Love Language: A Yamaha SR500 flat tracker by Hombrese

Most guys can’t suppose past a field of sweets or a bunch of flowers as a present for his or her vital different. However Uwe Kostrewa is a true romantic. He’s simply constructed this peachy Yamaha SR500 flat tracker for his girlfriend, Steffi—and it’s not the primary customized bike he’s constructed for her both.

Uwe works as Hombrese Bikes out of his workshop in Cologne, Germany, and repeatedly races and builds customized flat observe bikes. He has a knack for creating machines which can be low-key good-looking, buying and selling polish and pretentiousness for top doses of retro attraction.

Having already constructed a Honda XL500 flat tracker for Steffi, Uwe made the error of letting her check his Yamaha SR500 on the observe. Naturally, she fell in love with it. So when the couple determined to each enter the seaside race on the Wheels and Wake competition in Germany a number of months later, they ended up sharing Uwe’s SR500.

That labored nicely sufficient within the early heats—however bother got here when Uwe and Steffi each discovered themselves within the last. Uwe borrowed a motorbike from a good friend, solely to be crushed by his girlfriend, driving his bike. There was no query; Steffi wanted her personal Yamaha SR500.

Again on the workshop, Uwe took inventory and realized that he had sufficient spare elements mendacity round to assemble a worthy contender. Beginning with a 1979 Yamaha SR500 donor, he stripped it down and started chopping off all of the superfluous bits.

“I first requested Steffi what shade scheme she wished,” he tells us. “However there was an outdated Yamaha DT50 tank that had been in my workshop for 2 years, with good patina and some little dents. It was clear that the tank needed to keep unique—so for the remaining, Steffi selected black.”

With a little bit persuasion, Uwe managed to get the thin DT50 gas tank to suit the SR500’s extensive body spine. A customized seat sits behind it, upholstered with a pleasant quilted stitching sample. Uwe shortened the subframe beneath it, terminating it in a brand new kicked-up loop.

Since it is a pure observe bike, the remainder of the bodywork is minimal. The SR500 wears quantity boards on the entrance and sides, with a shortened aluminum rear fender ending off the tail.

For the suspension and wheels, Uwe saved issues easy and sensible. His race bike makes use of a set of Yamaha R6 forks, however he really prefers the geometry of the SR’s inventory forks and yokes for flat observe racing. So he determined to enhance the OEM setup on Steffi’s bike somewhat than swap it out.

The forks had been shortened a contact, then stiffened up with heavier oil. A pair of recent YSS shocks sits on the again.

The wheels are a combined bag. The 19” entrance is straight off of an Aprilia Pegaso journey bike, whereas the rear includes a 19” Excel rim laced to the unique SR500 hub. Uwe picked a Dunlop DT3 tire for the entrance, with Maxxiss rubber out again.

After all, without having for a entrance brake, Steffi has to depend on engine braking and the unique SR500 rear drum brake. Take a more in-depth look although, and also you’ll discover that Uwe’s cleaned up the entrance finish in order that it doesn’t appear like the entrance brake is lacking. Tidy work, as all the time.

Larger up you’ll discover a set of Tomaselli flat observe handlebars, fitted with new grips and solely the naked important controls. Below the hood, Uwe rebuilt the engine with a brand new 500 cc piston, and greater and higher valves. A customized exhaust header flows right into a blacked-out Supertrapp muffler.

Steffi’s new flat observe whip is as svelte because it seems, tipping the scales at simply 122 kilos [269 lbs]. And since her and Uwe now have matching race bikes, they will share spare elements on the races.

The draw back, although, is that Steffi couldn’t maintain each of her flat observe bikes.

“She loves each of them, however she had to decide on between the 2—there’s not sufficient area right here for all of the toys,” Uwe tells us. “In the long run, she selected the SR500, as a result of it really works a little bit higher on the observe.”

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