Yamaha

Reader Ride.. Beautiful converted Flat/Street Tracker

Ted Gail Sends in this beauty.   He Writes:

I stumbled across your page and thought you might like this bike.
It is my old race bike from 30 years ago. I had always wanted to make a street bike out of one of a flat tracker because they look so cool. I knew I needed a 4 stroke with an electric start and my first attempt was a KLR 650 engine and it just wasn’t going to fit in that frame. Then after much measuring I decided a 450WR would be perfect, good power (at least as much as the F11M it originally had) with a wide ratio gearbox and an electric start.
It is a Cycle Factory frame, Ceriani road race forks, Kosman wheels, 2007 Yamaha 450 WR engine, Champion Glass with a Greg Flowers paint job.

Hope you like it,
Ted Gail

Great Stuff Ted! Thanks!

Reader Ride. One BADA$$ Yamaha XT500 Vintage MX’er!

John From North Texas Writes in:

Not all Yamaha XT500’s are destined to become flat track racers or street trackers.

I race this bike with the local vintage MX club here in North Texas. http://www.tvrc.org

Damm John, that looks like a heluva good time! Thanks Much!

Reader Ride. A VIP visit and some beautiful TZ shots.

Got a great e-mail (and some really great pictures) today from Richard over at Mule Motorcycles. If you don’t know much about them do yourself a favor and go pay them a visit… go ahead we’ll wait…  LINK  I consider this post to be a bit of a coup for me as I’ve been drooling over their bikes for years now and for my blog to be paid such a high compliment from such outstanding builders makes me think that I just might be doing something right.  It’s much appreciated!

Richard writes in:

My friend sent me your link a few months ago and the variety you have just amazes me. I’m pretty fussy about how stuff looks and I find almost every bike has features I like, if I don’t like the whole bike. We must have similar tastes in bikes. Keep um comin’! Good job! Heres a few pictures of some TZ750’s I restored back in 1991. The pictures are all scanned from photos, so they’re not super crisp, but I thought you might get a charge out of them anyway.

Richard   http://www.mulemotorcycles.net

I guess my 2-stroke lust precedes me.  Thanks VERY much for stopping by and for the great shots.  And yes… I will keep em coming.

Holy S#it!  that is a NICE garage… I swear to god I gasped a bit when I first it.  I look at this and wonder if maybe I wasn’t born a decade late.

Reader Ride. Possibly The Nicest XS650 Street Tracker I’ve Seen Yet.

Folks are making this really easy for me. I’m getting quite a flood of outstanding pics lately so if you’re bike isn’t getting on right away doesn’t mean that it won’t. I’m NOT complaining so please keep em coming.

Ken Fontenot of Cycle Sports Huston sent in this jewel of a build. As XS trackers go, I don’t believe I’ve seen it equaled.

Ken Writes:

I read that you were always looking for interesting bikes to post to your site. Here is a bike we built over the winter months. Several pics attached as well as a story about how it all happened.
Everyone knows things have slowed down a little in the motorcycle business lately as well as many other businesses so this past winter we decided to take on a project to occupy any down time we might have.
We have had an independent shop here in Houston Tx for the last 29 years and have worked on several Flat trackers and Street trackers in the past and everyone here liked that style so after looking around we pulled out a rusty 1975 Yamaha XS650 rolling chassis that had been outside for about 16 years.
We had a starting point. We tried to accomplish this by using as many parts as possible that we already had around the shop, simply refinishing, replating, repainting and restoring. Well after about 6 months this is what we came up with. Its a real conglomeration of parts from many different bikes that we made work.

* Frame is a 1975 Yamaha XS650, gusseted and modified
* Engine & carbs are from a ’77, Both left stock but painted polished & carbs rejetted
* Front suspension & fuel tank ’81, steering stem bearings,seals & progressive springs
* Swingarm ’86 Yamaha Radian with needle bearings
* Kaw ZRX 1200 Shocks, Repainted and re cadium plated
* Foot controls are Kawasaki Ninja 250
* Tailpiece XR750 Harley, seat recontoured , firmer foam inserted and recovered
* Tailpiece is also rubber mounted to the frame on viabration absorbing Iso mounts
* Headlight & Brow from a Harley Sportster, custom mounts made
* K&N Air Filters with custom adaptors made to mount to the carbs
* Pipes were built down the street from us by John Easton at Jemco Exhaust Systems
* Stock front caliper and rotor with Grimeca mastercyl & stainless lines
* Brembo Rear caliper with custom water jetted hanger and stabalizer bar, stainless lines
* Stock front brake rotors turned, drilled & painted
* For the wheels we used two stock front Xs650 hubs & Spokes
* Custom built billet sprocket adaptor made by James Moody at Leeco Springs
* The Rims are rear Honda CRF450 Excell 19″ take offs donated by Honda of Houston
* Paint scheme graphics were designed by Shane Davis at Graphtec Inc in Houston
* All paint was done here in our shop, the only powdercoated parts are rims and fuel cap
* Trailtech computer for speedo, tach, odometer, tripmeter, clock, temp, shift lights
* Trailtech also has an optional bezel with all the idiot lights needed, rubber mounted
* We custom built the turn signals and lic plate & taillight brkt.
* Hard to spot the front signals but they are there
* Custom built the electrical box and wiring harness.
* Hi performance YTZ10s sealed battery, electric start only.
* All lighting is LED except for H4 Quartz headlight.

This has been a very fun project and of course we ended up spending more time that we expected but we are very proud of the final result. Considering we have spent very little (under $1800) in actually parts & supplies, this bike runs, handles, stops, and rides exceptionally well and really turns heads where ever we park it.

Ken Fontenot, Jeff Wisenbaker & Ben Brooks
Cycle Sports Ltd of Houston
9802 Clay Rd
Houston, Texas 77080
713-690-9802
http://www.cyclesportshouston.com

Reader Submittal. XS650 Cafe From Bogota.

Very Nice! He Writes:

Hello my name is Camilo Pinzon Im a motorcycle designer from Bogota,Colombia, Im starting my business down here, Love cafe racers and bobbers this is my first proyect, hope you like it, I have more bikes will send you pictures soon.

Thanks!

Fairly Radical XT600 Cafe Racer.

Saw this over on Ottonero. (please check him out). That thing is bitchin! Everyone who kicks areound with thumpres generall agree that these big singles are a freaking blast and as a DR650 owner this gives me expensive thoughts.