We let a friend of the Therapy Garage give the frame a killer tri-coat paint job. But did the hand pin striping on the wheels in-house. Here is the product we used: 1 Shot Paint

As always, we handcraft and upholster our seats in house. This one included 1/2” of gel to make up for it’s low profile design. As seen in this photo, we used the Motogadget Motoscope Mini LED gauge.

We used a Chimera Cold Air Intake system with a K&N Hi-Flow air filter. The intake comes already setup with the bung for the cold air sensor that the EFI needs. On this application, however, we needed to shorten the intake and also relocate the port for the crankcase breather. A little aluminum TIG welding and a fresh bake of powder coat and the mod looks like it came from the factory that way.

These Maxxis tires are perfect!!

This is the lineup as it arrived at the Therapy Garage. From 4 great motorcycles came 2 amazing builds! Thanks for taking a risk on this project Chris!

The owner of this bike delivered it to our shop in Traverse City, Michigan from Camden, ME. This is how it arrived. The tank had a few scuffs, but was useable and pretty. The carbs had K&N filters and there were other little indicators that this had been someones baby in a previous decade. Compression was good and we had spark….Time to tear down!

With each detab, the pile of brackets and pieces that we chop off is amazing. We have left the center stand on a few builds for display purposes, but especially with the smaller displacement bikes, the power/weight ratio jumps with the elimination of that alone.

The owner of this bike delivered the bike and a box of goodies that he had accumulated for the project. The gadgets included:

Antigravity 8-cell Small Case Li-Ion Battery

MotoGadget m-unit Basic

MotoGadget m-Button

Motone Customs Switches

Motogadget Wiring Kit

Bar end Mirrors

LED Projection Headlight with Integrated Turn Signals

We were able to give these old dingy carbs a bath and make them look like new both inside and out. We powder coated the caps and the choke plates and blinged them out with new stainless hardware. The K&N filters finish the look while also adding performance. Check out those brand new chrome valve tappet covers we sourced from MikesXS.com!

We took some creative freedom on this build and sourced a period correct 2-into-1 exhaust. Wrapped with DEI titanium header wrap and finished with a Wide Mouth 1 to 1 muffler, it both looks great and sounds great! In this shot we are dialing in that seat design.

As with all of our bikes, we use Tygon Ethanol Resistant Fuel Lines. Regular pump gas has ethanol and will dry out your lines and make them hard and brittle.

All loaded up. We delivered this bike to Maine.

MikesXS carries an “H-style” wheel that is a little bit wider than stock. We laced it in with chrome spokes and wrapped them with these killer Avon Trailrider Tyres to give it more of a tracker look. Once again, we relocated the front brake master cylinder under the seat and used a Motogadget Motoscope Mini LED gauge to clean up the dash. Along with the LED brake light embedded in the tail hoop, with bike turned out super clean.

We chopped the muffler off of a brand new MAC 2-into-1 exhaust. We then made a custom baffle to keep it sounding racy, yet not obnoxious.

Tires: Kenda Challenger

Mirrors: Folding Bar End

GPS Speedometer

The LED options available these days make design fun. We sunk this tail/stop/turn strip in the frame hoop and secured it ‘our way’. We had yet to see an ‘off the shelf’ option that really looked right. This one turned out super clean.

Bar End Signals

Biltwell Grips

If we can use a tank with an original paint job…

A MUST when restoring or updating a classic XS650 is the PMA charging system upgrade.

It’s not a decal. Did you know there is a difference in the lettering between the Yamaha motors and the Yamaha music “YAMAHA” logo?

Several aftermarket seats don’t allow for a rear fender or suspension clearance. Here is how we accommodate. It also adds rigidity. Our apologies if you have a pillion rider.

as promised....here are the links for some of the products used on this build: Motogadget M-Unit Blue, Motone Switches, Motoscope Mini Gauge

The Carver CSR Surfboard Rack completes this bike!  

We lowered the forks 4" to give it a better stance, but retained the stock 21" front wheel so it can still handle off-road as it was intended.  The wheels and hubs were powder coated while the spokes were sent off for black nickel plating.  We then wrapped them with IRC GP110 Dual Sport Tires.

This bike was commissioned by a local firefighter and I let him choose the platform and some key design features but he let me run with the build.  We had both fallen in love with the @dinamaxxxx “French Tracker” build and wanted a monoshock dual sport and he was willing to roll with anything we could find from a DR to an XL in any displacement.  We were able to score this 1985 XR600R that had been registered as street legal “back in the day”.  As of 2004, California no longer allows a person to add a light kit and register an off-road vehicle as “street legal”.  This bike, however, had been grandfathered in.

We did a frame off rebuild and media blasted the original Honda orange frame down to bare steel and recoated in a satin black.  Other than a few tabs removed from the frame, it retains its pure off-road bones.

