XS400 Yamaha Brat bike 1977 Custom build from Brisbane Australia

Back in the day in the UK, these were fun machines, albeit, people want the faster RD400, the XS was a great machine and had a style unique of its own, I do not see many here in Orange County these days and this would make a fun Brat bike if you located an old rusty relic and this is what the Australian fella has done with this great ride.

Ellaspede is a great Motorcycle fab shop based in Brisbane and when Dan approached them for this build, they were all in and knew what they wanted to do to give their Customer the Cafe/Bobber styling that is quite the trend Globally right now.

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The drive train is a refreshed 392cc motor but new Crank, Piston and rebuilt carbs, this breathes well through home made smaller header tubes and custom mufflers that have a 22 degree angle and then wrapped in DEI Titanium heat wrap.

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I love the way this machine sits and the Aprillia RS125 front end looks like Factory and I am certain it will handle 100% better than the stock telescopic front end ever did. With a Brand New set of Ikcon 7610 shocks, really makes this an all round smooth ride, SR500 rear end and the wheels are shod with a set of Avon Road Runner Tires, keep this Yamaha on the Tarmac.

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Chopped front fender and unusual fitting of the brake Rotor to the right hand side, makes this 400 machine stand out on the crowd, The Smaller 5-3/4 headlight sits well and balances the front end of this creation.

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As for electronics, it has been equipped with Motogadget products such as the m-Unit control box that simplifies the wiring, the m-Blaze turn signals , the Mini Motorscope Mini Gauge marker , the m-Grips and the small m-switches . The brake-position light has been integrated into the chassis.

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The wiring has been simplified, isolated and hidden through the handlebar. An Antigravity lithium battery powers the system. For the boot system, it uses the Motogadget m-Lock RFID , which makes it possible to dispense with the original key. For the controls have been added adjustable handles, a Tommaselli accelerator and a low-rise LSL handlebar . The seat made of high intensity foam has been adapted to the new shape of the subframe and finished in a dark leather.

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A really well build machine and this 1977 Classic has been resurrected into a fun motorcycle and am happy to share this build with you this morning.

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Super wide bars, Moto gadget switches and a very clean front end will make sure this bike will turn many heads where ever it is parked up, I really like this bike and am sure it will get a lot of publicity as it deserves it.

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Perfect stance and I bet this sure is a blast to ride, the riding position is bang on  and a refreshing creation that works at every angle too.

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XS Pod Filters fitted, Flat slide performance carbs now breathe through oval pod filters, ensuring there’s enough mixture going into the oversize bore.-  and all electrical hidden away under the seat, makes for a really tidy chassis, hand made seat has traditional tuck n roll to finish off right.

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This bike was literally hiding for many years in a barn over in Northern Queensland and the Customer (Dan) was stoked to get this bike and find a company that was into transforming the bike into what it is now, they tried a few gas tanks, even an RD version but in the end, the stock tank had great lines, so why not use it and I am glad to say it works tremendously.

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From the front it only gets better, that Halo light shows the way with no worries at night and  with adjustable levers and a Tommaselli throttle on LSL low-rise bars, well it is a really comfortable machine to ride anywhere to be honest.

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So much work to get the bigger rear end in and it was worth it, and with stainless hand made exhausts, well it compliments the craft of these guys down under.

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Motogadget Bar end signals make sure people can see where this machine is heading and just look how clean the front end is, albeit it would need a mirror over here.

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Having a comfortable seat looks to be impossible with some of the rides I see created these days, but no here, using high quality and density memory foam, this is lavishly applied to the hand made seat base, then for added Arse care, a gel insert was laid on top of the foam, to give your bum a Cadillac ride, then covered in an Ox Blood Naugahyde in the old school Tuck n Roll, this really finishes the bike off well.

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Hand made and double stitched, this looks like a factory made seat, a really nice job and a cool touch adding the companies name as a tag.

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Below, the Aprillia front end sits so well and look at the gas tank, Yamaha Tuning Forks logo is reminiscent of them 1970’s racing days, as well as the red Blocking that Kenny Roberts would be proud of, actually turn out to be a Ducati Color RED and white pearl and it sure works very well indeed.

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At the rear things were a little more complicated given the new wheel width. An aftermarket SR500 alloy swingarm provides some more room for rubber while matching the subtle angular aesthetic of the build. Custom spacers keep the new rear hub in place with offset adapters required to space both sprockets out for the re-specced 525 chain to clear the wider rear wheel.

