Yamaha SR500 Custom by Simple Sycles

This beautiful machine can be listed under the title: “a good brew takes time”. The story behind this bike started almost 6 years ago in the shed of Joseph Savor for Sydney, Australia. Before this project, he owned an SR400 which he bought from Deus. After he rode this for some time he sold that bike and bought an old SR500. His original plan was to buy a cheap bike, do a quick and cheap service and clean it and sell it for more money. But after some little works, he realized that the engine was in a pretty bad shape and needed a complete rebuild. Since he didn’t count on that news, he waited for almost a year to make a decided about what to do with the bike. Unlike his original plan, nothing on this bike was quick or cheap. But once he started, Joseph was not able to stop and a small obsession for the bike was born. In contrast with his quick and cheap plan, his requirements evolved into “the perfect SR500, which doesn’t need anything more”.

The project has known more that one stage. After his decision to make the perfect SR500, Joseph crushed his piggy-bank and started ordering all different kinds of bits and bolts. But after completing this stage, he thought that the bike looked like a copy of his earlier owned Deus’ SR400 but then with other colors. And just like most obsessions start, he started seeing that he was still pretty far away from his own perfect SR500. So he changed his game plan. Joseph: “After the initial build and seeing what was out there, I knew a had more to do and my vision on the style was changing too. Unfortunately, I realized that everything I liked needed to be made to order or custom in every way. And on the go, I was interested in some performance upgrades. Did I really need them? No, not really. But in search for that perfect SR500, I couldn’t ignore them”. The engine was completely rebuilt and got a 525 piston with new Dellorto 40 carburetors. For some more breathing power, he placed a Tau Ceti Tornado air filter and a custom made exhaust system.

Other parts were sourced from all over the world and every single piece has been modified and/or customized to fit in that tight plan. The front end comes from a GSX-R with a custom wheel from Cognito Moto. The headlight is from JvB Moto (which you may know from the XSR Super7). For the perfect bone line, he used a smaller gas tank that was taken from a CB250. The custom seat rests on a custom subframe with a rear hoop from Cognito with integrated lights. The rear end comes from an RD250, converting the stock dual shock setup into a mono shock. A new Hagon shock makes sure that the rear wheel also got a suspension setup that was in line with the new front end. All other mods maybe too much to sum up here, but let’s give it a try: rear sets, fenders, brackets and almost the complete catalog of Motogadget.

Joseph: “The major hiccup with this bike was me changing my mind. The bike has had three very similar looks, but it was always missing something. Not to anyone else, just me, and that’s all I could think about. I would try to do as much as possible myself, minus any machining, engine work, & brakes. Other things I would try, I would usually fail or mess up and have to send it off to reset my mistake before trying again. After a while I knew there was no time limit and things would be done in due time. In the 6 years of owning this bike, I would say it’s been ridable for almost 1 year, but that’s me being generous. I constantly get laughed at by friends with that piece of info. It became a known thing that this bike would never really be finished”.

Though, I was glad to find this e-mail in my inbox. I have one word for it: exquisite.

Photo credits: @petecagnacci