Yamaha’s legendary XS650, it’s reputation precedes it. The XS is one of the most widely customised bikes in the world so to...
Yamaha Cafe Racer
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.
Nostalgia is a powerful thing. For seasoned motorcyclists, nostalgia can quickly become an obsession. A chance sighting of a beloved...
I spent the weekend in Sydney celebrating a mates Birthday (which I am still recovering from!) and while I was...
All hail Yamaha. As part of their Yard Built series they’ve been sponsoring some of the wildest, genre-pushing builds we’ve...
On a recent trip to Sydney I stuck my head in at Deus (as always) and grabbed a copy of...
Here’s a great segment from the cutting room floor of Cafe Racer TV. In this online episode they reveal the...
In motorsport, race teams are always looking for new ways to improve lap times. Back in the fifties when motorcycles...
There’s two ways you can build a custom motorcycle. One way is to have a design idea that’s laid out...
Most custom motorcycles rolling out of workshops tend to be polished to perfection or feature paint jobs more expensive than...
Opening up the emails I receive through the “Submit a motorcycle” link on the site is one of my favourite...
As with the other Yamaha XJR1300 Yardbuilt bikes the Botafogo-N was constructed without performing any modifications to the bike’s frame....
It wasn’t until I featured our first Yamaha TRX850 cafe racer back in 2013 that I learned of their existence....
Nothing beats a hand me down, especially when it’s in the form of a motorcycle. When Christian was given his...
Trevers father, John Scales, was a 2 stroke road racer during the 1970s. “I heard so many stories from my...
Our itinerary began with a presentation on the 2015 XJR1300 by Yamaha product manager Shun Miyazawa at the Deus Ex Machina...
I’ve worked on my fair share of custom builds to know that things can get a little stressful. When I...
Stu Lloyd grew up in the UK during the late ’70s and early ’80s. As a young boy, his leisure...
Nothing makes me happier than featuring custom motorcycles that have been built in my hometown. Today’s café racer is the...
The quick turnaround on this build was made possible when Pat acquired the Virago as an unfinished project. “The previous...
Shaft driven motorcycles have been around since the early 1900’s, but Yamaha’s shaft driven debut didn’t come until the late...
I first met the Ask Motorcycle guys when I went to the Mooneyes Yokohama Hot Rod and custom show in...
If you’re going to customise a motorcycle it’s always best to start out with a bike that’s got a good...
If you’ve been following Enginethusiast for a while, you’ve probably noticed that Anthony Scott has a soft spot for vintage...
At the end of World War 2 many British motorcycle manufacturers were on the verge of closure or had already...
Is it just me or does this look like insanely good fun? There’s no denying that Yamaha’s legendary SR400 is...
Some people find it a real struggle to sit still. Take Stu Lloyd for example. It hasn’t even been 4...
With a name like “Vintage Addiction”, it’s odd to see the YZF sitting in their build portfolio, but when the...
Yamaha’s XS650 would have to be in the top 5 list of most customised motorcycle in the world. It’s bullet...
“We want to challenge the trope of nostalgic and aesthetically led custom motorcycles by encouraging others to experiment with the...
“Yamaha and Abarth have created the XSR900 Abarth – a lightweight high-performance retro special whose authentic café racer design reflects...
When great minds come together, great things happen. Often in the world of custom motorcycle building workshops keep to themselves....
There was a time when it seemed that every other custom build to roll out of a workshop was built...
The Skorpion Sport was produced by German motorcycle manufacturer MZ (Motorrad und Zweiradwerk) between 1994 and 2004. Although you may have never...
“Stop dreaming, just start building!” These are the words you’ll find on Andy Megerle’s Instagram profile. I’ve featured a couple...
I never thought I was a fan of muscle bikes until I rode a Yamaha XJR1300. It was in 2015...
Back in 2006 one of the first motorcycles that really got me excited about the custom scene was a Yamaha...
This may sound ridiculous, but sometimes I wish I lived in a place where riding during winter wasn’t an option....
The XJR1300 was delivered to the Denmark workshop of the Wrenchmonkees with the basic brief of “make it even better”....
Thanks to their continued support of custom workshops, Yamaha Motorcycles have played an integral role in the growth of the...
Recently found XS650 Chopper website which has a load of custom Yamaha XS650 projects. Great for inspiration or to just perve on...
To transform the XV950 cruiser into a cafe racer styled machine Marcus began by dramatically modifying the bikes rear end....
The Yamaha XS-V1 Sakura (Prototype ie coming soon!) oozes Cafe Racer style and should pck plenty of punch based on...
It’s getting easier and easier to build a cafe racer. It used to be that you’d either have to pay...
The Yamaha XS650 could easily be labelled as the greatest British motorcycle ever built outside of Britain. Powered by a...
Yamaha’s Yardbuilt series is the brainchild of the companies visionary project manager, Shun Miyazawa. The series kicked off back in...
The saying ‘to bite off more than you can chew’ is one that many budding bike builders can relate to....
Over in the UK Shaun & Carl of custom workshop ‘Down and Out’ Cafe Racers usually play with parallel twins, but...
As 2014 comes to an end I thought I’d take a (close up) look at some of the incredible work...
The Wrenchmonkees have just released details of the bike that represents a half-century of custom motorcycle builds from the Denmark based...
The Yamaha Yardbuilt series has been running for an impressive 7 years now. Since then Yamaha has commissioned over 50...
