1974 XS/TX650 rebuild

[th62]

Finally decided to attach the side panels via rubber grommets inserted in the rear of the panels over the ally bungs I turned up and attached to the frame down tubes. They'll be attached to the front of the battery carrier. This gives space for pods or velocity stacks.

[th62]

I did experiment with more acute angles on the side covers, a lot easier to form, but I didn''t like the look.

[asterix]

It's always a work of patience. I've got two Triumph on constant rebuit state because I am not always satisfied of the results hence I trash some of the work and try something else.

[th62]

Welded up the battery carrier and made a security strap today. Reg/rect is mounted on a plate behind the battery carrier, solenoid is mounted underneath the carrier. Battery carrier is 3mm aluminium as is the the strap and reg/rect mount. Battery sits on an aluminium/rubber Sandwich. Front of the carrier is seen, so will be polished, remainder will be a blasted finish. Carrier sits on rubber grommets in the bracket I welded to the frame. Front mounts are bent up from 3mm steel and welded to 22mm tubes. Rubber mounts are inserted in the 22mm round tube. Still have to weld on some mounts for mounting side panels to.

[th62]

This is a video of the first start up of the engine, it burst in to life, loudly, on first push of the button. This was the first rebuild, didn't like the silver colour so pulled it apart, repainted it black and reassembled. Once again, it burst into life on first push of the button. I made a wheeled stand with an ignition system cobbled together using the original regulator, a $4, ebay, three phase rectifier, a couple of Bosch coils I had lying around and a couple of switches all mounted on an ally plate and fixed to the stand. This thing vibrates, I had to tie it up to stop it jumping around the shop.

Since the second build I've fitted a PMA and a single points system.

[th62]

This video shows my homemade manometer in use synchronising the carbs. I wasn't happy with this one, of course, since it used rubber chair stoppers to seal the acrylic tubes, so I made a second using neoprene gaskets sandwiched between to pieces of ply. The manometers are linked together at the bottom via a short plastic tube, this levels the water levels. Two long lengths of plastic tube emanate from the top of the tubes, these are fitted with .8mm jets I made up from Delrin, these even out the vacuum pulses, keeping the fluid levels steady and stable.

[th62]

Polished the front of the battery box and the side cover, rest of the box was bead blasted. Just a rough job, but I wanted to see what it would look like on the bike. Not liking it so far, so I think I'll be making a steel box and painting the side panels black. I'll wait until the pods arrive though so I can see what the whole setup looks like together.

[olderdan]

It is difficult to make any battery box look attractive but having made such a good lob of it if you dont care for the polished finish why not just paint it black and save re making it in steel. Same goes for me on the side panels as the polished finish draws the eye away from the nice looking engine.

[Rikk]

I did a K&N pod conversion on my old 2001 ZRX1200 naked bike and the polished look didn't fit the bike, so I roughed it up and then painted it with black spray can bed liner. After a couple of coats, it looked just like a semigloss molded plastic box and fit nicely. Polished looks great on your bike, but it's an option for smaller parts that need to blend into the background.

Nice job on your bike BTW, been following it for awhile. I have a 1971 Honda CB175 that I have been thinking about turning into a cafe bike, but I don't want to cut the original frame. I may try to find a different frame to cut. Keep up the good work!

[th62]

Finished both side panels, battery carrier, battery strap and mounted the reg/rect and solenoid. Very neat so far. Battery carrier is mounted in rubber as are the side panels. Took a bit of doing but eventually I got the side panels to mirror each other.