How long have you been riding and building motorcycles?Electric Soul has been official for about a year now. I built my first motorcycle with my sister over the summer while in college, but we both started chopping up bicycles when we were 14. It's crazy to think that I've been cutting and welding two wheeled things for 16 years now.
Tell us a little about the bike (Year, Make, Model)
This bike is an XS650. I think it's a 75 or 76? I can't remember exactly.
I understand this was a build for a customer, did they give you a vision for the build? or did you have freedom to do what you wanted with budget in mind?
Evan brought a general vision and some parts he had stockpiled, like the seat, headlight, and bars. There was a lot of room for creativity within his vision, and I appreciate that. All the little accents like the side covers, headlight nacelle, and bash guard were developed as the build progressed.
What was the starting point of the build? How did it come into your shop?(Running, Non-running, in boxes etc.)
This bike had been sitting for some time when it came into the shop. It kicked over but didn't run and was missing a few parts. It was full on pulled-out-of-a-basement project level.
Was there any inspiration behind the build?
Inspiration comes from so many places it can be hard to pin down sometimes. Evan wanted something with tracker/scrambler vibes and a lot of the design seemed to happen organically. I like that this bike could look at home in a variety of environments. It's grittiness lends itself to city streets and alleys, open desert, or a weekend at the track. It's the kind of bike that looks good dirtied up a bit.
We're fans of the clean simplified look, the little things stand out like the aluminum side covers, skid, plate and front number plate. Is there anything specific that stands out for you on this build?I think it's just the versatility mentioned above. Stylish versatility.
This thing looks like a blast to ride, We're you able to get out on it and blast around when it was finished?It is a lot of fun. I love how nasty these 650s sound, and they beg to be thrown around. Elbows up, counter balancing around town on it will put a smile on your face for sure.
With every bike we build or tinker with, we find you always learn something new. Is there anything you walked away with after finishing this one up?I'm still learning from this one. I hadn't worked on many XS650s before this one, and have gained experience on a few more since. The Mikuni CV carbs on these can be finicky to tune and vary quite a bit internally throughout the years. I had some issues dialing these in that still need to be addressed.
What's next on the list of builds? Any exciting projects you want to mention?
I have a Buell Blast in the works. I'm excited because it's my own pet project and I'm using the freedom allotted by that to learn and apply some of my engineering background to it's design and execution. Lately I've been really inspired by bikes rooted in purpose and function. I'm not so much into definitions of style that can pigeon-hole projects before they start. I want this Buell to be a riot. I don't want it's looks to be rooted in anything other than provoking excitement based on what people imagine doing on it.
Last thing, anyone you would like to thank? and where can the people find ya?I'd like to thank my sister, Evie. Last summer was hectic and without her help I wouldn't have been able to do it. I'd also like to thank the Columbus motorcycling community. It's big and diverse and not what I expected moving here from the east coast. People can find me on Instagram @electricsoulcycles and my website is
www.electric-soul.com. Books are open for fabrication and custom builds.
