Anybody race a Yamaha XS 650?

Hey All,

got to looking around in my hangar and found an old XS650 and got to thinking…it sure would be fun to get on the track again. I last raced in 2013, and was running an R6. I’m 60 this month, and have no desire to go that hard again. So, I was thinking a vintage bike could be fun. Well what the hell, there’s that old XS just sitting there taking up space and collecting dust. Did some research and found lots of references to people flat tracking them (you know, Kenny Roberts and all) but very little on road racing them. Was it never popular because it’s just too heavy to be fun/effective? Anyway, let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Jay

 

I"ve never owned one, but a frind of mine in the '80's did. I had a single cam Honda CB750 then.

I guess if you're interested in it, then go for it. I wouldn't, but i don't have one under dust in my garage either.

I was going to make a joke and ask, who is KR?

 

I think you could race that in AHRMA historic production heavyweight without doing much more than tossing the lights and adding safety wiring. I'm sure it would be fun.

 

Check out this old thread:
https://forums.13x.com/index.php?threads/1976-xs650.355387/

 

Thanks guys. As it turns out, that’s exactly the plan I was working on for mine. I’ll give him a call tomorrow and see if it’s still for sale.

Jay

 

Wera rules says XS 650 in V3.

 

I shot Vance a text about his XS650 that was for sale, and not surprisingly it’s been gone for some time now. I do like a lot of the things about that bike, so I’m going to try to make something of mine. Appreciate the input.

Jay

 

Rd400racer may still have his XS 650 in the garage and may be worth giving him a holler

 

Thanks, I’ll check with him.

 

There were a bunch of XS650’s raced in AHRMA’s 750 Sportsman class. They were quite fast and dominated that class for years. Still are a few good ones out there but AHRMA really screwed up this big twin class by allowing Honda 750 single cams 4 cylinders in. All of the best XS650s were bored to 750, with cams, Mikunis, and a bunch of special parts, including a few with dirt track frames. There was at least one guy, up in Michigan I think, building those engines for folks. They were quite a bit faster than my Champion framed Triumph 750 until I put in lots of go fast parts and developed it for a bunch of years. A little bit different than what you have in mind, though.

 

You’re right, wasn’t planning on spending that much, but you know how these things go. Everything I do develops a case of “mission creep”!

 

Wish I could have helped Jay out but mine's an SR500

 

Oops

 

Put some long forks and shocks on it !

You CAN drag the frame!

Discovering this will (almost) ALWAYS make for a LONG ride home,

Maybe because I was/am 230# ?

 

Hugh's Hand Built did or does rephase jobs on them. I ran a friend's relatively stock one a few times back in the day. It's a heavy underpowered bike in that form. I'm building a street tracker with a '77, and 32 Mikuni's, electronic ignition, and a larger OD pipe made a world of difference. Picked up at least 10-12hp, and much more rideable. A full 750 rephase build can easily net 80hp out of them, but it's not cheap.

 

So, in looking at the AHMRA rules for Sportsman 750, I can use a 2.5 inch front and a 3.0 inch rear. I was thinking 18 inch rims would offer the most tire choices. Having said that, what tires are most of you vintage guys running for these size wheels.

Jay