"My grandson helping Papa in the garage. Working on my tracker. He just asked "What you doin now Papa" when I snapped the first pic. Caught him a little by surprise This was Thanksgiving Day. Second pic is a year or so old. He asked "What drawer Papa" When I told him to bring me wrench. Racerdave on XS650.com"
Dave S
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"Hey Hugh,
Super cool thing to give back.
Anywho...here's my kid,
Tobias, having helped me rebuild and polish the front forks. I have a
'77 xs650 swingarm bobber i'm building...(some call it brat, I don't
think mine is). All the frame mods (none to the neck) should be done
soon and then onto the torn apart motor...rephase, clean, blah, blah,
rebuild. should be fun. He has a ball taking my tools and working on his
little 4x4 battery powered truck while I work on the scooter. Ultimate
goal for the bike...to ride the piss out of her all the time. Would love
to ride down to Mexico to see one of my closest friends.
Thanks for all you do Hugh."
Robb
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" I was in the garage with my dad working on the bike befor thanks giveing
dinner and the wife found me I got yelled at lol cuz i was in my nice
clothes. my plan is to hard tail it and a nice simple pant job and some
ape hanger I'm hoping to have it done for the riding season coming up
I'm on an extreme budget for this bike it will be a rat rod
chopper/bobber. The next one I build I will go all out and hopefully my
son will be old anuf to help a little he's only a month old"
Subby
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"Here is my 3 year old son Eli who is a natural when it comes to
wrenching and working with his hands. Anytime I am working on any
project he is there to help. This is my 1981 Special that was pretty
neglected when I got it. Last winter was spent getting it into shape so I
could be riding it by spring. Replaced fuses with blade type, fixed all
leaks, new swingarm bushings, steering bearings, tune up, polished
engine covers, new chain, sprockets, etc, etc. Spring came around and I
road it every day to work and back and on weekends with no issues. This
winter is now upon me and I am ready to spend time in the garage (I do
concrete construction so my job is seasonal). What I have planned next
is; new bars 12 inch black, mustang tank, all new lights, speedo, solo
seat, brat style (gonna keep the suspension), new rear fender, pipes
etc, etc. Here are a couple of pics."
Paul K
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"Hi Hugh
This is me with the kids spending some family time together.
I do shift work so its hard to balance work, family, and a bike.
But its nice that my boy is willing to learn how to fix/fabricate,
and my little girl likes to ham it up and give us some laughs
The bike is a '79 650 came with the hard tail, but it needs some
updates, PMA,Pamco,fender,tank... it runs good but i know it will
run great when we're done with it
thx Steve, Mas, and Nicole"
Crusher
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"This is the bike my neighbor Mike and I built last winter, runs and
rides great it's apart for paint,polish and rechrome and a seat cover,
I'd like this bike to look new and turn alot of heads, we had alot of
good times in the garage with build, have 2 more to build and maybe a
couple of street trackers too. Happy Holidays"
Mark F
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"Wanted to say thanks in advance - not cuz I expect to win, but because
you are doing a great job of supporting our community. I expect I'll be a
customer soon enough. My bike is an '82 which I bought as a ratty
already hardtailed bike.
The welding was horrid on this bike, and the cam chain rattled like
hell. I've now had this bike completely apart and have re-welded the
frame, tore down the top end of the engine and am now working on
rewiring. It's getting beautiful and can't wait to ride it.
This is my daughter Raye. She's handy with a ratchet and keeps me young.
She's usually riding in the driveway on my old skateboard while I'm
wrenching the bike.
She and I ride together on the 'other' bike - with the sidecar.
PS: this pic is the day I got the bike. the 2up seat is gone, as is the
huge rear fender and dragging mufflers. I've got some drag bars on it,
small headlight and gauges. I'm keeping the monster harley tanks cuz I
like how they look and can't wait to get something like 300 miles per
fill up.
PPS: I've been keeping a blog at
http://xs650bobber.tumblr.com haven't updated lately cuz I can't get on tumblr at work LOL.
Well, that's it. Thanks Hugh."
David S
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" Startin' 'im out young!
