Freewind Scrambled

Uuhhh, what's cooking??? Well, we put a bike in the kitchen to build a scrambler...

As BikeBrothers, we not only travel on our bikes, but we like also to customise or build our bikes. For some time Udo wants to build a retro-scrambler-like bike. It must not be a pure scrambler, but as I like also flat trackers and cafe racers probably it will be a mix. I have an idea in my head, but I need Harald's skills to make it possible. For me  the base of a scrambler must be a big single-cylinder bike. The only bike for this project could be a Suzuki DR, because I like this engine. I traveled more then 216.000 km on a DR600 and it was very reliable, easy to maintain and fun to ride.  Options are DR650 R, RS, RSE or XF650. After a long search I found an original 1997 Suzuki XF650 Freewind, which has the DR650 engine, with only 4300 km on it! So this would make the rebuild easier, because engine and frame are almost new and need no work.

First I set my framework: It must be functional and comfortable to ride, have a long fuel range and be within my budget of €1000,-. That's why I decide to keep the original fueltank (18.5 l) and original speedo unit. I will not using it for off road, so I don't have the need for big nobbies, even if it looks better. The rebuilding starts with stripping the Freewind, put it in the kitchen, sit next to it with a good cup of coffee and design the looks in my head...That was december 2016. Then make some templates from paper, ask brother Harald if he can make it. Yes, he can! He made the aluminium parts and gave it a great look after brushing/sand blasting. Together we build the bike. Since this is a winter project and it's too cold in my shed, we do the building in my kitchen...Yep, our bikes are "kitchen build".

Below are the pictures of the building process and  six weeks later we have a Freewind Scrambled, build by BikeBrothers.

And now it's time to ride...

After the first ride my self made seat was a bit uncomfortable, too soft and too low. So i went to a professional seat maker and they fixed my seat. Higher, more firm padding and a nice tight seatcover. Now it's perfect.