1962 650ss Build

Wow that’s looking nice!

Two pack or powder is another great debate. Powder can be fabulous, but there are way more powder coating shops than there are GOOD powder coating shops! Unless you go to a proven coater, I’ll guarantee the stuff will be hideously thick.

My personal opinion is that unless it’s a desert sled / dirt bike, you just don’t need that much chip protection. Two pack is much thinner, glossier and much more traditional looking. But that’s just me.

JS 650cc pistons will be SO light, that motor is gonna be SWEET.

Great front brake. Perfect tank (I hate the humongous jobs).

If you don’t like polishing, you could consider what I did, use fine scotchbrite and go for the satin / brushed look. I like this look so much I’ve done it to two of my bikes now, and it’s super low maintenance too. See pic below of Scotchbrited Commando.

So long as you keep at it this will be done by March, definitely doable.

But do please update us more regularly!

Carry on.

That tank shape is very nice. What is the capacity?
The 650ss is a fun ride, quick revving for a long stroke engine.
They were the World's Fastest Production motorcycle in 1963, according to the Guiness World Book of Records.
A lot of different types and brands of engines have been put into the Featherbed frame.
I suspect that the 650ss is the best of the bunch.

Glen

Here's a little teaser to perhaps add incentive-

A quick roll on to 120 kmh GPS, 75 mph.
Doesn't take long at all.
My BSA would still be lumbering thru first gear!

If you don’t like polishing, you could consider what I did, use fine scotchbrite and go for the satin / brushed look. I like this look so much I’ve done it to two of my bikes now, and it’s super low maintenance too. See pic below of Scotchbrited Commando.

So long as you keep at it this will be done by March, definitely doable.

But do please update us more regularly!

Carry on.

Click to expand...

I do like the look you got here with the scotchbrite. My initial thoughts were to see if I could keep the vapor blast finish on the covers, but they mark too easily. But thats a smart way to get a similar look, and something that you can touch up easily. I like that.


As for the tank capacity, I'm not sure, If I had to guess it's probably right around 3 gals. If not a little bit more.

worntorn said:

Here's a little teaser to perhaps add incentive-

A quick roll on to 120 kmh GPS, 75 mph.
Doesn't take long at all.
My BSA would still be lumbering thru first gear!

Click to expand...

That do sound nice n crisp !

Some more progress to this in the past few weeks. Cylinder head is back and looking great from Mr. Comstock. Now just waiting for the JS motorsport delivery.

Also finished the GB, with some great help from the Hemmings DVD, and the ever impressive "search" function here. Everything that I couldn't figure out had of course already been asked. Lots of great assembly points in there from the 2010 era.

Using a pair of Vice Grips, it changes through all gears super smooth. I'm actually a bit surprised. Hopefully onto the engine build in the next few weeks.


Sent a photo of this to a friend from back in the day who is an auto mechanic. He asked me, "why are you restoring a pencil sharpener?"

Looking GREAT!!!
Looks like the Epitome of a Cafe Racer,,

Very nice!

Glen

A bit more assembly and fitting progress for me this week. It still makes me chuckle that I thought I would be able to paint this frame first. Its unreal how many times I've scratched it in this week alone. Another occurring bummer is the brackets for the front engine plate I'm pretty sure are out of whack. I cannot for the life of me get both engine plates to sit inside the brackets with the crankcases in there. There is enough clearance for one to fit with the bottom bracket on the inside. (I'm assuming they both need to have the bottoms on the inside of the brackets right??) Not every photo I can find of a 650ss/dommi are consistent btw.


Front fender mounted. This took me some time to figure out how to get the right bends in the fender stays, along with the correct height of the fender from the wheel. I had read in a few places of people using length of a garden hose folded to act as a spacer. I thought about it a while, and wrapped the whole fender with painters tape. Created a flat side on interior curve, and it say right on the tire. Also didn't mess the finish of the fender too much as I was taking it on and off the bike 237 times to make sure it was all lined up.

I'm happy with how it sits. I've also decided that I will polish the fender stays, and the brake stay.





Also took advantage of the cold weather/zero humidity and fired up the bead blaster. Took a while to clean this part up but it came out decent. Its now primed in black, and will get a "satin chassis black" from Eastwood. I drilled out some of the rivets that held on the back end of the chain guard, as that section of it was pretty chewed up.



cleaned up and ready for paint


Mounted up the gearbox, and test fitting of the rear set controls, and kickstart area. The kicker here is a standard 650/Dommie item, but I'm thinking with these rear sets I should be using a later 750 commando one. The one that looks more like a banana. It does shift, and there is good clearance for the kicker, but I just think that kickstart will be digging in my shins.

I do not think the folding start from RGM/NYCNorton will fit with these rearsets as how they are mounted.


Current project has been the primary cover, and how it will mount to the inner cover. I really would like to do this without using brackets welded to the outside. I'm going to run a Bob Newby belt in here, and I'm curious how much clearance there will be inside this case. If it allows, I think that I will tuck away a few Allen screws. It's a good press fit on there now, so I don't think it would take all that much to secure it.

All kinds of progress!

