Off Roader's '77 XS750 Cafe Build.

[off roader on the street]

Well, I needed a summer project and I've found one.



It's a 77 Yamaha XS750. Three cylinder's of fury! I picked it up on CL for a decent price. Its mostly done.. sorta. The engine has been rebuilt. It's got clubmans on it. Has a fiberglass cafe racer tail. and overall doesn't seem that bad.

It starts hard. But once it's warm it goes alright. Feels like it's running a bit rich.

The end of the exhaust is off of a GS1100, and doesn't sound that terrible. It's no M4 or whatever you fellas fancy, but Its not terrible.

The back of the frame looks like It's been chopped. All of the electrics are under the seat, and the battery is under the tail. The electric start even works


A general list of what I plan on doing.

1. Tune the carbs.
2. Put rubber mounts underneath the tail. It vibrates something fierce now.
3. Make a seat.
4. Put on a tail light. I've got one. Just need to wire it in and get it mounted.
5. Fix the turn signals. They don't tick. just constant on.
6. Cut away a bit of the tail. It's close enough to the tire where it's been rubbed at least once. The tiremarks on the bottom are kind of an indicator.
7. Licence plate bracket/light.
8. Put the fender back on. after it gets painted
9. Paint the whole shebang.
10. Cut the exhaust tip off, so it isn't pointing up.
11. Follow Domiken's rust removal guide. (before painting) It's kinda gunky in there.

Possible goal, put on some sort of rear hugger. fender.

Then Sell it before I have to move again. Or if I fall in love with it (doubtful) I'll bring it up north with me.

Any suggestions/comments/ ideas appreciated. I'll make a discussion thread and post a link... Link: http://www.svrider.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2570616

[off roader on the street]

First thing I did tonight was get it started. After a few minutes of cranking I remember I had turned the fuel off the Night before

after I got it running I took it for a slightly less than legal ride. (no tail/brake light or licence plate) Got it up to an indicated 70, which felt ambitious. I'll check it with a gps after I get a light and plate on there.

Then I took off the passenger pegs. I figured they weren't going to be used anymore so off they came.

Now I'm downloading a manual and making a hardware store run tomorrow in the AM for some nuts and bolts.

[off roader on the street]

Got it to idle pretty well. That's about all I've done today. I think the rear brake is sticking on. So that needs some adjustment.

Here's a short vid.

[off roader on the street]

Got the wiring figured out. Now to get the tail light and licence plate mounted. Should be done within a day or two.

I think I need new grips. the ones on there are a hard plastic and put in place with set screws. Which the throttle side conveniently doesn't have. Went to roll on the throttle and nothing happened. I was concerned for a second until I noticed the grip was spinning freely on the throttle tube. So I'll head into cycle gear and pick up some cheapo grips.

I picked up some aluminum to make a licence plate bracket out of, and I got a small light for the licence plate to make it nice and legal.

I also got some rubber washers to put between the tail section and mounting points on the frame. Much smoother now. It no longer rattles and vibrates.

[off roader on the street]

Got a late start today. Ended up changing my design for a licence plate bracket/ light system. Mounting underneath the tail in a regular spot would only put it right in the way of the tire. So I put it on top, and got the light wired in. Here's a really crappy night time shot.



The tail/brake light will go underneath it. On that flat area.

My mounting solution for that is just as mediocre. I drilled some countersink holes in the back, and I'm JB welding in some bolts that will go through the tail section and be fastened down that way.


That's about it for today. I'll try to grab more pictures of what I'm doing to all of this. When I'm working I don't think to document things much.

[off roader on the street]

Got the wiring done tonight. Well, enough to where everything is functional. I still need a stronger resistor or heavy duty turn signal relay to get the turn signals to flash like they should. If anyone has a known simple remedy I'd love to hear it. Otherwise I'll move to the google machine.

Here's are some better booty shots. With the tail light installed.




This is the small den't that I'm going to attempt to bondo out.




I Put the fender on, only to decide where I wanted to cut it off. I'm thinking about where the red lines are.


One from the front. I just love that cafe look. I really hope I don't have separation anxiety once I sell it.



Also, If anyone has a better idea on how to fasten the seat itself to the body I'd like to hear some ideas. Right now the best I've got is velcro with an adhesive backing. or some screws holding it down.

[off roader on the street]

So. this is how the dent looked when I got it.


Then a bit of sanding in prep for bondo



More sanding.



MOAR


and a teeny bit more.



Got it washed and prepped for bondo to be put on tomorrow.

I should have taken a better before picture of the front fender. I was thinking it was going to have to be attacked with sandpaper or a grinder to get the chrome and rust off. But a bit of polish and #0000 steel wool brought back a nice shine.



Here are some better shots of the seat area. The bolts hold the entire tail section on. I've got it on rubber washers to get rid of vibration. Seems to be working rather well.

[off roader on the street]

Note. bondo drys really freakin fast in 100+ degree weather. It doesn't help when you are also new at mixing bondo. But even with just a dab of hardner I had about 45 seconds from starting mixing, to not spreading smoothly. But after a bunch of layer, sanding, layer, sanding. I've got a finished result I'm satisfied with.

Now I'm off to the auto parts store to grab a heavy duty turn signal flasher, and some paint.



Here it sits now. I've named it S2. My last project was Skeletor, and this is Skeletor2, or S2 for short.

[off roader on the street]

Well, I took a few days off and visited some friends up north. Finally got back into the bike

Fixed the turn signals. Got them to tick and everything!

Plus, got the first layer of primer on.



I'm becoming rather suspicious of how well this project is going. I haven't really run into any problems yet

[off roader on the street]

Got the paint done. It doesn't look great, but it isn't terrible.

Carbs back on, gas in. crank crank crank, crank crank sputter crank crank.... crank crank.. sputter.. backfire... sputter..... crank crank crank sputter vroom backfire.. vroom.

Got it running well. Idles well. Starts, stops. All the lights work. I'm getting things to make a seat tomorrow, along with new grips. It's going on Craigslist tonight. If I sell it before the seat is done, oh well.

I had my fun with it. Time to sell.