifier regulator an slide carbs with kn filters and it flies with less vibration i absolutely love it here in the uk
Another reason Yamaha kept the 650 around is the failures of such bikes as their TX750,TX500. Yamaha dropped the XS prefix when these two bikes were released. The 650 was renamed TX650 for 1973,1974. After the TX750 and TX500 were dropped the 650 returned to being XS650. Even the later 750 triple was a failure mechanically . The 650 twin has been credited for saving Yamaha during this period.
Those were very popular here in Washingtin State in the 70s seen many on the road and now people want them for bobbers,you could get a nice low miles one for cheap back then.They are better than walking but a good bike like a Kz 650 of that era is so superior,those things vibrated too much and we're gutless but fairly durable good little engine for a cute café racer or bobber.People want those and those 500 singles.
Thank you cool video brings back memories my third bike was a Nexus 650 I always thought it was a 71 but it might have been a 72 because it's pretty sure it had a disc brake in the front and I know the side the side covers were metal always got a kick of the out of that I bought the Yamaha XS650 my third bike in 1981 I had it for about 2 years and believe it or not I was gifted with a brand new 81 Sturgis Harley-Davidson buy my uncle wasn't sure if it's going to keep it but after arriving it around for a while and you know getting back on the 650 I decided to keep it and I sold to 650 my first bike was oh by the way in 1981 I was 21/22 years old so my first bike was a Yamaha YMCA 1305 1966 which I purchased in 76 I think and then after that I got a 1975 Suzuki gt550 I will never Japanese bike except for the Kawasaki and not because I didn't like it just the way things went I never really fell in love with the excess 650 I went well I grew up in at this time I'm living in New York City and I went all over the place Long Island Rhode Island from New York I went everywhere on it and had my little excursions my little dailypick a direction and go for the camera usually my Honeywell Pentax spinal matic in all black LOL not that that makes a difference but I used to love riding all over the place and taking pictures I got stuck at around midnight I used to work in Manhattan at a newsstand on 6th avenue and 8th Street still there it's been there forever so one of the bigger independent newsstands in New York City and I was coming back from Rhode Island and of course I made that trip at night but I got the Connecticut turn on and off the engine with lose power when I got to the Long Island expressway to go into the midtown tunnel when I was in the midtown tunnel about halfway in right at the Apex of a curve the bike stalled out and I wouldn't start again being in a tunnel at night at the Apex of a curve is to have your motorcycle dying on you and it's a very long time of the midtown tunnel what goes with Manhattan under the East River and I had to get towed out of there the whole big thing but it was fixed I mean I don't remember what happened to it I think that they fixed it and I use itI sold it for what I paid for it anyway I put more money into that bike and cosmetics and stuff in the bike was I paid $500 for the bike in 1981 use of course and I put a Corbin seat on it with like a king queen seeds I guess you'd call it which made the the running position now six feet off the ground lol it was like I like that I got a kick out of it and I also put headers on it I don't remember what headers they were it might have been advanced I'm not sure but talking many many decades ago did I notice a great increase in his performance play the sound doesn't look cool I ordered it off of a motorcycle elephant and some kind of maintenance I'm thinking I want to say some motorcycle Mac but it wasn't there was some kind of it was some kind of very very large mail-order catalog for motorcycle parts so they sent me the wrong one everything fit but the bolt the bolts in the frame and it was driving me crazy trying to get this thing to fit on that it fit on the manifold exhaust manifold everything fit because I had to bring it someplace and they they had to drill the holes into the frame to mount itI definitely got my money's worth out of it I always thought it was cool cuz it reminded me of a triumph if anyone has a patient that has read through this please excuse the typos misspelled words lack of punctuation etc I'm not a bad diaper I'm not even illiterate although my friends tell me I am LOL just using speech to text which has its own unique take on the English language was there any someone could tell me to read the sentence what year did they stop using the metal side covers you know to cover the tool with the toolbox was for I think it was there for so long ago I've had so many different vehicles and also the you know the points and all that stuff they were metal covers you screwed it in with like a plastic note knob but yeah it was you know and I remember I had trouble with the brakes on the way home from buying it when I would hit the front brake it would pull to I don't know if it was a left or right which kind of makes me think it had a disc brake I remember it to be at this break so I had to be a 72 oz anyway later on one of my roommates when I was living in San Francisco specialI know this is not a comment anymore it's become a novella but that's just the way it is I also put like a highway lamp highway light on top of the I mounted it on top of the headlight basket and I also Craigslist a matte black most of it was painted with a rattle can and the tank was painted with a brush LOL did that was under the first things I did when I got it home anywhere family this brought back a lot of memories