Bike 3 - The XS750

After a few years of owning and modifying motorcycles, I finally decided to take on a large project, complete with frame welding, and custom seat.  I found a wonderful start with a 1979 XS750 that was in decent condition.  Only some light modifications were needed to be out and comfortable on the road.

 

 The first round of customizations was light.  New handlebars with bar-end mirrors, new rear turn signals and brake light with an eliminated fender.  Black pipe-wrap and a bit of touch-up paint cleaned up the aesthetics while new tires, oil, filter, and plugs helped it run like new.

But I wanted to go a bit bigger.

I mocked up some looks in photoshop and decided on a tracker style.  I wanted to be able to ride two-up but still have the sleek, minimal style of a cafe bike.

The next step was moving to pod filters and a new exhaust.  I kept the headers and installed a newer muffler and put pods on rebuilt and re-jetted carbs.  The bike is infamous for tuning diffculty and, even though I got the jets and tuning pretty close, I probably could have spent hundreds of dollars and many hours testing and tuning to get it just right.

 I then chose a tracker seat from Dime City Cycles and a new tail loop that would need to be welded in.  Brown grips would be added to match the gold in the paint/brown of the seat.

 I hacked off the entire rear of the bike and began my first foray into frame customization.  It was fun and I learned a lot doing it.  The results aren't perfect, as I still need a lot of practice, but it turned out pretty well.

 I was very happy with the finished product.  While it wasn't perfect, it was an awesome learning experience.  Would I do some things differently? Yes, but that's why there's always another project in the future.  The 1979 Yamaha XS750 Triple ended up in the garage of a happy buyer and I was genuinly bummed to see it go.  It was a great-riding bike and I hope to come back to an XS in the future.