1971 Yamaha XS 650
My story with the 1971 Yamaha XS 650 really begins with my stories of the 1969 Triumph Bonneville and the 1969/1970 K0 Honda CB 750. The Bonneville was the equivalent of the girl you wanted to date – she was dangerously attractive from every angle and performed really well in almost every category. But sometimes, with these characteristics, came behavioral problems such as unreliability! The CB 750 Honda, on the other hand, was like the girl you wanted to marry. Also very beautiful, but in a more staid and traditional fashion. Performance was excellent, but the handling was not up to Triumph standards- a little less spontaneous! But what you gave up in some categories you gained some wonderful characteristics such as unheard-of reliability and predictability.
I remember riding British twins in the late 60s. In the garage they always had a variety of oil spots underneath the engine cases. I remember asking an owner about these oil leaks and he gave the traditional response which was “it’s British- it’s part of the design.” On further inspection of this particular motorcycle, I remember seeing oil leaks directly under the engine cases, oil leaks from the pushrod tubes, oil leaks from the rocker covers, and oil leaks from the shifter shaft! It was coming from everywhere. When I would see a parked Honda CB 750, I would do a similar inspection and find nothing leaking at all.
During the 1960s there was a tremendous growth in the motorcycle industry. In 1960, approximately 60,000 motorcycles were sold in the United States. That number increased over 10-fold (1000% increase) by 1971 approximately 750,000 motorcycles were sold in the US. The big driver of this increase was the result of the Japanese manufacturers – mainly smaller displacement machines from 50cc to 450cc displacement. The middleweight market was largely driven by the British motorcycles from Triumph, BSA, and Norton. These were mainly middle displacement twins from 500 to 650cc. So, it made sense for the Japanese manufacturers, who wanted to make inroads into this middleweight category, to replicate the British twin’s success. Kawasaki built the BSA-like W-2 650 twin, which they are still building a retro version of today. Honda stuck with their CB 450 until they completed the development and introduction of the CB 750. Yamaha decided that the Triumph Bonneville would be there model to copy and did so with the 1970 Yamaha XS 650. The 1970 and 71 Yamaha XS 650 were the 1st 4 stroke models ever offered by Yamaha.
All of the Japanese models offered technological improvements over the British models. The Honda CB 450 could compete performance wise with the British 650 twins due to its high-revving double overhead cam engine. The Yamaha XS 650 got rid of pushrods and replaced it with a chain driven single overhead camshaft. A lot of money was spent at the Japanese manufacturers to inform the public of their technological superiority and reliability.
Sometime in the late fall of 1970, I was driving past our local Yamaha dealer. As I drove past, I noticed a shiny flash of gold and chrome. I did a U-turn at the next light and parked in front of the dealership. It had a large display window facing the street. They would put the newest Yamaha model on a demonstration stand so that the entire bike could be seen through the window. At night they would spotlight the bike which would show up brilliantly through the window against the dark background of the closed dealership.
For the first time I saw a Yamaha XS 650 in person. It was magnificent. My first impression was how bright everything was on the bike. Being used to previous Japanese or British motorcycles being more subdued, the XS 650 had a fully chromed front suspension without black rubber gaiters, chromed speedometer and tachometer housings, chromed rocker/valve cover adjustment covers, chromed surround trim at the bottom seat, chromed side cover trim, chromed front and rear fenders, and chromed chain guard! Did they learn something from Harley-Davidson? The chrome alone shone like a beacon in the night from the spotlights over the bike. The light orange-gold metal flaked paint further amplified the bling on this motorcycle. Then I realized why the bike was truly attractive. It was basically a shinier copy of the Triumph Bonneville 650 twin. It was obvious that they had replicated all the main stylings elements. These included the rake angle of the front forks, the bullet shaped headlamp, the tear drop shaped gas tank (though somewhat leaner and more elegant), the seat with a rear grab rail, the side covers and the twin exhausts which were all very very similar to the British twins. I remember that my first impression was that of a motorcycle that blended the best characteristics of the Triumph Bonneville and the Honda CB 750. It was like having the girl you wanted to date and the girl you wanted to marry be the same person!
I also noticed some subtle differences. Perhaps most importantly, the engine did not have pushrod tubes in the front and at the rear of the cylinders – the source of many oil leaks on the Triumphs! Then I recalled reading a road test of the 1970 XS 650 model, the first Yamaha four stroke motor ever produced, having an overhead camshaft to open and close the intake and exhaust valves. I also remember that the various road tests had revealed the Yamaha to be completely oil tight. The engineers had split the engine cases horizontally and other improvements to reduce the likelihood of the increasingly unacceptable oil leaks.
The attention to detail looked amazing to me that night under the spotlights and it was love at first sight. I really loved the fact that in 1970 and 1971 Yamaha XS 650 retained a drum front brake. Like the Triumph, it had a double leading shoe front brake with some interesting and unique design features. On the left side was featured the double leading shoe control arms and also an air duct pointed toward the front. Also, for cooling, on the right side, were six circular rubber plugs that could be removed for additional cooling as needed. It just looked cool to me! By 1972, Yamaha change the color to a standard red and put a front disc brake on it. At that point it started to lose its classic late 60s Triumph Bonneville look. So for me, the favorite was the 1971 Yamaha XS 650 with the front drum brake and Gold color known as “Candy Orange”.
I would not be able to consummate my relationship with the 1971 Yamaha XS 650 until many years later when I was able to obtain the right one to become part of the collection. As with many of the other motorcycles of the 60s and 70s, finding the right one required patience which was critical to maintaining the quality of the collection. Being patient finally paid off when I found a one family-owned bike that had a ridiculously low 1,160 miles on it. The seller indicated that his uncle had purchased it new in 1971 and, for reasons unknown, had stopped riding the bike after a year or so. It had stayed in his garage and then transferred to a family public storage facility in a bone-dry area of Nevada over a 30+ year history. The family finally decided to get rid of everything in the storage unit and I was the lucky buyer.
After shipping it to my shop, an inspection revealed that it was remarkably original all the way down to the tires which still had 35-year-old nubs on them. I installed new tires, a new battery, new points and condenser, did an oil change and lubrication, did a complete ultrasonic cleaning and rebuild of the carburetors, which resulted in a 2nd kick start-up and a perfect running condition. Unfortunately, given the long period of storage, some storage associated superficial scratches in the paint made the decision easy to do a repaint of the tank and side covers. After an initial ride, I also decided to rebuild the front fork tubes and put a new chain on the bike. It looked and ran like a brand-new machine with only 1100 miles! Amazingly, it did not leak any oil! I like to park it next to my 1969 Triumph Bonneville to show the similarities. Of course, the big difference can be found directly under the engine cases of the Triumph. I still love the Triumph.
After all of this, I finally owned the bike that I saw in the show room window decades earlier! After returning from a delightful ride in the early evening, I parked the bike inside the garage and turned an overhead spotlight on it. The light glistened off the orange – gold tank and the chrome parts and I was transported back to the Yamaha dealership in the fall of 1970! Who said time travel is not possible?