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1. Frame preparation
You should be able to prep your frame in a single day. If
you are lazy or do not have metal working skills or tools,
hire a local fabricator.
Step one-Easy/fast conversion
Remove stock seat, sissy bar with taillight and rear
fender. There are protrusions on the seat rails/rear loop
that must be removed to permit the tail piece to fit. Those
pieces are; front seat mount gate (on Specials), upper
side cover mounts, flat cushion rests at the back of the
rear loop and seat lock/helmet lock. Cut 'em off, grind
them smooth and hit them with a can of black paint.
Nobody will see the quality of your work.
.
.
Use a cut-off wheel and grind
off the upright "gate" which
was the mount for the front of
the stock Special seat.
Cut off the upper side cover
mounts on both sides.
Cut off seat supports seen
ahead of fender mount.
Cut off seat supports on rear
loop but save loop.
Get rid of the seat lock and
helmet lock. All this would
show below the X650 tail.
Step two on Specials
Upper shock mount stud on Specials. The threads on
these studs are extra long to accommodate the sissy bar
and shocks. Since the sissy bar is history, you have to
shorten the stud. Get a 10mm x 1.25 thread die and cut
new threads back to the unthreaded base. Cut off
unneeded part of stud. Dab a little clear paint over end to
retard rust
Step three (this is elective)
I'm going to assume you'll
want to use the 650 Central
Ascot exhaust system. Don't
modify the right side
pipe/passenger mount but
remove the complete left side-you don't need this thing
hanging unused out in space.
Step four (aesthetic change)
Remove the center stand and mounts from the frame
Step five (for the purist)
I went overboard in dealing with the fender/signal mount
bracket on the sides of the rear loop. I felt this bracket
showed too much metal beneath the rear tail. I minimized
this piece with a grinder and much labor. I mounted
aftermarket signals on a tab which mounted to upper
shock stud.
.
You may not want to do all
this work. Don't worry about
it. Just leave the bracket
untouched and use your
stock signals.
Dress all your removal sites
with a fine grit disc and
repaint the frame black.
Aerosol black paint will work
fine-no one will see these
alteration sites
3
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