Take a loot at this amazing Yamaha XS650 Cafe Racer called “The Hornet”.
Chris aka”The Limey of Limey Bikes does the talking:
It has Excel 18 inch rims, stainless spokes, fork damper valves, progressive springs, alloy swingarm, Brembo brakes (except for the front caliper… incidentally, the rear brake is a work of art from Banke Racing), 750 kit, Shell No.1 race cam, titanium valve tops, serious gas flowing, stainless valves, race clutch, Mikuni RS36 smoothbores (what a bitch to link up… it’s so tight that I can’t use intake gaskets), a gorgeous megaphone from Apollo Cones welded to 1.75 inch stainless pipes (thanks Matt), Yoshi rearsets, all electrics are under the seat (and it even has blinkers built into the headlight), Scitsu race tach…. blah blah blah… the list goes on and on.
The bike is sporting some extreme stopping power with a 320mm Brembo front rotor, Tokico caliper, the rear is completely Brembo, Aluminum rear sprocket, X-ring chain, the lovely aluminum rear swingarm, S&W shocks (I used to deal in those back in the 80′s), Integrated turn signals front and rear (yes, the front ones are built into the headlight), Stainless 2 into 1 exhaust (thanks Apollo Cones and Mattt for sticking it together)… and last, but not least… the paintwork is back from Full Custom Fab. It looks very smart indeed. I hope that this will give a few people inspiration to do something mechanically wonderful… even though this one is lacking in any chrome whatsoever!
As it happens, I did do all the work on the bike and I specialize in XS650 engines and electrics (I build engines for a couple of the chop guys in Austin too). I also used to own a bike shop in London, so I like to bring the true meaning of a cafe racer to these shores. The only parts of the bike I can’t take credit for is the exhaust (although my design) and the rear brake hanger… apart from that it’s all me.
Well, the last 2 parts arrived and after a small earthing issue… it fired right up. I still have to dial those Mikuni RS carbs in, but it sounds amazing so far… like an angry rottweiler with an amplifier.
Chris, AKA ‘The Limey’
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