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.
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...
You could be forgiven for thinking that laying bricks and building custom motorcycles have nothing in common. But if you’re...
Deus Bali appeared on the scene only a few short months ago and it seems they are already wheeling some...
The XJR1300 was delivered to the Denmark workshop of the Wrenchmonkees with the basic brief of “make it even better”....
Sadly it looks like Yamaha’s venerable SR400s time is coming to an end. Like so many other motorcycles falling victim...
I’ve always been intrigued by Yamaha’s MT-01 V-twin “muscle bike”. Back in 2008 I got really excited when they released...
The Modern Motorcycle Company is a custom workshop based in Melbourne, Victoria. Owned and run by Christian Condo the workshop...
In the early days of Yamaha’s venture into motorcycle production their YA-, affectionately known as the Akatombo or Red Dragonfly,...
You’ll have to forgive me for veering off the Cafe Racer path slightly but when I see a custom motorcycle like this...
Adrián Campos and the crew at Spain’s Bolt Motor Co. are back again with yet another impressive build. This time...
It’s getting easier and easier to build a cafe racer. It used to be that you’d either have to pay...
It wasn’t until I featured our first Yamaha TRX850 cafe racer back in 2013 that I learned of their existence....
While Yamaha has previously focused on customising bikes from their Sports Heritage range during the Yardbuilt series, Faster Sons will...
“Building motorcycles is probably the only thing I am good at.” professes Aseem. “The FS350, my first custom motorcycle, was...
Not content with simply building a tidy Yamaha SR based Cafe Racer, the crew at Rocker Classic Cycles decided to...
A collaboration with El Solitario seemed like the perfect pairing for Yamaha’s next Yard Built project, but as El Solitario’s...
Few motorcycles have the cult status of Yamaha’s SR400. During the past decade, the SR has come into the spotlight...
Brrr… Lars and Jorg of Motorradtke GbR in Germany traditionally build and maintain Superbikes for the race track. However after...
As anyone starting up a new company should do the pair decided to launch their brand with a bang. So,...
To improve the v-twin’s power and torque Yamaha fit the SRV with a beefier cam profile, two carburetors rather than...
British vs Japanese engineering. It’s a debate that I’ve often heard between motorcyclists. It’s easy to see why each party...
Jesse attributes his interest in building bikes to a 1971 Honda CB175 he restored with his father at the age...
When I think about Bobbers my mind conjures up images of cruising along a winding coastal road, sitting comfortably atop...
Bernhard Naumann, aka Blechmann, grew up in Burgenland, a federal state of Austria in central Europe. Growing up in a...
Our itinerary began with a presentation on the 2015 XJR1300 by Yamaha product manager Shun Miyazawa at the Deus Ex Machina...
Tim Kills BSA A65 Bobber On November 3rd & 4th I co-hosted a custom motorcycle exhibition in Melbourne named Oil...
What’s not to love about two-stroke motorcycles? The alluring smell, the exhilarating sound and the white-knuckled terror of an unpredictable...
After spying the Yamaha XJR400 cafe racer on their website we contacted C-Racer crew member Antonis Kapetanios who was kind...
There’s two ways you can build a custom motorcycle. One way is to have a design idea that’s laid out...
There’s beauty in simplicity. Apple have proved that with their design approach and in the custom motorcycle world that...
The Eau Rouge Yamaha XJR1300 features a plethora of custom fabricated components made in house by the Deus Italian workshop....
Back in 2006 one of the first motorcycles that really got me excited about the custom scene was a Yamaha...
After more than 35 years of production, the Yamaha SR400 has had little in the way of design modifications. The...
After one full day of owning the 1979 XS650 Special Giancarlo’s called it quits. Stranded on the side of the...
I know I’m probably going to get a few frowns for this as it’s certainly not a Cafe Racer,...
On a recent trip to Sydney I stuck my head in at Deus (as always) and grabbed a copy of...
“Raw & Rough. I´ve always wanted a little Cafe Racer for the urban and offroad section. It’s a kind of a...
Andrew Starkman and the team at Roast Moto in Phoenix Arizona pride themselves in spotting the potential in an old...
Daniel cut his teeth on cars and bikes at a young age. “I drove my first moped at the age...
Well, that wraps up yet another year of amazing cafe racer builds from custom workshops and backyard builders around the...
The Varkain (“Finnish for By Stealth”) Yamaha SR400 is one of my favourite creations to come out of Raider Motorsports...
To start with can you tell us where the bikes name “Tramontana” comes from? Spartak: This is the bike’s name...
For the Yardbuilt 2017 XSR700 project, Yamaha selected 7 workshops from different European locations to take part in the event. Representatives from Italy,...
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 recently stumbled across the Instagram profile of Cyu-G and his Yamaha SR400 cafe racer. Despite a language barrier we...
As 2014 comes to an end I thought I’d take a (close up) look at some of the incredible work...
Santi García has been contributing to the build portfolio at the Barcelona workshop of La Carono motorcycles for the past...
The Yamaha Yardbuilt series will soon be celebrating its 10 year anniversary. Originally the brainchild of Yamaha Project Manager, Shun...
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...
The Skorpion Sport was produced by German motorcycle manufacturer MZ (Motorrad und Zweiradwerk) between 1994 and 2004. Although you may have never...
