Hugh's HandBuilt

A fresh start - New HHB Headquarters

2013-06-10T14:55:00.003-07:00

If you read through our previous post on the Pay It Forward Chopper Build, then you saw that we were moving... Thats right folks, a fresh start for Hugh's HandBuilt after the flooding and other issues at our old locations is gonna be a very welcome thing in our lives...

We have all 4 bays, 2100 Sq Ft including some office space and a shipping area! We are stoked to be moving along like this - new territory for HHB means we can do more than ever. New products, new services, and faster operations (hopefully - haha)

But, it also means we'll be having a small amount of downtime. As I type this, we just got a running computer up at the new shop. Internet is hooked up, and we are hoping to get back into the swing of things. We started moving last week, trying not to interrupt the daily happenings at the shop, but who are we kidding? We've been off schedule since the flood of the shop - so be patient if you can. I know I am about 4-5 days behind on emails, and about the same on shipping.

I am working as fast as possible to bring your not only the best in services and products, but soon new products will hit the streets as well from HHB. Thanks as always for your support and encouragement as we venture into this new chapter. We can't wait to be back up and running full speed.

Hugh

Pay it Forward Chopper Build

2013-05-29T09:11:00.002-07:00

So it's been nearly a Month since our shop flooded. Tons and tons of support poured into the shop via funds, positive thoughts, phone calls, etc... I can't thank Lisa Ballard enough for setting up a "Gofundme" account to which many folks made donations to help us get back on our feet. Lowbrow Customs, ChopCult, Biltwell, Monstercraftsman and many many others all jumped in to help out. And we can't be thankful enough for that...

I was even all packed up and ready to leave for the Ramble Tamble the morning of the flood. You can see all my gear on Slight Hell's trailer...

I was supposed to be in Kentucky for the Ramble Tamble while our shop was flooding. While I missed that trip, it seems all my friends and folks I knew going had a blast.

Now I'm cleaning up my shop, dealing with all the flood mess, rebuild, etc.. And I get a text message from a customer. He says "Man, I totalled my bike at Ramble Tamble - but it still charges!!"

I was bummed, you see I don't really know Daniel that well. He bought a PMA from us for his chopper, and I got hang out with him a bit at The Bama Swap and Drags a while back. Cool dude with a cool bike.

The more I thought about it, the more I knew what had to be done. You see, I am not the type of dude who openly accepts help, it's just damn hard for a guy like me to do. And knowing that the Chopper Gods had smiled down upon Hugh's HandBuilt - I had to Pay It Forward. So Eddie (he's new around here, but you'll be seeing more of him) and I talked it over and made a plan to help get Daniels sweet XS650 chopper back on the road...

So a plan was made.. I ordered materials, parts, and made sure the shop was in good enough shape to go about rebuilding this chopper in a weekend... This past weekend we really killed it. My great friend Dino was there with camera in hand to capture it all...

"And on the first day, the Chopper Gods sent forth a man. A man from Birmingham. A man with a chopper in need. A chopper in need of...... EVERYTHING"

Daniel showed up from Birmingham Alabama with his wrecked choppy.

Took a few minutes to assess the damages...

Scratching my head, yeah it's that bad...

"Well you see, it used to be like this, but it now its like that"

Oof - that hardtail looks like it's gone limp...

Bent Frame? Check... Ruined Bars? Check... Smashed fender and sissybar? Check...
This thing by all practical means was completely totalled....

Off the truck and into the shop...

""Take a good look folks, cuz it's only getting better from here"

Daniel overlooking the cutdown of whats left of his poor old chopper..

"Wait a minute, this is Daniel's bike - make him earn it" - haha...

I can see the Craigslist Add Now: "Weld on Hardtail Kit, complete with Fender, Brake Mounts, Sissybar - needs minor work but would be a killer start on your bobber/chopper/cafe/brat/chubber/brubber "

Bars? Yeah, they toast too...

"Bro Wave" on the pile of scrap... I think Daniel has it down...

"Dude, this things gonna need some more cutting" -

Agreed. Check out the lower backbone bracing.

Saving what we could, but even the lower rails were fully tweaked...

Removing the frame slugs from the previous hardtail took some creativity but we finally got em out...

Eddie went to town cutting, blending, grinding and prepping the frame for a rebuild

Daniel Prepping our Mock-Up Motor for the rebuild.

Daniel Says "Safety First" while Eddie says "Son, you aint' seen nothing yet"

Bryan and Daniel bending up some new Pullback bars. A special focus was given to proper ergonomics on the rebuild.

"Into the fold" - I rarely every build a frame or hardtail for customers or friends.

We got Jiggy Wit It

Daniel - "The Thinker"

Hugh - "The Brains"

Eddie - "The guy with the seriously stanky feet"

Lower Frame rails going back in. Wait what? Yeah thats right, we were putting parts back ON in the first day. Those OEM lower frame rails took some major massaging to get to this point.

Daniel fitting the upper frame rails. We chose to shorten up the tail section from it's previous incarnation. Zero Drop and 3" Stretch would look killer, so we went with that.

"It wasn't me, I've been Framed!"

Daniel inspecting the welding process with his Patended "Weld inspection tube"

HHB PMA? Yes sir... And we pulled the points to install a Pamco ignition as well.

The Rear Wheel Bearings were toast, so we inspected the wheel, trued it up and popped new one in... Made for a long day, but we were making some killer progress on a Saturday...

DAY 2

"And on the 2nd Day, the Chopper Gods looked down upon the HHB shop. The Gods were pleased - so they gave the men a 2nd wind to continue the good works."

Now it should be mentioned, that Daniels chopper was the average amalgamation of all things horrid. When it came to the shop, it had every type of bolt, screw, ziptie and butt connector you could find at the hardware store. Metric, Standard and I'm pretty sure we even found some whitworth bolts on there too...

I expect more from our shop, and in the conquest to make a great chopper for Daniel - only Metric hardware was used in the rebuild. Bungs were installed instead of through holes in the frame, and all this would mean a more reliable and trusty steed. I mean, the bike LOOKS killer, but it's got a duty to Daniel to be a good one too. Having proper hardware, fabrication, wiring and such will make for a much more enjoyable ride (and a smaller tool bag as well!)

Daniels springer was straight and good to go, but it needed proper bearings and spacers to be machined for a perfect fit. Eddie made that happen on the lathe and things moved along smoothly.

Brian - "The Overthinker"

Measure twice, cut once... (Also know as "Fawk, thats way off")

Beautifully crafted Pullback Bars - I gotta give Bryan credit for those. He and Daniel made sure they were comfortable and had the proper ergonomics. This bike will be better than ever when it leaves the shop.

Bryan - Making bungholes... He has alot of experience being one - haha.

There must have been 4 different holes in this section of frame from previous tank mounts. We filled and smoothed them out the best we could (This pic was before final smoothing)

A new chain... What new build uses an old cruddy chain? Details like this make for a more enjoyable ride. Spend the extra cash on wear items up front, and less time on the side of the road later..

Daniel "I'm really liking this 2x4 Pine seat, will this be in the HHB catalog soon?"

Eddie "I'm not on Instagram, I promise" - you can follow him under username "Shreddie" - just make sure to ask "How much over stock is them there forks" everytime he posts up a pic of his shovelhead choppy. He loves that...

The look of a man who smokes while fondling a tank full of gas... Serious business folks...

"Damn, this thing is looking like a bike again"

One of Daniels biggest concerns was his rear brake. Being a rear brake only chopper, his old setup was pretty bad. I let him test ride my Slight Hell bike at the Bama Swap and Drags and he knew we could set him up with a killer XS650 rear drum that actually worked.

This is the HHB Rear Brake Pivot Kit, welded and ready to be fitted to the frame.

Simple and effective, just the way we like it.

Fabbed up all new linkage for the rear brake. No cobbled mess of old OEM junk here, all new and working proper.

Fully Adjustable Pivot Stop and a return spring- I'm a big fan of adjustability. Little details like this make it easy to dial in the bike to the rider when it comes time to hit the road.

We used the OEM brake pivot, lever and return spring. Sometimes reinventing the wheel isn't necessary. But I can say, I'm really proud of this brake setup. We rebuilt the rear drum using all new hardware, springs and EBC Brake Shoes. It's a killer setup now..

Eddie donated a rear fender he had laying around. It's the perfect size for the OEM 18" rear wheel. Some filling of old holes was needed, but it fit just right.

We used the old chain doubled up for proper spacing. This style of bike doesn't need a tire hugging fender, but one that looks like it came off of a dirt bike probably won't do either... Just right..

Carbs? Motor? Pegs? Kickstart? Is this thing coming back together or are you just happy to see me... I'm pretty sure Daniel was pitching a tent all weekend...

"A Man and His Machine" - I love this shot...

"After a bit more R&D on the 2x4 seat, I think we are ready to go to market" Now begs the question, will the customers prefer Pine or Oak?

Skinny

What a sissy... Some 5/8" Cold Rolled stock was pulled from the shelf to create the perfect sissybar for this chop. And like any good weekend build, we ran out of Acetylene so we had to use a Mapp Gas torch to bend it all... I'm betting Daniel spent no less than 4 hours holding that torch this weekend...

PMA Regulator Mount. Nice and tidy.

"And the Chopper Gods sent another gift from the heavens."

We wanted to hook Daniel up with a Sparx capacitor instead of the battery he was using. He was already running kick only, so why not...

3 Hours later............... Or was it 4?

Yeah, it's dark outside... We put in some LONG hours on Sunday building this thing.

"You know, I think this 2x4 seat is really gonna be the next big craze" - Just wait until you see the price of "Period Correct" lumber on Ebay in the next few weeks... Just remember where it all started.

Day 3

"And on the 3rd Day, the Chopper Gods knew that the ascension unto the highways was near"

I'm not gonna kid you, if you think this was the ONLY brew we drank on this build, then feel free to feel sorry for us and send us a care package of your favorite brews (Seriously, we LOVE care packages - haha)

Dino had to take off and get back to school (he's studying Industrial Design, I'm soo proud of him - haha) , so we got a few less pics on the 3rd day. But the boys and I put in a TON of hours into this thing. It left the HHB shop needing nothing more than a new seatpan and foam, and some minor wiring to be on the road. We cleaned the carbs, installed the Pamco and fired up the engine on the first kick. Eddie put in some major hours and made sure a killer set of pipes got built along with help from Bryan.

You can still see the remnants of the HHB flood in the background.

I honestly cannot be more thankful for the guys I work with. Dino, Bryan, Tevan, and Eddie really make this place feel more like home and less like work all the time. And they all came together to help make this project happen and it happened in a hell of a blur. We basically built an entire chopper in 3 days...

All in all, we were all very pleased with the outcome. This build is probably one of the best things we've ever done in the shop. You see, so many people came out and helped us rebuild the shop and get back on our feet after the flood, and we wanted to pay it forward.

All of the guys who helped out donated their time and energy to the build, and HHB donated all of the materials, parts, and even some food and brew to the cause. All Daniel had to do was get here, put in some sweat equity and have a good attitude - And boy did he ever... Pay It Forward whenever you get a chance folks, it really does feel good...

And this is the LAST build to ever come out of this shop, because we just signed the lease on the next big thing....

So you'll be seeing MORE of HHB goodness soon, and I can't wait... Thanks so much for all your support. Without a killer network of customers, friends and family - we'd never be able to live this little part of the American Dream.

Thank-You!
Hugh

HHB Flood Of 2013 - News, Updates, and a "Flood Sale"

2013-05-06T12:57:00.002-07:00

Well folks, we've had a LONG weekend... I had planned to ride out to Kentucky on Friday morning for the Ramble Tamble. Instead I was awoken from my sleep at 2:45am to a call from the Fire Department. Apparently one of the very old sprinkler pipes had ruptured in the shop.

So I got to the shop as fast as I could...

Thats not good. not good at all. Apparently the pipe had ruptured, and the shutoff valve could not be found for a good 30-45 minutes or so once the Asheville Fire Department got there. (BTW, thanks to ALL of the AFD who were there that night, it was a sigh of relief to be surrounded by some great folks in such a stressful moment)

The best part? The pipe that burst, filled the office ceiling with water until my office caved in...

Looking into the office from the shop.

I was soo overwhelmed, that all I could do for a few minutes was grab a few pics of the damages, then start pushing bikes outside. I opened the shop door and literally watched parts and packages float out of the office. Everything in the office is 100% loss at this point...

Here are some shots, just to give you an idea of the damages we have sustained this past weekend..

Man, you would never think 4-5" of water could do soo much damage...

I know it's strange, but this is somehow my favorite picture of this disaster...

And this picture truly breaks my heart.

It filled the office ceiling with water until it couldn't handle the weight, and collapsed - ruining all of our office computers, printers, about 50% of our inventory and all of my baby girl (Rebecca) stuff that I keep at the shop. You see, without my office and without the things for her, I cannot work at the shop. I bring my baby girl to the shop everyday, and keep her safe and sound in the office as I work.

We have always been a small operation, and as such - I do Daddy Daycare each day while my wife goes to work.

The office is a total loss, we are hoping to strip all of the drywall this week and insulation, and start the rebuilding process. We could use building materials or funds to help get those as well.

We lost a ton of inventory, as well as all of our packing/shipping supplies and other stuff that comes with running our business.

To make matters worse, we tried to get flood insurance about a year ago, but since we are in the flood plain, it was astronomically high. Fast forward to today, and now the river is rising and rising FAST!

I will be having a "flood sale" on the blog (as soon as I can find a computer that will let me upload images from my phone, mine is trashed of course) in order to help raise money ourselves as well. I will have lots of bikes, parts, frames, and other stuff for sale.

If you are local, and have a Pack and Play (baby crib), a decent laptop/computer, or other supplies we can use - feel free to contact us.

So as you can imagine, we are a bit overwhelmed right now. With our lost inventory, lost office, and the time it will take to clean up this mess, we are going to be a bit backlogged with orders and emails. Please be patient with us, and we will move forward as best we can to make sure that you get the best from Hugh's HandBuilt - just as always.

And as always, thank you soo much for your continued support. Even in times like this, I am overwhelmed with the postive vibes and support you folks have sent in via Facebook, Instagram, etc..

And for those of you who have asked how to help? Lisa Ballard has set up a nice "GoFundMe" site. It humbles me to even think of asking for help or donations, but Lisa set this up for us knowing as much. For those of you who have reaped the benefits of our Tech, Support, Products and Services, and would like to give back - I'll not turn it down at this point. I'm a bit overwhelmed with everything that is happening, but we'll take it one step at a time and come back stronger.

Instagram username - Hughshandbuilt

Facebook - Hugh's HandBuilt on Facebook

GoFundMe Account - I cannot be more humble and more grateful for your help - than I am today. Thank you soo much.

If you have pending orders, services, emails, etc... with us - please be patient and we will have everything squared away as soon as possible.

