We’ve had our eye on Sean Skinner at MotoRelic for a while now. The Virginia-based builder has a knack for creating tidy restomods and customs, and knows how to nail that ‘factory’ vibe. But he’s just thrown us a major curveball with his latest project: a vintage Schwinn-inspired Yamaha XS650.
This deviation from MotoRelic’s usual fare was conceived six years ago. Sean had the offbeat idea to build an upsized replica of Schwinn’s famed 1968 Stingray Orange Krate chopper bicycle, powered by a motorcycle engine.

?Let’s add to the mix that I had never built a complete frame before?or lots of other parts on this build that followed,? he tells us. ?I acquired a clean stock frame that I cut the neck off of, so I could retain the proper VIN number. Then I installed the lonely neck onto my recently purchased frame jig, and started brainstorming how I wanted it to look.? Sean’s challenge was to replicate the swooping curves of the Stingray’s tubular frame. First, he fabricated the lower loop of the frame, using a mockup of the engine to get the proportions right. Then he used PVC tubing to prototype the rest of the design, before shaping each steel tube using a ring roller.

Once all the tubes were tacked in place and resembled the photos Sean was working from, he went ahead and laid down the final welds. The chassis looks like a single structure from afar, but the two tubes that run along the bottom of the tank are actually...