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Stout 33 By Chappell Customs

By October 27, 2012Motorcycles

Came across this board tracker influenced bike (’82 Yamaha XS650) from Chappell Customs today. I sent over an email, asking about the details behind this unique looking build. Chris Chappell was kind enough to fill in the blanks about this stunner of a bike.

Stout 33 By Chappell Customs (5)

Stout 33 By Chappell Customs (2)

 Stout 33 By Chappell Customs

“Stout 33 is extremely nimble, as light as a dirt bike, and is an absolute blast to ride. The name Stout 33, and its bronze and cream color pallet were inspired by a pint of dark beer with a frothy head.”
– chris chappell

Stout 33 By Chappell Customs (3)

Everyone throws around the word “custom” and it’s nothing more than some spit, polish and paint, and in some cases it’s not even painted! Then there is the other end of the scale that has custom builders creating such extreme bikes that they wouldn’t be comfortable enough to ride to the corner store. We wanted to really push ourselves and the term “custom” and make a truly one-of-a-kind ultra-minimalist bike combining our inspiration from cafe’s, bobbers and race bikes that would be a pleasure to ride. What better model to showcase this effort than a boardtrack style, stripped down, bare bones racer. While it may have been Inspired by the boardtrack racers of the 1920’s, our version is anything but retro.

Stout 33 By Chappell Customs (4)

We began by building a frame jig, hand rolling and bending the frame tubes, fabricating custom fuel tanks to fit the curve of the new frame, all without showing any mounting hardware holding them to the bike, creating a seat mount system to have it appear floating over the rear wheel and using a front wheel on the rear for the tall thin look we were after – nothing was left untouched. It should be noted that many people criticize the seat saying “it’ll never work,” but trust us, it works beautifully and is solid enough to hold a 200+ pound rider. The girder front end is solid and remains planted at speed and believe it or not handles some of the worst potholes very well thanks in part to the extended wheel base.

Stout 33 By Chappell Customs

“We wanted to really push ourselves and the term ‘custom’ and make a truly one-of-a-kind ultra-minimalist bike combining our inspiration from cafe’s, bobbers and race bikes that would be a pleasure to ride.”

Stout 33 By Chappell Customs (1)

The engine received an overhaul, clean up and top end rebuild. We designed our own aluminum intake system to utilize a single 36mm carb. From above you can appreciate the curve of the intake on the right that mimics the curve of the pandemonium exhaust on the left. For the best ergonomics possible we used mid-controls, rather than forward or extreme rearsets, and wide M handlebars. All wiring is as hidden as can be within the frame and the small lithium battery is housed in a custom leather bag we created to match our seat and hand made leather grips.

Stout 33 By Chappell Customs

Stout 33 By Chappell Customs

From top to bottom there wasn’t a bolt left untouched and most were converted over to stainless items. To ensure the bike will remain this clean for years to come all polished aluminum parts received a clear powdercoat finish.
 
Stout 33 is extremely nimble, as light as a dirt bike, and is an absolute blast to ride. The name Stout 33, and its bronze and cream color pallet were inspired by a pint of dark beer with a frothy head.

+ Source: Stout 33 By Chappell Customs