Been working on this bike for about 2 years now with amazing help from Hugh and others enlisted in the xs650.com
website...Huge thanks to all! I started out with the idea of a drop
seat, hard-tailed chopper. The little man helped by inserting sockets
into the exhaust and putting screwdrivers in any hole that they would
fit in. Making "tools" to fish out small things from every hole on the
bike was a bit of a set back but completely worth the time together. He
loves being in the garage helping with all our projects.
The bike
evolved into the second picture with more to go before next summer. All
custom parts (excluding the SWEET! rephased crank and cam by Hugh's
Handbuilt) including the hardtail, gooseneck, fenders, powder coating
and more were fabricated with long hours of grinding and welding in the
garage of tools that I acquired mostly for this project. Despite the
glares from the wife on a few long nights, the bike has made it this
far. Funny thing is, when I took her on a ride around the block for one
of the maiden voyages, her outlook turned 180 degrees and talk of in
town date nights began...Moral of the story; hold out 'til the bikes are
done guys! They will like it in the end."
Jeff W
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"My father in law gave me this bike in exchange for getting his Harley
running and taking a motorcycle safety course. Both bikes sat over
10yrs. It was a stock 1977 XS650D as soon as i got the bike home I tore
it completely apart and started cutting away. My wife helped me and I
saw a tear as memory's came back as she rode on the tank as a little
girl. So I painted the tank with the lace from her wedding dress as
tribute. My 2 daughters were so exicited to see it riding they wanted to
ride something. So I found a 1970 shrike mini bike they are helping me
with."
Brent
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"The attached picture is the best pit crew I could ever ask
for sporting some of their favorite shirts! Xavier on the far left is
my mini me, the others are my ex wifes kids. They all love hangn out
with me in the garage, Xavier claims everything in the garage is his, so
aparently i dont have any motorcycles. Hugh, you are an amazing man
and what you are doing with the old Yamahas is awesome!! Keep it up!
BMR 2013!!!!"
Ben Hall
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"This is a picture of my
girlfriend of six years as we got started on my xs650. We were stripping it and
looking over reusable parts, I plan on having her help out over the whole process.
The plan is to hardtail the frame, build a springer front
end, go over the engine and have a nimble reliable bike with a handful of one
off handmade parts all by spring. Being young and broke, I’m planning out the
entire build and building as many parts myself while keeping safety and
reliability in mind."
Greg P
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"Here
is a pic of 3 of my students who are part of our "Kids Cafe" club at my
school in Minnedosa, Manitoba, Canada. This is my first crack at a
motorcycle project involving students to this degree -- I did have 2-3
students help rebuild my supermono racer at my last High School. I have
13 kids signed up, but using the auto shop at the high school and only
having 1 bike to
work on, I had to get creative in order to keep all students busy. I
have 3 students come to each after school session, to work on the bike
for a couple of hours. This pic sorta represents the frenetic nature of
the junior high brain, and the fact that during this session, all three
guys were busy! Two are working on rearsets while another works on an
engine cover. The bike is a 1975 I purchased from a roadracing buddy
for $500, partly restored. Our hope is to finish it as a Cafe Racer in
time for next spring and raffle it off, with the proceeds going to fund
next year's project. I hope to make in an annual club."
James S
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"This is my daughter Peyton... She's always eager to help
out on my projects, though always seems to get distracted by one shiny
object or another and ends up off in the corner beating on something
with a hammer or building some architectural masterpiece that
defies gravity out of every spare nut, bolt, piece of scrap metal, and
electrical tape she can find.
Growing up spending hours in the
shop with my dad I know what it can do for our relationship, so when I
can't find that missing bolt... I don't sweat it when I find it on the
15th floor of her masterpiece...
My
barn owl special XS is coming along very slowly...since cleaning the
owl poop off from the years sitting in the farmers barn it keeps
changing forms, and has currently changed direction to end up
hardtailed, re-phased, and built in a nice clean vintage looking chopper
style. Low and tight."
Jason J
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"Here you go brother.
Thanks for doing this man we all appreciate it.
