skill rating?

[50gary]

Here's something I feel would be useful for newbie and old hand alike. For the many projects and repairs we all do I propose a difficulty rating scale, from one to ten. We could create a rating for simple and well known jobs, example; changing spark plugs would be a one rating. Tools required rating also a one and knowledge required, one as well. The well known jobs could be used as a standard for measurement against others not as common. Another ,I just finished coating my fuel tank, I would give the task a rating of two, only because it's time consuming but not at all technical. Some of the better mechanics could help figure out the ratings. This would go well with the FAQ page. What do you guys think? Cheers, 50gary

[Six-Five-O]

Gary,

I think it would go real well with the FAQ page..I'll certainly keep this in mind..

Right now [lately] I have been really busy with work, plus working on my own personal XS, and helping my local XS buddy with his XS 650 bobber project..He and I are planning on attending the 650 Society's Land Between the Lakes rally...

With this "temp board" working out as well as it has, it has taken a bit of pressure off things concerning *if and when* the old site would fail next and we would all left Garage-less...So...once I finish with helping my bud with his XS bobber, I will be getting back to putting the finishing touches to the new website and Bob and I will be bringing the new permanent discussion board to life..

I think I might name you Senior Idea Man Gary!

Regards

John..

[fnlboy]

I'm sorry, but whats a "Bobber"?

[mental]

Back in the earlier day's of motorcycles (40's and 50's), guy's would remove all of the unnecessary items from their bikes in an effort to make the bike lighter thus faster. Along with the removal of parts, the rear fender (sometimes front too) were shortened as much as possible while still adding a minimum of protection. The term "bobbed" means "to shorten" (among other things) hence the term bobber. From there the bobber scene progressed into the chopper scene. A chopper is basically a bobber on acid. Stretched this, raked that, molded everything, etc. (at least that's the way it was in the 60's and 70's). Today, the term bobber is usually used to describe a bike that is stripped down to the essentials while using a basically stock frame and suspension. These bikes usually have a sort of street hot rod personality as opposed to a dirt/street tracker which has more of a pure race personallity. Sometimes it's a fine line though.

[WmWallace]

Work in progress, fully bobbed `25 Scout, 37" V Twin flattie, Splitdorf Magneto-manual advance, no other electrics, `41 Sports Scout Carb, no front brake-or fender, hand shift, lots of little stainless, aluminum and some titanium brackets, etc. Well under 300 lbs.

Done on the cheap a little at a time, lots of bartering. It started out as a $500 [very light&rusty] basket.

[mental]

It's pretty obvious that knowone but you will be messing with your bobber. Or is he pissed off cuz you named him bobber? That is a really neato lookin' bike.

Mental

[WmWallace]

Thanks, Mental.....his name is Axle, he weighs about 125 lbs. He hates Harleys...we got him trained to sniff out Indian parts.

No name on the Scout yet, hopefully we`ll get it road worthy this summer, but that`s what we said last summer. Unlike MOST bobbers that start out w/ stripping a complete bike, we`ve had to scrounge up some very FU parts and make `em work. Had a major set back w/ a cracked jug, pretty much irrepairable. It`s not like you can truck on down to the Autozone and get parts, but after a bit we located a useable jug, but it`s kinda put us back to square one again, tear down time once more. Gotta have a LOT of patience to pull this kinda stuff off-and a bad a$$ dog!

Yeah, with the .020 over bore-guess what? It`s a 650 twin!

W`B

[xsyamahadrg]

WmWallace, that's a good looking Scout you have there. Way back when, in the late 50's, my buddy and myself used to ride an old Scout that was, if my memory serves well was about a 350cc vertical twin with plunger frame. We rode it for a whole summer on a shoe string. It had "C" type bottom end bearings like an automobile engine, and thats what done it in, it spun a bearing and was scrapped. Do you know what the scout was called..proper name? If push comes to shove, i want Axle on my side !! Denny

[WmWallace]

Yeah, it was called the `Scout', 440cc. They GAVE AWAY 60cc in class C, every single one `em died of mag probs at Daytona in `49, ending Indian factory racing. While they were way ahead of their time, they were rushed to market and were absolute genuine POS. Zero QC. I could go on..........

We had a one lung Arrow here for a bit, but we sent it on to the next lucky guy.

A CB 175 would run circles around any of the verticles, except maybe the [one year only, and TOO late] 500cc Warrior. Unless it was a distance contest, and the little Honda would win that after about 5 miles.

The younger members here may have no f`n idea what a great & usable vintage machine the XS650 is, it`s a bone' fide rideable classic. I, for one hope Yamaha NEVER revives it! There`s just no way they could capture the flavor again.

BTW, Axle is a big teddy bear----unless he`s hungry!