Hugh

Meltdown 2013

2013-04-30T12:05:00.001-07:00

This past weekend was a KILLER vintage event - The Meltdown. It was held at the Southern Appalachian Brewery and we had a blast. We rode down in wonderful 60 degree weather, but that was as good as it got.

The weather was pure crap, which was nice in all reality. I had the following conversation with my friend (and an amazing photographer) Frank Bott

Frank: In this crappy weather, only the really tough bikers show up

Hugh: No way dude, all the "tough" guys are at home watching Sons of Anarchy re-runs. The people that actually showed up today at the people that genuinely LOVE this stuff.

Frank: Thats a great way to put it.

(Some of that is paraphrased, I had a "Few" of those wonderful brews that day - haha)

You see, for me it's all about the love of two wheels (and sometimes just one, if it's a really gnarly wheelie!) and the folks that rode out in the 50 degree rain and stood in the rain talking motorbikes, drinking great brew, and having a blast - those are my kind of folks... Diehards, and not "tough" at all really - just in love with 2 wheels.

Another great friend of mine came down, and took an amazing amount of photos - so I'll let the photo's do most of the talking. Enjoy it folks, this is what it's REALLY all about.

Setting up before the rain

All Smiles

Sam made it there with his freshly built XS (black)

"Shreddie" Cleveland hanging back with his Shovel, he was on guard with that many cool XS's around - ha!!

Tevan Morgan made the ride down on his XS2

Tevan entered his bike into the show, so we gave it a quick wipedown

A really strong showing of cool vintage bikes, not as big as last year due to the weather, but some great bikes for sure.

This 55' Pan took "Best American" in the show and I know for a fact that he rode it in... That's the only way to roll in my book.

And then the rain came down. And damn did it come down!!

Roy Vance made a showing with "The Tennessee Rose" - nothing says "I LOVE riding like coming into a show in the 50 degree rain... This bike gathers a crowd everywhere it goes, and being Rephased it sounds amazing too!

Tevan being himself. I love this dude!

If you aren't bringing your baby out to motorcycle events, you probably aren't raising them proper. But seriously, those who follow us on the blog/facebook/instagram know that my lovely Courtney and Rebecca are very integral parts of my life at HHB. The shop is always full of family time. I LOVE my job!!!

My lovely ladies

Just a bit wet you say??

And of course none of us had raingear, because who thinks ahead like that??

THIS Man - you should know him... This Frank J Bott, he is an amazing photographer and someone I'm glad to call a friend. Google him, check out his work, and bring your bikes to him to shoot.

When not killing groundhogs, Creature prefers a life of luxury.

Nothing says "lets roll" like a bunch of soaked to the bone helmets... Kinda like putting on wet underwear, but worse...

Tevan's XS2 Resto-Mod Cafe' ended up taking home "Best Japanese" in the show, and then we packed up and hit the road home. I'd say it was miserable riding, but everywhere I looked was a rider smiling like he'd never ridden before... So yeah, get in love with 2 wheels - rain or shine!!

Hugh

HHB Slimline Brake Master Cylinder - Now Available

2013-04-22T14:41:00.000-07:00

YES! We've tested and used a TON of master cylinders on all of our various builds, and these were such a favorite that we've decided to bring them directly to you folks!

HHB Slimline Brake Master Cylinder Specs:

12.9mm Bore
6" Long Lever
Front View Level Window
Mirror Mount
Dot 3 / Dot 4 Compatible
7/8" Bar Mount
Comes with New Banjo Fitting
Twin Post Brake Switch (hidden under the lever, very clean)

You can now ditch that ugly OEM master cylinder on your XS650 (or most any other bike with 7/8" bars, we've had great luck with the master cylinder on almost all vintage Japanese bikes with a single caliper) and clean up the bars on your vintage restomod, cafe, brat, chopper, etc... With a 6" long lever, it's short enough for even the narrowest bars while still putting the clamp on that front brake. And brakes are smart, so why not get smart with a good looking and slim new master cylinder for your old bike. It probably needs a new one anyhow if its original.

Whats it look like you say? Well, here are a few shots...

Now available for only $68.50 shipped in the US or $15 extra shipping worldwide.

XS650 Hydraulic Clutch Swap Kits - Now Available!

2013-04-22T10:07:00.001-07:00

Our all so popular XS650 Hydraulic Clutch Conversions were a HUGE hit. So huge in fact, that we couldn't keep up with demand. Most folks have noticed that we have discontinued HHB Hydraulic Clutch Conversion. With the time and energy we were putting into these kits, we decided we needed to revamp this product.

*The master cylinder and slave cylinder shown above are NOT included, just an example of what to look for on eBay.

Revamp the product you ask? Well it's simple really. All this time we had been sourcing the master cylinder and slave cylinders, getting hoses made, assembling and pre-bleeding the entire system and then assembling it with hardware to swap onto the XS650 chassis. Meanwhile, someone on XS650.com pointed out that the "Ebay Pit Bike Clutch" was almost identical to the kits we were offering. So sure enough, I ordered 4-5 of them from eBay and found out they were 90% identical to what we were offering. We found that the hoses were too short, and the hardware was a bit lackluster, but the main components are identical, and at a much more cost effective price point... Hrmmm.... Revamping was needed.

So what we have now, is a Complete XS650 Hydraulic Clutch Swap Kit! This kit will allow you to purchase a Pit Bike Clutch from eBay and then use our Hose, Hardware and Instructions to install your very own HHB Hydraulic Clutch. We've tested this on lots of XS650's and found this to be a much more cost effective solution to installing a Hydro Clutch on an XS650, and keep my sanity in check (building hundreds upon hundreds of those systems will really take a toll on ya - haha)

Here is the NEW HHB Hydraulic Clutch Swap Kit - order yourself a "Pit Bike Clutch" on eBay, modify the hardware a bit as per the install instructions listed here: How To Install Your XS650 Hydraulic Clutch Conversion and you are up and running!

This new kit will include a brand new DOT SAE Approved hydraulic hose, and hardware needed to upgrade the pivot on the master cylinder as well as hardware to mount the slave cylinder to the side cover on your XS650. And the best part? This swap kit is VERY cost effective! At $58.50 shipped in the US (All other Countries are $14.00 more) you can have a simple and effective Hydraulic Clutch Conversion on your XS650, and save money over what we previously offered.

Limited Quantities available, so purchase now! I will do my best to keep manufacturing these kits, but as usual, we are still a small shop with limited time resources

.And as always, thank you SOOO much for your support of Hugh's HandBuilt - your continued support and praises keep us motivated to continually bring you nothing but the best in HHB goodies...

Hugh

277 Rephased Goodness - from the vaults of the internet!

2013-03-28T08:57:00.001-07:00

Letters from Bill Denton to the Yamaha 650 list
Dear YAM650 List,
Since several of you have asked me to elucidate on my "Quartered", or 270 degree crankshaft project, here it is. By the way, I plan to eventually add this engine to a fully "Mintonized" XS-650. A well deserved "Thank you" and warm regards go out to Mr. Joe Minton for writing his (now somewhat infamous) article on improving the XS650, which has become a standard reference article of sorts for the International 650 Society.
It all started when I read an article in Cycle World entitled "TRX Tech,,, Motorcycle or Myth Maker?" (June 1995) about the engine in the Yamaha TRX 850. This engine, an 850cc upright twin, is built with 270 degree crankshaft timing (see following discussion about 90 vs 270 degree timing). This idea made way too much sense to ignore, offering all the advantages of a V-twin; a wider, flatter torque curve, and less (destructive) vibration by minimizing both secondary imbalances and rocking couple forces, while maintaining the small,compact engine profile of an upright twin. In addition, the sound of the engine note would be too unique to ignore, especially coming from an XS! I thought, would it work in an engine without balance shafts? I had no idea.
So, I set out on the information trail to get some opinions on whether it would work or not. I started by writing a letter to everyone listed in the Int'l 650 Society Newsletter as a 650 rebuilder, thinking that their opinions might have just a little more weight. The responses I received ranged from "it will vibrate apart, don't do it", to "It will have (much) less vibration than the stock engine, and I'd be glad to help you build one." I also became aware of two gentlemen in particular who had already done 360 > 270 deg crankshaft conversions; one on a 500cc Triumph (Dick Cookson in England), and the other an XS-650 (Dave Rayner in Australia). I wrote letters to them as well, telling them of my interest and asking for information. Both responded by mail (send me a message if your interest runs deep enough to read these letters, and I'll snail you photocopies of them).
I also discovered along the way that the original idea for a 270 deg crank in an upright twin came from an Australian fellow named Phil Irving (co-creator of the pre-war Vincent engine design) in his musings in a series of articles he wrote in the 1940's. Apparently, he initially tried to convince Triumph of the virtues of this crank arrangement, but they would not have anything to do with it, choosing to stick with the 360 degree design. Apparently, there was a bias or prejudice against uneven firing engine designs that stuck with BSA, Triumph and Norton until their respective bitter ends.
As you know, in the XS-650, both pistons move up and down together (aka 360 deg crankshaft), with plugs firing left and right on alternate strokes. In this arrangement, both piston/conrod combos achieve maximum velocity TOGETHER twice per revolution (once on the way up and once on the way down). In addition, they both come to a complete stop TOGETHER twice per revolution (once at TDC and once at BDC). As you can imagine, as RPM increases, so does the vibration coming from this Primary Force Imbalance (PFI). This phenomenon is made worse by the laws of Physics, which dictate that doubling the RPM quadruples the forces (and thus the associated vibrations) involved. Flywheel weighting added opposite the throw of the crankpin minimizes PFI, but a compromise has to be achieved between cancelling out PFI and exacerbating a Secondary Force Imbalance (SFI). This is the centrifugal force of the weighted portion of the flywheel trying to move the entire engine fore and aft as it spins.
Now then, the basic idea with a "quartered" crank engine (and design advantages associated with it) is to never have both pistons at maximum or minimum velocity at the SAME time (as you know, this is exactly what DOES happen in a 360 degree upright twin). More specifically, the idea is to have one piston moving at MAX velocity while the other one is at MIN (zero) velocity, in order that inertia about the crankshaft is preserved. In other words, the first swiftly moving piston/conrod combination helps "pull" the second piston/conrod combo through it's deceleration & change in direction, a point at which it has little or no inertia. In effect, the quickly moving half acts as a inertial flywheel for the other, and visa versa several times per revolution, resulting in relatively constant inertia (stored or potential energy) in the rotating parts in the big end of the engine. See the URL http://www.interlog.com/~lcl/tdm/tdmpower.html for more info on crankshaft inertial torque and it's effect on perceived torque feel in a 270 degree crankshaft engine design. (or copy of same graph on local site)
This "inertial torque smoothing" effect is achieved by separating the crankpin throws. Maximum velocity occurs at 74.1 degrees before & after TDC in an XS-650 with a 74mm stroke and a connecting rod length of 130mm (#447 rods). This is the point at which the crankpin throw and the conrod are at right angles.
However, at a 90 (or 270) degree angle, the piston/conrod assembly is still pretty close to maximum velocity, so a high degree of inertial torque is still achieved. But (and this is a big "but") at 90 degrees, the PFI is less than at 74.1 deg, and the Secondary Forces, which have a frequency twice crankshaft speed will have a phase difference of 180 deg., thus cancelling each other out entirely (credit to Brian Woolley; The Classic Motorcycle, 2/92). According to Woolley, this should result in a 43.5% improvement in the balance of forces within a 90 degree engine, when compared to a conventional 360 degree upright twin.
Because of a combination of better balance and conservation of momentum (inertia), the "flywheel" portion of the crankshaft may now be lightened, further improving balance by reducing rotational weight while increasing throttle response without sacrificing drivability (a common problem when "race" engines with lightened flywheels are driven on the street).
So there you have it. An engine with more torque, more perceived "pull" at lower revs, quicker throttle response, less vibration, and with an "Italian" exhaust note. What more could a man want out of his mid-life crisis project!
Bill in Yardley, PA
90 vs 270 degree crankshaft timing
I have been trying to figure this out on paper, and there are two distinctly different scenarios available when crankpins are separated by 90 degrees on the crankshaft. Participants in this thread may have been assuming that 90 and 270 degree cranks are just two ways of saying the same thing, but really, they are two entirely different setups. The difference is really not in the separation of the crankpins, so much as the timing of the valve train, which results in power strokes that are separated by either 270/450 degrees, or 90/630 degrees. Here's why:
The true 270 degree crank defines power strokes that are separated from each other by 270, then 450 degrees. Imagine the #1 piston @ TDC at the beginning of the power stroke, while the #2 piston is 270 degrees behind it, halfway through it's own intake stroke. Follow this thing around, and 270 degrees later, the #2 piston is @ TDC at the beginning of it's power stroke. Following the progression of the #1 piston, we find it is now halfway through it's exhaust stroke, a full 450 degrees away from the beginning of it's next power stroke.
Now, take the same crank, and change the valve timing setup so that when the #1 piston is @ TDC at the beginning of the power stroke, the #2 piston is not far behind, halfway through it's compression stroke. Only 90 degrees later, the #2 piston is experiencing the beginning of it's own power stroke, while the #1 piston is only halfway through it's power stroke. Overlapping power strokes, the beginnings of which are only separated by 90 degrees this time. The next one comes 630 later, as you previously suggested. Same crank, really, only different orientation of SSBB from #1 cylinder to #2 cylinder.
As far as your balance question, you're right again, the primary balance in a 180 degree crank engine is perfect, but at the cost of a violently malevolent rocking couple, torquing the engine first to the left, then to the right, as separate pistons reach TDC and BDC simultaneously. Whereas, in the 90 or 270 degree crank configuration, you can maintain higher inertial momentum (flywheel effect) about the crankshaft by having one piston always at or near max velocity while the other one comes to a complete stop and then changes direction. They are never both dead in the water at the same time. Since secondary imbalance is at a minimum, additional counterweighting on the crankshaft can be reduced, allowing a better compromise of Primary:Secondary imbalance percentages, while reducing reciprocating weight. Also, the flywheel effect allows the use of smaller actual flywheels, further reducing reciprocating weight. Cool.
Having said all this, I wonder if Kevin Cameron, Technical Editor for Cycle World, really meant 270, or 90 degrees when he wrote the article about the Yamaha TRX-850 in the June 1995 edition of Cycle World? The more I think about it, the more I believe that it's really a 90 degree separation of power pulses in the TRX engine design, especially if they were trying to emulate the successful big bang power pulses of the race-bred Ducatis. I wonder if someone in the technical development department at Yamaha could shed some light on this? Anyone have any connections?
"If you build it, they will come (sic)"
Offset Crank using factory splines
There are actually 13 splines on the crankshaft (damn it Yamaha! You could have made it so easy but for one extra spline!). So, to move it 3 splines is to displace one of the crankthrows by 360/13*3= 83.077 degrees. It then follows (got that phrase from a mathbook about 25 years ago and it just stuck) that 360-83.077 = 276.923 degrees of separation between the throws when you're all done. Not exactly 270, but close enough to warrant saving several hundred dollars (or more) of specialized machining required to achieve exactly 270 degrees like Dave Rayner has done in Oz.
Also, IMO anything between 270 and 285.9 is totally acceptable, because of the following salient points. 270 is a good design point, because it minimizes reciprocating vs rotating force imbalances (see Blaine's webpage torque.html for a more complete explanation as to why). However, 285.9 is also a good design point, because it maximizes conservation of inertia about the crankshaft (in an XS650 engine equipped with 447 rods, the stroke is 74mm and the rod length is 130mm. Therefore, maximum piston/rod mass velocity is achieved at 74.1 degrees B&ATDC. This is the point where the rod and the crankthrow are at right angles to each other, so at that moment in time, the piston rod combo and the crankshaft are running at identical (and maximum) linear velocity). Each design point maximizes it's own advantages in the modified engine. Fortunately, both points are also relatively close to one another mathematically. So, bracketing the eventual design with these two end points would only minimize either effect very slightly, while retaining the majority of both effective advantages (sounds good, eh?).
Like in most engines (or any equipment design which ever gets reduced to practice) my proposed method of design implementation is a compromise, but one which I am willing to accept. So there.
Bill in slushy Yardley, PA

I was sent the previous information just this week, and as I always like to do with any awesome information on our beloved XS650's - I've put it up for you folks to read and enjoy.

