1973 Yamaha XS650 Chopper
This summer we took a trip to Michigan to participate in the Zylstra choppers Apocalypse Run up to the upper peninsula, (a feature we will be running next month) and we had the chance to connect with some really inspiring and interesting builders along the way who also made the trek for the run on their custom bikes. One stand out bike that refused to go unnoticed at every stop was this 1973 XS650 built by Nick Moyer of Chicago. With every single element of this bike custom made and fabricated from other found parts this bike was unlike any XS650 we had ever seen. Not to mention it's hard not to love a chrome frame and nods to builders like Indian Larry with his wild twisted downtubes. Basically every chance that Nick had to change up an element of the bike to make it completely innovative and original to him he went with it. Repurposing old hot rod car parts and custom fabricating other parts the bike really stands out on it's own. We waited for the dreaded upper peninsula Michigan rains to subside on day 2 of the run and sat down with Nick to discuss some of our favorite parts of the build.