not all of them for size but their memories none the less than have fun I miss riding I started going blind in the in the 90s and had to stop writing and driving I lived in free motorcycles and cars anything with an engine besides being a musician no engine there except for me LOLand I miss it a lot as a matter of fact for close to 3 decades I didn't look at them well I couldn't look anymore but I didn't have any interest when I had an interest I should say it was just too painful so I never I didn't bother with what was going on in the motorcycle world is when I first started to go blind and I and I had to stop writing I still had useful side it was just too dangerous to ride so I was able to see motorcycles and look at them if I wanted to and then my friend of mine was a Harley he's in his fifties he was telling me stories on a regular basis that we dropped it. Started to to look up a different things on the internet for motorcycle safety so I can forward them to him and I realized all of a sudden how far how advanced technology and motorcycle have become from my last bike which was actually a 1979 lowrider frame USA 1971 shovelhead engine and apparently was it was built home built thank you very much and I had that bike in California and then took it all the way to New York when I moved back that was my last Spike my last experience with a motorcycle and it's the technology from what from that feastthe evolution engine had already come out by Holly lots of things have progressed and so yeah I'm just blown away at the at the technology where the technology is today with motorcycles and now that I've got an interest again and I you know listen to videos a lot on and off on motorcycles it's kind of its kind of hurts kind of hurts I'd be lying if I said it didn't because again it was something I really loved anyway I'll stop here I should have stopped an hour ago nobody forces anyone to read a comment LOL sincerely David Raphael AKA Bob the flying phantom guitars
I have to also make mention on a known neutral issue, The clutch leaves a lot to be desired while it is next to impossible to find neutral after engine has reached normal temp. at a stop sign. I know well by owning a 1982 Heritage Special. I also have learned how to make noise out of money. But have to admit I just love this old machine.
I own a '75 XS650B... bought it when I was 21. That was 45 years ago and I still ride it regularly. It's the most civilized motorcycle I own. Great video!
I’ve had an XS650SK since 1983. Today, my garage is full of them.
‘73 was TX650. The ‘74 TX650A got a frame change and longer swingarm. ‘76 got linked carburetors. ‘77 got thicker fork tubes.
Hey, I had one of those, a co-worker gave it to me about 1988. I put a dirt track front tire on it, K70 Dunlop I believe, and every day going to work outside Salinas, CA (a hotbed of flat track racing at the time), I'd stop by this little dirt lot and do 2 or 3 laps around this oval. Big time fun before work. On the way out of town, through Spreckels, CA, there was a set it railroad tracks, as nd if I hit them at 75-80mph, I'd catch a little air, maybe 6 inches, but at that speed, I'd cover maybe 30 feet in distance. The last time I ever rode that bike, as I came down from that little jump, the engine locked up, I got the clutch in before anything happened, and I coasted to a stop. I leaned it in a telephone pole, then my boss pulled up. After work, we picked it up, I pulled the carbs off it, and there was a piece of cast iron liner inside a carb, plus there was a crack from the exhaust port down into the center cases, I think it dropped a cam chain. But I must have rode it a year or two without doing anything to it. I'd get another if the price was right.
Bought 1984 the XS 650 Heritage Special. Still have it. Great video. Thanks.
Don't forget the swing arm bearings. They are plastic bushings and there are brass upgrades available. Also the stator brushes wear out. There are replacements available.
Solid review. I think you missed one key thing to look for on these bikes. The speedo and Tach are notorious for "going slow" if they sat for some time. If you look on ebay you can see a big price difference between working and non working gauges. I've got a 77 XS650d and it's got the disease. I've pulled it apart and gotten it to free up by hand and with a drill, but it will go back to being slow after a week.
Here is an idea for another video: Colors by year. I've spent time digging in to all the options and its pretty interesting what combos existed year to year. I've got Maxi Maroon. And when you are talking about paint, you can touch on the thinness of the tank and how many have dents on the top from people pushing on the tank when getting off the bike! Keep up the great content!!
Great review. Really like the styling, I see quite a lot of these getting imported into the UK from the US. 👍
As an American I envy the Brit motorcycle culture.
The Xs2.... the most handsome of the series... had the brake rotor attached to the fork..not the wheel... this was changed in 73' on the Tx650.. both 72' and 73' used the combination starter-decompression for the electrical stater... the small lever opened the left exhaust valve and turned the start on... this system was dropped in 74' with a better starter. Yamaha is credited with the cruiser style with the introduction of the Special series. (1978) These machines have a huge following ...parts not a problem.... I have 3 in the stable Xs1, first year, 75' Xs650 Police and a 82' Special 😎
'...had the brake rotor attached to the fork..not the wheel'. I'm having trouble understanding how the rotor could be attached to the fork. Could you explain, please?
What utter rubbish. Of course the disc was always attached to the wheel.