Hugh

Alabama Swap and Drags - Who's Goin?!?!

2013-03-21T07:17:00.000-07:00

Alright folks, I'm thinking of loading up the trailer with some swap meet XS650 stuff, and bringing a few bikes to run on the track...

Let me know if you are planning to go, and if you need any XS650 parts at all, I'll bring em with me.. I have piles of parts, and I rarely every sell anything - so this is your chance!

HHB T-Shirt Design Contest!

2013-03-19T07:32:00.004-07:00

Well folks, the time has come for a new T-Shirt Design. I've sold out of the old design, and while I want to print more shirts, a new design would be sweet.

Past T-Shirt Designs for Hugh's HandBuilt:

This one was designed by a very talented tattoo artist - cool dude, and loved this shirt!

Before that, we had a VERY limited run of these shirts -again, customer generated...

I'm personally soo swamped with emails, product development, tech and then getting into the shop, that I call on you - my amazing customers and friends to help me out with some new designs for T-Shirts and Stickers.

The old design was awesome, a good feller did it for us, and we'd like to keep the tradition of having your input on how we do things. So break out those sketch pads, computers and get to creating! We love our customers, and are always proud to wear your artwork.

AND, it's not all for free - anything we decide to print will be justly rewarded with an HHB grab bag of goodies, store credit or anything you might need to finish that build (if we have it of course, we have TONS of good used XS650 parts as well)

Design Specifications: Single or 2 Color at most for T-Shirts, I want to keep the prints cost effective. Sticker designs can be multi-colored though, and we encourage that as well. The rest is on you - freedom of design. Submit as often as you would like to HughsHandBuilt@gmail.com

Here are a few of the designs already submitted - we'd like to keep this open until April 1st - to give everyone a chance at getting in on this.

"This design is inspired by you, the beard and beanie say Hugh's HandBuilt all day long to me. I left the text simple and bold so that it stands apart from the design, no gimmicks on that everyone knows the name Hugh's HandBuilt and the quality it stands for." Eric

A few more submissions:

HHB Customers - The Best in the World!

2013-02-27T09:25:00.003-08:00

I talk about the details of a build, and how they matter all the time... Then someone takes the time to add a small little bit of art to an envelope - and it really makes my day...

We've been swamped with orders, getting engine builds quoted and built, and keeping up with the day to day life that is Hugh's HandBuilt... Thanks for being the Best Customers in the World! it makes my job one of the best as well.

Hugh

A tale of 3 NC Hoodlums - Lowside Syndicate Timonium Show

2013-02-12T08:41:00.002-08:00

This is a short tale of how 3 Hugh's HandBuilt Hoodlums traveled to Timonium this past weekend, on a whim...

I got a call from John at Monstercraftsman early last week and it went something like this "Hey Hugh, wanna come to Baltimore this weekend for a show at Timonium sponsored by Lowside Syndicate Magazine?" and I said something like this "Well ummm, hrmmm, lemme think, I'll call ya back..."

Ok, but who is Lowside Syndicate you ask? Well, they are doing some kickass work for the underground chop scene, and all for the love of chops... Check em out here... Lowside Syndicate Magazine

So after some hemming and hawing, I decided we had to go... Doesn't sound like much, but when was the last time you saw Hugh's HandBuilt out and about at these events? Rarely - we spend way too much time in the shop or stuck behind the computer doing tech/answering emails/etc... So this was a great excuse to get away and go meet some new folks...

So we frantically finished up Tevan's 1972 XS2 Resto-Mod Cafe, packed the trailer and headed north... Tevan's bike had never been seen before, so we wanted to make sure he had an opportunity to get it out there...

So with the trailer packed, we hit the road...

Keep the above pic in mind - because we still had to stop off and get my friend Roy's XS650 - the Tennessee Rose... Roy wanted to go with us, but he got a case of the crud - we we kicked him to the curb and stole his bike... Just kidding (kinda)

This bike totally rocks, and it has just about every part and service we offer on it.. But in the end, Roy built this bad boy, we just helped him along a little bit... More pics you say? Sure thing - go here!

Now remember, we don't travel that much with the truck, we typically ride to the shows/events and just spectate... That means I've never had my little truck hauling this heavy ass trailer that far...

First fillup? 154 miles... Bummer...

Surely my eyes were crossed or I did something wrong with my math skills (Mrs. Jaker taught me well in 2nd grade, it couldn't be my math skills!) 8.2 MPG - this was gonna get expensive... Oh well, places to be and people to meet... 5 more fillups and we would be there...

We got there, and somehow Brian Managed to find the only Hair Dresser in the place, I mean, who the hell finds a hair dresser at a bike show? Brian, that's who.... I guess when you don't show up with a bike, you should show up lookin' good huh? Someone kick this boy in the sack and tell him to get his Bike done!

Anyhow, the good folks from Monstercraftsman gave us some of their prized real estate at the show. Very cool - and something we were very grateful for... Can't say it enough, these dudes treated us right...

Don't let Tevan fool you. This dude might only be 19, but he can build a bike and talk crap with the best of them... And he's got a sense of humor to boot... We made sure to set his bike up where it would get a good bit of visual attention...

It was real cool to people watch. Folks would come around the corner and just stop in their tracks... Cameras and phones whipped out and taking as many pics as they could. This bike was very well received. And I can honestly say that Tevan just basked in it, look at that pic above... Warms my heart to see a young man get so much praise and attention for his hard work. He drug this thing out of the Kudzu at John Dills house about 2 years ago, and created this masterpiece... I'd like to take some credit, but the credit is all his...

I can't even say how many times we were asked if it was for sale, or how much it would take to sell it... Tevan held his ground though - they say never sell your first build, and I'm pretty sure he's made room for it next to his bed. I still have my first build, and I expect he'll hold onto this one for a good long while as well

If fighting off checkbooks and credit cards from Tevan's Bike wasn't bad enough, we had our hands full with Roy's Bike... This thing was practically a jaw dropper. My favorite were the HD Tough Guys (you know the type...) that couldn't believe a Yamaha could be this cool... I just wish Roy had come with us, he could have sold this thing and lightened the load on the way home (just kidding Roy - kinda)

What about my latest bike you ask?? Well, it was well received among the builders - but the general public just couldn't figure it out - haha... I'm gonna call that a win...

What about the rest of the bikes at the show? Yeah, they rocked too! This is just an example to the bikes... The place was soo packed, it was hard to get good shots in...

The bikes of this show rocked it man... I mean, sure, there was a "big show" next door in a much snazzier building with lots of glam, lights, scantilly clad middle aged women, bikes that were roped off, and neon everywhere - but it seems the best builds and coolest folks were on the LowSide... I'll take bearded dudes, chics with a bit of grease under their nails, and the friendships we built any day over the shine and glam of the average bike show...

I personally want to express a HUGE amount of thanks to the folks from Lowside Syndicate who put on a killer show, Monstercraftsman who gave us the real estate to setup out humble booth and then let us crash on their hotel floor (I'll try and remember my sleeping bag next time!), The Mufflers who were some of the most down to earth gals I've ever met in the Motorcycle Industry who treated up like locals and gave us a floor to crash on...

And as usual, I don't typically get many photos of myself - I stole this one from Monstercraftsman's facebook...

John (Monstercrafstman) and Hugh

Jillian from the Mufflers

Tevan and Bryan (HHB)

Lowside Sydnicate put on a great show, and the after party wasn't to be missed either. There were alot of great folks who put this show together, and we genuinely had a blast. I'm pretty bad with names, but faces I never forget... If you met us at the show, shoot us an email at HughsHandBuilt@gmail.com so we can have your contact information, or add us to your mailing list for any upcoming events - we'd love to be apart of more great events like this one...

And somehow I forgot to take pics of the Swap Meet... Hell, I practically lost my voice talking to soo many folks at the event. We met a TON of our great customers who came out to meet us - without you folks, we'd never be able to live this small piece of the American Dream - Thank You!!

And yes, I did score something at the swap meet. A nice unmolested 1200S Sportster for some HHB Product Development.... What did I say about that trailer being a tight fit???

It took us 12 hours in the truck to get there, and another 13 or so to get home... We averaged 7.2 MPG over 1200 Miles... My brain already hurts thinking about the fuel bill... But you know why things like this are expensive? Because they are worth it!! The good people of Baltimore treated us like locals - so we'll be back soon enough...

Had some rough weather coming home, lots of high winds, rain, and even a downed tree slowed us down a bit.

Home sweet home...

As always - thank you soo much for your continued support of Hugh's HandBuilt. We love our job!

Hugh

"Speedster Pipes" - Pre-Order yours today!

2013-01-28T14:08:00.000-08:00

That's right folks, a new product for the XS650 Enthusiasts out there! And while it has been long in the making, a fully developed set of HHB Speedster Pipes is now ready for pre-order.

Inspired by our very first build:

The newly developed HHB Signature Speedster Pipes are a 2-2 design,utilizing 1.5" mandrel bent tubing. The exit under the chassis, for added bank angle when hitting the twisties.

Loss of ground clearance is minimal, while allowing for harder cornering - due to the unique design of the pipes and keeping the exhaust system inboard of the frame rails.

Available in Raw Steel, Hi-Temp Silver or Hi-Temp textured Matte Black - and will include all hardware and new exhaust gaskets needed for the install. 100% true bolt on, as you've come to expect from HHB.

Matte Black Finish:

Hi-Temp Silver Finish

(bad pic, I know... But the silver finish is NICE!)

These have been test fitted on ALL XS650 models; including XS1, XS2, TX650 and Standards as well as Specials.

Ok, so we know they look cool, but what do they sound like??? Matte Black Textured Finish shown, without Baffles installed...

We are doing a limited run of these, pre-order below. Please allow time for final production, proper finishes to be applied, and shipping... All new stainless hardware, new exhaust gaskets and instructions will be included. (Once the pre-run quota has been met, we will remove the "Buy It Now" link) Shipping is only $10.00 in the US, contact me for overseas shipping options after purchase and we will provide a seperate Paypal invoice.

Pre-Orders are expected to start shipping early February.

As always, thanks so much for your continued support of Hugh's HandBuilt - we will continue our efforts to bring you only the best products and services for your XS650.

Hugh

(Bottom view, these pipes are slightly modified Speedster Pipes, I added a short tail section that will not fit OEM frames, but you can get an idea what they look like from there..)

"Slight Hell" - Our Latest XS650 Build

2013-01-23T13:05:00.002-08:00

Those of you who watch the forums, or facebook, know that we just finished a new build. So lets get to it, and give you all the low down and dirty details of this latest project...

This bike is one of those long term projects that seemed to stretch on forever and ever... Before Hugh's HandBuilt was even started, I started building this bike with a friend of mine. He had purchased several frames/engines/forks/wheels and such as a basket case - and wanted to try and build a bike out of the mess.

Now if you are a motorhead like I am, you can see a pile scrap metal like this, and envision a bike - right?

Well, we did too! Luckily, the score had some good stuff in it. A titled frame, a few engines, and lots of other goodies this thing would need. And, a brand new Wiseco 750 set of pistons that hadn't even been installed! Sweet!

So we did a quick mock-up to see where we wanted everything to be on the final build... Since the plan was for this to be my friend Cain's bike -we fitted him to it... High Bar Lane Splitter - yeah man...

This basket case he had purchased was originally intended to be a Cafe' build - and the previous owner had done a number on the frame. Some places were ground so thin that the tubing would flex poking at it with a screwdriver - total bummer... So with a good title in hand, and a crappy frame - we did the proper thing. We cut that sucker into a million pieces!

I talked him into doing a subtle gooseneck, single downtube frame and reworking the entire seating area and shock mounts. So out came the sawzall and cutting wheels and into the frame jig we went! Speaking of frame jig - I didn't even have one until Cain offered to purchase the materials to build it if I'd mod this frame... So the very early and humble beginnings of a shop were coming to be - and I had no clue it was even happening... I spent many many hours in the machine shop at the University making the frame jig in order to build this frame.

Once the frame was built - we needed to build an engine for it. In the timeframe we had, we opted to just install the 750cc top end on the bottom end we already had. New seals, gaskets and a Pamcopete ignition would round it off pretty good. Top it with some Mikuni VM carbs and it should have been good to go.

I decided to bend up some funky lane splitter bars out of some 7/8" stainless we had laying around the shop. Mounted to the stock risers and lowered the forks about 3". (If you look in the background, you'll see a trimmer less bearded Hugh circa summer 2009 - time has not been good to this ugly feller!)

Keep in mind, I was still in college at Appalachian State University back then, studying Product Design and tinkerin' on motersickles our of my apartment's basement... Man, them were the days! We'd open the shop door, get some wood and make a fire in the parking lot, and generally have a blast at that place... Times have changed for sure...

The tank was a funky old NOS dirtbike tank that he had found on the Ebay if i recall correctly. I convinced him we needed to high mount this sucker! I cut the tunnel out of it, flat bottomed it, and then split an old Ford Driveshaft longways for the new tunnel and welded it all together. I removed the OEM filler location, used another chunk of random tubing and relocated the filler cap frisco style. This as the first tank I ever got to modify more than changing a bung or a tab... I had alot of fun reworking this old tank...

We mixed up some resin and made a sweet fiberglass seatpan that fit the frame like a glove. Cain had a buddy of his cover it, and it turned out killer...

Lastly, we added an aluminum rear fender... It was narrow and funky..