To improve the v-twin’s power and torque Yamaha fit the SRV with a beefier cam profile, two carburetors rather than...
After spying the Yamaha XJR400 cafe racer on their website we contacted C-Racer crew member Antonis Kapetanios who was kind...
During the early 1970s, Kenny Roberts shot to stardom as a rider in the American Yamaha racing team. In 1973...
A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of meeting the Muharremi brothers, the duo behind the United Kingdom’s...
Feast your eyes on Jay LaRossa’s 1978 Yamaha SR500 “Solus” in this short video by Ricki Bedenbaugh. This video reminds me of...
There’s beauty in simplicity. Apple have proved that with their design approach and in the custom motorcycle world that...
Firstly a design was rendered in conjunction with Oberdan Bezzi Design which took styling cues from the Yamaha FZ750, a...
Looking back over a few of our recent features it seems that building retro customs out of modern sports bikes...
I met Michael Capraro some years ago at a communal motorcycle workshop I was involved in. His enthusiasm for bikes...
The bike Spartak’s customer found was a rare find in his hometown of Minsk, a late eighties Yamaha XJ600. The...
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...
Bernhard Naumann, aka Blechmann, grew up in Burgenland, a federal state of Austria in central Europe. Growing up in a...
Honda CB750 “Cold bitch” More home built Cafe Racers sent in by our talented readers. Thanks for sharing your motorcycles...
The Blue Rhapsody takes its main inspiration from the 90’s race bikes Keinosuke saw on the streets of Japan in...
I recently stumbled across the Instagram profile of Cyu-G and his Yamaha SR400 cafe racer. Despite a language barrier we...
“Sport Heritage” Never has the combination of those two words made as much sense as when applied to the Yamaha...
The Yamaha features the same Benelli 360 tank and custom seat combo that Greg used on the last Virago, but...
Andrew Starkman and the team at Roast Moto in Phoenix Arizona pride themselves in spotting the potential in an old...
The Arcanum build began when I picked up a ‘78 Yamaha SR500 from a guy in Newcastle, it was an...
Santi García has been contributing to the build portfolio at the Barcelona workshop of La Carono motorcycles for the past...
Berry Bads Motorcycles are yet another Japanese custom tuner/builder who’s work has caught my attention. With a gallery full of Bobbers,...
While the idea of belting down a freeway at a ton and a half on a big bore Cafe Racer...
Buying any customised or incomplete motorcycle can be fraught with danger. That’s why we recommended against it in our 10...
In Osaka, Japan 28-year-old cafe racer enthusiast Yuya Ueda has been riding his SR400 for 8 years and it’s lead...
Spotted this great Yamaha R5 “Giant Killer” custom on Garage Project motorcycles. After a bit of digging all I managed to...
Rapid prototyping, CNC machining, 3d printing! Whatever happened to good old hammers, spanners, and the occasional grinder? I get a...
It’s not often that I feature Bobbers on the site and even less often that I feature custom motorcycles from...
Deus Bali appeared on the scene only a few short months ago and it seems they are already wheeling some...
The Yamaha Yardbuilt series will soon be celebrating its 10 year anniversary. Originally the brainchild of Yamaha Project Manager, Shun...
“Years ago I rode a ’72 Yamaha XS650 from California to Sturgis. I was wearing a Walmart rain suit in...
When you are the organiser of what is arguably the biggest custom motorcycle event in the world it goes without...
Andi Akbar and his Jakarta based workshop Katros Garage aren’t showing any signs of slowing down. Katros Garage has continued...
This post apocalyptic road warrior is Icon’s Kawasaki ZX-7 ‘Thunder Chunky’. It’s the latest addition to Icon’s series of custom...
Sadly it looks like Yamaha’s venerable SR400s time is coming to an end. Like so many other motorcycles falling victim...
After building his own bobber and plenty of customer bikes, James decided it was time to set himself a new...
We all know Kentucky Fried Chicken. It’s second only to McDonald’s for making Americans fat and scaring farm animals globally....
After one full day of owning the 1979 XS650 Special Giancarlo’s called it quits. Stranded on the side of the...
The Eau Rouge Yamaha XJR1300 features a plethora of custom fabricated components made in house by the Deus Italian workshop....
Yamaha XS650 Classic Cafe built by the Wheely shop. A beautiful balance of old styling and modern technology. ...
Back in 2005, when I first became interested in the Japanese custom motorcycle scene, finding insights into their world took...
Mike, who is a designer by trade, takes pleasure in finding lemons online. Not because he likes to own basket...
Deus ex Machina came on the scene around about the same time I set up Return of the Cafe Racers...
There was always a motorcycle in our house when I was growing up, but my father’s real passion was collectible...
“Raw & Rough. I´ve always wanted a little Cafe Racer for the urban and offroad section. It’s a kind of a...
Few motorcycles have the cult status of Yamaha’s SR400. During the past decade, the SR has come into the spotlight...
Yet another outstanding issue of Fuel Magazine is just about to hit the shelves. Grab a copy to see my...
Adrián Campos and the crew at Spain’s Bolt Motor Co. are back again with yet another impressive build. This time...
For the Hyper Modified campaign Yamaha approached three well known custom builders and gave them a straight to the point...
Dressed all in black the Skullmonkee is easily recognisable as a Wrenchmonkees build. Tight proportions, clean lines, killer finishes...
Greg Hageman, aka Hageman Motorcycles, aka Doc Chops may not have been the first to build a Virago cafe racer,...
