Tuesday 23 June 2009

Mule comes running


We asked Richard at Mule Motorcycles (as featured in SB3) a few questions about XS650s. In case you missed the answers, here they are...

Front wheel- Yes a 19" will bolt right on. Just locate a stock wheel and you're done. Always try to go with wire wheels on the 650 as the stock mags are probably the heaviest mags ever made by any manufacturer! Building a streettracker is more than just "The Look". It's also about the "Feel" and light is the feel you should try to acheive. With the stock wire wheel hub, you can lace up any size or width of rim you want and there are a variety of Yamaha and Ducati brake rotors available with that bolt pattern. Good stuff out there!

Swingarm- A stock swingarm will accept the an Omars front wheel conversion kit if you want the cheapest way possible. You end up with a very narrow rear wheel. If you want a correct rear wheel of 2.75"-3.00 rim width, you'll find that a Radian swinarm will do the trick. They are available on EBAY and bolt right on. Caution though, if they are selling for more than $150.00, you can get a nice custom one built out of cromoly. But it does save a lot of running around. I use a stock Sportster aluminum rear hub for the rear wheel and lace up a rim of the proper width. I remove the stock (heavy) double row bearings and replace them with a single row, normal bearing. Then you can get any sprocket size you want from Sprocket Specialists. For a rotor, you could make or adapt just about anything you wanted. I use a stock Sporty rotor after thinning and reducing the diameter. This provides a nice light rotor that bolts right on. Wheels usually take a lot of thought and work, but give the bike the majority of its look and ride.

1 comment:

Angostura Bitters said...

I loved everything Mr. Pollock said in your review of his shop in issue #3. This guy knows a thing or two about how to put a bike together!