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Bastard Child Hybrid Build

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157K views 720 replies 61 participants last post by  CK 187  
#1 ·
Thought I'd finally post this up because I just got another large piece of the puzzle today. It's going to be a fairly slow build because of the mass amount of time I spend at work, in class, large amount of homework and an online class.

Picked this 1989 FZR 600 roller with title from Craig (CK 187) for dirt cheap and have been trying to come up with good project for it. Has pretty much all the FZR parts that I need for this build, plus some. Already started selling some of the parts I don't need to help keep the cost down. A few parts I don't have I am picking up from Chris (LRC131) from his FZR build over the winter.
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After a bit of searching, I decided on which engine I would really like to put in the frame. I decided on a XS650 engine. Those have always been one of my favorite classic engine and have always wanted to use one in a build. Plus, they are just great looking engines.

I spent a lot of time on Craigslist, forums, ebay....... to try to find an engine for a decent price, but no luck. On a whim, I decided to ask my buddy Jack if happened to have one or knew anyone who had one. That's how I came across this.
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It's a 1977 XS650. Jack said I now have about 80-85% of the complete bike in my possession. Should be everything I need from a XS for this build. He just dropped off the engine and this heap of XS parts this morning.
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After a few conversations with Jack, and some research, I found out that this happens to be the engine that Ben (Ratfighter) had in his XS Interceptor hybrid. Guess this engine is lucky and will be going into a second hybrid bike in it's life. I started talking to Ben about the engine, and how much of a beast it really is. Ben suspects that this engine has some work done to is, but doesn't know for sure. I'm going to start tearing it down fairly soon to clean it up and replace seals and gaskets, so I should know what is done to it pretty soon.

Another pleasant surprise that came with the bike. A set of bigger Mikuni carbs that have been modded and tuned for this engine. Ben said that when he got these carbs tuned correctly, this bike pulled like a train. Can't wait to get it going.
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Sound like a fun build anyone?:rock:
 
#4 ·
I happen to have an FZR frame in the basement. I found that a CBR1000RR tail, like 04ish almost fits perfectly on that bike. Like the rear seat almost fits right in too. Just some food for thought :D

Bob
 
#8 ·
I would love to put this engine in an aluminum frame. I am thinking about swapping on an aluminum swingarm and bracing it. I have to bother Craig if I want to do some welding on aluminum though. I generally bring stuff over to Chris's house to weld, but I can't do aluminum with his welder.
 
#7 ·
this should be interesting to watch. are you going for a modern fighter look or somthing a little more period with the motor??

what are you doing with the XS tanks??
 
#9 ·
Well, fighter style with some cafe inspirations. One of the major cafe aspects I'm planning on doing is swapping in a permanent magnet stator and running kick start only with no battery.

Selling the XS tanks. Interested? I haven't actually opened them up yet, but I was told that they are clean on the inside.
 
#15 ·
Had a little bit of time to work between school and work today. Was able to get the engine down to the camshaft. Don't have any time right now to take it down any further, but it's a pretty decent start for only working on it for 20 minutes. :party-smiley:
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#16 ·
Had some more time today to work on the getting the XS engine torn down. I was able to get the head and cylinders off.

Didn't have a cam chain breaker, and wasn't able to get enough slack in the chain even after I took off the cam chain bearings. So, I found the master link, ground down the pins and the master link just fell out. I'm planning on getting a new cam chain anyways when I rebuild it.
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Once I had the cam chain and and cam shaft out of the way, I was able to get the rest of the head off the engine.
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Then it was just a couple hits with a rubber mallet and the cylinders pulled right off. I noticed that the base gasket seemed to be cracked near the back of the cylinders, so I'm guessing that's where the oil that you see seeping from the back of the cylinders came from.
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Just a picture of the head and cylinders off. These will get an extensive cleaning before the engine gets rebuild (possibly baking soda blasted)
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The cylinder sleeves look to be in great condition, no rust, pits or major grooves.
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So that's as far as I got today. I'm going to be ordering a complete gasket and seal kit soon and start cleaning the engine (possibly a little paint).
 
#18 ·
SabreV45 said:
The cylinder sleeves look to be in great condition, no rust, pits or major grooves.
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When I pulled it out of XS Interceptor I put a little 20w50 down the cylinders and used a cotton swab covered in oil on the end of a flexible grabber tool to coat as much as I could of the inside so it could survive sitting in the corner of the garage until somebody wanted it. ;)


Sub'd. This is looking like it's going to be a hell of a good build! :thumbsup:
 
#22 ·
Well, I'm home sick with strep throat right now, so I'm spending some time today working on the engine. There really isn't too much pic worthy right now, but I'll update when there is something worth taking pictures of. These few I took are pretty bad because I didn't have my camera with me, so these are from my phone.

