Custom Yamaha XS650 By Thrive Motorcycles

YamahaXS650-1YamahaXS650-2YamahaXS650-3YamahaXS650-8YamahaXS650-4You hear a lot about the major manufacturers setting foot in Asia, today’s most promising motorcycle market. But almost nothing about the local custom builders. And there quite a few working their magic in this part of the world. If the occidental media didn’t yet notice their work it’s because the vast majority of them work on low cc motorcycles. But of course, it’s going to change with the implantation of several heavy cruiser and sportbike brands.

YamahaXS650-7YamahaXS650-6One shop demonstrating great talent is located in Jakarta. Thrive Motorcycles built this custom Yamaha XS650, a model considered a mid-size motorcycle when launched by Yamaha in 1968, but still perceived 45 years later as being a big motorcycle in Indonesia because of size and maximum speed of 96 mph (155 km/h.) After locating this 1968 model, not surprisingly, builder Barata Dwiputra’s first task was to perform a full rebuild of the factory engine and transmission, a long and fastidious process due to the difficulty of sourcing oem parts in this part of the world.

YamahaXS650-9
YamahaXS650-55The merit of the work performed is of course the new geometry and hand-fabricated bodywork for a result making this custom sled one that many professional builders in the US and Europe would like to put on their reference list and many youngsters would love to own and ride. Sleekness was obtained by using a longer swingarm and shortening the front end. Personally I love the “rear fender/taillight” setup and the unique shape of the hand-made gas tank. Lines were smoothed out with curvaceous pipes and simplified with a simple solid industrial color paint job. Nice details include touches of brass and copper added exactly where they should be, leather belts under the battery box to hold a piece of clothing change and a canvas bag to hold the basic tools to maintain the XS 650 while on the road. Thrive Motorcycles doesn’t have a website, just an Instagram Page.

12 Responses to “Custom Yamaha XS650 By Thrive Motorcycles”


  1. 1 18Bravo Apr 28th, 2014 at 8:27 am

    Nice, but no room for LBFM.

  2. 2 takehikes Apr 28th, 2014 at 8:35 am

    very nice but that rear fender set up is a nut shredder….not wise.

  3. 3 Russell Mitchell Apr 28th, 2014 at 11:11 am

    Takehikes – what does that even mean? How would your nuts ever come into contact with that fender?

  4. 4 Alan Kraus Apr 28th, 2014 at 11:20 am

    Do you think that 1/8th fender/ rear light holder is going to stay there for long ?

  5. 5 richard Apr 28th, 2014 at 11:27 am

    I rode a ’76 650 for about 40,000 miles. It vibrated so bad that on long rides, my fingers would swell. The seat was so hard I would have to shift cheeks before a 30 mile was half over. I usually had to kick it…the electric starter never worked very well. The tranny demanded golden spectra oil or it would refuse to shift when it was very hot. Damm, I loved that bike!

  6. 6 takehikes Apr 28th, 2014 at 1:02 pm

    I was poking fun at the rear fender design….slide back a bit and fall in to that hole well then that’s all that fender is good for, a nut shredder, not doing anything else. On a vertical twin it wont last either with the vibrations.

  7. 7 Septic the Sceptic Apr 28th, 2014 at 6:54 pm

    Nut shredder? Only if you were rolling backwards.

    I thought the purpose of a custom bike was to make it better than stock.

  8. 8 Woody Apr 28th, 2014 at 7:04 pm

    With all those straight lines, it should have been built around an RD350 engine. The nice lines of the XS650 are wasted unless the bike has curves.

  9. 9 a elia Apr 29th, 2014 at 7:03 am

    Me like but no room for the rest of the Family !

  10. 10 nicker Apr 29th, 2014 at 10:37 pm

    Certainly different………

    -nicker-

  11. 11 BCinSoCal May 5th, 2014 at 5:14 pm

    I try to not be sour grapes on this blog, so all I can say is , interesting ( a word used when you don’t want to say fugly.) That seat and rear “fender,” who OKed that?!

  12. 12 Rob Campbell May 6th, 2014 at 10:07 pm

    My first bike was a ’79 XS650 Special. This year I sort fell for the 650 again when drawing a few customs that had a 650 base. Woody’s right, the squareness of this thing sorta defies the possibilities the 650 offers, but I find the tank design interesting nontheless.

    Digging on the variety of rides you’ve been posting lately Cyril. Thanks.

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Cyril Huze