The XS650 gas tank received a flush-mounted, pop-up aluminum filler cap to keep its silhouette as clean as possible. Up top, there’s a plain cafe racer-style tail fronted by an Alcantara saddle. A tailor-made, looped subframe can now be seen where the standard unit had once been, and it comes with an integrated LED taillight from Highsider at the southernmost tip. Furthermore, the 653cc engine saw its Mikuni carburetors rebuilt and then topped with custom velocity stacks. The pipework was put together using 48 mm (1.9-inch) stainless-steel tubing, cut into 42 individual pieces per header. One may also find a new clutch, but what really gets our attention is the bespoke pie-cut exhaust Chris fabricated from scratch. Its parallel-twin mill was serviced inside out, gaining replacement pistons and fresh consumables in the process. With the rolling chassis pieced together, his attention turned to the bike’s powertrain. Sir Scholtka decided that vintage-looking rubber was the way to go here, so he fitted beefy Shinko E270 tires on both ends. In terms of footwear, the XS650 features 18-inch aftermarket rims with TUV certification, and the front unit is laced to a CNC-machined wheel hub supplied by Cognito Moto. Rear-end suspension duties are now assigned to dual Black-T shock absorbers sporting progressive springs. We still spot the original drum brake at the back, but it’s been thoroughly refurbished during Motocrew’s overhaul. These are accompanied by TRW discs, along with a premium master cylinder and new brake pads from Brembo’s inventory. He added Touratech fork internals, too, and the aforementioned CBR was kind enough to also donate its front brake calipers.

Once the donor was taken apart, Chris sourced a modern pair of inverted forks from a Honda CBR1000RR and had them installed via Cognito Moto triple clamps. The OEM subframe and front brake followed suit, as did all the factory bodywork aside from the fuel tank. Chris’ signature styling approach is present here in all its neo-retro glory, tastefully leaning toward the retro side of things.įor starters, the XS650 parted ways with its stock wheels, suspension, and exhaust system.

With these goals in mind, the Motocrew treatment got underway in November 2021, and it was finalized around five months later. The customer’s criteria for this build was relatively straightforward: a slammed cafe racer with loud exhaust pipes and a murdered-out color scheme. As such, Chris found the old Yamaha to be in excellent condition, but he still wanted to modernize its running gear and refurbish it wherever he could. The UJM had only two owners prior to the client’s acquisition, and each of them took great care of it while it was in their possession.

In any case, Herr Scholtka doesn’t just build custom bikes as a mere hobby, but he also takes client orders to generate some additional cashflow.Ĭommissioned by a car enthusiast from Stuttgart, the specimen we’re about to look at had once been a stock 1979 Yamaha XS650. He currently operates as Motocrew, which might seem a little ironic since the firm is in fact a one-man endeavor.

That’s right the solo craftsman is keen on outsourcing as little work as possible, with the only recurring exception being the paint jobs.

Cbr 1000 velocity stacks