looney tunes

well that's me no longer a dragstar owner, have traded it in at SMC in Sheffield, gone to the dark side and got myself an 883 sportster custom. was nice to ride the dragstar 650 but my boyhood dream was always a Harley thanks for the advice I have been given on here. ride safe Tony.

any one in the Worksop Notts area? im in a club but im the only U.K. member ( bit sad I know ) looking for others in this area to go on ride outs, any one interested? Tony

Went to have a look at the 1300, won't be getting that one, ignition barrel missing just wires taped together, seats ripped, tank dented and engine was covered in oil and knocked. Apparently the photo he used to advertise it was the original one from when he bought it 4 years ago

thank you, going to have a look at a 1300 xvs sunday

Hi All, not posted for a while due to work, family and other excuses, love my XVS 650 but it just doesn't give me that ummph im after, so have been looking around at other XVS's and like the look of the 1100 & the 1300, does any one have one? can you give me a few pointers of what to look out for if different to the XVS? many thanks Tony

Hi there, They are the same as mine, if you have a look at my intro You will see my photos of the mounts. Hope that helps. Tony

Well have had it fully serviced, have had the carbs removed and restriction plates removed, had it fully rejetted and tuned. Travelled over to Manchester on Friday and came home today and so far have done 144 miles and still not turned over to reserve yet so very happy with the results of the service and tune up

Thanks, when I got the bike it had cut down home made exhausts fitted, I assume the carb was played with as well. Have put it all back to standard but haven't touched the carb, it has to come off any way to take the restricters out (assuming they are still in there) off to Manchester today for the rainy daze Harley weekend after its been tuned so will see how it runs. Thanks Tony

Many thanks, has had a full service and I have now booked it in for a check / tune up as it does run lumpy. Again many thanks

Ok have done a search but can't find any relevant answers, I know we all ride differently but on an average how many miles to a full tank of petrol should I be getting out of my XVS650? Did a long trip when I first got the bike and got 102 to the tank but most of that was motorway riding at a steady 70ish....... And more recently just pooling around town I only got 75 miles, thinking I might have a problem somewhere? Thanks Tony

Right screen coming off, feels like my heads being battered at 60mph tried altering the angle but still the same, pity really as I like the deflection it does give.

Thanks, not particularly mechanically minded, is it an easy job to do?

thanks will take a look

ok peeps, quick question for you if I may, I have found a sticker on my bike saying that it has been restricted down to 25Kw (see photo) I have a full bike licence so not restricted on what I can ride so my next question is how is it restricted and is it possible to de-restrict it........ cheaply

Thanks all, will leave it on for now and see how it affects the ride

Haven't posted much lately due to work commitments, have now changed my handle bars back to standard on my XVS650 and have fitted the screen that came with the bike, not sure if i like the screen or not? Does a screen do much? Any thoughts? Thanks Tony

Thanks, not in any hurry just want my bike to look nice and presentable ............ Tassels? ......... NAH!!!!!!!!

ok ladles and Jelly spoons, I have a 97 P reg XVS 650 and lots of the plastic chrome is cracked, pitted or nasty, is the 97 bike specific? or will the chrome cover panels from a newer model fit? thanks Tony

Well I finally got round to looking at the bike, checked all the fuses and flasher unit first, no problems found there, took the speedo out and checked the connections there as well, again no problems there. Removed the rear mud guard again and tested the circuits and yes a problem in the wiring loom on the back, took all the black tape off that some one had put on there to find that the wire had been cut several times in the past and just twisted together and taped up ( one of these had let go ) so I bit the bullet and took it all apart and made myself a new rear loom re-using the bullet connectors but soldering the joints and heat shrinking to cover my soldered joints, and hey presto all working again. Electrics, no problem..... Mechanical stuff, forget it that's where I get stuck

Thanks, will have a play tomorrow

Bike - 1997 XVS650 Dragstar custom Rode down to Silverstone today from Worksop not a problem, on the way home all working fine indicated to pull on M1 all indicators worked, light on speedo flashed (as it should) pulled into the services for fuel again all ok, went to pull back onto M1 and no indicators, the light on the speedo didn't flash but the neutral light flickered faintly, pulled over and checked it all out. Head lights work on low, dipped and main, back lights work, brake lights work. neither indicators work, neutral light on the speedo doesn't light up when out of gear but does glow in first, engine light on speedo does not light up at all now either. Any thoughts please. Thanks Tony

I'm not too keen on the ape hangers either but have you seen the price of two new throttle cables, clutch cable and the brake line...... Here's a copy of an email from my local Yamaha dealer. Hi Tony, The cables are available from Yamaha within 3 working days and are priced as follows:- clutch cable - £16.63 inc vat throttle cable 1 - £31.97 inc vat throttle cable 2 - £30.74 inc vat The standard brake line is £148 Just don't have that sort of money at the moment

well here's the latest progress, not sure if I should be posting this in a different section. here's the side pannier support wasn't sure if it was supposed to be still fitted with the other frame work. a picture of the pannier from the front and from the back showing the fixing points I took the bags of off the framework as it made it easier to fit, it's at this point I found out that the rear indicators have to be moved to accommodate the panniers, fortunately the pannier manufactures also thought of that and included an indicator mount, so I lengthened the wiring (yes I did do it properly soldered the wire and heat shrink, none of this male-female clips malarkey) here's a couple of pictures of the panniers fitted. the observant amongst you will also notice I have fitted a luggage rack (well if was free and came with the bike so why not) also fitted some proper Dragstar mirrors. That's it for now

Thanks all for the replies, have sussed the panniers out and fitted them, what a horrible job. Will post photos later. The insurance company didn't like the cut down rear mudguard with after market back light and indicators or the exhaust modifications as they are home made ones, they were not too bothered about the handle bars but were concerned about who did the electrical modifications, it was just easier to put it back to standard.

Hi All, my names Tony and this is my Yamaha XVS 650 Custom. when I picked it up it had been modified, cut down rear mudguard, aftermarket indicators and lights, home made exhaust and other bits, on the plus side it had all the bits to take it back to standard, here's how it was advertised. and once it arrived home unfortunately being the Muppet I am when I strapped the bike down I put the ratchet too close to the tank and damaged the paint both sides sounded lovely but after getting insurance quotes for a modified bike I decided to take it back to standard, Exhaust done next thing to do was fit the full mud guard, fit the original indicators and re-wire them, remove the aftermarket front indicators and re-wire them too. still got the ape hangers on it and enjoying them but thinking do I want cow horns or put it back to standard? then there's the pannier bags do I re-fit them too...... well that's what I have been up too I do have a quick question about panniers, I got some with the bike but they were not fitted, if you look at the photos you will see the little supports for the panniers, the thing is I also have them on the actual panniers as well, (firmly attached) do the panniers fix onto the supports that are already fitted or do I have to take the fitted ones off? thanks Tony