Then the bike kinda languished in this state for what seems like years (it probably was really!)... The idea was that we'd build this thing together, hang out, have fun - you know the drill... Well, I graduated college, moved 2 hours away, got a day job (which sucks, I don't recommend it!) and it really made getting together to build this thing kinda tough. It sat in the back of my shop gathering dust, and generally looking pretty sad... Cain and I would get together when we had time, and we'd make a small bracket, tab, etc... But if you have built a bike, you know those little details can really eat up some time in a build... And time was something the two of us just didn't seem to have at the same time... Total bummer...

In the meantime, I had quit my dayjob (you should too, building bikes is much more fun!) and started Hugh's HandBuilt with the last paycheck from my old job... Long story short, we got busy FAST! I would have never seen it coming...

That didn't help this build along at all... So after the years passed along, the bike garnered more and more dust and it was starting to look like this thing would never come to life. The economy was tanking, both the owner and myself really couldn't afford to finish it. Cain debated selling it off, but I didn't want it to slip away after all these years, so a deal was struck and about 2.5 months ago - I became the owner of yet another XS - go figure!

So I instantly dusted her off, and put her up on the lift. I installed one our HHB PMA Systems, Red-Koted the tank, swapped out the headlight and fender for something more my style and started tidying it up to get it fired for the first time ever... Running the PMA would also mean I could run the bike without a battery... And no battery makes for a super clean, kick-only ride... Just my style...

I made sure to bleed a little bit while working on it.. These old bikes simply won't run proper if you don't bleed on em... No seriously...

With a Mac 2-1 on it, and a little bit of blood in the oil - she fired right up on the first kick! No brakes, no lights, but hey - at least it was up and running.

So I swapped out the disk rear wheel for a 1 year only Drum Mag wheel, fabbed up some brake linkage and headed out for the road for a bit of testing... I did find that the cheapo replacement brake arm hardware was not up to the task of holding the brake drum in place - BOOOM!!!

The swingarm/brake arm hardware had sheared while I was on I-40 after I gave the rear brake a good stompin' - and of course I didn't have the front brake hooked up... The linkage tore loose, hitting me in the hip and doing a bit of damage to the narrowed fender I had mocked up...

Shake down runs tend to really shake you up sometimes... I rode it the 3-4 miles back to the shop with no breaks. Compression braking to the rescue!

Pulled the rear fender, found some OEM hardware and built new linkage for the brake arms and I was back in business. I did quite a bit of riding locally as you see it below. The handling on this bike was spot-on, and that big 23" front wheel just begged to go off-roading and jumping the stairs. I can't say that none of that happened... So yeah, I fully abused her in the "testing and tuning" stage of the build.

I'm pretty hard on my bikes - I can't lie... I figure if they'll handle the abuse I give them, then it should be good to go. In the meantime, there is a makeshift skate park behind my shop, and I started jumping the box jump a few too many times, and broke the frame. I thought it was getting a bit squirrely on the landings - haha...

The shock mounts needed some serious beefing up, so I cut off the tail section and refabbed it using a bit stronger tubing and more solid shock mounts. I added a short section of a KZ fender and we were back in business...

So I got it all back together, and for the life of me could not get the Mikuni VM34's to work well with the Mac 2-1 Pipe. I tried baffles, rejetting, swapping different 2-1 pipes and nothing was fixing the terrible flat spot I had in the middle of the rpm range... I eventually tossed on some Yo Mama pipes from Pandemonium and the bike instantly ran better... I was kinda bummed, because I really liked the look of the 2-1 pipe...

You'll notice that the front end is higher as well. The way I was riding this thing, it just begged for more fork travel, so I found another set of OEM 35mm Forks and installed them. Oh yeah, I fabbed up some bracketry to make the 23" drum front brake actually work - good thinking....

Once I had the flat spot out of the tune thanks to the 2-2 pipes, I could really ride this thing! I rode it about 50 miles until I realized what had to be done... That vibrating 360 big bore engine was just not gonna cut it... I like to ride, and ride hard... And the vibes from the stock firing pattern in the big bore engine were enough to rattle your teeth out at highway speeds. I tried everything, different gearing, filling the bars with silicone, but there was just no way around it... As much as it pained me, I pulled a freshly built good running big bore engine out of the chassis and tore it back down to the bare cases... A 277 Rephase was in order...

I got the engine back together, fired it up on the run stand - when a new engine build fires up on the first kick, you know it's gonna be a good build!

So with the chassis sorted out, and a freshly built 277 engine - It was time to finally finish the bike properly.... I added a few finishing touches to the neck of the frame, a new couple of gussets and an internal wiring tube for the headlight wiring...

After fabbing up new coil mounts (the rephase requires 2 coils) and all the little tabs/brackets/switch mounts, etc - it was time for the final finish. I spent about 8 hours grinding and blending all of the OEM ugly off of this frame... Tabs, brackets, holes, etc.. all had to be cleaned up. I always love when someone is like "Dude, that bike is soo clean and simple" - as if unicorns just flew into the shop and made it happen. Simple and clean takes time...

I had always wanted to have a "raw" bike, but I really can't get into the rusty half-assed look. No offense to those folks that do, but it's just not my nature to neglect something I've worked so hard on... But, to keep the raw look, I had the entire frame sandblasted for a nice even finish on the frame. Then I painstakingly reblued all of the welds on the frame for 12 hours or so... Being extremely careful not to touch the frame (freshly sandblasted steel will flash rust in a hurry, especially with oils from your hands) and using gloves during the whole process.

I had seen some really cool BMX bikes done like this years ago, and since this thing rides like a BMX and spends some time in the air, it seemed like the perfect fit...

Into the powdercoating oven for a coat of clear... My direct neighbor at the shop is a powdercoater, so I had an inside bit of help for this process... It was pretty cool though, because he even let me spray the powder myself. I like having as much hands-on experience as I can in a build... From the time I had the frame blasted, it was less than 20 hours to get into the oven.. Any longer and I would have risked having flash rust form on the chassis...

Final assembly was long and slow... Just like all of my builds... I make sure each bolt is clean, all the threads are chased, each little thing takes time...

We shaved and polished the front forks - they ended up looking sweet! We do alot of forks for customers, but it's rare we get to see them go on the bike. Seeing them come together makes it all the better.. New seals and oil, new tapered steering bearings, new wheel bearings, new tires, new brakes, new bronze swingarm bushings, new cables, new chain, new wiring - I replace it all... A good new build should be just that - new...

Clean clean clean... That's the name of the game for a new build... I might be a bit too picky...

Speaking of being picky - I have only a few folks I use for paint... John Dills of Dills Paintworks is the man with a plan, and for this bike - we made a killer plan for the paint...

John and I had been scratching our heads on how to paint the tank on this thing for a few months... But after riding, jumping, pulling wheelies and being a total terror on this bike, we had our inspiration...

Enter Pure Hell - "One of the most fearsome, and feared AA/Fuel Altereds of the 1960′s"

Hell yeah, that'll do it! I know this bike will never be the terror and fame that Pure Hell is - so we'll just call it "Slight Hell" - how bout that....

So with an inspiration for the paint, John and I both decided the flames needed to go backwards... I mean, the whole bike is funky as it gets - so why the hell not. That's what I like about John, he's an amazingly talented award winning painter, and he's cool enough to do some funky stuff for us from time to time... Spend money with John, he's HHB Approved - and that's saying alot!

Love it or hate it? Don't care... Because it straight up rules!

Topped off the bike with the only bit of actual paint it has...

A little bit of color was needed in the lower part of the chassis, so I spun up some brass pegs and got em fitted up...

It's not always bike building in the shop. I have a 5 month old little girl, and she comes to the shop everyday for Daddy Daycare... Can you image what kind of little terror she's gonna be - being raising in a motorcycle shop like this??? The boy's won't know what to think... And they better not be thinking anything if they know whats good for em'

I am always very proud of my works, but I am an even more Proud Daddy... Having her in the shop everyday really puts things into perspective... It's why we work as hard as we do, so she can have a great future - and maybe she'll be the next greatest thing on 2 wheels on day? Who knows, all I know is that she is the greatest thing I have ever been a part of...

We had a few long days and late nights finishing this bike up...

We installed a modified set of our soon to be released Speedster pipes onto the bike, wired it up, installed the tail light (almost forgot that little detail) and it was ready to rock! But not before we had it photographed over at Frank Bott's studio..

Frank is a real cool cat, he's done some amazing photography of some really sweet bikes. Being that his studio is less than a mile away from my shop - it was a no brainer. So before we even put fuel in the new build, we took it over to Frank and had a great time in the studio getting some great shots of the bike..

Here are a few shots from the shoot... Dude can really capture the spirit of a build...

Frank has shot many of our customers bikes as well, so make sure to head over to his site and check out his work... I think you'll be surprised how many kick ass XS650s he's shot...

I think we nailed the lane-splitter feel we wanted, she's skinny....

Pretty awesome huh? I'm not talking about the bike, but Frank's Photography... We spent 4 hours in the studio taking pics of this bike... He had a great time shooting it, and we had an even better time sharing stories and getting to know one of our neighbors a bit better...

Ok, so it looks pretty sweet... I mean, it's been almost 4 years in the making.... Jeeeeze, I hope I never have another build last that long. The original owner and I differed on a few ideas (which is totally normal when two creative minds collaborate on something) but once it was in my hands, I think I was able to add all the perfect Hughstyle touches to the bike to help make it completely mine.

But did it pay a good tribute to "Pure Hell" - well, it's still cold here in North Carolina, but we had another shoot the other day to get some action shots... I think she's doing all she can to live up to it...

So until I get more pics from the other photoshoot, this'll have to do it for now...

I can see the emails now "Hey Hugh, what did you do to xxxxxxxxx and xxxxxxx on that bike...."

So here's the specs:

1975 XS650

277 Degree Rephased Engine By HHB

Ported Head

Web 59 Camshaft

Pamcopete 277 Ignition

Wiseco 750cc Pistons

5th Gear Overdrive

Shell Racing type Intakes

Modified HHB Speedster Pipes

16" 1981 XS650 Rear Wheel

Duro Rear Tire

23" Honda Front Wheel

Chen Shin Front Tire

Shaved and Polished XS650 35mm Forks

Custom HHB Stainless Lane Splitter Bars

HHB Solid Riser Bushings

Custom HHB framework - 2" up, 1.5" out, 1.5" Swingarm Stretch

HHB PMA Charging System

Custom Seat Pan - HHB

Seat Cover - Unknown

Headlight - Side Mount Bates Style

Tail Light - Cheapo HD style LED

Batteryless Setup with a Sparx Capacitor

Mikuni VM34 Carbs

Tapered Steering Bearings

Bronze Swingarm Bushings

KZ Rear Fender

HHB Brass Foot Pegs

Kick Only

And for those wondering about running with no battery? Well here ya go...

All Praise the RePhase!

2013-01-22T11:50:00.000-08:00

I remember "Alfredo" on the forums - he had a really kick ass bike. I mean this thing just looked amazing... And he'd spent a good amount of time building, rebuilding, tuning and making it just "perfect"....

I read and watched as Alfredo tried and tried to make this bike run "smooth" - and I think he did a good job for the most part. Tuning and syncing the carbs, making sure everything was sung and up to spec, etc... Hell, I think he even rebuild the engine once (maybe even 2X) to make sure it was right!

But in the end, on a stripped down chassis with solid mounted bars - the vibes of the OEM 360 engine were just too much and he never felt really at peace with the bike. I've seen alot of folks abandon the XS650 because of the vibes, but he stuck it out... And decided to go for a 277 Rephase

Now it should be said, that I don't know Alfredo at all - just watched his build online, answered a few tech questions, etc... Like most of my customers, I don't think I've ever spoken to him in person at all. So his account of the Benefit of Rephasing below is honest and straight from the horses mouth...

Straight from XS650.com - this is Alfredo's account of how the Rephase has completely transformed his bike...

" Some of you might know that I have spent some time rebuilding my motor, running my motor, rebuilding my motor, running my motor and rebuilding my motor over again. It's been a few years since I jumped on here knowing absolutely nothing (haven't come far from that btw) and really made an effort to dive in. I won't say much about the community that Travis built (xs650.com) because I know everyone here gets tremendous benefit from it. Wheter you just browse and never post, are an active asshat to everyone or an active contributor. You all get value here. No question.

What I do want to take a second and talk about is vibration. There are a lot of things that you can do to your xs that make it more reliable, sleek, sexy and fast. Most of these things are very well covered in other posts, but the one thing that I personally feel is understated is the RePhase. I have had the fortunate, and unfortunate, pleasure of experiencing the very same xs motor in various states and configurations. Now, if you are a professional racer or motor builder then I am sure this luxury is afforded to you all the time. I just don't think thats what makes up 80-90% of this community. I think there a lot of guys and gals like myself who are budget and time conscious and really want to get it right out of the gate. No time to test and test and just want to cruise.

When I first started riding the first rebuild (360°) it vibrated like a wild angry animal at speeds of 60+. If I tried to go up to 70+ the vibration was REALLY bad, sometimes I could barely keep my hands on the bars. I actually felt like it might shake loose, despite others saying it was normal. I was able, through the help of loads of forum members, to tune out some of this. The problem was it was still there. Lots of suggestions that would certainly do the trick to tone it down; squishier grips, bar snake, etc., but nothing that made a huge difference without a good amount of kit/add-ons. The vibration always felt wrong to me. I mean, I get the mechanics and why it does it, but it never really felt like something I could look forward to experiencing when riding the bike. And to me, I wanted to look forward to riding the bike. Enter the rephase. I read a ton about it and it seemed like the holy grail. So, I did the hard thing to do after spending all that time and cash on rebuilding the motor and tore it down again for the winter to do the rephase.

Saving the money and the time took awhile. I went all out this time. PMA, 5th overdrive, rephase crank/cam, but kept my bore from the original rebuild. No 750 kit in the budget and from all of what I could read the 750 just gets you to the max speed quicker. Doesn't really do too much for you unless you are racing or are really interested in getting to your cruising speed a little quicker. Neither of which are my interest or worth the $$$ to me personally.

To start to shorten this story up, I put the motor together twice with all the newly worked parts. First time I had the cam off one tooth and the base gasket was seeping. Once it was all together I ran it for about 50 miles, but even then I could tell the dramatic reduction in vibration. I never got it above 65, because of my past experience with the bike starting to vibrate like crazy before. Because the bike still vibrates a little more around that range, so naturally when it started to vibrate a little more I got scared and thought it was going to be as bad as the first rebuild.

