Yesterday we’ve featured a pretty cool KLR650 Scrambler, a pure fun machine with a big fat 650cc single cylinder engine. A bike to get dirty off the tracks. Today we have another big 650cc single cylinder machine, also built in France, but now with a different purpose. This is the Honda FX650 Cafe Racer built by Mécaservices92. But what about that donor bike? Well, that’s the unknown brother of the Honda Dominator 650: a 1999 Honda FX650 Vigor. The successor of the SLR650, which was the road oriented, stripped down version of the Dominator. Stripped down or not, the FX650 has that some punchy 650cc single cylinder powerhouse, pushing around 40hp and 58Nm. Lightweight and torquey: sounds like fun!
If I could describe this build in one word, it would be “clean” or “minimalistic”. Maybe the term cafe racer isn’t that suitable because due to this ultra clean look, it has a more modern touch rather than that classic cafe racer look. We see a minimum amount of bolts and nuts, and the wiring is kept as clean as possible with a MotoGadget M-unit as the heart of the electrical system. They’ve kept the original tank in place (which made me think of a camel) a created a beautiful seat (based on the original FX650 seat) and rear combo with integrated tail- and indicator lights. The complete front is sourced from a 2003 Yamaha R1 with a custom triple tree (manufactured by USV Racing) with an integrated MotoGadget tachometer and the minimalistic M-buttons. As clean as it gets. 
The beautiful single sided swing arm is sourced from a Honda VFR800 and really makes this build unique and helps to make it even “cleaner”. For some more performance, a lighter crankshaft and Tecnium pistons were fitted to give the engine more “punch”. Fuel comes from a new Mikuni TM40 carburetor and the exhaust (with Danmoto silencers) is handmade. In the front you can see why I would like to call it a cafe racer: a simple retro headlight with the right proportions on the perfect height.
When you add it all up the result is a modern-day cafe racer based on an out of the box machine. With 40hp it will not set lap records, but the combination of a lightweight machine with a high-torque single with definitely make this bike to a real fun (maybe a bit of a hooligan) machine. Great!
Honda FX650 Cafe Racer Gallery
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About the Author: Ron Betist
