Many Custom Bike Builders,

try for the 'café racer' look, and fail, 

photographs from Matt MacVittie, but this racer for myself hits all of the right buttons, 

from its TLS (twin leading shoe) front brake,

to its neat rear light, indicators and twin pipes, 

for myself it has the pose and mean looks of a machine that has one aim, to get there as quickly as possible, 

but it was not all easy going, “This project came in a bunch of boxes and the subframe was mangled. It then became clear I was going to have to do some sort of monoshock build (not an easy task with the XS650 frame),” Matt explained, the engine is fitted with a 277-degree crank along with the associated cam modifications, to ensure the timing matches, a VAPE electronic ignition system that is designed for the 277-degree conversion is wired up and the whole charging system has been updated to 21st century components, the donor bike was a 1974 Yamaha XS650, what a fabulous transformation, to see more of Matt’s work have a look here, would I like it? You bet!