Category Archives: Junkyard Dogs

Just old motorcycles and bicycles rusting in piece

82 Honda XL250! Another Junkyard Dog!

Posted on by motopsyco

From a distance this one doesn’t look that terrible but once you get up close, you realize just how dilapidated it really is.

<Honda XL250>

Ahh memories…

<1982 Honda XL 250 r>

<82 xl 250>

Oh shit, why did I bring this thing home?

Oh well there’s nothing I like better than the smell of a rotten old motorcycle corpse, except perhaps the joy of re-animating it.

<rusted out motorcycle muffler>

rusted out motorcycle muffler

At this point it’s fate is still undecided, it might be a future project or it might just become ebay parts fodder.

<vintage Honda Dualsport>

<vintage honda emissions equipment>

Proof that this one is 100% stock

<dirty nasty old jug>

dirty nasty old cylinder

<vintage Honda Pro-Link suspension>

 

Peace Y’all

 

Another Junkyard Dog! 1980 Honda CB650

Posted on by motopsyco

Man this thing is a raggedy P.O.S. I ought to have my head examined for bringing it home.

seriously rusted out motorcycle fuel tank

bleeping rust

But I’m a big believer in if your gonna seriously  customize something you ought to be fixing one  up, not tearing a nice one down.

SOHC Honda CB650

1980 SOHC Honda CB650 before

Before I even pushed it in the barn I popped the rotor cover off of the engine and made sure the engine would turn. If it hadn’t turned it would have gone on the trailer and headed to the steel mill.

neglected old Honda

Here’s the right side.

After verifying that the engine was actually free, I pushed it into the barn, hooked it up to a battery, and did a compression test on it. All four cylinders had compression but the range between the four was a little more than I would have liked, about a 4o psi variation, but that variation may be due to it sitting for so long. I’ll go ahead and check the valve lash & clean the carbs to get it running again, then even if it seems to be running alright I’ll do another compression check just to be sure the engine is sound. I already have a set of wire wheels coming for it!

Peace Y’all

Junkyard Dogs: 1989 Yamaha XT600!

Posted on by motopsyco
salvaged 1989Yamaha xt600 right

Theft recovered 1989 XT600 right side

Hey Y’all

It’s funny how except for one 1999 750 Honda Nighthawk, all of my bikes seem to have started off as junkyard dogs, that’s just the way I roll. Several years ago I picked up this Yamaha XT600 that had been stolen, thoroughly trashed & left for dead in the woods for several months before being found.

yamaha xt600 left side

Left side of salvaged 89 Yamaha XT600

I was hoping just to clean the carbs and replace the missing pieces but as fate would have it at some point the bike had thrown a chain & busted the engine cover & then was driven until it was completely out of oil.

The head was destroyed due to oil starvation of the cam journals. I wound up buying a complete TT600 engine and installing it with the original charging & ignition system from the XT engine.

It was too long ago for me to remember all the details but I took a bunch of pictures for you to check out now.

<89 xt600 tearin down 1>

<89 xt600 tearin down 2>

<89 xt600 tearin down 3>

<89 xt600 bare nekkid frame>

<bare nekkid frame 2>

Then I started cleaning, painting & reassembly!

Yamaha 600 engine + frame

Yamaha 600 engine + frame

<Yamaha frame n engine 2>

<89 XT600reassembly 1>

<89 XT600reassembly 2>

<89 XT600reassembly 3>

<89 XT600reassembly 4>

ebay seat cover kit xt600

ebay seat cover kit xt600

I bought the seat cover kit from an Ebay seller and was very happy with it.

89 xt600 & XS650 Chopper

89 xt600 & XS650 Chopper

Up until this point I was just planning to fix up a nice dual sport ride for commuting.

But then I dragged home a YZF600 Radian, with a seized engine & no paperwork & the SuperMoto craze was just getting started….

<Radian Wheels on XT600>

Radian Wheels on XT600

The oil on the floor in this net picture is from me being clumsy & kicking over the oil drain pan.

YZF600 wheels & fenders on XT600>

I used the Radian’s front fender too.

Believe it or not with just some careful machining of the front wheel spacers from the Radian, it all fit together perfectly with the YZF600 brake rotor lining up perfectly with the XT600 caliper.

At this point it is almost complete. I did toy around with using the original tank for a while but decided to purchase an oversize new shiny plastic rust free tank from Clarke Racing it turned out to be some of the best money spent on this project.

<semi- finished Supermoto Yamaha>

semi- finished Supermoto Yamaha

Just for the sheer hell of it I initially used a pair of driving light & two great big chrome horns on the front trying to get a sort of “Predator” look to it.

<headlights by evil genius>

Then I saw this Darth Vader looking fairing somewhere & decided I liked it better.

Black & Red 89 XT600 at night

Black & Red 89 XT600 at night

Of all the bikes I have ever owned I regret selling this one the most. As with my XL500 I shared with you earlier this one was sold after a catastrophic crash on another motorcycle when I was not sure if I would ever ride again.

supermoto headlights

May the Dark Side of the Force be With You!

Junkyard Dawgs Honda XL500S

Posted on by motopsyco
Junky Honda Dirt Bike

Okay when I found it the engine was still in the frame.

Yeah Baby this is what I like! A big ole thumper with stump pulling torque & enough grunt to get the front wheel off the ground without using the the clutch at all. To bad it had a shattered piston in the cases with the transmission and had been sitting under a tree for several years.

Fortunately this junkyard dog story had a happy ending as I wound up stripping it down to a bare frame and a set of engine cases and then rebuilt it wit a Wiseco 520cc piston kit. Yeehaa!

I also built several bespoke parts for it just because I could, the muffler, rear rack, hand guards & gas cap were all products of my own handiwork.

Restomodded XL500S

after I restored it

xl500s gas cap

Temporary tattoos can be great decals for a couple of years.

I rode the snot out of it for 10 years afterward and it was a little bit raggedy around the edges and starting to get weak again when I sold it to a very happy man who was planning to restore it again and ride it some more!

Sometimes I wish I had kept it but at the time I was fresh out of a wheelchair and was not sure if I’d ever ride again.

Peace Y’all

Rusty Lil Colson

Posted on by motopsyco

Another kiddie bike joins the junkyard dogs. This one was spotted at a bicycle swap meet in Mt. Airy N.C.

Hopefully some one will give it a lot of love one day and make it rideable again.

Colson kiddie bike with truss rods

It was hard to resist buying this one.

Another Junkyard Dog from the Bicycling World!

Posted on by motopsyco

Hey I had a bike just like this as a kid, well almost.. mine was a Murray and didn’t have the awesome rat trap springer fork, or the motorcycle muffler chainguard but at least it had the same frame. 😉

a seriously vintage bmx bike! a Free Spirit MX-1

I am planning to restore this one one day but for now it will continue to reside in a place of honor hanging from the rafters of my shop. Thanks to my buddy Kevin for keeping this unusual vintage bicycle out of the shredder for future generations to enjoy.

Peace Y’all