BRISBANE’S Phil Rowe sure has broad tastes in motorcycles. Sharing shed space with modern sports bikes like his Aprilia RSV1000R and Suzuki GSX-R1000 and SV1000S are a classic 1950 BSA B33 and an ever-growing number of hand-built Yamaha customs.
Regular readers may recall his 1985 RZ350 pocket rocket from last year (Boy Racer, Retrobike #41), dressed in Aprilia RS250 and Honda RS125 clothing and riding on a full complement of RGV250 running gear. Not one to be pigeon-holed, this time around it’s a one-off 1980 XS650 bobber that his wife Amanda has nicknamed ‘the Fonzie Bike’ after the rigid vintage Triumph that Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli got around on in the 1970s TV sitcom Happy Days.
“I’ve always liked XS650s after having one in my
