This month’s customer build brings us to the San Francisco Bay Area where Mikes XS customer Peter Brewer restored his 1982 Yamaha XS650 Special, which he bought brand new back in the 80s.
“I bought it right off the showroom floor in ’84”, Brewer reminisces. “This was when the Harley Davidson people had enacted a tariff on large displacement bikes, and there was also a general recession, so I got it at a discount. I rode the machine daily for years, and then gradually less, and finally only occasionally. A little electrical glitch morphed into a total non-function in 2015.”
Initially, Brewer couldn’t find any local bike shop that wanted to deal with it. Being a well-worn bike, and the problem was electrical, he considered just selling it “as is” and walking away. The last chance call to BRG Racing in Pacheco put him in touch with the guys who “really liked a project”. And the rebirth had begun…
After some troubleshooting, it was discovered that the rotor was shot. The Mikes XS ignition was recommended. “Well, that old bike had more spunk at age 30 than it did at age 1. Bugs-in-the-teeth-fun!”.
Now that Brewer was newly in love with the beast, he went for a bore and sleeve job, rather than an increased displacement job. This led to a refurbished top end, new carbs, and a new exhaust system. The new wiring harness caused problems, resulting in having to slice open the entire harness and redo all the connections.
Well, of course, the suspension had to match the rest of the upgrades, so Brewer took it back to the shop for new wheel bearings, shocks, swing arm bushings, and front fork work.
“When the rear drum brake ran out of material, the new shoes couldn’t grip it. A whole new set of cost-intensive opportunities opened up. The mag drum rear was a one-year item, so there were no replacements new or old. Options included converting both mag wheels to spokes. I was thinking of doing a rear disc modification, but that came with a cost factor. The clever guys at the shop came up with a custom fit, where they milled out the drum, pressed in a car brake drum, milled it out to spec, and voilá! Old wheel made new!”
There is never truly an end to the process, as the shifter lever had worn out the spline. While replacing the shifter shaft, some interior carnage on the clutch was revealed. “Then I got all fussy about the tank with dings and rust and all and sent it out for the glossy repaint and new emblems. That necessitated the new side panels…of course”, says Brewer.
This all took several back-and-forths to the shop over the last 6 years, all with an eye to trying to keep it as original as possible.
“So here it is, and I’m going to take full advantage of California weather to ride until my butt flattens out permanently! And a heartfelt shout out to K.C., Chad, Steve, Fuzzy, and all the others at BRG who nursed me through this project from start to finish.”
Excellent work, Peter and thank you for choosing Mikes XS to assist with the restoration of this classic ’82 Special!
Mikes XS Parts List
XS650 Chrome Replacement Headpipe Set
12.75″ Black and Chrome Shock Absorbers
Gold Fuel Tank Badges (Set of 2)
“Special” Sidecover Emblems (Set of 2)
XS650 Polished Billet Aluminum Alternator Cover
Tachometer Extension Cable (6+”)
