Dylan contacted me after getting a little tired of dwarfing his XV250 daily rider; as a pretty tall guy he needed a little more room to stretch out. He invited me to his great little café tucked away in Burleigh,Lake View Espresso. We had a coffee and the chef cooked me up some amazing breakfast while we talked about what he wanted. He had received the bike as a gift from a friend who had ridden it from Perth to the Gold Coast (I know, what a mission on a 250!) and it needed some dressing up. I had seen some tricked up Yamaha Viragos, mostly customized into somewhat of a Bobber, none of which really stood out – for this job a Bobber simply wouldn’t work. Previous attempts to customize this bike had fallen short with a dodgy paint job and an Ebay Brake light. For what Dylan was after, there was a little more involved.
Over Breakfast we deiced on:
- Raised Seat with improved rider position.
- Removing anything unnecessary and slimming the bike down.
- Nothing but black and silver.
Yamaha XV250’s come standard with some unsightly plastic chrome air boxes and side covers; I made it my mission to correct this as a personal favor to Dylan by removing the air box and space waster to make room for a more aesthetically pleasing pod filter.
A set of Lane splitter bars were fabricated to bring the riders arm position up and in closer. That, along with a new bolt on the sub-frame and seat, ensured he would be better positioned for his weekend rides.
The rear guard was removed, re-shaped, trimmed and fitted with an After Hours Choppers Brake light and a set of our Hollow tip LED turn signals. That finished the rear end and slimmed out the entire look of the bike; it’s amazing what replacing the factory indicators and lights can do for a motorcycle.
Having the seat raised left a gap between the existing frame that left the battery box open to view. To clean it up and finish the modification, a stainless steel mesh cover was fitted to the top and all the electrics hidden away under it.
The new guards, sub-frame, tank, and seat all got treated to some nice satin finish black paint at The Panel Shop in Mermaid Beach, while the custom brat seat had the diamond stitch treatment and plastic side covers wrapped in the same leather. The bobber style handlebars were fitted with some new gear and wrapped with some Leather grips to suit.
Not my first choice of bike to work on but I must say it was a lot of fun. Although Dylan had initially wanted a more Cafe Racer style bike, there were boundaries to work within.
Having the low slung frame and angled tank presented a challenge to try to flatten the lines out. Achieved by some spacing here and there plus some smoke and mirrors, what came out can’t really be classified in a category other than custom. With a Brat style seat, and an almost Chopper like tail section finished with Bobber T-Bars, I was almost surprised I loved it so much. Love it or hate it, you can call it what you want.
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2 comments
Hey Paul,
THis build was so long ago I can’t even remember!
I would say that all the details I could give are in the blog!
Sorry mate,
Tom
I admire what you did here! I have an XV250 and long legs, and the seat ergonomics are just not working for me. I’d like to make the same sort of seat modification as you did. Can you share any details or tips? Thanks!