Staff Rides - again

22 April 2014

Staff Rides - again

Nick’s XS400 Cafe Racer

Well here is a nice looking bike, a Yamaha XS400 cafe racer – or is it? Yes it is I think, even though the tank is off a Honda CX500, its forks are from an Aprillia RS125, the wheels come from a Suzuki GS500 and the swing arm is modified from a FZR250 and the seat pan is out of an old tumble drier...Does that make it a yumblehonkia? No, still a Yamaha we say.

It has been lovingly hand crafted by Nick in his garage and had its first run as the finished item last Saturday to Foundry motorcycles open day.

The list of modifications is long. The pillion part of the frame has been cut off as the seat has been turned into a classic cafe racer single seat and the indicator is now tucked in very close to the seat. The battery and electrics are also now under the seat to get them out of the way and improve the appearance of the bike.

The swing arm is alloy welded and the exhaust pipe is where the shocks should be. The front sprocket is kicked out 10mm as the rear and front didn’t line up but it passed its mot fine - even without a chain guard.

Nick finished all the work and rode it before it was painted in case anything needed changing and ruined the paint work - good thinking there.

Here are some photos of the build and the finished result - nice one.