Bill

[xsyamahadrg]

William, yes you are correct, most of the younger guys don't realize that they hold one of the most collectable bikes on the market today. In the 10 years that i have had my 650's the popularity of the old 650's has increased twice over. My thinking is that in the next ten years or so, there will be guys beating the bushes looking for old 650 Yams the same way they are looking for Indians, BSA's , Nortons and Triumphs now. The XS650 by far is much more reliable, cheaper to buy, and easier to work on than most collectable bikes you see on the road. I think as a group, we have an obligation to preserve as many of the old XS650's as possible for the future, they won't be around forever. IF and WHEN my bikes are sold, i will make sure they go to someone who knows and appreciates the old bikes. They will never be up for sale to the general public, only to groups like this. Denny

[Dirk Laguna]

we do have a special bike here....I believe certain 70's jap bikes will be around a long time...XS650's, Honda CB750's, Kaw KZ900's...a select few that had such an impact or proved to be so reliable that people just held onto them....my next project will probably be a SOHC CB750...maybe do a muscle bike project...have you seen how much the sandcasts are going for on e-bay lately?

[Polamnus]

Steering the thread back on track, this would represent my personal take on these items:

Swingarm Bushing Swap - 8/10 but largely for frustration potential when you realize they wont just "tap" in and if you hammer them, you kill them

Tapered Roller Steering Bearings - 7/10 but would have been a 5/10 if it weren't for all the stuff you have to take off/apart to get there

Brake Caliper/Cylinder/Piston Rebuild - 3/10 if you know the grease gun trick for getting out stuck pistons, everything else is self explanatory assuming you buy a proper rebuild kit

Brake Disc Drilling - 3/10 with the proper equipment, don't bother otherwise(A $40 Harbor Freight Drill press w/$4 cobalt bit is all that is needed)

Wheel Bearing Swap - 9/10 the hardest thing I've done yet, seriously!

Electrical Re-wire - 8/10 this will vary based on your familiarity with electronics and the quality of your schematic. For me, it was a long and tedious job, but never one I struggled with, so far, but it did take longer than any other thing on the bike

Carb Rebuild- 6/10 but it gains a point or two simply due to intimidation factor. Much like the brakes, a proper rebuild kit makes it self explanatory, just don't loose anything and only do one carb at a time

Tank Refurbishing/Sealing - 3/10 get a quality kit, like POR-15 or Kreem, take a whole day to do it, and follow instructions to the letter.

"Blue Sheild" protectant for new headers - 2/10 Easy Easy Easy, lets hope it works as advertised

That's my first pass at rating things, these are the major things I've done with my bike, I know there's a lot I didn't mention, but I think they represent the biggies that most folks will find themselves faced with eventually.

So much of this rating stuff is subjective. Someone with the experience and the tools can obviously do things a lot more easily and quickly than someone working on their first bike out of a spare bedroom(that's me).

Still, this is a very FAQ-worthy topic. I'd never have guessed at the difficulty inherent in the wheel bearing swap, and assumed the bronze bushings would be a breeze, neither were anywhere near as easy as I guessed.

I'm curious to hear any other opinions on relative difficulty ratings.

Best to all,
Pol

[Hammerin]

;D [glow=red,2,300]OH YA !!!!!!!glow]

Now that I have read some of the comments I can really see why this needs to be done. All you guys are right, and I thought it was a geat waist of time too ;D But then you guys are all so good it's hard for me to rate any thing. I can't Rememeber most of the things or how much time or engineering or money it took or takes.

You have to start a rating page,( just my thoughts here now) people can [glow=red,2,300]Post to it Wallace and the boy's can place a[/glow]SKILL RATING[shadow=red,left,300] show by votes on site??[/shadow]

Which ever way you do it I am all for it !!!!!!!!!!!! ;D Now the question is( it's burning holes in my socks or is that beanie??) When can you'all get it happ'nin? HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. With great anticipation!!!!!!! ;D

OOOOOOOOOOPS Kinda over did the RED thingy EH ??

[EvergreenXS]

To elaborate on this idea, what if someone compiled a procedure manual under a seperate category on the board. That way members could discuss and propose ideas and then edit it down to a step by step procedure for each common undertaking, that way it could be preserved and always accessible instead of gradually slipping to the bottom of the list and being referred to as, if you look at the old posts you should find something . . . Just an idea, but again, I think it would make the process a lot easier to grasp for newbies and maybe even help certain people understand that its more than they really want to deal with.

[DeTazMan]

Thanks for all the help and ideas. This is great because I have to do alot of this already for the resto I am doing on a '75. Will help with what I can.

Handlebar change. 3/10 due to the fact it is better to drill out the new bars to rerun wires through and chrome steel is tough