We’ve spotted a rising trend over the last couple of years that we can get behind: classic bikes with modern tech upgrades. And if we were working on a project in that vein, Cognito Moto would be getting a call.
Started by brothers Devin and Nicholas Henriques, the Richmond, Virginia company is known for building parts that add modern performance to older bikes. Their online store’s stocked with everything from triple clamps to fit upside-down forks, to rear loops with integrated LEDs.

Naturally, they build some damn cool customs too?particularly when they’re developing new products. This Yamaha XS650 is their latest test bed, and the newest addition to our fantasy garage.
?Traditionally we?ve been focused on vintage Hondas,? Devin tells us, ?but lately we’ve branched out into Triumph and Yamaha.?
?When diving into Yamaha, it seemed all too easy to pick the coveted XS650 as our starting point. It couldn?t be any XS650 though?we wanted a 1972 in particular. We happen to love the tank from that model year.?
Cognito sourced a donor XS locally; an abandoned chopper project. Almost three years later, they finally got started on it.

?As we started tearing the bike down we knew we wanted to do something a little different with this bike,? says Devin. ?We’ve struggled finding beauty in the XS platform and really wanted to nail it.?
?As with most of our builds, we wanted the bike to look like it could’ve came from the manufacturer’s ...