XS850 - Monoshock & USD Fork (pics pg 13)

treitz

Over 1,000 Posts
I've been a fan of Yamaha triples for years. The winter of 2013-2014 XS850 brat style bike for my brother in Texas. Liked it so much I decided I needed one for myself. After riding my KZ400 for 4 years it's time for something bigger. Easier to ride long distances. Having never done a "true" cafe racer, I want to challenge myself and build one.

Back story:
At the time of the purchase, I lived in Boise Idaho and triples are hard to find there. I found this 850 on CL about 200 miles away in La Grande Oregon for $500. Offered $300 and got it. Brough it home the summer of 2014 and started on it right away. Ironically I moved to Hood River Oregon, about 2 hours from La Grande the summer of 2015 right about when wrapping up the build.

It hadn't ran it what could be 6 years, but it does have the Mikuni MK2 carbs which is nice. Other than some dirt and funny PO hack jobs, it's in pretty good shape. Not sure I'll get it running before I tear it down, but I will make sure it turns over and has good compression.

Plans/Parts:
- Fiberglass cafe seat
- 2006 Kawasaki Ninja 636 complete front end (USD Forks, wheel, brakes, clip-ons, controls)
- Yamaha R6 Rear sets
- Kawasaki Ninja monoshock (hand build sub-frame by Luke at barretostudios.com)
- 3-3 Exhaust (shorty reverse cone mufflers)
- New tires (Bridgestone Battlax)
- Fresh powder coat & paint (still thinking about colors)
- New gauges and electronics
- Etc. etc. etc.

First few pictures of the day I got it, getting it home, and the first day in my garage. Luggage rack and sissy bar are already gone and the seat and tank have been pulled.

Last few pictures are how she looks today.

And a little runner video:
https://vimeo.com/136566563
 

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Re: XS850 Cafe

treitz said:
Decided to go mono-shock on this bad boy. Shock arrived, and I just won a set of R6 rear sets on eBay. Once those arrive I'll start mocking up the back end.

Shock is from a 2012 EX650 Ninja.

why would you go with a junk oem shock :eek:
 
Re: XS850 Cafe

treitz said:
Because it was $40, and I've heard good things about it. What would you go with?
plenty of ohlins shocks on ebay
but I wouldn't put a single shock on a boat anchor xs850 either,or any older twin shock bike
you would be way better of with a quality set of twin shocks
what you have there is a $40 doorstop it is a throwaway stock shock
it doesn't even have damping adjustments
maybe you are just going for a look ? and don't care about the function
 
Re: XS850 Cafe

xb33bsa said:
plenty of ohlins shocks on ebay
but I wouldn't put a single shock on a boat anchor xs850 either,or any older twin shock bike
you would be way better of with a quality set of twin shocks
what you have there is a $40 doorstop it is a throwaway stock shock
it doesn't even have damping adjustments
maybe you are just going for a look ? and don't care about the function

Ohlin shocks are $500+ on eBay. I paid $300 for the bike.

Going for "a look" and function, but by no means is this going to be a race bike. So I guess you could say I care more about how looks than rides. Guess it's a good thing I'm not building it for you huh? :)
 
Re: XS850 Cafe

So I know there are some haters... but for everyone else, here's a front end and mono-shock update.

Love how it's coming together. Next up, rear sets.
 

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Re: XS850 Cafe - Monoshock + Modern Front End

Rad, following.

I'm sure good things are to come
Keep it up
 
Re: XS850 Cafe - Monoshock + Modern Front End

Thanks guys. Wrapping up the backend, moving on to the rear sets now/ordering more parts.
 
Re: XS850 Cafe - Monoshock + Modern Front End

I LOVE the look of mono shock cafe racers...and for some reason mono shock vtwin cafe racers are even more attractive to me. That being said I have an inline twin haha
 
Re: XS850 Cafe - Monoshock + Modern Front End

The seat pan is the short "cafe racer" from these guys: http://slipstreamcycle.com/seats
 
Re: XS850 Cafe - Monoshock + Modern Front End

You can see in this pic how the supports will be mounted.
 

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Re: XS850 Cafe - Monoshock + Modern Front End

hbc said:
The seat pan is the short "cafe racer" from these guys: http://slipstreamcycle.com/seats

Looking nice! Can't wait to see if completed.
 
Re: XS850 Cafe - Monoshock + Modern Front End

looking good
you need to strengthen the tubes,significantly, from the swinger pivot to shock mount area and also gusset the frame in the upper shock mount area
 
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