No Excess: A supremely elegant XS650 from Portugal
Can you believe the Yamaha XS650 is half a century old this year" The air-cooled parallel twin has always had a strong fan base, and Maria Motorcycles of Lisbon, Portugal love it as much as anyone. Their first build was an XS, and they’ve been smitten ever since.
So it’s not surprising that the Maria guys hoarded a low mileage 1980 XS650, waiting for the right project. And inevitably, a client came along and convinced them to customize it for him.
?We wanted a simple and elegant bike,? Maria’s Luis Correia tells us, ?without too many overdone parts or extras. Our job was simply to restore it, and make it as-new and unique.?
The donor was mechanically in tiptop shape?so the crew didn’t need to crack the engine open. It was running perfectly smooth, so they cleaned it up and repainted the covers black.
The rest of the bike was stripped right down and rebuilt with new bearings, seals and stainless steel fasteners throughout. Maria kept the original suspension and brakes (even the original discs, which have plenty of wear left on them), but refurbished and serviced them.
They also powder coated the frame, wheels and any other parts that needed a refresh. The frame’s been shortened and looped at the rear, and the tail light and plate relocated to the left side.
There’s a custom-made leather saddle up top, and a one-off aluminum electrical box underneath. Maria repackaged all the wiring to fit in there, along with a small Lithium-i...
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