Eastern Spirit Garage have mastered the art of building cafe racers. They nailed the formula when they broke onto the scene seven years ago?and have produced consistently good results since.
But the Polish shop likes to break the mold once in a while, by deviating from their hallmark genre. Because, as shop boss Sylwester puts it, ?it just gives us a lot of fun and challenges.?

This latest project is the furthest thing, stylistically, from a cafe racer you can get: a bobber. But clearly Sylwester and co. have that look down pat too, because there’s not a line out of place on this low-slung hardtail.
The bike’s based on an early 80s Yamaha XS650 Special. That was the slightly chopper-ized version of the XS650, and doesn’t quite have the same classic appeal today.
?Building a bobber on an XS required a cheap base,? says Sylwester. ?We respect the heritage?it would be painful to cut down a nice XS II, for instance. So a Special seemed like a perfect choice.?
Eastern Spirit is technically a solo project, but Sylwester is regularly helped by his brother, Kamil, and their friend, Lukasz. The crew started by stripping the XS650 down, lopping off the rear of the frame, and fabricating their own hardtail setup.

The floating seat is completely handmade too, and features a very elegant suspension system that uses a mountain bike shock. ?It really is surprisingly comfortable,? Sylwester assures us.
To perfect the Yamaha’s stance, ESG tweaked the head an...