Enter this past sunday. I was meeting up with some friends to take a ride to Nags Head (about 110 miles one way) to give the bike a proper shake down. This meant getting on the interstate which in my area means a posted speed limit of 70mph. Needless to say I clinched my butthole and went. The bike ran incredible the entire way. There is a spot where the vibration gets a hair more around 60mph (I am assuming its about 4.5k, but have no tach hooked up) but its an incredibly smooth vibration compared to the 360° phase. All went well barring some slight clutch cable adjustment needed. Even at speeds of 85-100 it barely vibrates more than a subtle hum. I have solid grips, solid mounted bars and also have all motor mounts hooked up and tightened down. I never maxed it out, but it certainly felt like it wanted to keep pulling even at 100mph. I was scared and impressed at the same time. My little xs was pulling away from a 70s ironhead and a 2000s harley 883. There were a few times when I just rolled on the throttle for a few minutes and got up to around 100+ and would look back and those guys were gone. They were right beside/behind me pulling and then they just vanished. None of us could really fathom that they couldn't keep up. Both of those bikes will get to 60+ faster than mine, but neither can keep up. I never maxed it out, but it always felt like it would go more and more and more.

So, long story short; While there is a lot that you can do to remove the vibration from the stock configuration, there is nothing you can bolt on that gives you as much of a dramatic improvement as doing a rephase does. Also, the 5th gear overdrive is an absolute MUST if you are doing a rephase. The benefit of the rephase, I feel, is dramatically understated on this forum. From my personal experience. I don't want to start an argument, just state what my experience has been.

Lots of thanks to Hugh and Pete for teaming up to offer such a great/painless upgrade available for this motor. If it's within your means to do this now or in the future. Do it. And give Hugh and Pete your money. Others may be able to do it, but these guys are certainly the top shelf."

And the best part? He's back in the saddle again, and a life behind bars ain't so bad after all!

Alfredo - If you ever make it over this way, or we see each other at a show, the first brew is on me... take care dude, and ride on!

Hugh

Thread on XS650 for those interested... http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?p=243430#post243430

270 Degree Rephased XS650 engine? Yes we can - and did!

2013-01-17T12:22:00.000-08:00

I'll let the video do a little talking this time... I'm sure you folks get tired of reading my stuff anyhow...

It's taken me a few years to finally build a 270 engine. I have built several cranks for them in the past, but shipped all but 1 overseas. The other 1 I built I know has not been run as of yet. This could very well be the only 270 XS650 Engine in the USA that is alive and running.

Thanks for checking in folks

Hugh

Details - make all the difference...

2013-01-08T07:37:00.000-08:00

I tore down my "brat" bike this past week, spent several hours with a grinder, file, and sander removing all the OEM ugly from it - and man was it UGLY!!!

Then I treated the neck to a nice few details...

Stay tuned for more details as this old build finally comes to life - it's only been about 4-5 years! Jeeze, I need more personal time in the shop....

Have a Red Hot New Year!

2012-12-31T12:09:00.002-08:00

Have a great new year folks... Thanks so much for your support in 2012. We look forward to offering more products and services to you in the 2013...

And what? Oh yeah, we'll be taking in Engines starting the first of next week. Stay tuned for a new blog post!

Hugh
Hugh's HandBuilt

TDC - and how to find it...

2012-12-11T15:58:00.000-08:00

Top Dead Center - something most XS650 folks are probably taking for granted. But there are times when it's good to know EXACTLY where TDC is... Like when you swap on a PMA and need to make a new timing mark, or if you are rebuilding the engine and need to degree the camshaft...

I'm gonna show you how to make your own piston stop tool, AND how to find TDC in this little tutorial. Yes, I know Piston Stops are commercially available, but I always enjoy showing someone how to make their own tools, and sometimes you just don't have a choice...

Pull one of your old spark plugs, or get one out of the engine itself... It's probably a good time to change them anyhow...

Now smash that sucker with a hammer!!! *Use some safety glasses - it's the cool kid thing to do.

You are basically trying to remove as much porcelain as possible from the plug. Grind off the end of the plug (the part you normally gap to the electrode) and use a chisel/punch to knock out some of that porcelain...

Now go get a scrap of round rod from the corner, or something round like a bolt... I had some 5/16" round stock laying around, so I used that (Don't go any larger, smaller is ok, but larger may not work out so well - something about the valves getting in the way or whatnot - rocket science maybe??)

Cut off a short section and chuck it up in your favorite drill... This particular drill SUCKS, and is not my favorite... Do yourself a favor and work with tools that make your job easier...

I cut off about 1.25" or so and chucked it up...

This is a cool trick - and you can use it to round of almost anything that you can chuck into a drill... With the drill spinning full speed, you can work the round stock with your belt sander... It'll make a nice concentric ball on the end of your material - and it only takes a few seconds to get the swing of it...

Works really well, you can use it for all kinds of stuff - bar ends, sissybars, frame bungs, etc.. I like this trick...

The faster your drill spins, and finer grit you have on your belt sander, the nicer the finish will be on the end of your material. In this case, my drill is a giant chunk of garbage, but hey - at least my belt on the sander was nearly worn out!

Either way, since we are going to be using this inside the engine, take the time to polish the end of the round stock - you don't want any burrs or sharp edges... I used my polishing wheel and some black compound..

Polished and nice...

Now you wanna figure out a way to center up the rod into the threaded part of the spark plug. This isn't super critical, but the closer the better. I'm a big fan of using what you have... I happen to have a lathe, so I used that to center up everything..

I didn't get an action shot of me welding it, kinda hard to do all that and take a picture at the same time.. But I welded it, being careful not to damage the threads..

So there, you now have a really inexpensive piston stop. Making this literally took me less than 10 minutes, and when you need a tool, it's always nice to be able to make one. Ordering a tool can usually take 3-5 days or more for it to show up... Winter is here - I'd rather be wrenching than be sitting by the mailbox waiting on a simple tool. Plus, it's always good to get in the habit of problem solving when in the shop - it'll make problem solving on the side of the road that much easier... And I don't recall Macgyver mail ordering his stuff... Be cool, make a tool!

Now that you have your piston stop, you'll want a degree wheel.

Wait just a minute!!! This dude really just told us how to make a piston stop, but he has a store bought degree wheel??? LAME!!! Ok, you win... I use a degree wheel so often, a store bought one is nice... But here's a good way to make one yourself - go to http://www.tavia.com/free_degree_wheel.html and print one off. Then glue it onto a good piece of cardstock or thin aluminum, and you now have a free and easy to make degree wheel... Cool

So yeah, basically you can do all of this for FREE- and free is just the right price!

So now pull the spark plug, shine a flashlight in there and turn the crank until the piston is at the top of the stroke... Don't overthink this, get it close and go from there...

Turn the crank on the clutch side, I like to use my Crescent/Hammer/Bolt-Rounder-Off'r in a situation like this...

When you think you are close to TDC (Top Dead Center in gearhead speak) - then you'll wanna see about mounting up the degree wheel to the crank. I had to drill out the center of my degree wheel, get it close to the right size and on center, and this job will be alot easier...

On the crank side, I usually have the Charging System Removed. If it's not removed, you'll have to get a bit more creative in mounting the degree wheel - but it's not impossible...

Put a nut all the way down on the threads of the crankshaft. (the OEM nut from the charging system will work just fine)

Fit the degree wheel to the crankshaft...

Now before you bolt the degree wheel down, you'll wanna rig up a pointer. I've used sharpened TIG rod and vice grips before to hold it to the cases.. Really, you just want a good firm pointer that won't bounce around - you want to be accurate with this part. My degree wheel happened to be the perfect size that i could use a bolt from the junk drawer to make a pointer with...

I made my pointer on the belt sander using an old socket head bolt...

Took that sucker to the belt sander and made it all sharp and pointy... I could go hunting with this thing...

All sharp, so I slapped some yellow paint on it so it will stand out against the blue degree wheel - you don't have to do this... I do this stuff so that folks can get a clearer idea of what's going on in the pics.. You also won't have to wait around for the paint to dry - like I did... Doh!

I threaded my new pointy bolt into one of the holes in the cases... Perfect alignment for this job!

Don't worry what degree it points at just yet, because you still haven't tightened up the degree wheel right?

So now you'll wanna use another nut, and a washer to lock down the degree wheel. The washer is important, it will keep the degree wheel from spinning while you lock down the 2 nuts against each other on the crank...

Set the dial to "0" TDC and gently lock it down...

Go ahead and turn the crank to BDC and thread the piston stop into the spark plug hole. You'll want the piston at the bottom of it's travel so that you don't take a chance to damage the piston when installing the piston stop. If you feel any resistance at all when installing the piston stop - STOP! It should not hit valves or pistons...

Thread the piston stop into the spark plug hole... No need to get crazy torquing this thing down, just lightly snug it up...

Stupid blog - can't flip this pic - Oh Well, you get the idea...

With the piston stop installed, gently rotate the crank (using the clutch side of the crank to do so! Do not rotate using the degree wheel side) until you feel the piston come to a stop against the - yes you guessed it - the piston stop. It doesn't matter which way you rotate it...

Then look at the degree on the pointer and make a note of it...

I was right at 34 Degrees, took a note of it, then turned the crank the opposite direction until the piston stopped again, and checked the measurement.

I was at 26 degrees on this measurement. So I took 26 from 34 and the difference was 8. Divide the difference by 2, and that is the amount of degrees you need to change your degree wheel to the pointer. In my case, I was off by 4 degrees. So I rotated the degree wheel on the crank (being careful not to turn the crank) and locked it back down.

Repeat turning the crank back and forth until the degree wheel reads the same measurement on both sides of "0" at the pointer. You may have to readjust the degree wheel on the crank a few times. When you have both sides of "0" at the same measurement, you will know your degree wheel is in perfect timing with your crank and pointer. You can now use "TDC" and can then use that reference point for other things (like cam timing, making new timing marks, valve adjustment timing, etc.. )

I'll hopefully do another "How-To" on cam timing and how to degree if perfectly to your crankshaft. Until then, thanks for checking in.

I hope you find this How-To useful - and as always, thanks or your support of Hugh's HandBuilt

Hugh

Whats happening lately at HHB?

2012-12-11T08:41:00.000-08:00

Well folks, it's nearing the end of the year, and we figured we'd give you an idea of whats been happening in the shop lately.

We've been kicking out a TON of our Rephased XS650 Engines. I think we've fired up and test run about 7 engines in the last 2 months or so... I know you guys like videos - so here is a few of the latest engines we've fired up.

I've been working overtime getting these engines built - not that I'm complaining... Long hours and long days have been getting these out the door faster than ever...

Tevan has been making some great progress on his Resto-Mod Cafe' 72 XS2 Project - it's gonna be a sweet machine! He's really worked hard building his first bike, and he's only 19 - this one should be completed and on the streets very soon!

I have been slowly bringing my Black and White Bike back up to snuff. I had a little bit of a meltdown from all the abuse I've given the thing, so it's got a newly rebuilt and even better engine just waiting for the chassis to get freshened up..

Yep, fried a piston - given the abuse and neglect I've shown this engine, I'm not uspet in the least...

The old Black and White bike has basically been the test mule for almost all of our HHB products and services. As much as it is an Iconic XS650, I also beat the living daylights outta that thing in order to ensure that I only bring the best XS650 Parts and Services to you folks... Built to ride!

New 750cc Engine just waiting for some more abuse! (I have a bad habit of building an engine for myself, and then selling it... Not letting this one go - for once....)

Speaking of engine work, we've been reworking a few things around the shop so I can offer Clutch Exchanges in the future. We've been getting lots of requests to machine our 8 Pack Clutches - and we've finally figured out a good way to machine them and build them in a timely manner... Look for that service to be announced in January sometime...

8 Pack Clutch into an OEM 7 Pack Basket

And for those of you with an OEM 6 Pack Clutch Basket, we've also found a way to upgrade you to 7 Disks - and it's gonna be a very cost effective upgrade!

We always get questions "How do you get your engines/parts/stuff so clean???" Well, we used to do a TON of beadblasting to get our components as clean and fresh as possible. Bead blasting required a TON of effort, and even more time cleaning and ensuring all of the glass bead was thoroughly removed from any engine components.

Then we discovered Aqua Blasting! Johnathan is the owner of Rice Relics and has been doing some great work for us... (PS - You can mail him your parts, and he'll make sure you get the very best service and mail em' back to you - very cool!)

This will give you an idea of the amount of work we've been doing lately, and without someone doing the Aqau Blasting for us, we'd be stuck at the blast cabinet all day...

And when parts are this clean, I can find/fix any damages much easier... I've had several sets of cases come in with this area of the engine damaged. A little bit of AC power and we are back in business...

Ok, but back to bikes right? I had been helping a friend build this "Brat" bike for a LONG time, it was actually the 2nd bike I ever started to customize. Well, several years later, and it sitting in the corner of the shop neglected, a deal was struck with the owner and now I have been beating on this bike as bad or worse than the Black and White bike ever had it...

I've made a few changes from the previous owners doing - mostly cosmetic. I've been taking it over to the skate park and hitting the ramps with it... Sooo dumb... But, this thing with it's super narrow bars and gnarly tires just wants to be in the air - I can't help it...

It'll get some upgrades this winter, a 750cc Rephased, cammed, ported and carbed engine should do nicely.... And maybe I'll quit breaking it - that box jump at the skate park is hell on a frame I tell ya - haha.... Nothing some new tubing and beefier shock mounts can't handle...

So we hopefully will have our Resto-Mod Cafe' Project, the Black and White Bike, My funky Brat Lansplitter Dirtbike Thing, My Digger Project (long been on hold...) and a Street Tracker done this spring to bring to shows, events, etc...

Street Tracker you say??? Oh yeah, I've started on the head for that project too! I'm thinking 270 Degree Rephase, 750 CC, and all the trimmings...

So we've got a LONG busy winter ahead of us... I think we have our hands full, and we still plan to bring 3-4 new products to market in the next few months - so stay tuned!

PS - find us on Facebook - we tend to put alot of random updates on Facebook, and sometimes you can get a jump on the sale of random parts too... So go "Like" us, if you don't already

And since 2013 is practically upon us, go get your XS650.com calendar! We made the cover!!!

Buy your 2013 Calendar here - http://www.morandesignco.com/shop.html - and no, we aren't making any money off of this, we just thought it was cool...

As always, thanks so much for your continued support of Hugh's HandBuilt - when you support a small business like HHB, you can see exactly where your money goes. We have 2 fulltime employees, and I have a wife and 4 month old child who all appreciate your business. Thanks again folks for allowing us to be a small part of the American Dream

Hugh

And the winner is????

2012-12-01T10:45:00.000-08:00

JASON H - Step right up and collect your prize!!!

Thanks so much to the folks who entered, shared and really took part in what this giveaway was all about... It has been inspiring to more folks than you can imagine, lots of people have emailed or called and talked about this giveaway.

I'm proud to see so many of you fine folks getting out in the shop and spending time with your families... Keep it up..

Jason H -

"Here you go brother.
Thanks for doing this man we all appreciate it.
This is my two year old daughter Aberdeen. She's my one and and only and definitely mine and my wife's best friend. On top of skateboards and Dora she loves all things loud and fast.... Out of all of the sweet tools in my shop she has been the greatest addition.
Thanks again man."

