XS650 by Cafe Racer 351

This coral project began when Hugo Ramos, publisher and director of REV - a Portuguese motorcycle culture magazine -, asked Henrique “HZolio”, mechanic wizard and an active member of the CR351 - a very popular theme forum in Portugal - to reanimate this 1972 Yamaha 650, which had been abandoned for years. The conditions of the whole bike were so poor that it had to be completely rebuilt, piece-by-piece, which resulted in the decision to make it with a new configuration. Cesar “Thruxtonic”, who we owe these pictures, founder and admin of CR351 was invited to join the project with his kaffracer buddies and take care of the design and project management. The option was to make a low budget, very light bike with good handling and street-tracker style. The frame had to be repaired, the motor restored and several components were customized. The electric starter was removed and a very tiny battery was used to make the bike lighter. The result was this nice and very urban street track bike. Thank you for sharing guys!

Questo progetto corale ha avuto inizio quando Hugo Ramos, editore e direttore di REV – una rivista portoghese di cultura motociclistica -, ha chiesto a Henrique “HZolio”, mago della meccancia e membro attivo del CR351 – un popolarissimo forum a tema cafè racer in Portogallo – di portare a nuova vita questa Yamaha 650 del 1972, che era rimasta abbandonata per anni. Le condizioni della moto erano così disastrose che la Yamaha ha dovuto essere interamente ricostruita pezzo per pezzo. Ciò ha portato alla decisione di farlo in una nuova configurazione. Cesar “Thruxtonic”, fondatore e amministratore del club Cafè Racer 351, a cui debbo queste immagini, è stato invitato dai suoi amici kaffracer a unirsi al progetto per prendersi cura del design e della direzione. La scelta è stata quella di realizzare una moto a basso costo, estremamente leggera, di grande manegevolezza e con uno stile street-tracker. Il telaio è stato riparato, il motore restaurato e numerose componenti sono state ricostruite artigianalmente. Per raggiungere la leggerezza voluta, tra l’altro, l’avviamento elettrico è stato rimosso ed è stata installata una leggera batteria agli ioni di litio. Il risultato è stato questa leggerissima street tracker urbana. Grazie ai ragazzi di CR351 per averla condivisa con l’Inazuma cafè!

Some technical data, directly from Thruxtonic: “As a clock I used a multi function Bike computer Sigma 1609 STS, a wireless system. I wanted the front of the bike very light and clean and, aiming that, we hidden the brake master cylinder under the tank, using a device specially designed to action it. Even the horn is hidden. The electric control is done through a Motgadget m-unit (I recommend it!) and 4 Motogadget m-switchs. The grips are cow leather tape covered and the bar end caps are from Brooks. In this case, the heat wraps weren’t an option because the exhaust pipes were in bad shape. Several parts were designed and built by me, like a box under the seat to mount the rectifier, the m-unit and a small battery 12V-0.8A measuring just 96x25x62mm. I also designed a fork brace in 3mm steel and made the front mudguard in PVC. The mufflers are something cheap, to keep the budget under control, but with a good sound, however, although a bit loud to my taste. The paint job evokes the original Yamaha pattern and has some nice tonal changes under the light direction. Other details are: the Airfilter XS Performance - 54mm; the Carb kit XS Performance BS34; Starter motor block-off plug kit; Hagon type 2819 adjustable shocks. “