Ember's XS Diary

Just wanted to start my own journal. Not much to add right now, and very poor quality pictures, but will update as I go along, and hopefully have clearer pictures to go with it.

It started as a stock '76 XS650


I stripped her down and welded on a TC hardtail. Went with 21" Excel A60 rims for both the front and rear mounted to the stock drums/hubs. No front brake. Had stainless spokes made by Buchanan (I highly recommend them) and loose laced by them as well.




Tank is a NOS banana Wassel. Still need to locate a cap for it.



And made a seat pan out of 1/8"


Will drop the front of the seat pan and push it down back towards the rear wheel a bit once I get my rear fender.
Just need to lower my forks and I will have a roller.

i dig the rims, nice lookin ride

Thank you

Whatever on the bike, I want that Safari-windowed splitty bus!

That's another of my never ending money pits, haha.

Liking the 21" excels. Something a little diff and i think it'll be badass.

two 21's = winner!

Now you just need a lowered fork huh? Looking good, I like the same front and rear wheels. I am planning dual 19's on my next little buner

I'll try to get that thread up today for ya (us) on the forks


Hugh

Just saw your write up, Hugh!! You did one hell of a job on it. I am anxiously awaiting the early write up
Again, thank you for taking the time to do it for us! Would love to see those dual 19" ers as well!

Originally Posted by Ember

Just saw your write up, Hugh!! You did one hell of a job on it. I am anxiously awaiting the early write up
Again, thank you for taking the time to do it for us! Would love to see those dual 19" ers as well!

Your package will be in the mail in the AM. I MIGHT just start a new build thread of my own, but its mostly just a pile of parts at this point...

Thank you, Hugh.
Never saw a larger picture of your XS before. You have one beautiful bike, man!

I just wanted to address a couple questions I have received regarding the rims.
They are a stock 21" pre drilled 36 hole dirt bike rim. I believe they were a Honda pattern, so I had to slightly open the spoke holes a bit and also angle them so they would line up correctly to the stock XS drum/hub. Otherwise the spokes would have a slight bow to them when trued, which is bad and a huge safety issue. This modification was done on the outside (inside where the tube resides) so you can barely notice the slight hole modifications when assembled.

I also used slightly larger spoke nipple(s). I then ran some thick rubberized electrical tape, which can be found in any Home Depot, over the nipples, then used a regular 21" rim band/strip over that. Probably not necessary, but I tend to over do things.

Tires are cheap 3.00-21 Cheng Shin trails.

Looking good so far, and I'm digging the matched up wheels. I'm sure that look will come out great!

Kent

Quick update on where she sits. Will be building some bars at some point, so for now these will have to do. Punkskalar (Hughs hand built) lowering spacers now installed.

i dig those tires, what are they?

Tires are cheap 3.00-21 Cheng Shin trails.

Bikes lookin Good! Nice bus too! Just sold my 65 singlecab a few months ago. it was the last of my VWs.

Everything about this bike looks cool... I like the 21's front and rear

By the way.... I have a green metal flake shift knob with a VW logo inlayed... she has been looking for a new home for a while now

Thanks, guys. I am hoping to have everything tiged next week or so.
Hooligins- I will have to hit you up on the knob at some point in the future. I have another project that I may incorporate some VW logos on. My oil tank will be using VW hubcap centers for the ends. But that bike is a ways off yet. Need to finish this one first.

Quick update-
Finally got my fender and tank painted. My first 2k paint job. It is a mini cooper "hot chocolate" metallic brown and I used some gold 1-shot for the pinstripes. Just waiting on my PMA and I will start putting this thing back together.

I am currently sanding the side covers to give them a brushed aluminum look.







The pipes I am running-