His email response is the best

"Your kidding! Your effing kidding! I have literally never won anything literally....not even two bucks on a lotto ticket!!!!! I'm gonna scream!!! This is bad ass!!!!

That's was so hard to type!!!! Thanks so much man!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Glad to be a small part of your build Jason!
___________________________________________________________________________________

And all the other submissions? Well, here they are!

Our Holiday Giveaway Submissions. Get out there, get your family involved in wrenching on these old bikes - win big!!

More information on the Giveaway here: http://hughshandbuilt.blogspot.com/2012/11/holiday-giveaway-dont-miss-out-on-this.html

2012 Holiday Giveaway Picture Submissions:

"Here is a pic of myself and son with my xs winter project that is now going on to it's 3rd year ;) Although he's not old enough to help out yet, I am very thankful for his appreciation of anything with wheels and his enthusiasm for all bikes. My biggest thing to thankful for is a wife who will put up with the endless working in the garage, buying parts and direction changes.

The bike started as a pile of parts that once where a 77 xs650 with just 1800 miles that was left in a bake yard.

The motor is a 71 that will eventually be a rephased motor with my 77 bottom end mated to the 71 top end. My goal at this time is to have is on the road for spring..... Of 2013 and no later ;)Thanks for the work you do for the community and all of your blood sweat and tears."

Jeff C

__________________________________________________________________________________

"This is me and the neighbor kid that's always coming by checking out what I'm doing, he's the only one besides my kid that shows interest so I put him to work and showed him how I clean up the covers on these motors"

"This is my boy Eli helping out, he's getting good with the Scotchbrite and likes to get his hands on my wrenches and anything that plugs in the wall! My little girl is more "monkey see, monkey do" but she's got the idea. The grey fella is my Dad, over 30 years as a fabricator and never once showed me how to do anything. All I ever heard as a kid was "no boy of mine is gonna work in a dirty old shop all day like I have to!". Little did we know all these years later it would be all I want to do, and after my wife bought me a welder, the old man came down and showed me some of his tricks... one of the best days ever"

"Monkey See, Monkey Do!" - haha

"My wife changing out my jets before I get home from work"

I work 50+ hours a week at night so I don't get to see my kids that much during the school year, and they know I love being in my garage. That said, it's really cool that they like to get into what I'm doing and show interest. You're doing a lot of great things Hugh, keep it up man!

Jeremy V

__________________________________________________________________________________

"I'm a 32-year old software engineer, who absolutely loves XS650's! Bet you don't hear that often, ha. I went out last year and grabbed a beater, pulled out from the woods, no tank, not much of anything really. After a lot of research, I rebuilt the carbs and got it wired (oh yeah, that was also missing). Getting the bike fired up was one of the coolest things ever, given my experience. The other coolest thing ever is the little guy in the pic, who loves these things as much as I do. We sit on my laptop and browse xs650chopper.com, xs650.com, etc. and are just amazed at how awesome these bikes are. He's obsessed with tanks, every one he sees is like the first tank he's ever seen, love it! Either way, I'm blessed to spend time with him doing what I love to do, even if it's for an hour or so every week given my busy schedule. Hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and please don't stop making these awesome products! Take care!"

Marco A

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"This is a picture of me and my son (Noah) work on my bike. It is a 79' XS650. I have been working on the bike for about a year. It is a drop seat, hardtail (7 inches longer), the front end has been raked out several degrees. I plan on stripping the frame and stain clear coating it. The engine will go black with highlighting the fins on the jugs. I will be running clip-ons with internal throttle and clutch. I am looking forward to having it done in the spring."

Troy Y
___________________________________________________________________________________

" About 1980 or so my then at the time 5 year old brother decided he and a friend would "fix daddies bike". They managed to pull every screw they could and cut wiring and drain fork oil...long story short, when my father tried to fix this, he and my grandfather never got her to run again,,, So it sat in a damp dingy basement garage for the next 32 years.
This began the long strange trip...
My father bought the bike in NY, rode it to Oregon, and back to NY then it was dead. in that time he met my mother in Oregon and they rode it everywhere, for my whole life my mother was mad at my brother about wrecking that bike, and always brought it up.
My mother passed away and the bike sat...
I moved to Portland OR and met my lovely wife Aubrey. We went to NY got the bike out of that basement at my grandfathers and had it shipped out to Oregon... I had decided that I would do a complete restoration, not having a clue where to begin or how to...
Lucky for me, and the point of this contest, my wife who had no idea what a torque wrench was, has now dived in full out to help me and has learned everything about the bike inside and out...
here are some pics,
before, during, and after, and of course my lovely girlie non mechanic ( at all) wife, working away...
she now also goes to get her oil changed when she should, all because of our beloved xs. "

Gordon L
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Here's a pic of my shop helper getting his hands dirty during the initial teardown of our first project. My name is Jesse and the this is my son james. the bike is a 78 special that I bought last march. the other pic is it as it sits now. Its been a bit of a slow project since I've been learning as I go. ultimately it will run a pma and pamco with no battery/kick only.fake oil bag for electronics and fake battery box converted to tool box to fill the giant void behind the motor. pretty basic build as I'm doing it all myself other that the hardtail weld which I didn't think was a good Idea with my limited skills and flux core harbor freight mig. my son hangs out with me pretty much every day in the garage and he is convinced its his bike. he's also forcing me to paint it blue. Thanks for the help that you have unknowingly provided from your site, xs650.com, and chopcult.

Jesse G
___________________________________________________________________________________

"Here is 6 year old Joey wearing an old lab coat from my office, helping me get Yamabond spread out so I can get the case back together. This was a complete teardown of a 1980 xs650 engine that I built back up (and now have in my running bike)."

"This is 9 year old Lucy giving me a hand getting the HHB Clutch mod all buttoned up on my 1980 xs650 Special"

Steven S
___________________________________________________________________________________

"Here's a pic of my dad , my niece, my dog and I on a cold desert night. The bike is an 81 with tcbros hardtail and gordonscott pipes. We just finished the paint . Other then that I'd just like it to be a daily driver before summer so I can ride it again before I deploy . I'm so thankful for the support of my family ( my dads plethora of tools) haha my nice and my dog helping as much as they can . And my moms home cooked meals . I think this is a great idea and good luck to everyone ."

Semper Fi
Kameron
___________________________________________________________________________________

"This bike started out as a 73 TX650. I bought it with a locked up motor and in boxes. If you asked me what a bobber was a year ago, I couldn't tell you.

I seen an ad in the local classifieds (wasn't even looking for a bike) for a bobbed out harley and ever since than knew I had to have one.

Joined up on XS650.com and started chopping.

It's been a blast building this bike, not even close to being finished.

Bike has a T.C hardtail, later model 35mm front end which will eventually be lowered 3 inches up front with a 21 inch wheel. I like the low slammed bikes. It's been consuming me to get mine built that way. Motor will stay stock for now as it is not in the budget. Just want to get it rolling.

Here's a pic of my boy Seth. Not able to turn wrenches yet but will be a helper in the garage soon enough. He likes anything with wheels and I think that's a good thing."

Kevin M

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Here is a pic of me and my son (JD) in the garage with my 79 xs650 Special. I am in the process of stripping it down to turn it into a minimalist bobber with rigid frame and rephased motor. I hope to do all the work myself with the exception of building the hardtail and having Hugh's HandBuilt split my cam. She should look good when done with flat black paint and Lucifera on the seat from an old Danzig song. My son is only 18 months old but I hope he grows up wanting to hang out in the garage with his ol' man."

Josh M

___________________________________________________________________________________

"What a great idea to highlight how a garage can bring a family memories. Attached is a photo of my oldest daughter in her pink leotard helping me rewire a XS650 after the installation of the HHB PMA, Pamco and new coil. It's only appropriate that she helps since the XS650 was a Father's Day present. I have started to build a hard tail with hopes of 21" wheels and a HHB re-phase.

Thanks for the opportunity to showcase what the typical weekend looks like in my garage.

Keep up the Great Work and here to success in the upcoming New Year!"

Johnathan M

___________________________________________________________________________________

"Very generous contest you are hosting!

So, I have a 1981 XS 650 SH that I got last Christmas with an idea to have a historical bike to a) play around on, b) make my son think I was cool, anc c) learn how to work on bikes as he is a car/bike freak and I'll have to fix his someday.

The ultimate goal for this bike and one in the future is to leave something to my sons that they can appreciate from a historical standpoint, and also know that their Dad put it back together for them. This bike will be a Cafe Racer style and I hope to spend the majority of this winter getting it all pretty like.

My name is Ryan and my xs650 handle is 'rlauchard'. These are my two sons Connor (redhead, age 4) and Finn (blonde, age 2). My wife and I are thankful for them everyday and since I travel...well...absence certainly makes you aware of how much they mean to you.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours and a Merry Christmas to boot!"

Ryan L

__________________________________________________________________________________

This is a picture I snapped of my old man, Roger. Him and I had been at odds for nearly two decades and when my interest in chopping bikes was sparked it seemed as if that was just the catalyst we needed to bury some hatchets. He is now my go-to guy for info/advice and one of my best friends. The bike he is standing next to is my 1980 xs650 that we just got done putting the first coat of primer on. I picked up the brat-kit from monster craftsman, welded it up and plan to build the bike up in a very simple fashion to cruise around town. I picked up a 2" lowering kit from you guys and a wassell replica and swapped out the stock front wheel with one from an xs400 with the drum brake. Happy holidays!

Cody K

___________________________________________________________________________________

"These are pictures of my son Austin. He is 8 years old, and this is his first project ever. My dad passed away last April, and we did a lot together. So I picked up this 72 xs as a father son project to try and redirect my son from video games and t.v. The change in him has been phenomenal! He loves getting out in the garage and finding out all what all the tools do. The time I used to spend in the garage alone, has now turned into passing on what little I know, and learning a few things in the process. Austin has Aspergers, and I have been trying to find something that he enjoys doing. Once they get an interest, they focus on it with laser like intensity, and I think we hit the mother load with the xs project. Hardware and tool runs to the store that used to be a trial with him, have suddenly taken on a whole new direction. Let’s just say this has been a pivotal moment for us, and I couldn’t be happier with the direction this is headed!! We have decided to do a scrambler/tracker type bike, with the understanding that when he can kick start her, the bike is officially his. We will be posting progress pics on instagram under the name strattoad. Thanks’ to Hugh and everyone else in the xs community for providing the products and info to keep this going.

Glenn Q
___________________________________________________________________________________

"This is a picture of my 7 year old daughter Keri Elizabeth. She is my shop helper constantly helping me work on my cars and now my new XS650 bobber build. As you can see in the picture she was so excited to work on the bike she didn't even take the time to change out of her "fancy" clothes to start wrenching. She took apart the rear fender, signals, tank, front fender and side covers all on her own, from finding the correct tool to knowing which nut or screws to wrench on.

The goal of the build is two fold.
First goal is to be able to share another project with my daughters and teach them as much as I can as we learn how to build a bobber together. I want them to be self sufficient and be able to handle any obstacle thrown at them including make their own car/bike repairs. Hopefully one day she will let me be her helper when she wants to build her own motorcycle/show car.

Second goal is to build a super clean, super sleek hardtail. Clean lines, crisp paint. less is more approach. Something I can be proud to cruise around town and say I built it myself."

Jason W
__________________________________________________________________________________

Heres a shot of my wife, our soon to be son, Jackson, our dog Axl Garbage, and I working on my 81 XS650 Heritage. I'm planning on streching it 3' and dropping it 2', with a sportster tank( in the top corner of my pic). My idea is to give it a real sweaty look, I've always like primer grey, and raw steel. I'm working on a kick stand, made out of an 1 1/8 wrench heated and bent, and a custom taillight cover made from the top of an old time juicer. I found your contest looking for an alternative for the crappy riser bushings in my stock XS, I'll be ordering those from you real soon !

A little backstory on my family.... I bought my fist motorycyle, 71 cb750 barn find, last spring with a small amount of cash I had laid away. No more then a week later, my wife and I found out she was pregnant with our first child !!! We are so pumped! Funny how life works, I would have never spent the money on a bike for myself if I knew we had a baby on the way. So I made the most of it... Spent all summer fixing up the CB got it running and put a few thousand miles on it. I loved it ! Wrenching, crusin, and learnin about these old bikes has been awesome. So in the fall I sold my CB, made a few bucks and got an 81 heritage that had sat for 15 years on the cheap and now its my winter project. As you can see I dont have a garage, I made up my porch as my Choppin Shop, and I'm set up for the winter. I cant wait until my son gets here so I can pass my love for two wheels on to him, Plus then my wife wont have to keep holdin a flashight for me too!!!

See you on the open road !

Mike F
___________________________________________________________________________________

Me and my son Mike are building a xs cafe for my wife Mary.I Stripped and powder coated the frame. We plan to use a permanent magnet alternator and a pamco ignition. And relace the wheels with new spokes. We hand built the tail section , seat pan and are now working on the foam and vinyl now. Hoping to have it done by spring.

Mary P

___________________________________________________________________________________

"My grandson helping Papa in the garage. Working on my tracker. He just asked "What you doin now Papa" when I snapped the first pic. Caught him a little by surprise This was Thanksgiving Day. Second pic is a year or so old. He asked "What drawer Papa" When I told him to bring me wrench. Racerdave on XS650.com"

Dave S

__________________________________________________________________________

"Hey Hugh,
Super cool thing to give back.
Anywho...here's my kid, Tobias, having helped me rebuild and polish the front forks. I have a '77 xs650 swingarm bobber i'm building...(some call it brat, I don't think mine is). All the frame mods (none to the neck) should be done soon and then onto the torn apart motor...rephase, clean, blah, blah, rebuild. should be fun. He has a ball taking my tools and working on his little 4x4 battery powered truck while I work on the scooter. Ultimate goal for the bike...to ride the piss out of her all the time. Would love to ride down to Mexico to see one of my closest friends.

Thanks for all you do Hugh."

Robb

__________________________________________________________________________

" I was in the garage with my dad working on the bike befor thanks giveing dinner and the wife found me I got yelled at lol cuz i was in my nice clothes. my plan is to hard tail it and a nice simple pant job and some ape hanger I'm hoping to have it done for the riding season coming up I'm on an extreme budget for this bike it will be a rat rod chopper/bobber. The next one I build I will go all out and hopefully my son will be old anuf to help a little he's only a month old"

Subby

__________________________________________________________________________

"Here is my 3 year old son Eli who is a natural when it comes to wrenching and working with his hands. Anytime I am working on any project he is there to help. This is my 1981 Special that was pretty neglected when I got it. Last winter was spent getting it into shape so I could be riding it by spring. Replaced fuses with blade type, fixed all leaks, new swingarm bushings, steering bearings, tune up, polished engine covers, new chain, sprockets, etc, etc. Spring came around and I road it every day to work and back and on weekends with no issues. This winter is now upon me and I am ready to spend time in the garage (I do concrete construction so my job is seasonal). What I have planned next is; new bars 12 inch black, mustang tank, all new lights, speedo, solo seat, brat style (gonna keep the suspension), new rear fender, pipes etc, etc. Here are a couple of pics."

