Flat Trackers are great looking, purpose built mud-sliders that ooze retro, rural American charm. I love them. This 1977 Yamaha XS650 is a tidy looking example, it was raced extensively but underwent a major overhaul before being put to bed in a garage for 5 years following the original owners retirement.
By the sound of the description the bike is in good shape and just needs the usual TLC in order to get it running smoothly again, adding a light up front and some blinkers on the corners and some new rubber would be almost all it needs to go road legal in most states. If you’re tempted, check out the auction on eBay here.
Ben Branch has had his work featured on CNN, Popular Mechanics, the official Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with millions of readers around the world and hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
Lloyd Brothers Motorsports have been building some of the quickest flat trackers in the world for over 25 years, but this project wasn’t built for dirt oval competition, it was built as a father son project by company co-founder (and Dad) David Lloyd, and his son James. The Beginning The project began with a 1987 Honda…
The Ner-a-Car, known as the Neracar in the United States, was a revolutionary motorcycle design from 1918 that could very well have forever changed the trajectory of motorcycle design and engineering. As it stands today the Ner-a-Car was the most prolifically manufactured motorcycle with hub-center steering right up to the modern day, with over 15,000…
The Ducati 749 and its larger sibling were designed by Pierre Terblanche, a name treated with universal and much deserved reverence in the motorcycling community. The Ducati 749 Though a globally respected marque, Ducati didn’t have the development budgets of the big four Japanese motorcycle companies back in the early 2000s. This meant they had…
The 2018 Desert Race Oregon surprised us for several reasons. First, we knew we were taking a risk by stepping away from a more conventional desert sprint like we had hosted earlier in the year in Joshua Tree, California.
Introduction: BMW R80 GS – The Salvation of BMW Motorrad Though it may be hard to imagine today, BMW had been a company in grave danger of going under during the 1950’s and 1960’s. One of the things helping keep the company afloat was their motorcycle division, and their Italian-designed Isetta bubble car, a…
The Rickman Metisse Triumph is one of the most thoroughly British motorcycles we’ve featured in some time. Not only does it have a British engine and transmission thanks to Triumph, it has a Rickman frame and bodywork, and just to cap things off, it’s parked outside the Ace Cafe in London – the original home…