This is my two year old daughter Aberdeen. She's my one and and only
and definitely mine and my wife's best friend. On top of skateboards and
Dora she loves all things loud and fast.... Out of all of the sweet
tools in my shop she has been the greatest addition.
Thanks again man."
Jason H
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"This is a picture of my 4
year old Grandson, Dakota helping me break down a tire off my 75 XS650
Standard. You can see the project in the background. This is my "XS
Build-Off" project. I am planning a fully custom frame, basically all
that will be left of the original bike is the neck, engine, rear wheel,
and front hub. I have designed a very industrial frame and frontend for
this build.
I was given this XS, my first bike, by my Uncle Jerry. he had it
in his back yard for about 10 years. He finally realized that he was
never gonna get around to doing anything with it, so he gave it to me,
along with a 73 CB500 chop that he gave to my younger brother, Brandon.
The Honda has already garnered 2 trophies (rat class) and it the center
of attention where ever it goes. My brother and I are trying to start a
small custom car & bike shop called "$pare Change Custom$" and we
are hoping that my XS and his CB will be the best advertisement for our
little shop.
My Grandson loves being around my motorcycles, and has always
tried to "help", so today he joined me in removing a 20+ year old tire
so I can clean up the rim, true the spokes and mock up the rear half of
my project. It is very important to me to spend as much quality time
with my Grandbabies as possible. I am 40 years old, and my family has a
history of either living well into the 90's or passing on very early...
I lost my Dad 10 years ago when he was only 51, I dont want to risk
missing a chance to have "Kota & Tampa" time... we never know when
we will be out of time.
I think this is a great way to "pay it forward" that you have decided to do, THANK YOU!"
Chris M
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"Here I am
with my little helpers! Isabella (6), Tristan (4), and Kellan (2), and,
of course, the 77 XS650! I'm still tearing down, grinding and
accumulating goodies. Plans call for a loud, hard tailed, bare bones
death machine! My kids, especially Kellan, LOVE motorcycles, and we're
having a great time playing with it. It's my first chopper build, and to
say I'm on a tight budget would be a huge understatement! After selling
stock "garbage" that I don't need, I"ve broke even. Not one dime out of
pocket (yet)! Our first build together was a YZ250 dirt bike that, with
some little helping hands, turned out great! I had a nasty wipeout and
decided I should just stay on the street, so I traded it for the 650 and
never looked back. Thank you for running this contest. Your work is
amazing and I hope I win!!!"
Marcus H
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"I have an 83 special. The plan for the bike at the time the pictures
were taken was to just get it running. My daughter was almost three at
the time these pictures were taken so she couldn't really do much but
she certainly "helped". The picture of her sitting on it is her enjoying
the fruits of her "labor" :) Now that she has spent so much time around
tearing down the bike and getting it running I now catch her
"wrenching" on her scooter and bicycle, never mind the fact that she's
using a screwdriver to do so :) She turned 4 this past sunday.
The
future of the bike is to brat it out, finally put on the new carbs I
picked up and I had been planning on getting a pma kit. The bike in the
background of the pic of her sitting on the floor actually has one of
your kits in it, belongs to a friend of mine. Anyway I figured you'd
enjoy the pics, keep up the good work."
Trevor K
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"This is how we relax in the evenings working on my 81 XS650
Short Chop. Shown in the picture is daughter Jane age 4, and Son Michael
age 7. 2012 was a tough year for our family. Being a Newly Full-Time
single dad, with a very full work schedule, spending time with my family
working on a hobby we all love is our inexpensive form of recreation.
Being on a really tight budget the affordability of the XS650 has
allowed me to build a cool bike on a limted income. The kids truly love
spending time with me working on the bike.
This is how the bike was this past year at the Smoke Out. We
are currently adding a rear fender and "sissy bar" and calling this
project "DONE"!
Thanks Hugh for making cool products for the everyday garage builder!"
Tim A
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"
Hugh.
Here
are some pictures for your giveaway contest. That is very generous of
you to give back to the motorcycling community like this. You make some
great looking parts and I hope to be able to incorporate some of those
parts into my xs650 build seen below.
