My 1980 XS650SG. I bought this bike as a project to see if I could get it running. It was a rolling frame with three huge boxes of parts (mostly junk) and an engine. It took me a year to gather new ( http://www.mikesxs.net/) and used parts (eBay) and put it together. Been a great runner and fun to ride for over three years.
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First, thank you very much for posting. Second, I’m curious how bad it was to figure out how to put it all together and find the missing parts. I’ve come across a few similar situations but stayed away in fear that I would discover that too many little hard (or nearly impossible) parts were missing.
I primarily used my 1977 as a guide, although there were quite a few things unique about the ’80 vs. the ’77. I downloaded all the parts manuals from the Yamaha website (they actually had them for the older models!) and from various enthusiasts sites. I also got a lot of help from an e-mail list (http://micapeak.com/mailman/listinfo/yam650); a great bunch, always willing to help and quite a few with a great deal of knowledge about the bike.
I believe that the XS650 was the longest built model (between the years ‘68 and ’83) and they were popular back then. That makes it easier to find used parts. I’ve noticed in the last few years, though, that the model is sought after by a lot more people, making it harder to find parts. MikeXS actually sells quite a range of new parts for the XS650.