I spent the weekend in Sydney celebrating a mates Birthday (which I am still recovering from!) and while I was...
Yamaha
Yamaha’s first motorcycle appeared in 1955. The 125cc two-stroke YA-1 went straight to the racetrack and started winning titles. Yamaha has built on those race credentials over the years, winning at the IOM TT and the Paris Dakar. Yamaha continues to run a successful factory race team in Moto GP.
Yamaha’s contribution to the custom motorcycle world includes the highly successful and long loved SR400 and SR500 singles we see in so many café racer builds. Other Yamaha custom favourites include the seventies XS650 twins and more recently their XSR700 and XSR900 Sport Heritage range.
It wasn’t until I featured our first Yamaha TRX850 cafe racer back in 2013 that I learned of their existence....
If you happen to be near The Dues Ex Machina store in Camperdown Sydney this week a quick visit is definitely in...
You’ll have to forgive me for veering off the Cafe Racer path slightly but when I see a custom motorcycle like this...
It’s not often that I feature Bobbers on the site and even less often that I feature custom motorcycles from...
As anyone starting up a new company should do the pair decided to launch their brand with a bang. So,...
Looking at this custom Yamaha SR500 built in Japan turns me in to the equivalent of that crazy fish in Finding...
“We want to challenge the trope of nostalgic and aesthetically led custom motorcycles by encouraging others to experiment with the...
When great minds come together, great things happen. Often in the world of custom motorcycle building workshops keep to themselves....
No sooner had the doors of the 2015 One Motorcycle Show closed for another year, than the brothers Busch and...
“Stop dreaming, just start building!” These are the words you’ll find on Andy Megerle’s Instagram profile. I’ve featured a couple...
After my recent purchase of a Yamaha TW200 I have rediscovered my love of “little” bikes. While I’m not about...
The Arcanum build began when I picked up a ‘78 Yamaha SR500 from a guy in Newcastle, it was an...
A collaboration with El Solitario seemed like the perfect pairing for Yamaha’s next Yard Built project, but as El Solitario’s...
It’s getting easier and easier to build a cafe racer. It used to be that you’d either have to pay...
Just got home after spending the day out with the guys from Fuel Tank TV and Christian from Modern Motorcycles....
The Varkain (“Finnish for By Stealth”) Yamaha SR400 is one of my favourite creations to come out of Raider Motorsports...
As 2014 comes to an end I thought I’d take a (close up) look at some of the incredible work...
I first met the Ask Motorcycle guys when I went to the Mooneyes Yokohama Hot Rod and custom show in...
After spying the Yamaha XJR400 cafe racer on their website we contacted C-Racer crew member Antonis Kapetanios who was kind...
Boner…That’s what this custom Yamaha XS650 is called. Not your usual custom build title but Death Spray Customs isn’t your...
“Yamaha and Abarth have created the XSR900 Abarth – a lightweight high-performance retro special whose authentic café racer design reflects...
Berry Bads Motorcycles are yet another Japanese custom tuner/builder who’s work has caught my attention. With a gallery full of Bobbers,...
Opening up the emails I receive through the “Submit a motorcycle” link on the site is one of my favourite...
Theo’s Frankenstein bike started out as a ‘96 Yamaha TRX but very few TRX components remain. The new engine hails...
The XJR1300 was delivered to the Denmark workshop of the Wrenchmonkees with the basic brief of “make it even better”....
There are countless failures throughout automotive history. All of the big motorcycle manufacturers have at least one they’d prefer to...
Few motorcycles have the cult status of Yamaha’s SR400. During the past decade, the SR has come into the spotlight...
Jamie’s younger years were spent in the UK. He was bitten by the motorcycle bug at an early age after...
What’s not to love about two-stroke motorcycles? The alluring smell, the exhilarating sound and the white-knuckled terror of an unpredictable...
As with the other Yamaha XJR1300 Yardbuilt bikes the Botafogo-N was constructed without performing any modifications to the bike’s frame....
“Years ago I rode a ’72 Yamaha XS650 from California to Sturgis. I was wearing a Walmart rain suit in...
British vs Japanese engineering. It’s a debate that I’ve often heard between motorcyclists. It’s easy to see why each party...
I never thought I was a fan of muscle bikes until I rode a Yamaha XJR1300. It was in 2015...
After a complete tear down the XJR’s subframe was trimmed to tighten the bike’s proportions. In place of the original...
As it always goes, popularity affects price, so the days of picking up a bargain XS are gone and it...
“Raw & Rough. I´ve always wanted a little Cafe Racer for the urban and offroad section. It’s a kind of a...
Well, that wraps up yet another year of amazing cafe racer builds from custom workshops and backyard builders around the...
Thanks to their continued support of custom workshops, Yamaha Motorcycles have played an integral role in the growth of the...
“My name is Teguh Setiawan. I’m a 23 years old and studying at a university in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. In 2012...
The Winning Loser. Saved from a scrapyard and transformed in to a piece of custom motorcycle art, this Yamaha SR 250...
A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of meeting the Muharremi brothers, the duo behind the United Kingdom’s...
Is it just me or does this look like insanely good fun? There’s no denying that Yamaha’s legendary SR400 is...
One of the biggest decisions you’ll make when building your own Cafe Racer, or any style of custom motorcycle for...
But, dear reader, should you? Is it worth tracking down one of Yamaha’s cheerful little runabouts for your next custom...
“I’m the owner of Omega Racer, a webshop specializing in custom parts for the Yamaha SR, Kawasaki W650 and Triumph,”...
If you’ve been following Enginethusiast for a while, you’ve probably noticed that Anthony Scott has a soft spot for vintage...
There’s beauty in simplicity. Apple have proved that with their design approach and in the custom motorcycle world that...
