Ar 650 Streetracker

AR 650 STREETRACKER

If dirt-track's in your blood, this Yamaha should be in your garage

NICK IENATSCH

DiRT-TRACK HAS LONG PLAYED AN INTEGRAL role in American motorcycle racing. After all, what red-blooded enthusiast hasn't fantasized about sliding 'round such historic venues as Springfield, Sacramento and Syracuse? Even more apropos, why hasn't someone manufactured a limited series of these lightweight, torquey machines for the street?

Actually, there arc lots of reasons. For starters. street-going racebikes usually don't have proper sidestands, they often need high-octane gas and they generally lack such basic necessities as mir rors, turnsignals and brake-light switches. And then there's licensing, insurance, etc.

Mark Anderson and Dave Robinson of AR Streetrackers (67 Rochester St., Scottsville. NY, 14546; 716/889-2203) have a dirt-track background, so they appreciate function-first flat-trackers. But they're also smart enough to know what buyers really want: the look, soul and sound of a racehike without the fuss and sin gle-mindedness of said machine.

Which brings us to the AR 650 Streetracker. Our ye! low-and-white Yamaha may have begun life in 1975, but it arrived at our Newport Beach offices in pristine condition.

"Every XS650 gets torn down to the last nut and bolt," says Robinson. "Then we replace or rebuild every piece that appears worn. We have a large stock of Yamaha parallei~Twins, so we can offer customers different versions, depend ing on what they want," he adds.

Thanks to the serious going-over, the air-cooled. 650cc Twin retains the inherent goodness riders have enjoyed for more than two-and-ahalf decades. But it runs and sounds better than we remember. Plonking down the freeway or slicing through a tight, twisty canyon, the engine speaks to the rider in a language that is both endearing and addicting.

Builder/fabricator Anderson explains the restoration process. "Over the years, we've learned a lot about these engines, and we've talked to guys who race and ride them all the time," he says. "From that information, we've updated many parts for greater longevity and performance." Among the upgrades are an English Boyer/Bransden elec tronic ignition and a pair of 34mm Mikuni smoothbore car buretors. These upgrades im prove performance and are plenty reliable, having been in use for many years. Ditto the optional 750cc big-bore kit and hotter cams. Our standard, stock-displacement model start ed, idled, revved and stopped just like it should, presenting as few unwanted surprises as a showroom original.

Of course, attention isn't limited to the engine. The stock frame is stripped, all extrane ous brackets are removed and the remaining metal is re sprayed silver. As a result, appearance is more in line with the light, sleek look of a tradi tional, custom-fabbed, nickelplated dirt-track frame.

"We replace the old swingarm bushings with bronze equivalents, and the old, roller-type steering-head bearings are replaced with tapered units," Anderson says. "The fork is redone for improved rebound damping, and the springs are replaced to match the Progressive Suspension rear dampers. We also gusset the swingarm-pivot area."

Anderson then adds a sexy rear fiberglass tailsection pro duced by aftermarket supplier Omars, matches it with a sleek XS650 Special gas tank, then plugs in an aftermarket headlight from Japan. White Brothers provides the alu minum turnsignals and AR adds a load equalizer to ensure the proper voltage. The rubber-mounted handlebar is Robinson's preferred bend, narrowed slightly for street use.

AR puts about $1500 into each Streetracker. That trans lates into 72 new parts per bike. The remaining pieces are either produced by the aftermarket or refurbished, replated, repainted and renewed stockers. "We consider this partial restoration and partial new-bike production," Anderson jokes. As a result, the bike not only looks factory fresh but is more bulletproof than the original.

But it's the details that make the 650 so visually out standing: clutter-free paint scheme, just the right amount of polishing, a sano aluminum license-plate holder and tucked in rearview mirror. Anderson even unearthed the perfect combination of Sun rims and stainless-steel spokes, matched to DOT-legal Dunlops that are close cousins, appearance wise, to race-only Goodyears. It's tough to find that type of hand-finished quality this side of the paddock fence.

If you expect a bike that will run with a Honda CBR600, though, you'll be disappointed. The engine thrums and vibrates, the rebuilt single-piston front caliper is merely ade quate, the chassis and tires squirm in freeway rain grooves. And acceleration, while impressive, isn't up to modern stan dards. That doesn't bother Anderson one bit.

"This bike taps into the history that Kenny Roberts, Gene Romero and Don Castro, among others, built on Yamahas," he says. "The 650 engine is proven under competition, it won't break and it has racetrack credentials. Because of the bike's popularity, we can build them relatively inexpen sively;yet still have a historic bike."

Anderson and Robinson have been building one-off motorcycles for years, so the Streetracker is a logical step toward their ultimate goal: production of their own chassis to house various engines. They already build the Streetracker's reverse-megaphone mufflers, and have the ability to produce their own chrome-moly frames. For now, though, street-going dirt-track enthusiasts will have to be satisfied with the 650 Streetracker. At $8495, it might seem pricey for a used mid-i 970s Yamaha, but as a dream machine, it's a steal.