Glen

seanalex said:

A bit more assembly and fitting progress for me this week. It still makes me chuckle that I thought I would be able to paint this frame first. Its unreal how many times I've scratched it in this week alone. Another occurring bummer is the brackets for the front engine plate I'm pretty sure are out of whack. I cannot for the life of me get both engine plates to sit inside the brackets with the crankcases in there. There is enough clearance for one to fit with the bottom bracket on the inside. (I'm assuming they both need to have the bottoms on the inside of the brackets right??) Not every photo I can find of a 650ss/dommi are consistent btw.


Front fender mounted. This took me some time to figure out how to get the right bends in the fender stays, along with the correct height of the fender from the wheel. I had read in a few places of people using length of a garden hose folded to act as a spacer. I thought about it a while, and wrapped the whole fender with painters tape. Created a flat side on interior curve, and it say right on the tire. Also didn't mess the finish of the fender too much as I was taking it on and off the bike 237 times to make sure it was all lined up.

I'm happy with how it sits. I've also decided that I will polish the fender stays, and the brake stay.

Also took advantage of the cold weather/zero humidity and fired up the bead blaster. Took a while to clean this part up but it came out decent. Its now primed in black, and will get a "satin chassis black" from Eastwood. I drilled out some of the rivets that held on the back end of the chain guard, as that section of it was pretty chewed up.

cleaned up and ready for paint

Mounted up the gearbox, and test fitting of the rear set controls, and kickstart area. The kicker here is a standard 650/Dommie item, but I'm thinking with these rear sets I should be using a later 750 commando one. The one that looks more like a banana. It does shift, and there is good clearance for the kicker, but I just think that kickstart will be digging in my shins.

I do not think the folding start from RGM/NYCNorton will fit with these rearsets as how they are mounted.

Current project has been the primary cover, and how it will mount to the inner cover. I really would like to do this without using brackets welded to the outside. I'm going to run a Bob Newby belt in here, and I'm curious how much clearance there will be inside this case. If it allows, I think that I will tuck away a few Allen screws. It's a good press fit on there now, so I don't think it would take all that much to secure it.

Click to expand...

Bob can give you clutch dimensions of course. How do you propose to keep flying grit out of the belt?

This is a concern. Racers get away with it but it could be an issue on a road bike. I've heard that the open Harley rear belt drives will sustain all kinds of damage if a pebble runs through between the belt and one of the pulleys.
The other concern is water ingress.
I ran my Newby with the cover off for a bit as I was playing with adjustments. I rode it in a light rain which was enough to get the clutch a bit damp. The steel plates rusted and required quite a bit of cleanup to restore normal clutch operation.

worntorn said:

This is a concern. rear belt drives will sustain all kinds of damage if a pebble runs through between the belt and one of the pulleys.
The other concern is water ingress.

Click to expand...

These are all good points. Initially I was building this to be a road race bike, but now that I'm leaning more toward it being a road bike, I probably should just get a regular closed Primary Cover.

Wondering if some stainless mesh screens would help keep out sticks and stones?

seanalex said:

These are all good points. Initially I was building this to be a road race bike, but now that I'm leaning more toward it being a road bike, I probably should just get a regular closed Primary Cover.

Wondering if some stainless mesh screens would help keep out sticks and stones?

Click to expand...

I've got cut outs with screen in my primary cover, with no issues to speak of. The belts do run a bit hot comparatively, so a bit of a draft isn't a bad thing. I try not to ride in the rain on that bike, but I have gotten caught out with no ill effects.

Does the outer fit up with the stock inner? Did you make it or purchase it? Looks well done either way.

The bike is looking great so far.

Yes, screening should work to keep small rocks out.
I have a small pair of screens on one bike and that has been fine. I haven't ridden it in the rain yet.
The Newby that suffered the rust was completely exposed.
Glen

seanalex said:

I'm happy with how it sits.... I've also decided that I will polish the fender stays, and the brake stay.

Click to expand...

Those brake torque arms look too thin (to me)...

It's in tension though, so it can take a huge pull before it will yield.

t ingermanson said:

I've got cut outs with screen in my primary cover, with no issues to speak of. The belts do run a bit hot comparatively, so a bit of a draft isn't a bad thing. I try not to ride in the rain on that bike, but I have gotten caught out with no ill effects.

Does the outer fit up with the stock inner? Did you make it or purchase it? Looks well done either way.

The bike is looking great so far.

Click to expand...

worntorn said:

Yes, screening should work to keep small rocks out.
I have a small pair of screens on one bike and that has been fine. I haven't ridden it in the rain yet.
The Newby that suffered the rust was completely exposed.
Glen

Click to expand...

Well this is good news, and thanks to both of you for the advice that the screens should work well. I personally don't see this bike covering all that many miles, so I will stick with getting some screens in those holes. I wasn't looking forward to trying to bring the stock primary cover back to life, its got a few dents and dings.

The primary cover thats on there now I got a few years back from Works Racing. They make the reproduction Manx parts. It fits the stock inner case perfectly. It's a good made piece. It did have a few mounting tabs on it which I cut off, and ground down. They wouldn't have been of any help on the twin motor for mounting points.

Xmas present to myself this weekend will be polishing it. Still waiting to hear back from Newby Racing about the part. It seems that all the dealers in the US that sell them have them listed as "out of stock"

It will look nice on there.
I'm considering something similar for the 920 project.

Glen

As Glen says, those torque stays are fine. Same as mine from what I can tell.

If you’re struggling to get BNR parts over there, why not contact Bob directly ?