This is the cleanest Yamaha SR500 café racer I’ve seen for a long, long time—the Lossa Engineering ‘Solus’. It recently starred in a very enticing video, and it’s finally been captured properly in a stills shoot. The builder is Jay LaRossa of Long Beach, California and he specializes in café racers based on Japanese, Italian and British bikes from the 1960s and 1970s. Both sides of Jay’s family owned motorcycle dealerships, so he’s been steeped in two-wheeled culture since an early age. And it shows.
Jay’s philosophy is incredibly simple: he follows the tradition of the original racers ‘by stripping off all the bullshit and making them fast!’ It helps that Jay is a man of many skills—he knows how to weld, fabricate sheet metal, machine parts, do paint and upholstery, and rebuild motors.
A lot of work has gone into this SR500, starting with the motor. It’s been bored out and fitted with an oversize White Brothers piston and hotter cam, plus heavy-duty valve springs and a ported head. A Mikuni flatslide boosts power even more, helped by custom intake and exhaust piping.
Handling is taken care of with a GSX-R front end and Works shocks, with Brembo brakes front and rear bringing the proceedings to a halt. The wheels are from an RD400, the front fender is a bobbed Honda item and the tank is a Benelli. (I’m guessing there are an awful lot of Benellis minus their tanks in scrapyards these days.)
The result is super-clean and almost clinical, with every part serving its purpose and no cosmetic fripperies. A terrific job from a builder we’re sure to be hearing a lot more about.
SPECIFICATION Frame detabbed and hooped · Battery relocated · GSX-R front end · Adapted Brembo brakes front and rear · Brembo front rotor · RD400 wheels · Custom made sprocket carrier · GSX-R rearsets · Cal Fab aluminum swing arm · Custom made rear brake stay · Bobbed Honda front fender with handmade · fork brace · Gauge bucket molded into headlight bucket with re orientated · Lossa brand tach face · Tommaselli headlight ears · Benelli gas tank with custom gas cap · Handmade steel tail section with frenched in Lossa tail light · Wired from scratch · Big bore kit · White Bros. Cam · Heavy duty valve springs · Ported head, 36mm Mikuni flatslide carb · Custom intake manifold · K&N filter · Custom exhaust with Lossa cone muffler · Welded sprocket cover · All aluminum was polished first, then hand brushed and cleared over · Works shocks
