Marc Devriese, owner of Belgium-based Wheelyshop has taken a classic Yamaha XS650 and given it the hardtail bobber treatment. Starting off the build is a hardtail welded to the end of the original frame, along with a fake oil tank to house all the electrical components. To save weight, even the battery gets ditched, leaving the bike with just a kick starter!

The tiny petrol tank, sourced from some 1960s moped, endows the bike with a lean and sporty look, and is complemented by a radial master cylinder and billet calipers.

The sparkle paint design replicates the swinging era, a time when measures to make a bike faster were often more straightforward. Losing weight was the first objective and if parts could not be discarded, they could be drilled to make them a bit lighter. So as wheels are pretty essential, Mark gave them spin of the mill.

A lot of the hand-made parts, like the gorgeous downpipes, calipers and engine mounts, are joined by other mods including Shinko tyres, Motomaster disks, Motomaster master cylinder and Beringer calipers. The engine has been fitted with K&N air filters and Highway Hawk speed and exhaust wraps, while the adjustable clip-ons are from 4Racing and the brake hoses are Goodridge. Setting of the build is a sweet sparkle paint job.

Via Motorivista

Special thanks to photographer Wout Warreyn for putting together the information & images for the article on this Yamaha XS 650.