Dressed all in black the Skullmonkee is easily recognisable as a Wrenchmonkees build. Tight proportions, clean lines, killer finishes...
The Yamaha SR400 was the poster child of the “new wave” custom scene back in ’08/’09. Thanks to workshops like...
The Winning Loser. Saved from a scrapyard and transformed in to a piece of custom motorcycle art, this Yamaha SR 250...
The Arcanum build began when I picked up a ‘78 Yamaha SR500 from a guy in Newcastle, it was an...
Tower’s been messing about on bikes since he was a kid, but in 2008 a chance meeting with Ian Halcott...
I first met the Ask Motorcycle guys when I went to the Mooneyes Yokohama Hot Rod and custom show in...
But, dear reader, should you? Is it worth tracking down one of Yamaha’s cheerful little runabouts for your next custom...
Deus ex Machina came on the scene around about the same time I set up Return of the Cafe Racers...
Jamie’s younger years were spent in the UK. He was bitten by the motorcycle bug at an early age after...
After building his own bobber and plenty of customer bikes, James decided it was time to set himself a new...
Boner…That’s what this custom Yamaha XS650 is called. Not your usual custom build title but Death Spray Customs isn’t your...
Buying any customised or incomplete motorcycle can be fraught with danger. That’s why we recommended against it in our 10...
Recently found XS650 Chopper website which has a load of custom Yamaha XS650 projects. Great for inspiration or to just perve on...
“Years ago I rode a ’72 Yamaha XS650 from California to Sturgis. I was wearing a Walmart rain suit in...
As it always goes, popularity affects price, so the days of picking up a bargain XS are gone and it...
This bike was built by George Woodman, a carpenter slash furniture designer slash interior architect from Biarritz, France. Yes, his...
At the end of World War 2 many British motorcycle manufacturers were on the verge of closure or had already...
After a complete tear down the XJR’s subframe was trimmed to tighten the bike’s proportions. In place of the original...
Mike, who is a designer by trade, takes pleasure in finding lemons online. Not because he likes to own basket...
All hail Yamaha. As part of their Yard Built series they’ve been sponsoring some of the wildest, genre-pushing builds we’ve...
No sooner had the doors of the 2015 One Motorcycle Show closed for another year, than the brothers Busch and...
The red ‘Monster’ which was built back in 2013 for the Yokohama Hot Rod and Custom Show and the blue...
Looking back over a few of our recent features it seems that building retro customs out of modern sports bikes...
It’s not often that I feature Bobbers on the site and even less often that I feature custom motorcycles from...
Gold Rush is Daniel’s 3rd XJR1200 based build. As you would expect by now he’s become somewhat of an XJR...
“My name is Teguh Setiawan. I’m a 23 years old and studying at a university in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. In 2012...
The bike Spartak’s customer found was a rare find in his hometown of Minsk, a late eighties Yamaha XJ600. The...
Opening up the emails I receive through the “Submit a motorcycle” link on the site is one of my favourite...
Despite its 43-year production run ending in 2021, the SR400 remains a hot favourite amongst riders in Japan. The SR400’s...
Trevers father, John Scales, was a 2 stroke road racer during the 1970s. “I heard so many stories from my...
Thanks to their continued support of custom workshops, Yamaha Motorcycles have played an integral role in the growth of the...
For the Hyper Modified campaign Yamaha approached three well known custom builders and gave them a straight to the point...
Feast your eyes on Jay LaRossa’s 1978 Yamaha SR500 “Solus” in this short video by Ricki Bedenbaugh. This video reminds me of...
Nostalgia is a powerful thing. For seasoned motorcyclists, nostalgia can quickly become an obsession. A chance sighting of a beloved...
Yamaha XS650 Classic Cafe built by the Wheely shop. A beautiful balance of old styling and modern technology. ...
The quick turnaround on this build was made possible when Pat acquired the Virago as an unfinished project. “The previous...
Review Summary: The 2022 Yamaha XSR900 Retro Triple is a much meaner and more powerful bike than its sibling, the...
Since launching Return of the Cafe Racers back in 2006 I have only come across two builders who have managed...
Yamaha’s XS650 would have to be in the top 5 list of most customised motorcycle in the world. It’s bullet...
This is the Mongrel. A custom Yamaha XT600 haling from the darker side of Sydney’s Cafe Racer scene. The Mongrel...
Berry Bads Motorcycles are yet another Japanese custom tuner/builder who’s work has caught my attention. With a gallery full of Bobbers,...
With 200bhp on tap and an astounding 2.5 second 0-60mph time, the Vmax V4 engine is well suited to dragstrip...
Andi Akbar and his Jakarta based workshop Katros Garage aren’t showing any signs of slowing down. Katros Garage has continued...
Unless you’re living in one of those rule-free American states where they let tipsy 13-year-olds ride drag bikes on public...
This Yamaha SRX600 has been meticulously transformed into a bespoke cafe racer with a sleek and unique style. It boasts...
Greg Hageman, aka Hageman Motorcycles, aka Doc Chops may not have been the first to build a Virago cafe racer,...
Shaft driven motorcycles have been around since the early 1900’s, but Yamaha’s shaft driven debut didn’t come until the late...
These days you don’t get much of a bike for 300 quid. Every now and then though you hear about...
