The conversion of an xs650 hardtail may be the most frequently done at home, in the garage, motorcycle modification ever done. The sheer number of websites dedicated to the xs650 weld on hardtail is amazing in itself, but the number of photos of these bikes on the web is staggering. The XS650 chopper even gets some respect from hardcore American only bikers.
There seems to be two companies battling it out for this cottage industry's business, TCB Bros. and G & L. I have seen some stunning bikes built with both frames so I'm not going to make a call on which hardtail I think is better. I really think it's more of a preference thing about how want your XS 650 hardtail chopper to look when you're finished.
Once you've added a Yamaha xs650 hardtail the question then becomes "have you created a 650 bobber, or a 650 chopper?" This is tough call and I'll explain why based on my definition of bobbers and choppers. Since my definition of bobber is that the original factory rake and wheel base is maintained all of the weld on hard tails would therefore have to be XS650 choppers since 3" of stretch seems to be needed to even create a weld on that works.
I know that I'm going to be taken to the mat for this but they look like bobbers, but IMHO they're choppers, even though I created a video that actually said something to the contrary. In my defense I didn't realize all of these hardtail had stretch in them.
If you're looking for a chopper project that has a lot of history and a wealth of free knowledge available about it the xS650 hardtail modification may be up your alley. There is probably more websites devoted to this single modification than any other stock motorcycle alteration being made. I guess the only question is whether or not there are still any door bikes available?
