A sweet Yamaha SR500 bobber from Sweden, a bright orange Honda CBR600 from the Netherlands, a Kawasaki KZ750 cafe racer from Argentina, and a stylish BMW R65 street tracker from France. We’re racking up the (virtual) air miles this week.
Honda CBR600 F2 by WiMoto The Dutch flag is a tricolor of red, white, and blue but if there’s a color associated with the country, it’s orange. Most sports teams in the Netherlands are kitted out in oranje, and so is this punchy little CBR600 from builder Wido Veldkamp.
The CBR600 is an excellent choice for a donor. As Wido points out, we see a lot of older donor bikes—like the Honda CB750, Suzuki GS550, and BMW airheads. “But these bikes don’t have a lot of power, do not have the best brakes, and the handling is not so good either.
“So we thought why not take a donor that has already proven itself? The CBR600 F2 is still used for track day racing, its engine is indestructible, it has approximately 90 hp, and handles and stops as it should.”
Wido started by ditching the fairings (and the multitude of mounting points), and built a slim new subframe and a chromoly tube swingarm—which he’ll soon be offering in his online store.
He’s also shortened the forks, scrapped the clip-ons, and modified the top yoke so he could install conventional bars. There’s also a new 4-into-1 exhaust system, the carbs are retuned to suit K&N filters, and the new wiring loom is plugged into modern LED lighting all round. The acid orange paint job is the icing on a very tasty cake indeed. [Via]
Yamaha SR500 by Black Lanes Motor Yamaha’s SR series is still a rock solid choice for a custom build, with a staggering number of aftermarket parts available—especially in the Japanese online stores.
We’ve seen just about every permutation of the SR400 and SR500, but there’s a fresh vibe to this snappy little bobber from Andreas Jönsson of Black Lanes Motor in Sweden.
The woodcraft teacher wanted something different to the usual café racer or Brat Style SR build, so he went for the old school bobber look—complete with springer fork from DNA Specialty.
The back end has been slammed to match, with shorter Honda shocks hooked up to an abbreviated rear frame. And the attention to detail is admirable, from the smoothed-out and refinished frame to the thicker spokes on the rechromed wire wheels.
Andreas has modified the tank to sit lower on the top tube, and added a steel plate to support the classic bobber-style seat. Right underneath, the polished covers of the engine gleam almost as much as the elegant twin-pipe exhaust system.
Andreas has steered away from the traditional with the paint though, going for a mostly white look that was shot by Loen from Lucky Boy Customs. With a pair of whitewall Shinko tires spooned over the sparkling rims, this SR500 is set to turn heads like no other. [Via | Images by Johan Rydberg]
Kawasaki KZ750 by STG Tracker In Argentina, Marcelo Obarrio has made a name for himself building street trackers. But for his latest custom, he wanted to try something different—so he delivered this very sharp-looking KZ750 café racer.
The bike is called ‘Jarvis’ and it was a finalist at one of the largest custom shows in Latin America. Marcelo has taken Kawasaki’s unassuming, late 70s parallel twin and given it a dash of subtle style—something that many of the other show finalists unfortunately lacked.
Marcelo has taken a restomod approach to this build, but the ‘mod’ side of it is significant. He’s installed Yamaha R1 forks using custom yokes, and integrated a Motogadget speedo into the top yoke. Marchesini wheels complete the suspension upgrade and new stainless steel pipes are terminated with a titanium Akrapovič muffler.
New carbs improve fuel flow, but the trickiest job was grafting on the single-sided swingarm from an early 90s Honda VFR400 NC30—and making it look stock. Marcelo has even hidden most of the new wiring loom inside the frame for a super clean look, and added a touch of practicality with custom carbon fenders front and back. [Via | Images by Marcos Ludevid]
BMW R65 street tracker by Pépito The BMW R-series has been twisted and turned into every style of custom you can imagine. But this slender R65 from France is one of the best we’ve seen, and shows a light touch from 24-year-old builder Julien—known to his friends as Pépito.
Julien followed the typical Euro route of messing around on minibikes and small capacity machines before getting into heavier machinery. This 1983 R65 was a half-finished custom based on an old gendarmerie bike when Julien picked it up for a song and finished it off brilliantly.
He dismantled the entire machine, blasted the frame, and installed a Honda CB360 tank. He’s also trimmed the rear frame, lowered the forks, added a pair of YSS shocks, and built a seat with the help of upholstery specialists Cuir Concept.
The wiring is now hidden, cabling is run through the bars, and juice comes from a compact lithium ion battery. DNA air filters and a stainless exhaust give the boxer engine a little more pep to suit the ‘Hot Wheels’ badging. Très stylé! [Via | Images by Sophie Mara]
