Custom BMW G650 XCountry Looks a Lot Better Than Stock in Street Tracker Form

Completed back in 2020, this sexy thing is the ninth motorcycle put together by the Cafemoto duo since their operations first commenced. Instead of going down the beaten path with some classic airhead as the donor, Georg and Holger decided to start with a pretty unusual candidate this time around. The said bike was a BMW G650 XCountry from the late 2000s, one of Motorrad’s commercial underachievers.

Often overlooked by the bike-modding community, the G650 is actually a highly capable platform from a mechanical standpoint. Its liquid-cooled 652cc thumper can spawn up to 53 hp and 44 pound-feet (60 Nm) of torque, while curb weight is rated at a mere 344 pounds (156 kg). This Beemer’s looks are a bit of a turn-off, though, and Cafemoto sought to remedy that with some good old custom sorcery.

The result of their transformation is prettier than any XCountry should ever have the right to be, but getting to this stage was no walk in the park. First, digital renderings were created to offer a clear idea of what this G650 was to become. Holger and his teammate envisioned a longer faux fuel tank cover and a shorter tail to radically alter the donor’s proportions, then it came time to translate the bodywork into physical form.

What looks like the gas tank is actually an airbox cover, because the G650 stores its juice beneath the saddle. Shaped out of fiber-reinforced polymer, the faux tank links up with the stock radiator shrouds, but these were repositioned ever so slightly to get the geometry just right. At the rear end, Cafemoto tweaked the subframe before topping it off with a sharp tracker-style tail section.

There’s a thin black leather saddle placed above this tail unit, provided with just enough padding to be comfortable during shorter rides. We find an LED taillight at the southernmost tip and minute turn signals on the flanks, as well as a custom license plate bracket attached to the tail’s underside. Staying true to the flat tracker vibe, the project’s authors came up with a pair of side number boards, too.

In order to leave enough room for the exhaust, the one on the right curves outward in seamless fashion. You’ll come across a third number plate at the front, mounted on bespoke brackets and surrounding a small LED projector that acts as the headlight. Lower down, Cafemoto’s specialists installed a compact front fender they’ve fabricated from scratch, making use of the original mounting hardware to secure it in place.

Handmade fork guards are also present in that same area, and the cockpit is now home to an LSL handlebar sporting adjustable control levers and a single rear-view mirror on the left. The factory switches and instrumentation have been retained, as were the standard grips and bar end caps. All these stock items were a good fit for the XCountry’s updated styling, so there was no need for Georg and Holger to replace them.

Billet aluminum foot pegs round out this creature’s ergonomic package, and things were kept relatively simple when it came to its powertrain. Cafemoto fashioned a new exhaust header out of stainless-steel, then they capped it off with a premium muffler supplied by LeoVince. The tailor-made pipework is said to be a lot lighter than the stock G650 exhaust, but there’s no doubt that it’s infinitely sexier, too.

Whereas the front 19-inch wheel has been retained, the rear 17-incher was swapped with a larger alternative identical in diameter to the front hoop. Both rims are shod in fresh flat-track rubber, in keeping with the overall theme of this project. Holger and Georg chose not to fiddle with the standard forks, yet the rear shock absorber got ditched in favor of an aftermarket replacement.

For the paint job, the Germans chose a glossy silver hue as the base on the bodywork, topping it off with highlights done in BMW’s unmistakable M colors. The build number is depicted on the three tracker-style plates found throughout this Beemer, fronting a rectangular red background laid over the silver base. Aside from the custom garments, most of the components you’ll see here were painted black.

A subtle pinch of blue made its way onto the shock spring. Once an unexciting machine with looks bordering on obnoxious, the G650 XCountry became a genuine head-turner at the hands of Cafemoto! If it really tickles your fancy, keep in mind that the shop kept all the bodywork molds they would need to build something along the same lines. We’re sure it wouldn’t be exactly cheap, though.