Push The Button Or Kick?

The Yamaha XS650 is highly valued on both sides of the Atlantic as one of Yamaha’s great classic machines and a landmark in the Hamamatsu company’s gradual transition from two-stroke to four stroke technology.
Launched in 1969 as the XS1, a British style parallel twin – even down to the Bonneville style crankshaft phasing but with more advanced technology like OHC with camshaft driven by a chain rather than the rev limiting pushrods of British bikes.

With 53 BHP and a five-speed box, the XS2 comfortably held its own against British Triumph and BSA motorcycles of a similar configuration with the added benefit of being oil tight. For 1971 the XS2 model was launched, easily recognizable by the huge disc brake and an electric starter. The latter was not popular with all XS owners as it required a redesign of the sump robbing the motor of precious oil capacity. Additionally, the complex starter idle gears meant some people just removed this heavy piece of equipment and started kicking again.

Despite its advanced engine, the handling of the XS650 was still not as great as its racetrack developed European rivals. Until 1975 when Yamaha introduced (with the help of a former Triumph test rider) a massive number of upgrades like a reinforced frame, updated geometry and double disc brakes at the front. The improvements were so significant that the XS650 remained virtually unchanged for 10 years and some 850,000 were sold.

Next to its commercial success, the XS650 also made great achievements on the racetrack. GP-legend Kenny Roberts won the AMA dirt-track championship twice on an XS powered machine and in 1980 the German Reinhard Bohler even won the world sidecar motocross championship on his big bore XS racer. The engine is so strong that capacity upgrades of 800 or even 1000cc are possible.

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