Evening gents,
It's been a few weeks since my last post but things have been happening, some of them aren't ready to post yet but have been alluded to elsewhere on the forum.
What I can post is my new top yoke... let me explain.
Whilst consulting with Ian Davis of ETTO Motorcycles (who just happens to be a little bit of a motorcycle chassis geometry/suspension guru due to previous employment) we discussed how all the changes that I'm making will negatively influence handling and as performance is paramount to me on this build I want to do all I can to ensure that things are as optimal as they can possibly be.
I'll start on the front end, the early R6 forks are shorter than the XS650, 755mm versus 768mm. I'm using an 18" diameter rim versus the stock 19".
Then on the rear another 18" rim versus the stock 19". All of this along with the longer Ohlins shocks would leave the bike looking like it was 'diving' under heavy braking, all the while handling like a shopping trolley, so to remedy this Ian suggested designing a top yoke with a 38mm step or rise so that is what I did.
I wanted to try and emulate the profile of the early R6 yoke I had originally intended on using.
Then I thought whilst we're at it why not imbed a Motogadget Motoscope Mini.
![SokoYokeDrawing2.jpg SokoYokeDrawing2.jpg](https://www.xs650.com/data/attachments/228/228294-7c353739bb0b7d772c107a496e6e5439.jpg)
For material I looked at what others like Cognito Moto use so went with 6061.
I've found it immensely satisfying watching the form I saw in my minds eye emerge step by step from a lump of material and I hope you all do too.
![SokoYokeFirstcut.jpg SokoYokeFirstcut.jpg](https://www.xs650.com/data/attachments/228/228298-5fd5fba2a2c041ad74defe1dfd5e1929.jpg)
![SokoYokeSecondcut.jpg SokoYokeSecondcut.jpg](https://www.xs650.com/data/attachments/228/228299-6a1fb6b95286c87c0307e70bf62a5554.jpg)
![SokoYokeThirdcut.jpg SokoYokeThirdcut.jpg](https://www.xs650.com/data/attachments/228/228300-0a1df104badf24ddd31239ed9c9a24bd.jpg)
![SokoYokeFourthcut.jpg SokoYokeFourthcut.jpg](https://www.xs650.com/data/attachments/228/228301-0ee959c6a7e64e22eb200a0074bb61b9.jpg)
![SokoYokeFifthCut.jpg SokoYokeFifthCut.jpg](https://www.xs650.com/data/attachments/228/228303-28a968647c2e1adff1bed9c26f66b2ae.jpg)
I cannot put into words how super happy I am with the final piece, I had every faith in Luke but he really has outdone himself.
Daniel.