CUSTOM 1978 YAMAHA XS650 CUSTOM
SALOONATIC
Built as a nod to pre-war bikes and slapstick comedy
STORY BY GREG WILLIAMS
John Kerfoot taking it easy in his workshop beside Saloonatic.
PHOTOS BY JOHN KERFOOT
Growing up, John Kerfoot was surrounded by old British machines. “My dad was a mechanic in the British army during the Second World War,” he says. “After we came to the Brampton, Ont., area in 1957, our driveway was always full of leaking old British stuff, including cars and motorcycles.” It’s no surprise then that Kerfoot’s first motorcycle was a 1967 Triumph Tiger 500, and it represented the beginning of a long riding career aboard many other British-made machines. Eventually, however, he came to appreciate Japanese bikes, and in particular, Yamaha’s XS650.
“SALOONATIC IS A NOD TO HIS FASCINATION WITH THE THREE STOOGES SLAPSTICK COMEDIES”
A Venerable Platform
Introduced in 1969 with sales commencing in 1970, Yamaha’s XS650 featured a 4-stroke parallel-twin engine with overhead cam and 5-speed transmission. Updated in 1972 with a disc front brake and an electric starter, the XS series continued through to 1985 in Canada with the Heritage Special model. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, Yamaha XS650s were plentiful and rather inexpensive to purchase used. During that period of time, Kerfoot accumulated a few previously loved XS650s and built a couple of customs using the platform.