@@stevem2531 The rotor...disc ..sets on a collar that goes thru the lower fork left and has it's own retaining bolt... the rotor..disc.. has L think four male lugs that mate to the four female slots in the wheel hub.... you can remove the front wheel and the rotor remains on the machine.... Visit a website that shows the break down...
@@motormikeb1047 Thank you. What an unusual arrangement!
I bought seven or eight of these as barn stored in the early nineties. A little TLC and they all ran great. I swapped out the electronic ignition on them for points and that cleared all the problems. I was kind of poor at the time and fixed them up to sell and wish I never had sold them. I'd love to have another these days if the price was right. Very much like a Triumph and more power with reliability. I currently have four Triumphs, one running and three in the process of rebuilding. They are great on the twisties, as are the XS's.
Great bikes! Pre-computer designed & over-built, bulletproof, dependable engines. Big advantage over the British bikes in this way, altho they didn't handle as well as Brit. bikes. One tweak in '76 that helped the handling a bit was moving the disc brake caliper from in front of the fork to the rear of the fork. Also, the plastic swing-arm bushings deteriorated too quickly. The brass aftermarket replacements cure the issue. I had two 74's (Cinnamon Brown) & loved them. Many ills were cured by '77. 'Would love a '77 - '79 Standard XS650 (not the Special) & electronic ignition conversion.
Nav you hit most of the highs and lows but you missed the timelines on several issues. The XS1 went into production in February 1970 so there was no 1969 model. The 1972 XS2 and 1973 TX650 were mostly the same other than color. The real change to the chassis that led to improved handling came in 1974 with the TX650A that got a new frame that was redesigned with the help of Rob North. That carried on in all the standard models through 1979. The 1976 XS650C got upgraded suspension via Teflon bushed forks, a rebalanced crankshaft and a softer seat that made it much better all around. You made a big deal out of the noisy starter that if left unattended may fail but they are all fixable by competent techs. The XS650 is one of those bikes that every Yamaha looks very should experience if not own sometime in their riding career. Another thing, they are nearly impossible to kill and they don’t leak oil or warp their cylinder heads like your Triumph is going to do. In my opinion your 1975 XS650B was the best looking of all.
You didnt mention twin discs which my one has also the charging rotor the windings fail i have a xs2 ive had it for 42 yrs its been customised now has electronic ignition a pma an solid state rectifier regulator an slide carbs with kn filters and it flies with less vibration i absolutely love it here in the uk
Another reason Yamaha kept the 650 around is the failures of such bikes as their TX750,TX500. Yamaha dropped the XS prefix when these two bikes were released. The 650 was renamed TX650 for 1973,1974. After the TX750 and TX500 were dropped the 650 returned to being XS650. Even the later 750 triple was a failure mechanically . The 650 twin has been credited for saving Yamaha during this period.
I had a custom back in the 80s- they can be made into an absolute animal. Someone eventually made it into a Café racer.
I bought my XS650 Yamaha in the late 70s in a maroon id definitely buy another one today or tomorrow
Those were very popular here in Washingtin State in the 70s seen many on the road and now people want them for bobbers,you could get a nice low miles one for cheap back then.They are better than walking but a good bike like a Kz 650 of that era is so superior,those things vibrated too much and we're gutless but fairly durable good little engine for a cute café racer or bobber.People want those and those 500 singles.
Thank you cool video brings back memories my third bike was a Nexus 650 I always thought it was a 71 but it might have been a 72 because it's pretty sure it had a disc brake in the front and I know the side the side covers were metal always got a kick of the out of that I bought the Yamaha XS650 my third bike in 1981 I had it for about 2 years and believe it or not I was gifted with a brand new 81 Sturgis Harley-Davidson buy my uncle wasn't sure if it's going to keep it but after arriving it around for a while and you know getting back on the 650 I decided to keep it and I sold to 650 my first bike was oh by the way in 1981 I was 21/22 years old so my first bike was a Yamaha YMCA 1305 1966 which I purchased in 76 I think and then after that I got a 1975 Suzuki gt550 I will never Japanese bike except for the Kawasaki and not because I didn't like it just the way things went I never really fell in love with the excess 650 I went well I grew up in at this time I'm living in New York City and I went all over the place Long Island Rhode Island from New York I went everywhere on it and had my little excursions my little dailypick a direction and go for the camera usually my Honeywell Pentax spinal matic in all black LOL not that that makes a difference but I used to love riding all over the place and taking pictures I got stuck at around midnight I used to work in Manhattan at a newsstand on 6th avenue and 8th Street still there it's been there forever so one of the bigger independent newsstands in New York City and I was coming back from Rhode Island and of course I made that trip at night but I got the Connecticut turn on and off the engine with lose power when I got to the Long Island expressway to go into the midtown tunnel when I was in the midtown tunnel about halfway in right at the Apex of a curve the bike stalled out and I wouldn't start again being in a tunnel