The bulky factory rear disc / caliber combo was discarded in favor of a compact Yamaha drum setup, which provided the required look and is braced via a custom dogleg linkage. The rear brake actuator rod was also made to clear the wide rubber.

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The front rim was a reasonably straightforward fit with some custom axle and brake spacers bringing everything together. The factory Aprilia disc rotor bolted straight onto the Yamaha hub and the Aprilia name was machined off the brake caliper before being rebuilt. A aftermarket master cylinder and stainless braided line completes the front brake setup.

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Thanks for reading my Blog today, its great receiving emails from people letting me know how it was and spreading the word on 2 wheeled creations.
Have a great Friday and hope that you get some saddle time over the weekend.

MY OLD SEELEY HONDA

 

 

 

 

Well, back in 2007 I was lucky enough to have not One , but Two Seeley Honda’s and this one I am featuring was a really sweet ride and one of the last ever made by Colin Himself.

I saw Colin at Snetterton race track back in 1977 as this was the year before I left school, I hitched a ride on the back of a old Gt suzuki and jumped the hedge to get to see the trans- Atlantic races, Colin was there with a Honda britain and boy did that bike stand out, Colin was far superieor to anyone with frame design back then and this Duplex cradle from for the DOHC and round swing arm was a first and boy did it perform, little would I know that later on in life on the other sode of the world, I would own 2 of his examples.

 

 

This was complete with Lester rims and had never been touched since 1978 when it was assembled and sent to the USA.

 

This still had the Original Number plate on the bike of which i rode about for a while with this on, reminded me of home. 

 A fantastic machine, the Duplex cradle frame handled the road like a Ducati, this was a 836cc motor and it purred through the Dunstall exhausts.

 

 This even had the original Avon tires on the bike and road it with them on, I was so stoked to get the machine running as it had ZERO miles on the whole bike.

 

 The rear Lester rim was unusual as Seeley had used a stock CB750 Hub and machined it to fit the rest of the rim.

 

 The Paul Dunstall rear sets really were a superb set up and so smooth.

 

 

 This was the last bike made and left the shores of back home in 1978 which for me was cool as that was the year I left School.

 No stickers here, Colin used the same sign-writer for years, so these were all hand lettered.

 

 

 You do not see many of these around these days but the ones you do are used and some are even raced on a track and I love seeing that.

 Early front forks with a Double disc set up was the trend of the day and worked very well once it was all bled etc.

 The Tommesselli clip ons were amazing and set just right, the bike handled so well.

 

 I had original Koni shocks on here too.

 

 Paul Dunstall rear sets were so nice and smooth in the gear transition it was a super ride.

 

 Round adjustable rear swing arm was a really good engineered design and function so well.

 

 

 Original cb750K hub had been machined and pressed into the rear of the Lester rim which was a disc brake version.

 836cc old Bellmouth Velocity stack and untouched since 1978.

 

 The Paul Dunstall megaphones sounded really sweet and had a nice deep tone as you shifted gears.

 

 

 Alloy rear seat was comfortable and had the original tuck n Roll cover and had the Colin Seeley initials hand painted on the sides.

 

 I doubt I shall be lucky enough to have another of these but so glad I had the chance to own 2 of them and ride this, the bike now resides in Brisbane- Australia.

 

 A superb time piece and something I believe will always turn a few heads when it blaps down the road.

 

The bike was such a lovely design, and a dream to ride, the bike hugged the corners like a Ducati and the motor was a strong 836cc that put the power to the tarmac with a Linear feel and as this also had a Jerry Branch head, the bike pulled hard when you got over 5000 revs.

 

 

 The fairing has a few scuffs and a lot of it all cleaned off, but the brakes were seized but only took a couple of hours to get everything dialed in.

But as this was the last bike to be made, the sign writer must of been in a hurry , as he painted the logo the wrong way around, making this an even more unique machine.

 

 This bike had ZERO miles, I did about 11 miles on it and loved every mile of this ride.

 So- if you see a Seeley, take a good look at the cool work that went into that bike as the frame is a piece of art.

 Hope you like the photos? I was lucky enough to get in  a few magazines with this machine.

 

 Time waits for no man and now a geezer in Australia is bombing about on this machine with a mile wide smile.

 

 On the road and this bike was just pure fun to ride and like stepping back in time to 1978 as nothing had changed on the bike at all.

 

 Sure wished I had videoed it as the sound of the exhaust tone was really cool and unusual to hear these days.

 If you see a Seeley for sale- grab it, a cool piece of history and Colin is still around and meeting people at bike shows and race events.

 

 

 

So until I find another one, I will bid you all a fond farewell and hope you enjoyed the photos?