Trevers father, John Scales, was a 2 stroke road racer during the 1970s. “I heard so many stories from my...
This bike was built by George Woodman, a carpenter slash furniture designer slash interior architect from Biarritz, France. Yes, his...
To improve the v-twin’s power and torque Yamaha fit the SRV with a beefier cam profile, two carburetors rather than...
“This motorcycle can be divided into three parts that are different in style, but well blended,” Walter explains. “The front...
When I think about Bobbers my mind conjures up images of cruising along a winding coastal road, sitting comfortably atop...
We love cafe racers trimmed to perfection. Bikes built for a narrow purpose. A ride with lights removed, brackets cut...
In Osaka, Japan 28-year-old cafe racer enthusiast Yuya Ueda has been riding his SR400 for 8 years and it’s lead...
There’s two ways you can build a custom motorcycle. One way is to have a design idea that’s laid out...
Mike, who is a designer by trade, takes pleasure in finding lemons online. Not because he likes to own basket...
Andrew Starkman and the team at Roast Moto in Phoenix Arizona pride themselves in spotting the potential in an old...
I recently stumbled across the Instagram profile of Cyu-G and his Yamaha SR400 cafe racer. Despite a language barrier we...
With 200bhp on tap and an astounding 2.5 second 0-60mph time, the Vmax V4 engine is well suited to dragstrip...
To start with can you tell us where the bikes name “Tramontana” comes from? Spartak: This is the bike’s name...
Most custom motorcycles rolling out of workshops tend to be polished to perfection or feature paint jobs more expensive than...
This post apocalyptic road warrior is Icon’s Kawasaki ZX-7 ‘Thunder Chunky’. It’s the latest addition to Icon’s series of custom...
Spotted this great Yamaha R5 “Giant Killer” custom on Garage Project motorcycles. After a bit of digging all I managed to...
The Yamaha Yardbuilt series has been running for an impressive 7 years now. Since then Yamaha has commissioned over 50...
I know I’m probably going to get a few frowns for this as it’s certainly not a Cafe Racer,...
Greg Hageman, aka Hageman Motorcycles, aka Doc Chops may not have been the first to build a Virago cafe racer,...
If you’re going to customise a motorcycle it’s always best to start out with a bike that’s got a good...
Gold Rush is Daniel’s 3rd XJR1200 based build. As you would expect by now he’s become somewhat of an XJR...
Yet another outstanding issue of Fuel Magazine is just about to hit the shelves. Grab a copy to see my...
This is the Mongrel. A custom Yamaha XT600 haling from the darker side of Sydney’s Cafe Racer scene. The Mongrel...
To transform the XV950 cruiser into a cafe racer styled machine Marcus began by dramatically modifying the bikes rear end....
Established by Dare Jennings, Rod Hunwick and Carby Tuckwell, Deus ex Machina in Camperdown, Sydney, produces motorcycles for the post-modern world. What the hell...
“I guess, it’s a modern take on a Cafe Racer, but I was born around 20 years too late to...
This may sound ridiculous, but sometimes I wish I lived in a place where riding during winter wasn’t an option....
With a name like “Vintage Addiction”, it’s odd to see the YZF sitting in their build portfolio, but when the...
The Yamaha XS-V1 Sakura (Prototype ie coming soon!) oozes Cafe Racer style and should pck plenty of punch based on...
The quick turnaround on this build was made possible when Pat acquired the Virago as an unfinished project. “The previous...
Since launching Return of the Cafe Racers back in 2006 I have only come across two builders who have managed...
What you’ll also notice about this Yamaha XS850 Special is it’s a tad rough around the edges (which makes it even more appealing...
I’ve worked on my fair share of custom builds to know that things can get a little stressful. When I...
The mighty Yamaha XS650 has been a hot favourite in the custom scene for decades and a personal favourite of...
While Yamaha has previously focused on customising bikes from their Sports Heritage range during the Yardbuilt series, Faster Sons will...
If you ask me there’s two types of custom build, the clean and the down right dirty. Richard and Lex...
If you like going fast just as much as you like looking good then this is definitely the kind of...
For the Hyper Modified campaign Yamaha approached three well known custom builders and gave them a straight to the point...
There was always a motorcycle in our house when I was growing up, but my father’s real passion was collectible...
Yamaha’s legendary XS650, it’s reputation precedes it. The XS is one of the most widely customised bikes in the world so to...
Honda CB750 “Cold bitch” More home built Cafe Racers sent in by our talented readers. Thanks for sharing your motorcycles...
Deus Bali appeared on the scene only a few short months ago and it seems they are already wheeling some...
While the idea of belting down a freeway at a ton and a half on a big bore Cafe Racer...
For the Yardbuilt 2017 XSR700 project, Yamaha selected 7 workshops from different European locations to take part in the event. Representatives from Italy,...
There are a handful of motorcycles that became the poster children of the “new wave” cafe racer scene at the...
Yamaha XS650 Classic Cafe built by the Wheely shop. A beautiful balance of old styling and modern technology. ...
Firstly a design was rendered in conjunction with Oberdan Bezzi Design which took styling cues from the Yamaha FZ750, a...
Recently found XS650 Chopper website which has a load of custom Yamaha XS650 projects. Great for inspiration or to just perve on...
Feast your eyes on Jay LaRossa’s 1978 Yamaha SR500 “Solus” in this short video by Ricki Bedenbaugh. This video reminds me of...
Our itinerary began with a presentation on the 2015 XJR1300 by Yamaha product manager Shun Miyazawa at the Deus Ex Machina...
The Yamaha features the same Benelli 360 tank and custom seat combo that Greg used on the last Virago, but...
“I have been riding motorcycles on and off road for more than a decade and I wanted to combine my...