Paul K

___________________________________________________________________________________

"Hi Hugh
This is me with the kids spending some family time together.
I do shift work so its hard to balance work, family, and a bike.
But its nice that my boy is willing to learn how to fix/fabricate,
and my little girl likes to ham it up and give us some laughs
The bike is a '79 650 came with the hard tail, but it needs some updates, PMA,Pamco,fender,tank... it runs good but i know it will run great when we're done with it
thx Steve, Mas, and Nicole"

Crusher

___________________________________________________________________________________

"This is the bike my neighbor Mike and I built last winter, runs and rides great it's apart for paint,polish and rechrome and a seat cover, I'd like this bike to look new and turn alot of heads, we had alot of good times in the garage with build, have 2 more to build and maybe a couple of street trackers too. Happy Holidays"

Mark F

___________________________________________________________________________________

"Wanted to say thanks in advance - not cuz I expect to win, but because you are doing a great job of supporting our community. I expect I'll be a customer soon enough. My bike is an '82 which I bought as a ratty already hardtailed bike.

The welding was horrid on this bike, and the cam chain rattled like hell. I've now had this bike completely apart and have re-welded the frame, tore down the top end of the engine and am now working on rewiring. It's getting beautiful and can't wait to ride it.

This is my daughter Raye. She's handy with a ratchet and keeps me young. She's usually riding in the driveway on my old skateboard while I'm wrenching the bike.

She and I ride together on the 'other' bike - with the sidecar.

PS: this pic is the day I got the bike. the 2up seat is gone, as is the huge rear fender and dragging mufflers. I've got some drag bars on it, small headlight and gauges. I'm keeping the monster harley tanks cuz I like how they look and can't wait to get something like 300 miles per fill up.

PPS: I've been keeping a blog at http://xs650bobber.tumblr.com haven't updated lately cuz I can't get on tumblr at work LOL.

Well, that's it. Thanks Hugh."

David S

___________________________________________________________________________________

" Startin' 'im out young!

Been working on this bike for about 2 years now with amazing help from Hugh and others enlisted in the xs650.com website...Huge thanks to all! I started out with the idea of a drop seat, hard-tailed chopper. The little man helped by inserting sockets into the exhaust and putting screwdrivers in any hole that they would fit in. Making "tools" to fish out small things from every hole on the bike was a bit of a set back but completely worth the time together. He loves being in the garage helping with all our projects.
The bike evolved into the second picture with more to go before next summer. All custom parts (excluding the SWEET! rephased crank and cam by Hugh's Handbuilt) including the hardtail, gooseneck, fenders, powder coating and more were fabricated with long hours of grinding and welding in the garage of tools that I acquired mostly for this project. Despite the glares from the wife on a few long nights, the bike has made it this far. Funny thing is, when I took her on a ride around the block for one of the maiden voyages, her outlook turned 180 degrees and talk of in town date nights began...Moral of the story; hold out 'til the bikes are done guys! They will like it in the end."

Jeff W

___________________________________________________________________________________

"My father in law gave me this bike in exchange for getting his Harley running and taking a motorcycle safety course. Both bikes sat over 10yrs. It was a stock 1977 XS650D as soon as i got the bike home I tore it completely apart and started cutting away. My wife helped me and I saw a tear as memory's came back as she rode on the tank as a little girl. So I painted the tank with the lace from her wedding dress as tribute. My 2 daughters were so exicited to see it riding they wanted to ride something. So I found a 1970 shrike mini bike they are helping me with."

Brent

___________________________________________________________________________________

"The attached picture is the best pit crew I could ever ask for sporting some of their favorite shirts! Xavier on the far left is my mini me, the others are my ex wifes kids. They all love hangn out with me in the garage, Xavier claims everything in the garage is his, so aparently i dont have any motorcycles. Hugh, you are an amazing man and what you are doing with the old Yamahas is awesome!! Keep it up! BMR 2013!!!!"

Ben Hall

___________________________________________________________________________________

"This is a picture of my girlfriend of six years as we got started on my xs650. We were stripping it and looking over reusable parts, I plan on having her help out over the whole process.

The plan is to hardtail the frame, build a springer front end, go over the engine and have a nimble reliable bike with a handful of one off handmade parts all by spring. Being young and broke, I’m planning out the entire build and building as many parts myself while keeping safety and reliability in mind."

Greg P

___________________________________________________________________________________

"Here is a pic of 3 of my students who are part of our "Kids Cafe" club at my school in Minnedosa, Manitoba, Canada. This is my first crack at a motorcycle project involving students to this degree -- I did have 2-3 students help rebuild my supermono racer at my last High School. I have 13 kids signed up, but using the auto shop at the high school and only having 1 bike to work on, I had to get creative in order to keep all students busy. I have 3 students come to each after school session, to work on the bike for a couple of hours. This pic sorta represents the frenetic nature of the junior high brain, and the fact that during this session, all three guys were busy! Two are working on rearsets while another works on an engine cover. The bike is a 1975 I purchased from a roadracing buddy for $500, partly restored. Our hope is to finish it as a Cafe Racer in time for next spring and raffle it off, with the proceeds going to fund next year's project. I hope to make in an annual club."

* We gladly sponsor these young folks in their efforts to wrench and learn about old motorcycles. Check out their blog - http://tcskidscafe.blogspot.com/

James S

___________________________________________________________________________

"This is my daughter Peyton... She's always eager to help out on my projects, though always seems to get distracted by one shiny object or another and ends up off in the corner beating on something with a hammer or building some architectural masterpiece that defies gravity out of every spare nut, bolt, piece of scrap metal, and electrical tape she can find.

Growing up spending hours in the shop with my dad I know what it can do for our relationship, so when I can't find that missing bolt... I don't sweat it when I find it on the 15th floor of her masterpiece...

My barn owl special XS is coming along very slowly...since cleaning the owl poop off from the years sitting in the farmers barn it keeps changing forms, and has currently changed direction to end up hardtailed, re-phased, and built in a nice clean vintage looking chopper style. Low and tight."

Jason J

___________________________________________________________________________________

"This is a picture of my 4 year old Grandson, Dakota helping me break down a tire off my 75 XS650 Standard. You can see the project in the background. This is my "XS Build-Off" project. I am planning a fully custom frame, basically all that will be left of the original bike is the neck, engine, rear wheel, and front hub. I have designed a very industrial frame and frontend for this build.

I was given this XS, my first bike, by my Uncle Jerry. he had it in his back yard for about 10 years. He finally realized that he was never gonna get around to doing anything with it, so he gave it to me, along with a 73 CB500 chop that he gave to my younger brother, Brandon. The Honda has already garnered 2 trophies (rat class) and it the center of attention where ever it goes. My brother and I are trying to start a small custom car & bike shop called "$pare Change Custom$" and we are hoping that my XS and his CB will be the best advertisement for our little shop.

My Grandson loves being around my motorcycles, and has always tried to "help", so today he joined me in removing a 20+ year old tire so I can clean up the rim, true the spokes and mock up the rear half of my project. It is very important to me to spend as much quality time with my Grandbabies as possible. I am 40 years old, and my family has a history of either living well into the 90's or passing on very early... I lost my Dad 10 years ago when he was only 51, I dont want to risk missing a chance to have "Kota & Tampa" time... we never know when we will be out of time.

I think this is a great way to "pay it forward" that you have decided to do, THANK YOU!"

Chris M

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

"Here I am with my little helpers! Isabella (6), Tristan (4), and Kellan (2), and, of course, the 77 XS650! I'm still tearing down, grinding and accumulating goodies. Plans call for a loud, hard tailed, bare bones death machine! My kids, especially Kellan, LOVE motorcycles, and we're having a great time playing with it. It's my first chopper build, and to say I'm on a tight budget would be a huge understatement! After selling stock "garbage" that I don't need, I"ve broke even. Not one dime out of pocket (yet)! Our first build together was a YZ250 dirt bike that, with some little helping hands, turned out great! I had a nasty wipeout and decided I should just stay on the street, so I traded it for the 650 and never looked back. Thank you for running this contest. Your work is amazing and I hope I win!!!"

Marcus H

_________________________________________________________________

"I have an 83 special. The plan for the bike at the time the pictures were taken was to just get it running. My daughter was almost three at the time these pictures were taken so she couldn't really do much but she certainly "helped". The picture of her sitting on it is her enjoying the fruits of her "labor" :) Now that she has spent so much time around tearing down the bike and getting it running I now catch her "wrenching" on her scooter and bicycle, never mind the fact that she's using a screwdriver to do so :) She turned 4 this past sunday.

The future of the bike is to brat it out, finally put on the new carbs I picked up and I had been planning on getting a pma kit. The bike in the background of the pic of her sitting on the floor actually has one of your kits in it, belongs to a friend of mine. Anyway I figured you'd enjoy the pics, keep up the good work."

Trevor K

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

"This is how we relax in the evenings working on my 81 XS650 Short Chop. Shown in the picture is daughter Jane age 4, and Son Michael age 7. 2012 was a tough year for our family. Being a Newly Full-Time single dad, with a very full work schedule, spending time with my family working on a hobby we all love is our inexpensive form of recreation. Being on a really tight budget the affordability of the XS650 has allowed me to build a cool bike on a limted income. The kids truly love spending time with me working on the bike.

This is how the bike was this past year at the Smoke Out. We are currently adding a rear fender and "sissy bar" and calling this project "DONE"!

Thanks Hugh for making cool products for the everyday garage builder!"

Tim A

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

"Hugh.
Here are some pictures for your giveaway contest. That is very generous of you to give back to the motorcycling community like this. You make some great looking parts and I hope to be able to incorporate some of those parts into my xs650 build seen below.
As you know, family is a very important thing. For me, my daughter Allison has been my inspiration for my build. I have done several other cafe builds in the past, but this is the first build where my daughter is actually old enough to contribute. Earlier this summer, I picked up this xs650, 1981 special, that you see below. While my wife and father both thought it was a “piece of crap”, my daughter saw potential and said “we can work with that dad!”. She is a little too young to be able to get really dirty on this project, but she knows my tools and and parts that I need and makes an excellent assistant. If I ask her to get me the metric open ended wrenches, she knows where they are and what they are, which is very helpful. She picked out my tires by the way the looked (Avon Safety Mileage MKII), and she picked the powder coating color on the forks, swing arm, wheels, engine cases, etc (P7 Iron Glimmer). I am really excited to have the tank and bodywork painted when I get to that stage because she picked lime green metal flake! Should be awesome.

As for other plans with the bike, I have Tarozzi clip-ons and Durgam’s rear sets on the way (he’s a xs650 member). I am using an xs750 tank as seen. The engine was recently “vapor blasted” for a better than new finish. Pipes will be high pipes from Gordon Scott (another xs650.com member). As for the engine, I plan on upgrading the charging system and ignition as my budget allows. It would be great to win this contest so that I could put those beautiful parts you make to good use."

Steve B
___________________________________________________________________________

"Hi my name is josh. my sons name is Sid and he is 5 and already wants to anything that involves a wrench and getting greasy. the pic is us riding back from the garage (he wanted to hold the engine so it didnt fall) where he helped me cut the rear section off my 81 xs and install an ardcore hardtail. the plan is alien tank, matte black tins, gloss black frame, jockey shift, and a ton of your parts. hopefully if i win the drawing we will have lots to do for the cold minnesota winter. thanks for doing this giveaway, it shows that you really care about your customers!"

Josh L
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Hugh, Thanks for this great giveaway opportunity you have going on. Slow going project started on easter. My wife and I are foster parents and took in a 6 year old with type 1 diabetes, so project got put on hold for almost 6 months. Learned alot and had more time to look for parts and ideas.
Here's a few picture of of me and my daughter Katelyn on current build. She's the one that glass beaded the cylinder head.
I'm now using this 1980 frame and swing arm because it has a title. 1978 engine and wheels.
Project started with a 1978 I bought, got it running but was rough and no title. Bought another 1971. (only wanted from drum). Ended up finding yet another 1971. Both were rough and rusty all over. But sold almost everything but frame and front wheels to fund this project.
Plan on this bike being funded from others as I plan on keeping it.
Ok... direction bike it going is a Jap Brat Gravel crew style with matching 18" takasago alum. rims. Fat tire setup. Simple is more. No extra stuff and no FAKE oil bags. All hidden wires and a special something Fuel tank with a secret under It. Motorcycle will be simple black and polished aluminum bits. Hope to get done by spring for ridding seasons.

Thanks again on a great giveaway and contratulation on being a father. Good luck with all you do for the xs650 community, and should I not win I still plan on buying more from you in the near future."

Joe A
___________________________________________________________________________________

"
Here are a few pictures of my '74 tx650 I'm hard tailing and choppin' out.
This is my beautiful daughter Veda, she loves hanging in the garage
with me and scattering all my tools, i finally just got a bucket for her
to put them in. Since I'm using all metric i let her have all the
standard stuff to scatter ha ha! This is gunna be a pure stripped and
hand made chopper, everything Veda and I have made for the bike are home made, bent, fabbed and welded. When V is bigger we'll start one for
her, pure budget built and the only things bought are raw materials.
Finished pics will be up in the spring (I hope) "

Damon S
___________________________________________________________________________________

"Hey Hugh,

Really dig your work! My friend told me that you are a family man too and you were having a contest for fellow XS enthusiast. I thought that I would send along a quick shot of my new son Elliot and I on my 2nd XS project.

Keep cranking out the parts and we will keep wanting them.

Thanks,

Phil M
___________________________________________________________________________________

"I am entering this contest as a surprise for my husband! I didn't want to spam your email with a bunch of pictures, and your blog said to send in "a pic" so I took one group picture of all of us instead. He has a 79 SX650 special that he plans on making a softtail chopper out of, aka brat style and his goal was to have it done by this spring so that he can ride it to Born Free 5. Unfortunately, we are both recently unemployed and with 4 kids money is tight so he won't be able to finish it any time soon. Now that he finally has a bike to work on after all these years, I know it breaks his heart to have to put it on hold so soon. Right now it is sitting out at his mom and dad's shop with several other project bikes. A little about us: My husband Shauncey is a very talented floor and tile installer of 20+ years. He grew up around bikes, and worked on them with his dad for many years, but wasn't able to get one of his own until finally this last summer when he was 33, 3 years after his dad passed away. Our oldest son Chance is 13 and although he would much rather be playing sports or listening to music, he does appreciate a lesson in mechanics here and there and I appreciate the time they get to spend together. Breckan, 11 really just loves to be as helpful as possible, it doesn't matter what it is, he's ready and willing to pitch in. Adian will be 9 in a couple of weeks and he loves everything about it. He wants to know every detail, wants to be the one to take it apart and put it back together. He wants to be an inventor and a builder someday and is always coming up with new ideas and improvements. He jumps at the chance to go to the shop with Dad. Now, Briella is the only girl and the youngest of the bunch, but she is definately a princess AND a tomboy. She loves to tell Dad everything he is doing wrong (because she knows all) and is very adamant that his bike needs to be pink. As for me, I really am much happier than I look in the picture! I don't ride because frankly, I am a big scaredycat, but after being married for 10 years, it warms my heart to see the sparkle in Shauncey's eyes when he talks about working on or riding his bike. He spends a lot of his free time just going and breaking down and rebuilding or refining or readjusting, etc. what he has already done several times because he isn't able to move forward. He loves your website and stares at motorcycle parts on the internet all of the time! If he won, this would be the best Christmas present I have given him in years!! Thank you for all of your hard work and thank you for putting on this contest and giving us a chance to make his dream come true!"