As you know, family is a very
important thing. For me, my daughter Allison has been my inspiration for
my build. I have done several other cafe builds in the past, but this
is the first build where my daughter is actually old enough to
contribute. Earlier this summer, I picked up this xs650, 1981 special,
that you see below. While my wife and father both thought it was a
“piece of crap”, my daughter saw potential and said “we can work with
that dad!”. She is a little too young to be able to get really dirty on
this project, but she knows my tools and and parts that I need and makes
an excellent assistant. If I ask her to get me the metric open ended
wrenches, she knows where they are and what they are, which is very
helpful. She picked out my tires by the way the looked (Avon Safety
Mileage MKII), and she picked the powder coating color on the forks,
swing arm, wheels, engine cases, etc (P7 Iron Glimmer). I am really
excited to have the tank and bodywork painted when I get to that stage
because she picked lime green metal flake! Should be awesome.
As
for other plans with the bike, I have Tarozzi clip-ons and Durgam’s
rear sets on the way (he’s a xs650 member). I am using an xs750 tank as
seen. The engine was recently “vapor blasted” for a better than new
finish. Pipes will be high pipes from Gordon Scott (another xs650.com
member). As for the engine, I plan on upgrading the charging system and
ignition as my budget allows. It would be great to win this contest so
that I could put those beautiful parts you make to good use."
Steve B
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"Hi my name is josh. my sons name is Sid and he is 5 and already wants to
anything that involves a wrench and getting greasy. the pic is us
riding back from the garage (he wanted to hold the engine so it didnt
fall) where he helped me cut the rear section off my 81 xs and install
an ardcore hardtail. the plan is alien tank, matte black tins, gloss
black frame, jockey shift, and a ton of your parts. hopefully if i win
the drawing we will have lots to do for the cold minnesota winter.
thanks for doing this giveaway, it shows that you really care about your
customers!"
Josh L
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"Hugh, Thanks for this great giveaway opportunity you have going on. Slow
going project started on easter. My wife and I are foster parents and
took in a 6 year old with type 1 diabetes, so project got put on hold
for almost 6 months. Learned alot and had more time to look for parts
and ideas.
Here's a few picture of of me and my daughter Katelyn on current build. She's the one that glass beaded the cylinder head.
I'm now using this 1980 frame and swing arm because it has a title. 1978 engine and wheels.
Project
started with a 1978 I bought, got it running but was rough and no
title. Bought another 1971. (only wanted from drum). Ended up finding
yet another 1971. Both were rough and rusty all over. But sold almost
everything but frame and front wheels to fund this project.
Plan on this bike being funded from others as I plan on keeping it.
Ok...
direction bike it going is a Jap Brat Gravel crew style with matching
18" takasago alum. rims. Fat tire setup. Simple is more. No extra stuff
and no FAKE oil bags. All hidden wires and a special something Fuel tank
with a secret under It. Motorcycle will be simple black and polished
aluminum bits. Hope to get done by spring for ridding seasons.
Thanks
again on a great giveaway and contratulation on being a father. Good
luck with all you do for the xs650 community, and should I not win I
still plan on buying more from you in the near future."
Joe A
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"
Here are a few pictures of my '74 tx650 I'm hard tailing and choppin' out.
This is my beautiful daughter Veda, she loves hanging in the garage
with me and scattering all my tools, i finally just got a bucket for her
to put them in. Since I'm using all metric i let her have all the
standard stuff to scatter ha ha! This is gunna be a pure stripped and
hand
made chopper, everything Veda and I have made for the bike are home
made, bent, fabbed and welded. When V is bigger we'll start one for
her, pure budget built and the only things bought are raw materials.
Finished pics will be up in the spring (I hope) "
Damon S
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"Hey Hugh,
Really dig your work! My friend told me that you are a
family man too and you were having a contest for fellow XS enthusiast. I
thought that I would send along a quick shot of my new son Elliot and I
on my 2nd XS project.
Keep cranking out the parts and we will keep wanting them.
