Motorcycle News - Dutch Treat: A scrambled W650 with a hint of XT500
https://ift.tt/3eJkoBs
Martin is a product designer who hails from the city of Eindhoven, but he grew up in a little village in the north of the country. Petrol has coursed through his veins since a young age: “Our house was on the route to the TT circuit in Assen, so my brother and I watched hundreds of bikes passing by each year,” he says.
Martin is smart, but also a relative latecomer: he parked his interested in motorcycles for ten years, using his spare time to set up and run an incubator and shared space for young Dutch designers.
This desert sled was briefed in by W650 owner Vincent. “He wanted the looks of a vintage desert sled and he wanted to merge his 2001 Kawasaki W650 with his 1980 Yamaha XT500,” says Martin.
He’s done a great job. The XT500 petrol tank slotted on with revised mounting points on the frame, but the position of the petcock became a problem—it was touching the cylinder heads. So Martin came up with the idea of a floating petcock: “My old workplace instructor André Wiersma made a really nice piece out of brass to solve the problem.”
The XT500 tail light mount was slimmed down and reshaped. “We wanted to keep the basic shape, but slim it down a little. I also cut off the license plate holder and fabricated a new one, which is mounted under the fender so it ‘s not interrupting the lines of the fender itself.” A much smaller, Lucas-style rear light also replaced the original giant rear light of the XT500.
Lennard did most of the shaping work, and Martin made the seat pan. “I upgraded my MIG welder so I could weld my first aluminum creation, and the fine upholstery job is done by Klaassen Originals from Eindhoven.”
To keep the desert sled vibe going, Martin changed the stock W650 bars to a wider and higher flat track version, supplied by Rusty Gold in Amsterdam. (“Thanks Zoran for your great suggestion to go for the chrome one, instead of the black one I originally intended!”)
The W650 engine was strong, so Martin gave it a thorough service and left the internals alone. “It’s probably one of the best looking old school engines of the last three decades,” he says. “Together with the tubular steel frame, it provided the perfect old school bone structure for the late sixties desert sled feel we were aiming for.”
Martin’s client Vincent gave the almost finished W650 a test run at the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride in Amsterdam. Back at the workshop, Martin added the final touches—including a front fender and skid plate, which adds a slightly more modern look.
Martin Schuurmans Design | Instagram | Studio images by Ronald Smits, outdoor images by Lennard Schuurmans Motorcycles via Bike EXIF https://ift.tt/2Mf9b0c November 10, 2020 at 11:29AM Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
November 2020
|
11/10/2020
0 Comments