A couple of years ago, I just missed buying this XS650 cafe racer, as it was a bargain, but I kept some photos of it for reference to my own version which I hope to start building soon. There's not much that I didn't like about this one; it has a fibreglass tank, but I prefer an allow tank; maybe not in the Manx style, but more the Lyta style. I don't want to copy it exactly, so I might use different mufflers to the early Commando type used here, but they really suits the style of the bike, I reckon.
Anyway the killer feature of this cafe racer is the Suzuki GT750 4LS front brake hub, and I have one ready to be polished and laced up to a rim. Just got to work out what size, as I'll probably go to either an 18 or 19" rim.
Last pic is of my small family of bikes (well older ones that run); main one being my standard '76 XS650C, and I had to incude a pic of my wifes '76 RD400C, as together, I think they make a real picture! They also share more than the odd part, so there are advantages in having bikes like this of the same year! The RD needs a few things done to put on the road, and I have a pair of genuine spoked wheels for it as well, so I'll probably swap them out. Funny really, as the '76 RD400 was the first production bike with a mag wheel option, and hardly anyone went for the standard spokes, paying extra for the mags. Now the spoked wheels are highly sought after, so I'm told.
