SRK' custom Yamaha SR500 - PROJECT

If you keep an eye on the custom motorcycle scene in Europe, you'll likely have heard of JvB Moto from Germany. When he's not manufacturing custom parts for Yamahas and Triumphs, Jens vom Brauck builds custom bikes, with his scrambler and café racer-style customs featured on websites and in magazines around the globe.

Stewart Dowding spotted one of JvB Moto's creations - the Yamaha SR500-based 'D-Track' custom - while searching bike sites online (and avoiding those "other" sites) late one night. With its street scrambler looks, Kenny Roberts Yamaha-influenced tank design, and a dash of Steve McQueen cool, the D-Track was a turn on. It certainly turned Stewart on, not in a one-handed-typing way, but enough that the Melbourne bike enthusiast decided he wanted it. However, the tyranny of distance - and not being able to speak German - meant actually getting the D-Track was next to impossible.

Undeterred, Stewart came up with an alternative - he'd get a D-Track clone built locally, using a standard SR500 base bike, an Aussie builder and all the good bits straight out of the parts catalogue from German tuning specialist KEDO, who also distribute the custom bits that JvB Moto produce.
That turned out to be the easy bit. . . .
 

A meeting of the minds
Stewart first approached Scotts Motorcycles in Sydney, who had a good reputation for importing Yamaha SRs and more exotic stuff direct from Japan. Luke from Scotts was good to deal with and helped source some of the parts.

However, through no fault of their own, Scotts were dispossessed soon after that initial contact. Good business, good reputation, good clientele, but an unsympathetic landlord, so Luke had to find help - and fast - for clients like Stewart. He rang Michael Catchpole, who'd become a fan of the Honda GB400 and GB500s that Scotts were importing. Of course, Michael is better known to JUST BIKES readers as the main man at Mid Life Cycles in Cremorne (near Swan St, Richmond). So, the trio of Luke, Michael and Stewart got their heads together to make the JvB-inspired project a reality.

With parts that Luke had sent from Sydney, the KEDO catalogue in hand and a slightly warmed-over Yamaha SR500 sitting in the Mid Life Cycles workshop, Stewart and Michael sat down to work out how to bring all the elements together.

"The SR500 [we had] had been rebuilt by a Queensland enthusiast," Michael explained. "The big-bore 576cc engine packed a punch and the bike rode like a very fresh big Single. But it carried standard bodywork, including the bulky seat, all done in a bland silver blue metallic."
 

Getting the bits to fit
With a definite direction for the build, thanks to Stewart's list of parts and photos taken from the KEDO website, work on the SRK ('SR' for the Yamaha SR base, 'K' for the KEDO custom element) began, but this was no easy build, as Michael explained.
"We had a couple of false starts getting the rear hub and drum brake sorted. The base bike was fitted with beautiful SM Pro wire-spoke rims in standard sizes, and disk brakes front and rear, but the KEDO build called for a custom 18 inch front and 17 inch rear wheels - with disk front and drum rear brakes.

"It was only when we went to Phil de Gruchy at Lightfoot Engineering that we got all the bits married up properly. Lightfoot laced up wider custom black anodised rims with stainless spokes and set up the hubs for the new build."

The next snag came with the alloy rear swingarm. "KEDO sent out a recall notice alerting us to potential problems with some of the welds," Michael recalled. "Our swingarm measured up OK, but it's not something you want to mess with, so we sourced a new one from MotoLanna."

Other Mid Life Cycles projects to use MotoLanna products include the 2012 JUST BIKES Build Off-winning 'Black Bomber's Mama,' as featured in the February 2013 issue. Hagon shocks were sourced for the rear end because they were a close match to those fitted to the JvB bike.

The SRK's seat provided the next challenge. "We had to compromise a bit there," Stewart said. "I tried to source the seat from KEDO, but they said the JvB D-Track used a one-off custom seat."

After close examination of the D-Track photos, Jim Clark (aka Mid Life Cycles' 'Master of the Practical') sourced a 'Nitroheads' seat from his contacts at Easyriders in Japan. It fitted the overall look of the SRK perfectly and matched up well to the KEDO-supplied rear guard and tank.
 

Speed blockage
That tank - or more correctly, the D-Track paint job - caused Stewart and Jim a few headaches, too.
"It was hard to decide whether I'd have my bike finished in the same blue-white-black speed-block scheme as the JvB bike, or go for a Kenny Roberts-style yellow speed-block," Stewart said. Mid Life's Mike Darling mocked up a few variations on-screen as the build progressed. Stewart spent a good deal of time thinking about the colour scheme, but eventually settled on the JvB-style blue-white-black.

Jim cut some stencils to replicate the swooping speed-block pattern, spent more time blocking and re-finishing the tank to remove surface imperfections, and delivered it all to Glen Stevens at Noel Stevens Panels in Richmond (VIC) for painting in its standout colours. Stevens also painted the guards and headlight surround, in pearl white and gloss black, respectively.

It's exhausting
Jim next moved on to the complex high-pipe set-up for the exhaust. After initially debating whether to go for an easier and more practical low pipe and muffler, Stewart decided to go for the scrambler-style exhaust, "otherwise we'd have compromised the whole concept of building a bike based on the JvB D-Track."

Mid Life Cycles called on experienced motorcycle builder Sam Speer to fabricate the tight bends and tuck the pipe and muffler as tightly as possible along the upper frame rail. A short heat-shield from Easyriders and lots of exhaust wrap provided thigh clearance, while the minimalist muffler went to specialist fabricator Paul Manetta, who took the basic cone and re-worked the innards to achieve a manageable decibel level and high-standard finish.
 

Sweating and scratching
As the build progressed, parts like the headlight surround Stewart had sourced from the KEDO catalogue, MotoGadget speedo and tapered alloy handlebars were added to SRK, with every detail carefully planned and measured before final fitting.

After building an electrical loom from scratch, Mid Life Cycles sent the bike to Jack at City Auto Electrical to make sure everything worked as it should. The MotoGadget speedo posed a few problems, but after some head-scratching was ultimately made right.

The SR's big-bore engine had been fitted with a standard carburettor, but having built his own radical SR500-based café racer, Jim Clark argued for a switch to a Keihin CR carb. Michael said he initially resisted, wanting to get SRK running as it was and give it a good shakedown.

"That was my mistake," Michael remembers. "The bike proved hard to start from cold, and kept fouling the plug. The standard carb just wasn't up to the job on that big, high-comp motor.

"After we'd all sweated and kicked at it, and Stewart had given the bike a couple of short rides, we bit the bullet and fitted a CR carb. Result! The bike now starts readily from cold and definitely has more mid and top-end punch."
 

Australia 1 - Germany 0
With its high pipe, chunky tyres and that signature speed-block tank, the finished article is stunning, and one that Mid Life Cycles and Stewart are rightly proud of. There's no question SRK was a big build, but it has been a successful one, which Mid Life attributes in large part to Stewart's patience and determination to see his vision through to reality. It's also a good win for the Aussies, and shows that local builders and fabricators can create machines equal to, and better than, anything from overseas.

So, would Mid Life Cycles build another street tracker like this one? "Maybe," Michael said reservedly. "There are all sorts of variations that we can work on a Yamaha SR, or similar base bike, but there's only one SRK."

You can almost hear the relief in Michael's voice when he says that!

Thanks to:
Mid Life Cycles. 22 Cremorne Street, Cremorne (Richmond), VIC. Ph: 0408 129 169, www.midlifecycles.com.au

Images: Mid Life Cycles and Lampoluce www.lampoluce.com