Jason Crooks sent us some fantastic photos of his orange Yamaha XS650, and we couldn’t wait to share his story and the unique journey of this bike.
Jason stumbled upon this gem in the most unexpected way. “Driving home from work one day I seen this ’73 TX log chained to a tree with a for sign on it,” he says. It was a serendipitous find, and for just a hundred bucks, he couldn’t pass it up. He dragged it home and got it running, but that was just the beginning.
Once he had it running, Jason decided to tear it apart and rebuild it from the ground up. He built the hardtail section himself, adding 2 inches of stretch to it using 1 1/8 tube. “I took the tube and had a local shop bend me 3 bends from it,” he explains. These bends were used for the upper and lower rails around the tire, and the last U-bend was cut and split to fit under the seat area.
Jason’s creativity didn’t stop there. The rear axle plate is fixed, so to adjust chain tension, he built a tower with a slotted hole to adjust a skateboard wheel. The rear wheel and forks are from a mid-90’s ZX6, while the front wheel is a 19″ rim from a Suzuki V-Strom. The tank, a trials tank made by Pabatco (which supplied Hodaka with aftermarket parts), was modified with a new fill, mounts, and relocated petcock.
Under the hood, Jason went through the top end, installing 50mm oversize pistons, new guides and valves, and a Shell cam. It’s equipped with 34mm round slides and a Gary Poh offset sprocket to clear the 180 tire. One of the most significant modifications was reversing the clutch actuator to the outside of the cover to clear the new offset sprocket. However, this made it hard to release the clutch. “Over that winter I had Blacksmith Billy modify my side cover to accept a Honda VFR hydraulic clutch actuator—by far the best thing I did to that bike,” Jason shares.
Powering the bike is a NiCad pack built by Interstate Batteries, which has held up well for a couple of years now. And while the seat might not be the most comfortable, it’s clear that Jason’s ingenuity and hard work have paid off in creating a truly unique ride.
Thanks to Jason Crooks for sharing his incredible XS650 build with us. If you’ve got a build you’re proud of, send us your pictures and stories—we’d love to feature you next!
