neighbor has been busy over the winter. last time i saw this bike was in december, just a frame with a rear wheel and the front fork was going together. today he kicked it for the first time in 40 years -- it sat in someone's barn with the head off the entire time -- and it lit off on the second kick.
That's pretty cool. I admire that guy.
I challenge anyone to come up with a better looking tank than a BSA's.
Really lovely. I'm jealous...
...and that's why I like motorcycle projects better than car projects. You can disassemble five motorcycles in the space of one disassembled car!
Lovely bike.
Nice!
Nice bike. I always have had a soft spot for decent looking Beezers and Triumphs of yesteryear. 8)
One thing I really love about the old British bikes is how curvy the cases are. Everything is rounded.
Yamaha made an awesome engine with the XS650, but the slab-sided cases look awefully different than the British bikes it mimiced.
Glad that Triumph and Kawasaki (W850) have kept the curves on modern twins.
Compared to:
Badass.
My dad has a 68(?) BSA 650 Thunderbolt which has the single carb rather than the duals. Sat in the basement my whole life until he had it mechanically gone through when I was in college. A bit of a challenge to ride with drum brakes, rough idle and DC area traffic.
It also kicked me back when I was wearing sneakers and starting it. Kicked my ankle into the faring to the tune of about 12 stitches.
He hasn't ridden it in two years because of traffic and he feels like he has lost his sense of balance. If my brothers don't mind it might be mine soon. Doesn't help that my friends R90S is sitting on my front porch waiting to be gone through
PHeller wrote: Compared to:
Why, oh why, does Yamaha not still make the 650 Twin?
stroker wrote:PHeller wrote: Compared to:Why, oh why, does Yamaha not still make the 650 Twin?
Be honest, would you buy a new one?
In reply to rotard:
I'd be a lot more likely to buy one of those ^ if I had the money than anything else they're selling right now...
Edit: Now that I think about it, a GS500 or SV650 version of that red XS might be bitchin'...
Greg Voth wrote: My dad has a 68(?) BSA 650 Thunderbolt which has the single carb rather than the duals.
The first motorcycle I ever rode on, and it started me down the road to where I am today...when I was 12 years old a friend's dad bought one new, and one day while he was at work my friend sneaked it out of the garage and took me for a ride.
Two 12 year old kids on a 'borrowed' motorcycle, doing 80mph down a gravel road. 
Thankfully nothing went wrong and his dad never found out.
rotard wrote:stroker wrote:Be honest, would you buy a new one?PHeller wrote: Compared to:Why, oh why, does Yamaha not still make the 650 Twin?
Even though I own and love one of those, probably not. At least half of the XS's appeal is its vintage cred.
I gotta admit after having ridden '70's Brit stuff it's easy to see why the XS beat the pants off them (in both sales and racing) when they were all still new. It was just much better, even if at the time it didn't have the pedigree. Chrissakes, the Brits were still using Amal 'tickler' carbs and pushrods galore. But man they shore made 'em pretty and I still like them. One of my 'bucket list' bikes is a BSA Victor 500 MX, better known as the B50 MX. I rode one once; tons of torque, had three speeds because that's all it needed. Actually you could have removed first and third and been just fine.
Then if that wasn't enough, a company called CCM (Clews Competition Machinery) got hold of some B50's and built what was the premier 4 stroke MXer of the era. Talk about cool engineering; for instance the engine sidecovers were made of magnesium and the footpegs mounted directly to the covers.
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