The customer had to sell us on the dual headlight look... so we sold him on the Motoscope Mini Digital Gauge.  We have used it on a handful of our builds now and have fallen in love with it!  This bike will be making surf trips across the Mexico border and will easily switch from MPH to KPH!

We typically use vinyl on our seats.  This seat, however, will be exposed to soggy surf shorts and wetsuits.  This material will be up for the challenge and looks killer with the contrasting stitching that matches the tank and the monoshock. 

We welded in threaded bungs to quickly install or remove the surf rack.  The tracker style exhaust was welded up in house and really cleans up the tail section of the bike.  It is baffled to make it city friendly, but still sounds great!  Here is the Muffler Tip we used.

We rebuilt the mono shock and powder coated the spring to pair with the tank.  The tail light is a simple LED strip with integrated turn signals like we have used on several other builds.

Bringing a new project home is always exciting.  Until the teardown happens, you never really know what you are getting into.  With this one, I knew I would be keeping little more than the frame, forks, wheels, and engine.  

Wasting no time on teardown.  Engine is out and ready for media blast.

These finned covers had to go!  I still have them if anyone is interested.  Hit me up via "contact form".

We powder coated the levers and covers to give the engine a sinister look.  This build needed a darker look than the stock chrome.

The custom seat was quilted and upholstered right here in the Therapy Garage.  We also modified the front fender mounts to make it sit right on top of the front tire.  This was the final dramatic change from the stock SL350.  With the high ground clearance, this bike is perfect for hopping the curb and ripping off road.

This bike was almost complete.  Ugly and nowhere near running, but a good foundation for customization.  I knew the frame geometry was going to limit the build to a tracker/scrambler style.  My goal was to keep the spirit of the scrambler but eliminate the design features that make these vintage SLs look more function over fashion.

I picked up 3 SL350 projects for one low price.  All three had seized engines and hadn't run in decades.  Upon further inspection, one had a junk frame with cracks on several welds.  It quickly became a donor.  The first engine that was turning over became this build.

The before shot of the engine.  This bike was sitting outside in the CA desert for 20+ years.  On top of that, it was stored without spark plugs.  There were black widows living inside the cylinder.

She sounds as pretty as she looks.  After a week of Marvel's Mystery Oil and a little brut force, the engine broke free.  Some new enamel and some eBay points/tach covers made this engine shine!

I found a nice CB360 tank on eBay.  It has perfect patina and only required a relocation of the tank mounts on the frame.  The rear seat hoop was chopped and modified to shorten the seat pan and eliminate the downward slope that the SL seat had stock.  Some simple turned down mufflers with removable baffles make this little twin sound mean when you twist the throttle.  The trials tires really keep it looking vintage moto.

The custom look is achieved!  The rear hoop was chopped and welded at the perfect angle to follow the arc of a small rear fender. 

The bike received new gauges, signals, and cables from Dime City Cycles.  These mini gauges were perfect for this smaller displacement bike with the classic moto handlebars.  

Ready for lacing.  The hubs were rebuilt with new shoes and powder coated in gloss black.  New stainless spokes look killer against the black hubs and black wheels.

Upholstery day!  This seat needs to have classic lateral quilting.  It is rewarding to make a new seat for a vintage bike on a vintage sewing machine.

This little CL200 was already custom when we got it.  The previous owner had painted the frame and countless other parts green.  We knew the pipes weren't stock, but it turns out he had the whole thing apart at one point.  There were washers missing everywhere.

These CB200 pipes were roached.  We'll stick with the low pipes look, but will keep them very low profile.

The gold tank that came on the bike was completely rotted.  We had a little body work to do on the replacement tank so we decided to ditch the tabs and the rubber tank pad that came stock on the 200 tank.

Black on black on black.  This was our first test fit of the headers and mufflers.  Believe it, or not, there are baffles in those mufflers.  We even fit a thin layer of fiber wrap to mellow out the sound a little.

We spend countless hours doing just this in the Therapy Garage...  Notice the block under the center stand.  Not only did we mount Coker Firestone tires, but also went to a 18" front and rear to make this bike stand a little taller.

The new owner of this bike wanted black on black on black.  The engine is getting paint bombed.  Fortunately, the engine mechanicals needed nothing.  

Powder coated wheels, hubs, spokes ready to be wrapped in vintage style Coker Firestone tyres.  

Carbs are cleaned and the bike is looking like a motorcycle.

The new owner had originally planned to wrap his headers.  I think this picture convinced him to leave them chrome.  

Our first "in house" paint job.  The new owner wanted to match the color of his first Jeep Wrangler.  

She's small, but looking mean.

All of our seats are upholstered in house.  Most of them are made with vinyl for durability.  This one, however, will break in like a fine pair of gloves.  It was made from a cow hide.  We may even do a tank strap to match.

She still needs a few finishing touches in this pic.  But we're pleased with how she has turned out.  She sounds great and looks even better.  She'll be perfect for ripping around the streets of Hollywood.