at night at the Apex of a curve is to have your motorcycle dying on you and it's a very long time of the midtown tunnel what goes with Manhattan under the East River and I had to get towed out of there the whole big thing but it was fixed I mean I don't remember what happened to it I think that they fixed it and I use itI sold it for what I paid for it anyway I put more money into that bike and cosmetics and stuff in the bike was I paid $500 for the bike in 1981 use of course and I put a Corbin seat on it with like a king queen seeds I guess you'd call it which made the the running position now six feet off the ground lol it was like I like that I got a kick out of it and I also put headers on it I don't remember what headers they were it might have been advanced I'm not sure but talking many many decades ago did I notice a great increase in his performance play the sound doesn't look cool I ordered it off of a motorcycle elephant and some kind of maintenance I'm thinking I want to say some motorcycle Mac but it wasn't there was some kind of it was some kind of very very large mail-order catalog for motorcycle parts so they sent me the wrong one everything fit but the bolt the bolts in the frame and it was driving me crazy trying to get this thing to fit on that it fit on the manifold exhaust manifold everything fit because I had to bring it someplace and they they had to drill the holes into the frame to mount itI definitely got my money's worth out of it I always thought it was cool cuz it reminded me of a triumph if anyone has a patient that has read through this please excuse the typos misspelled words lack of punctuation etc I'm not a bad diaper I'm not even illiterate although my friends tell me I am LOL just using speech to text which has its own unique take on the English language was there any someone could tell me to read the sentence what year did they stop using the metal side covers you know to cover the tool with the toolbox was for I think it was there for so long ago I've had so many different vehicles and also the you know the points and all that stuff they were metal covers you screwed it in with like a plastic note knob but yeah it was you know and I remember I had trouble with the brakes on the way home from buying it when I would hit the front brake it would pull to I don't know if it was a left or right which kind of makes me think it had a disc brake I remember it to be at this break so I had to be a 72 oz anyway later on one of my roommates when I was living in San Francisco specialI know this is not a comment anymore it's become a novella but that's just the way it is I also put like a highway lamp highway light on top of the I mounted it on top of the headlight basket and I also Craigslist a matte black most of it was painted with a rattle can and the tank was painted with a brush LOL did that was under the first things I did when I got it home anywhere family this brought back a lot of memories not all of them for size but their memories none the less than have fun I miss riding I started going blind in the in the 90s and had to stop writing and driving I lived in free motorcycles and cars anything with an engine besides being a musician no engine there except for me LOLand I miss it a lot as a matter of fact for close to 3 decades I didn't look at them well I couldn't look anymore but I didn't have any interest when I had an interest I should say it was just too painful so I never I didn't bother with what was going on in the motorcycle world is when I first started to go blind and I and I had to stop writing I still had useful side it was just too dangerous to ride so I was able to see motorcycles and look at them if I wanted to and then my friend of mine was a Harley he's in his fifties he was telling me stories on a regular basis that we dropped it. Started to to look up a different things on the internet for motorcycle safety so I can forward them to him and I realized all of a sudden how far how advanced technology and motorcycle have become from my last bike which was actually a 1979 lowrider frame USA 1971 shovelhead engine and apparently was it was built home built thank you very much and I had that bike in California and then took it all the way to New York when I moved back that was my last Spike my last experience with a motorcycle and it's the technology from what from that feastthe evolution engine had already come out by Holly lots of things have progressed and so yeah I'm just blown away at the at the technology where the technology is today with motorcycles and now that I've got an interest again and I you know listen to videos a lot on and off on motorcycles it's kind of its kind of hurts kind of hurts I'd be lying if I said it didn't because again it was something I really loved anyway I'll stop here I should have stopped an hour ago nobody forces anyone to read a comment LOL sincerely David Raphael AKA Bob the flying phantom guitars
Also there was a 750 up grade that really wakes it up(dirt track racing upgrade)
I had a '77 wish I still. Had it !
Use to ride a xs1 in the early 80’s ,death wobbles around 70 mph
Scary for a young bloke.
Still ❤ the green one’s.
We Indians are stuck with bikes fitted with lawnmower engines. 650 cc looks like a dream from outer space.
But the Enfield 650s r brilliant
@collyernicholasjohn enfield 650 is not very affordable.
I had the special, great bike. Sorry I sold it
Love this bike thank you
With my height, won’t this motorcycle be too small for me? I am 190 cm tall. How tall are you?
Im 6ft so like 182ish CM. I think you'll be more than fine.
@@navscycles thx 🙂
What you need to know is it will toss you on the pavement for no reason!!
@@grayharker6271 idk about that
Please clarify what you mean.
You missed out the TX650