The first thing most builders do who want to take a step out of the V-twin  box is find an older Triumph twin and get to work making an acceptable to most V-twin freaks period-correct British vertical twin chop. Not Lee, though, as he took the Japanese vertical twin alternative, a Yamaha XS 650, and began a build that has a shimmer of board track with a touch of high-zoot show bike to it. Basically he removed all the excess styling, weight, and complexity of the bike which has XS in its name.

   Just about everything you see here other than the engine is a product of Lee’s skills and imagination along with a dollop of good taste thrown in. The rebuilt engine with a pair of Lee’s sharp velocity stacks sits in a one-off frame that owes nothing to its original pile of heavy tubing. The single downtube connects to a rounded engine cradle that daringly protrudes up to it in style of its own. Out back Lee concocted his own swingarm and unique monoshock suspension system. The swingarm pivot sits unusually low, actually it couldn’t sit any lower as it’s right at the bottom of the engine cradle and almost looks like it’s just a hardtail-like continuation of the tubes running under the engine. Unlike a hardtail, there is no tubing running from the axle plate to the seat tube area. That simple curved swinger is left to itself to stay stiff without any additional bracing other than the curved tubing arching upward that acts as fender stays. A single vertical coil-over shock controls any suspension movement while filling up the dead space caused by the stretching of the frame.

  Up front, there’s another unusual suspension piece Lee constructed. The twin coil-over shock rocker fork has the beefy look of a modern inverted fork imbued with a delightful taste of a springer. One of those best of both worlds approaches. The wheels and tires lend a board tracker feel to the bike without overdoing it and they aren’t so skinny as to be unrideable like many board track themed show bikes tend to get. Actually, they’re probably as wide as the stock tires were originally. My only concern for the real world is the lack of anything resembling brakes other than a sprocket brake that I could see. There must be just straight roads with no traffic in Murrels Inlet.

  There’s a minimum of bodywork, but what there is is pretty damn good looking. Lee’s one-off tank sporting an always cool Crime Scene Choppers gas cap liquidly flows over the bike with a lot of airiness between it and the engine. The rear fender is mounted directly to the swingarm and moves with it into it’s own half-moon tubing recess that acts as the bottom mounting points for the Chopper Shox suspended seat. Smart, smart move there and one I don’t understand that isn’t mandatory on lowered or no-suspension bikes as the difference in ride comfort over anything else (especially for the cheap, cheap money) is mind boggling. The mid-mount foot controls are situated perfectly for the seat/ handlebar position and I can’t let the bars go without a mention. Here’s a question for you. Q. When is down actually up? A. When you flip over a clubman handlebar which was/is a standard practice of just about any café racer build.

   Lee contained himself with his final finishing touches throughout the bike from the quietly stunning crimson red and gray metalflake paintjob to the warm brass and copper pieces judiciously sprinkled here and there. The subtle finish on the wheels lends a raw metal look without the corroding hassles of raw metal especially since Lee lives so close to that Atlantic Ocean thing with all its moisture and salt. All the time, hard work, and thought that went into this bike came back to Lee with a judged win as Best of Show at the 2013 Charlotte Easyriders Show. Now that’s a nice pat on the back.

  All these little tasty tidbits are really nice and show a lot of thought, but for me the nicest addition is also the ugliest one and it’s one Lee didn’t make. There’s a rectangular piece of metal mounted just under the modern/retro taillight with a bunch of stamped numbers and letters on it that makes this build a bit more special to me. Yup, this bike is registered and ready to hit the street as well as the show circuit and since I like moving bikes a lot better than stationary ones, that license plate seals the deal for me. Now if Lee would only put some real brakes on there, I’d call this one of the best customized XS 650s ever.

  For more info on Wimmer Cycles, please visit www.wimmercycles.com.