Bill Muneio

So I have a new project. Awhile back I got this crazy desire to restore an old bike something I could ride around town on, something smaller, lighter and more city/commute friendly then the RT or GS. Of course I wanted it to be something fun that I would look forward to riding also. A friend was selling an old Yamaha XS650 and I decided why not build a cafe racer from it.  When I first rode it home. There was a few things that I immediately knew I wanted to change; the seat the gas tank and the 16′ rear wheel and the brakes! I started on tearing it completely down to the frame and figuring out what modifications I’m going to make and what needs to get done first. Here it is mid tear down.

I’ve ordered a cafe seat and got a tank from a 75′ XS650, mucho better. I plan on hiding the battery and electronics all under the new seat and today I fabricated a aluminum tray to do just that. With all the crap I pulled off this thing it’s bound to be at least 40 lbs lighter when I’m done. Here’s some pics of the new seat electrics trays and some frame modifications primary re-did the seat hoop at the back of the frame and removed any unnecessary tabs etc.

Well it’s day three and I finally saw blue skys today! Hung around in Blenhiem until about 11:30am for the rain to let up which it never did. So I left for Nelson in the rain. After getting slightly lost on an awesome country road I found my way back to the highway which here is basically an awesome country road also. I arrived in the port town of Picton where the ferries come and go between the North and South islands. I didn’t do much looking around but again it was still raining and I can feel a sore throat coming on, I wasn’t in the mood to explore. Found the Queen Charlotte Rd to Havelock which I was told is comparable to the dragon with hundreds of tight turns & switch backs over the moutain. It was awesome! even in the rain and with the multiple road repair zones. It has great views, scenery and as advertised plenty of twistys. After reaching Havelock the road turns into to long sweepers though beautiful rolling green hills with the mountains in the background this is where I saw my first blue sky in NZ it was also the first time I turned off the heated grips; thank god for heated grips! Arrived in Nelson found a reasonable motel and went to explore the city. It’s amazing what a little sunshine can do for an attitude adjustment, that and a few cold beers at the local pub. Tomorrow will probably go check out Abel Tasman National Park.