Tommincdaid
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Sorry Ryan, your pic imported sideways, and the blog wouldn't let me rotate it)

"Here's my submission for the contest....

I picked my XS back in 2006. I had originally been looking for an old British twin to restore, but most of what I found was overpriced and incomplete (or both). I couldn’t find anything locally and after half a year of chasing leads, I was beginning to get discouraged.

During this same time, my Mom & Dad's neighbor was going through a divorce and needed to sell an old Yamaha he had tarped up under his deck. Upon inquiring, a deal was struck for $500 and I pushed the bike the 20 some yards to my parent’s garage.

The bike turned out to be a 1979 Special II with only 12,056 km on the clock. It was ugly, yet complete, and the engine wasn't locked up.

I managed to get about three quarters through the ‘restification’ when I met my future wife. Marriage, home ownership, and children followed, and the bike project was put on the back burner.

I don’t have as much time to get out to the garage and wrench as I used to, however I’ve recently discovered that my daughter seems to share the same joy and enthusiasm for old motorcycles as her dad."

Ryan S

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Hey Hugh, I got my boys out in the garage, and we knocked out a couple items on my XS project."

Justin had a WHOLE series of photos of him and the boys making some new brackets and such for their project... Very cool... This is just one of them..

Justin P

___________________________________________________________________________________

" This is me and my daughter working on the Wicked Soul.Changed the bars,put on some BS38's redone by OldSchoolCarbs,added a HHB hyd. clutch.Told her once she masters the dirt bike she can hop on one of my street rides."

Brian T

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

" My name is Kennedy, I'm 16, I live in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, and for the past month I have been building a bike with my dad. After my Dad bought his Softail, I became even more interested in motorcycles than I already was, and eventually he offered to build me one of my own. We entered a contest online, and have been going at it ever since. I have shelled all of the cash I made over the summer into this bike and can't wait for the product we come up with. The plan is for both of us to ride up to Ohio in the summer to show off our creation, each of us on our own bike."

Kennedy C

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Graphiti Photoshoot

2012-11-26T13:34:00.000-08:00

My friend Roy built this bike, and it kicks ass... We did a rephased crank and cam for him, he built the engine out... We hardtailed the frame, made the brass pegs, turned the forks and I'm pretty sure he has bought almost everything we sell... But as much as I'd like to take some credit on this thing, Roy simply built an amazing machine with a TON of nice features.

He dropped in today, and I prompted him into a quick photoshoot at the shop... The buildings surrounding my shop have some amazing Graphiti/Artwork on them, so we took advantage of it today. Enjoy the pics...

Pretty rad machine, and it was a nice treat to see a customers bike totally finished. We do so much work all over the world that we rarely see the finished projects in person... Thanks for dropping in Roy...

Holiday Giveaway! - Don't miss out on this!

2012-11-19T06:43:00.002-08:00

I've been sitting around, thinking of all the things I am thankful for this past few weeks. I have a wonderful family, and great shop helpers that make life pretty good. I also have a pretty cool shop dog too - haha...

Then I sat around thinking about those who are lucky enough to spend some time in the garage/kitchen/shed wrenching with their loved ones, and I though to myself "People need to do more family based wrenching" - and the idea for this giveaway was born...

Jeremy V's boy helping him in the shop.

Most folks might know that my parents have both passed on. What I wouldn't give to spend some time working on motorcycles with them now. Even just to have the memory of doing it would be awesome.

So what has this all got to do with an Awesome Hugh's HandBuilt Giveaway? I want you to get in the shop with your family, make some memories this season, and get your families more involved in your passions/hobbies/lifestyle if they aren't already.

So get your son/daughter/cousin/neighbor's kid - whoever and get in the shop working on an XS650 based project. Even if you don't have children of your own, get your own father/mom out there with ya or go get that random kid who is always peeking into the shop to see whats going on and have some fun.

How to enter?

1. Send in a pic like above, even better if you have yourself in it.

2. Email Pics to: HughsHandBuilt@gmail.com and make the Subject "Holiday Giveaway"

3. Give us a brief description of what your project is and what the ultimate goals are for the project.

4. Let us publish the pic on our Blog - to further inspire more folks to get out in the shop with their kids/family/friends.

It's that easy! A single winner will be randomly selected and will receive an AWESOME package of our Parts.

Prizes you ask? I've never done such a significant giveaway - The ONE winning Prize Package will include:

Hugh's HandBuilt PMA System - a $319.00 Value

Hugh's HandBuilt Solid Riser Bushings - a $75.00 Value

8 Metric DIY Tank/Fender Bungs - a $55.00 Value

Brake Pivot Kit - a $23.50 Value

2" 35mm Fork Lowering Kit - a $45.00 Value

Speedometer Eliminator - a $42.50 Value

$560 worth of prizes! All for getting in the shop and enjoying life just a little bit. I'd say that's a good trade!

Deadline?

I'd like to have this package shipped out in time to be sitting under your Christmas Tree - so let's get those pics sent in before December 1st. Winner will be announced shortly thereafter.

And thanks to all of you who have made Hugh's HandBuilt the small success that it is. When you purchase from Hugh's HandBuilt, you are directly supporting our part of the American Dream. My Wife (Courtney) and Child (3 Month Old Rebecca), and my 2 workers (Tevan and Bryan) are very grateful for your business. And as always, I'm very thankful for the amazing customers who make my job the best in the world... This is just our way of saying thanks - so get those entries in!

Hugh

VIEW SUBMISSIONS HERE! THANKS FOR ALL THOSE WHO ARE PARTICIPATING!!!!

*Winner will be selected randomly. Winner is responsible for shipping if out of the US. Any substitutions/store credit are negotiable after winner is selected. Hugh's HandBuilt reserves the right to modify the terms/conditions/prizes/etc/ of this giveaway at anytime.

SOLD! A Rare One - Fully Built Bottom End Now Available for Exhange. SOLD!

2012-11-14T08:54:00.001-08:00

SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD!!!! This thing was gone in less than 4 hours of posting it up for sale!!

Well folks, I'm finally getting into the middle of the road for you XS650 fans... Middle of the road?

Most of you know that we offer our exchange crank and cam services so you can build your own engine using our 277 Rephased Goodies. Plenty of folks are capable of building their own engine, but not all are comfortable doing so. This is quick and cost effective for the customer willing to disassemble and reassemble their own engine.

Then we started offering full engine building services - being very time consuming and costly for the customer... We love building them, but have been backlogged on engine builds for a while, and sadly have been turning customers away almost everyday for engine builds.

So whats the middle of the road?

A Completely Rebuilt and Rephased Short Block XS650 Engine from Hugh's HandBuilt! Now anyone who is comfortable installing a top end on these engines can have all the hard work done and done correctly. This Bottom End has all the tricks and components we put in our full builds, and is ready for any top end you can throw at it. It has the build quality and components to handle anything from a daily rider to a race bike.

These will be offered only when we have one pre-built and ready to go.
So what do you get? The Following Comes Pre-Assembled for you.

A Rare Bird you say? Well folks, I've had this bottom end in my personal collection for a quite a while. I scored this several years ago, and it came out of a Factory Sponsored Race Bike. It originally came with the all-so rare Factory 750cc Pistons and Cylinders and (which I sold off long ago) and was in a Flat Track race bike. When I got it, it was still left side shift too! (it is now standard shift)

So this engine block has some Race History, which is pretty cool. Then you add in the fact that this engine was never stamped with an ID number, which verifies it to have never been in a production street bike and the cool factor goes way up.

I have very carefully and lovingly added only the best of the best into this Bottom End, and now it's time to part with it.

Some of the awesome things I have done to this engine include Polishing the Shift Shaft, Shift Drum, Crankshaft Flywheels and then adding in the normal goodies that we do to a Hugh's HandBuilt engine build.

This Build Sheet includes:

Rephased and Fully Welded Crankshaft (Mildly polished)
Polished Shift Drum
New 447 Rods
New Rod Bearings
New Rod Thrust Washers
New Rod Crank Pins
Fully Polished Bearing Surfaces
Late Model Transmission
5th Gear Overdrive Installed
Cases are Aqua Blasted and Fully Cleaned (Unpainted, Beautiful Natural Finish)
New Sump Filter
New Stainless Hardware
New HP Clutch Disks
New HP Clutch Springs
New HP Throwout Bearing
New HP Clutch Hardware
New 1 Piece Clutch Rod
New Camchain Pre-Installed (includes Master Link)
Refurbished Camchain Tensioner Installed
New Starter Gear Fix
New Bottom End Oil Seals
New Gaskets
New Shift Shaft Assembly (polished)
New Shift Springs
Electric Starter and all gears pre-installed.
7 Pack Cluch Basket

What else is included in the purchase?

Matching 447 Rephased Camshaft
Base gasket
Head gasket
All Misc. Gaskets Needed for rebuild
All Oil Seals Needed for rebuild
Stainless Hardware Kit
New Side Cover Oil Filter

This is easily the nicest bottom end I've ever built, and with the special attention to the shifting mechanisms this thing should be a dream on the road. It will also easily handle any top end you can throw at it.

So basically, here is how this works... You send us your bottom end and camshaft as a core. You will remove the entire top end, pistons, cylinders, head studs, etc.. Keep your engine side covers, cam chain tensioner and, charging system, kickstart lever, chain sprocket and nut. We prefer you ship the bottom end to us on an engine stand (TC Bros makes a nice one) and in a well protected crate/box. The only thing we ask is that your bottom end is not seized or damaged.

We will then ship you our Bottom End as soon as we verify your core as rebuildable. And all you have to do is reinstall your top end and go. This can easily happen in a weekend for most of you folks.

If you prefer to have our bottom end in hand before shipping us your bottom end, we charge a $500 core charge which is refundable after we receive your core. We are happy to work with you as best we can.

The above listed XS650 Bottom End is available today for $1890.00 plus your core charge. We accept Check/Mo/Cash and interesting trades. Paypal can be accepted under certain conditions, and Paypal fees will be added to the purchase.

We can easily add a Hugh's HandBuilt Permanent Magnet Alternator to this unit for no extra labor costs if you so choose, just let us know.

Contact HughsHandBuilt@gmail.com if interested

PS - UPS can ship these in a crate, they are well under the weight limits

We'll be back after this short message from our sponsors...

2012-11-07T11:56:00.003-08:00

Ok, so we don't have any sponsors, but we are taking a short break from now until next Monday.

As most of you know, Sandy put a good hurting on most of the East Coast, which has severely slowed down shipping and even the production of some parts/components that HHB uses. That has kept us from shipping a few things, unfortunately. We are working really hard with our suppliers to see them back up and running as soon as possible.

And, this weekend is my Family's annual hunting trip up to Missouri. We'll only be gone for a few days, but I like to let you folks know as I know you are used to getting extremely fast email responses, but I will be away from the computer until next Monday.

We are hoping to give our shop dog Roxxy a few more treats this season, and as always thanks for being patient with us as we take a small break.

Emails, Shipping, Etc... will all start back up as normal on Monday. Thanks so much for your continued support of Hugh's HandBuilt - we couldn't do it without ya...

Hugh

Scary! And on Halloween too...

2012-11-01T07:13:00.002-07:00

I have a friend who went and bought a Craigslist special... You know the one - "XS650, Rat Rod Black, Harley Hardtail runs great won't charge a battery" or something along those lines in the ad...

I have seen some aweful work come through here in the last few weeks... Just plain aweful, but this one was "Running and Riding" and it's amazing it didn't just fall apart loading it on the truck...

What it looked like when it was purchased...

Now, I'm not attacking the purchaser - this is his first bike build, and he didn't know what to look for.. But once the bike came to the shop, I knew we were gonna have to hack that hardtail off completely and start all over... So we stripped the bike completely down to nothing and had a good look at it.

Lower Frame Rail - Butt Welded, no sleeve/slug and not the finest of welding either..

One of my favorite parts... The tubes meeting the OEM backbone (notice the cracked tubing, nothing was actually attached here)

Pretty rough huh... I know I feel safe on a motorcycle when it has a frame full of holes, and this guy must have agreed. I've seen less holes on a sheet of target paper at the shooting range.

These holes are all the way through, BOTH tubes on the frame, not just 1 side...

And just in case riding a Holy Terror or Hardtail Holes isn't scary enough of a thrill, lets go ahead and add some quality welding into the formula to completely round out the build...

Say farwell to this tail section, there is just too much bad work to even try to save it...

I counted 31 holes in the tubing of this hardtail section... Someone needed to step away from the drill...

Into the scrap pile where it belongs...

The owner opted for a New TC Bros Hardtail section, so we tossed the frame into the jig and made that happen. A fresh start for a bike that should have never seen the road in it's previous state...

Now this isn't to rant on Backyard Builders, I actually want to see more backyard/kitchen/shed builds coming out of the woodwork this winter... Not everything needs to be done in a professional shop, just make sure it's done properly and if in doubt, find a friend to help... I'm hoping his will educate some of you folks on what to look for, and what simply isn't acceptable...

And you'd have thought that just 1 terrible frame was enough for this week, but I actually got to see 3 terrible frames come through the doors this week...

This thing, what a MESS it was...

Rear wheel was off center by at least 1", and the mess of welding/bondo/"fixes" and such were just unbearable... Note, there is no backbone behind the engine either... I bet this thing rode like a wet noodle going down the road... And yes, this was at one point a riding/running motorcycle in this state.

We pulled the motor, and I've never in my life seen so much All-Thread and washers holding an engine into a chassis... Not a single properly graded bolt, and at least 1lb of washers were stacked into this thing...

Ultimately, the frame was deemed a complete waste, so it met it's fate in the scrap pile as well...

I mentioned 3 Frames right? Well, the last frame is from a fairly famous bike, and let's just say I'm not going there... But if you drop into the shop sometime, I'll be glad to show you what to look for and what isn't acceptable in person...

Until next time folks, have fun and make cool stuff... Just make SAFE cool stuff

Hugh