I have about 3 years of spare time tinkering to get this bike together. Big, late model brakes with true old school glass helped me get this as close as I could rememeber to a bike I saw when I was younger. Hope you enjoy the pics.
The concept was to blend old with new hence the crossover Yamaha racing paint scheme with the ton up stripe. I wanted the bike to handle and run as good as it could on tube tires and it does. I wanted to be able to look through the bike and see nothing but hard parts (no wiring, bolts or unsightly junk) 3 years of part time work. You judge the finished product.
- Box section swing arm
- Needle bearings
- Shaved, gusseted Powder coated frame with a 65% gloss finish (3mm)
- Tomaselli clip-on’s
- Polished lightened hubs
- Rear hub drilled
- Front wheel is an 18 inch to quicken steering and allow for slightly wider tires (standard racing trick)
- Polished shoulder rims with double butted spokes and new nipples
- New aluminum rear sprocket
- Oversize brake rotors and calipers with ss lines
- FZ6 forks with fresh seals and oil (air forks)
- New rear shocks
- Fairing and tail was NOS and never mounted
- Oil cooler with SS lines
- Custom rear sets
- Custom built 1 ¾ Shell pipes with tuned port optimizers and exhaust port optimizers
- Aluminum front fender with aluminum braces
- Engine was upgraded with;
- 1 piece clutch pushrod and new seal
- HD clutch springs
- New style sump strainer
- High Performance coil, wires and caps
- Carbs rebuilt with spot on jetting and custom needles (starts first kick and idles perfectly)
- Pod filters
- Starter block off plate
- New clutch cable, tach cable and throttle cable
- Brand new tires and tubes
Fairing can be removed in seconds with ¼ turn fasteners and bike can be converted to un faired style with no unsightly brackets to detract from the looks of the bike.
Fiberglass tanks are prone to leaking so I skinned this one and installed a super sturdy 2 gallon steel tank under the skin along with the battery.
- All of the body work can be removed in 2-3 minutes with a single Allen key
- Forks are 36 mm from a 87 FZR 600
- Rear Swing arm 1988 Radian
- Front rotor 87 FZR1000
- Front caliper 98 Suzuki Bandit 600
- Oil cooler from Ninja 600 r
- New battery with charging plug for Deltran style charger
- Just tuned with fresh oil and filters engine had 6000 miles when removed from donor bike
- Fresh paint Corvette velocity yellow
- Spare parts (engine and head(s) cams, TCI box, etc
Built by Frank Derris
This XS 650 Cafe Racer is currently for sale!
HI Frank, thanks for sending in the pictures.
A race between this ride and mk2-from-the-limey would be one badass race for sure.
http://www.xs650chopper.com/2010/03/xs650-cafe-the-beast-mk2-from-the-limey/
The attention to detail in this xs is insane. Beautiful. From what I understand about exhaust tuning (not very much) you have the perfect setup.The Custom built 1 ¾ Shell pipes with tuned port optimizers and exhaust port optimizers (from what I’ve read) were the pipe setup to beat.
Nice work.
WOW
Nice work I would sure like to hear it bet it sounds sweet, great job with the front end and the glass, all around just solid looking build.
Hey there, it’s really great to see the occasional café on this site. Great work on the bike it looks fast as hell. Thanks
Sweet, love the view form the rear quarter
Great job, excellent detail work. Looks like something right out of the 60′s. You definalty nailed the Look! Love the Paint scheme.
hell yea
This puppy’s on eBay right now. Starting at 4500. Would love to have it!
One of my fav’s.