Thanks,
Phil M
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"I am entering this contest as a surprise for my husband! I didn't want
to spam your email with a bunch of pictures, and your blog said to send
in "a pic" so I took one group picture of all of us instead. He has a 79
SX650 special that he plans on making a softtail chopper out of, aka
brat style and his goal was to have it done by this spring so that he
can ride it to Born Free 5. Unfortunately, we are both recently
unemployed and with 4 kids money is tight so he won't be able to finish
it any time soon. Now that he finally has a bike to work on after all
these years, I know it breaks his heart to have to put it on hold so
soon. Right now it is sitting out at his mom and dad's shop with
several other project bikes. A little about us: My husband Shauncey is a
very talented floor and tile installer of 20+
years. He grew up around bikes, and worked on them with his dad for
many years, but wasn't able to get one of his own until finally this
last summer when he was 33, 3 years after his dad passed away. Our
oldest son Chance is 13 and although he would much rather be playing
sports or listening to music, he does appreciate a lesson in mechanics
here and there and I appreciate the time they get to spend together.
Breckan, 11 really just loves to be as helpful as possible, it doesn't
matter what it is, he's ready and willing to pitch in. Adian will be 9
in a couple of weeks and he loves everything about it. He wants to know
every detail, wants to be the one to take it apart and put it back
together. He wants to be an inventor and a builder someday and is always
coming up with new ideas and improvements. He jumps at the chance to go
to the shop with Dad. Now, Briella is the only girl and the youngest of
the bunch, but she is definately a princess
AND a tomboy. She loves to tell Dad everything he is doing wrong
(because she knows all) and is very adamant that his bike needs to be
pink. As for me, I really am much happier than I look in the picture! I
don't ride because frankly, I am a big scaredycat, but after being
married for 10 years, it warms my heart to see the sparkle in Shauncey's
eyes when he talks about working on or riding his bike. He spends a lot
of his free time just going and breaking down and rebuilding or
refining or readjusting, etc. what he has already done several times
because he isn't able to move forward. He loves your website and stares
at motorcycle parts on the internet all of the time! If he won, this
would be the best Christmas present I have given him in years!! Thank
you for all of your hard work and thank you for putting on this contest
and giving us a chance to make his dream come true!"
Tommincdaid
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(Sorry Ryan, your pic imported sideways, and the blog wouldn't let me rotate it)
"Here's my
submission for the contest....
I picked
my XS back in 2006. I had originally been looking for an old British twin to
restore, but most of what I found was overpriced and incomplete (or both). I
couldn’t find anything locally and after half a year of chasing leads, I was
beginning to get discouraged.
During this same time, my Mom & Dad's neighbor was going through a divorce
and needed to sell an old Yamaha he had tarped up under his deck. Upon
inquiring, a deal was struck for $500 and I pushed the bike the 20 some yards
to my parent’s garage.
The bike turned out to be a 1979 Special II with only 12,056 km on the clock.
It was ugly, yet complete, and the engine wasn't locked up.
I managed
to get about three quarters through the ‘restification’ when I met my future
wife. Marriage, home ownership, and
children followed, and the bike project was put on the back burner.
I don’t
have as much time to get out to the garage and wrench as I used to, however I’ve
recently discovered that my daughter seems to share the same joy and enthusiasm
for old motorcycles as her dad."
Ryan S
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"Hey Hugh, I got my boys out in the garage, and we knocked out a couple items on my XS project."
Justin had a WHOLE series of photos of him and the boys making some new brackets and such for their project... Very cool... This is just one of them..
Justin P
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" This is me and my daughter working on the Wicked Soul.Changed the bars,put
on some BS38's redone by OldSchoolCarbs,added a HHB hyd. clutch.Told her
once she masters the dirt bike she can hop on one of my street rides."
Brian T
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" My name is Kennedy, I'm 16, I live in the Eastern Panhandle of West
Virginia, and for the past month I have been building a bike with my
dad. After my Dad bought his Softail, I became even more interested in
motorcycles than I already was, and eventually he offered to build me
one of my own. We entered a contest online, and have been going at it
ever since. I have shelled all of the cash I made over the summer into
this bike and can't wait for the product we come up with. The plan is
for both of us to ride up to Ohio in the summer to show off our
creation, each of us on our own bike."
Kennedy C
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