The essentials to have on hand

[DewMan]

7 hours ago, shinyribs said:

I see you got a picture of it in it's natural state.

[shinyribs]

Fuel cap didn't leak! All is good haha

[Beemer]

22 hours ago, shinyribs said:

Bikes are all about performance to me. Not outright power or speed, but the thrill I can get from them. I just finished building this bike a couple days ago and you can see how my carburetor tuning maiden voyage turned out. I gear up and have absolutely no issues laying a bike down 

 

In interest of staying on topic. The essentials for this ride were plenty of fuel, helmet/boots and my trusty little flat blade carb tuning screwdriver. 

 

Thanks for those shots and that's a pretty bike! So, you finished the restore, good job! The pics take me back to the days where I grew up in the woods on Honda XL's. Back then is when I understood my crazy best friends and why they were so wild and scary on dirt bikes, it was all about "cutting loose" to achieve the ultimate riding high. If the bike was dumped but was still ridable it was a good day! If anyone got a scrape, a bruise, a cut, it was still a good day because you don't let something like that stop the fun. The first time I wrecked my friends bike, a little Honda XL 70, I profusely apologized because I'd dented it a little but he just laughed a little and said, "Man, no big deal, that's what dirt bikes are for." and I've lived with that attitude ever since. 

 

[Beemer]

On ‎5‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 7:36 AM, mossrider said:

Shiny proof rib cycle?

For wimps afraid they'll get a scrape. Doesn't apply here. 

[Beemer]

Ok, so it's not a tool but I would think it would be an essential on the road.

 

[shinyribs]

13 hours ago, Beemer said:

Thanks for those shots and that's a pretty bike! So, you finished the restore, good job! The pics take me back to the days where I grew up in the woods on Honda XL's. Back then is when I understood my crazy best friends and why they were so wild and scary on dirt bikes, it was all about "cutting loose" to achieve the ultimate riding high. If the bike was dumped but was still ridable it was a good day! If anyone got a scrape, a bruise, a cut, it was still a good day because you don't let something like that stop the fun. The first time I wrecked my friends bike, a little Honda XL 70, I profusely apologized because I'd dented it a little but he just laughed a little and said, "Man, no big deal, that's what dirt bikes are for." and I've lived with that attitude ever since. 

 

I love stories like that  And thanks! I'm real happy with how it turned out. Ended up more modified than a standard restore, but I dig the looks of these bikes and only wanted to get better performance vs changing the looks. Nothing top shelf, but fixed some geometry issues I didn't care for. Whole build thread is here if anyone is interested. Shows the fitting of the forks and converting the mono swinger to accept the twin shocks. 

XL500S - Restomod | Adventure Rider

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Back last July I ended up buying a '81 XL500S. I really didn't know anything at all about these bikes, but I've always been a fan of Honda's and...