Between different forums and social media lot of people ask me about the expected performance of my build, or point out the flaws of using inverted forks and monoshocks on old bikes like this. So I just wanted to post a quick thought to address these issues...
I am building this bike for a specific niche, which is not racing or top performance. For anyone following who is new to vintage bike building, this is not what real performance looks like.
If I were building for performance I would have done almost everything different. I would have built the frame and swingarm to be more rigid, and from chromoly with a much thinner wall to save weight. I would have never used a mono shock or usd forks. Instead I would use some quality dual rear shocks and sourced some old Ohlins forks in the correct length with proper valving and spring rates. I would run adjustable triple clamps, nice Beringer brakes and the lightest wheels I could find. There would be a small aluminum fuel tank, engine mods galore, the list goes on and on. For a real performing xs650 check out what Richard from Mule is building. But, that's not what I wanted to build. I'd rather just buy a newer Ducati designed by top rate engineers.
That being said, my bike will still deliver plenty of performance for cruising my winding back roads and tight small-city streets. It will be as tough, reliable and safe as possible. It's unique, and if you ask me, it's going to look great. That is the kind of bike that I want to build and ride.
Progressing my fabrication abilities is my real drive, ending with something that I like to ride is just a bonus. Thanks for following!