Was finally able to get the engine up onto my work bench where it is at a better height to work on.
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There was something keeping the clutch side cover on even though I had all the bolts out, but after I got it moved onto the bench I was able to knock it off easily with a rubber mallet.
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In order to run this bike without a battery, I was told that I have to upgrade to a permanent magnet stator system. I just so happen to have a stock stator and flywheel off my parts VF700S engine I have laying around, so I'm going to see if I can get that to work. I will need to make a bracket so I can mount it correctly.
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Any XS guys know what these parts are on the inside of the clutch side cover? I'm guessing it's an old school mechanical tachometer, but am not sure. If it is, I'm going to try to find a way to remove it and plug the whole in the clutch cover because the digital gauge that I'm planning on using takes the feed for the tach from an igniter, and any weight I can remove from this engine, the better.
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I started cleaning up the head and cylinders, but didn't take any pictures of them. I was originally just planning on keeping the entire engine raw aluminum, but I've seen some pictures of these engines with the cylinders and head painted black, and I like it. I think I will paint my engine like this one, but will most likely sand off the edges of the fins to add a little more detail to it.
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#23 ·
SabreV45 said:
There was something keeping the clutch side cover on even though I had all the bolts out, but after I got it moved onto the bench I was able to knock it off easily with a rubber mallet.

Any XS guys know what these parts are on the inside of the clutch side cover? I'm guessing it's an old school mechanical tachometer, but am not sure. If it is, I'm going to try to find a way to remove it and plug the whole in the clutch cover because the digital gauge that I'm planning on using takes the feed for the tach from an igniter, and any weight I can remove from this engine, the better.
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The first issue I ran into with my CB and I think it may just have been sticky locating pins for the cover. Never did get to taking that off when I had the bike.


The second thing, yes, that's the tach drive and you could probably find a small freeze plug at an auto parts store to put in the hole. ;)
 
#28 ·
The Sypders were the convertibles, that's why I said I don't have one, mine is the hard top V6 GT model.

I don't care if people think it's a chick car, chick's dig it, I know my girlfriend likes it. :thumbsup:

There is no way in hell I will ever do stuff to it to make it look like the Spyder from 2F2F. I like to do clean mods to it, not going all ricey with it.
 
#38 ·
I'm young enough for the F&F vehicles to be the car my friends and I wanted. Then I experienced the awesomeness of V8 RWD vehicles and now I spend all my days in the IROC-Z era while my friends debate who has the best audio components.


I wish the 00-05 Eclipse used the drivetrain of the 95-99 AWD Eclipse. That would be the ultimate Eclipse. Styling and performance! :rock:
 
#39 ·
The DSM's take too much time and money to keep them in top condition though. There are too many problems that can come up if it is not taken care of perfectly. I would rather have 00-03 (rectangular front bumper opening) Eclipse with an Evo drivetrain or a 6G75 3.8l V6 from the 4G Eclipse with AWD. Now that would be an awesome Eclipse. :rock:

I do like more muscle cars too. I grew up with major automotive influences from my dad, who is a huge american muscle car guy. Hell, we might be shoehorning a 302 into the 1977 MGB that we have been slowly rebuilding over the past few years. :LolLolLolLol:

A bit more back on topic. I cleaned up the engine a bit more today. The cylinders are just about ready for paint, but I'm going to wait to paint them til the head is cleaned up enough for paint, which should hopefully be done on Wednesday.
 
#40 · (Edited)
SabreV45 said:
I do like more muscle cars too. I grew up with major automotive influences from my dad, who is a huge american muscle car guy. Hell, we might be shoehorning a 302 into the 1977 MGB that we have been slowly rebuilding over the past few years. :LolLolLolLol:
Click to expand...
I'll race you! :D



IMO, the cylinder heads look dumb if it's the only part of the motor painted black. I can't really explain it but it just doesn't look right. I think it's the huge contrast in color that makes it look like part of the motor is missing or not completely there or something. Maybe it's just me though.


Edit:
Just noticed I'm a *PWAS*! lol
 
#41 ·
It's going to be the cylinders and head getting painted black, then all the fins being sanded down to raw aluminum again. If you look back a few posts, there are a few pictures of how I want the engine to look, but with the fins sanded instead of keeping them black. I agree that some engines look weird painted like that, but I like the XS that way, looks really clean.
 
#43 ·
Actually, it's going to be just the cylinders being painted black with sanded fins. I forgot until I looked at the pictures again that the head only extends halfway up the tappat and igniton covers, so it would look strange to paint that as well, and I don't want to paint the entire top end black and keep the bottom end aluminum, that would be too much contrast. So, it'll be just the cylinders getting painted and sanded.
 
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