The Varkain (“Finnish for By Stealth”) Yamaha SR400 is one of my favourite creations to come out of Raider Motorsports...
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.
Honda CB750 “Cold bitch” More home built Cafe Racers sent in by our talented readers. Thanks for sharing your motorcycles...
The Yamaha Yardbuilt series has been running for an impressive 7 years now. Since then Yamaha has commissioned over 50...
In the early days of Yamaha’s venture into motorcycle production their YA-, affectionately known as the Akatombo or Red Dragonfly,...
Yamaha produced the mighty TZ 250 from 1973 all the way through to 2004. When the model was first released...
Looking back over a few of our recent features it seems that building retro customs out of modern sports bikes...
“Yamaha and Abarth have created the XSR900 Abarth – a lightweight high-performance retro special whose authentic café racer design reflects...
With a name like “Vintage Addiction”, it’s odd to see the YZF sitting in their build portfolio, but when the...
Unless you’re living in one of those rule-free American states where they let tipsy 13-year-olds ride drag bikes on public...
Review Summary: The 2022 Yamaha XSR900 Retro Triple is a much meaner and more powerful bike than its sibling, the...
For the Hyper Modified campaign Yamaha approached three well known custom builders and gave them a straight to the point...
The bike Spartak’s customer found was a rare find in his hometown of Minsk, a late eighties Yamaha XJ600. The...
There have been many custom workshops that have evolved their brand into an apparel range. In Taiwan, the clothing label...
While Yamaha has previously focused on customising bikes from their Sports Heritage range during the Yardbuilt series, Faster Sons will...
After spying the Yamaha XJR400 cafe racer on their website we contacted C-Racer crew member Antonis Kapetanios who was kind...
There are countless failures throughout automotive history. All of the big motorcycle manufacturers have at least one they’d prefer to...
Stu Lloyd grew up in the UK during the late ’70s and early ’80s. As a young boy, his leisure...
Bernhard Naumann, aka Blechmann, grew up in Burgenland, a federal state of Austria in central Europe. Growing up in a...
There are a handful of motorcycles that became the poster children of the “new wave” cafe racer scene at the...
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...
Looking at this custom Yamaha SR500 built in Japan turns me in to the equivalent of that crazy fish in Finding...
There was a time when it seemed that every other custom build to roll out of a workshop was built...
Yamaha’s beloved SR400 may have ceased production back in 2021, but it remains a hot favorite amongst custom builders in...
After building his own bobber and plenty of customer bikes, James decided it was time to set himself a new...
For a motorcycle that once laid claim to being the quickest street production bike, the Kawasaki 500 Triples certainly have...
Tower’s been messing about on bikes since he was a kid, but in 2008 a chance meeting with Ian Halcott...
Despite its huge success, the Yamaha XSR700 is, in my opinion, one of the least classic-looking modern-retro motorcycles on the...
Jamie’s younger years were spent in the UK. He was bitten by the motorcycle bug at an early age after...
To start with can you tell us where the bikes name “Tramontana” comes from? Spartak: This is the bike’s name...
After a complete tear down the XJR’s subframe was trimmed to tighten the bike’s proportions. In place of the original...
As anyone starting up a new company should do the pair decided to launch their brand with a bang. So,...
Daniel cut his teeth on cars and bikes at a young age. “I drove my first moped at the age...
As 2014 comes to an end I thought I’d take a (close up) look at some of the incredible work...
As it always goes, popularity affects price, so the days of picking up a bargain XS are gone and it...
The Modern Motorcycle Company is a custom workshop based in Melbourne, Victoria. Owned and run by Christian Condo the workshop...
Jesse attributes his interest in building bikes to a 1971 Honda CB175 he restored with his father at the age...
The Winning Loser. Saved from a scrapyard and transformed in to a piece of custom motorcycle art, this Yamaha SR 250...
Andrew Starkman and the team at Roast Moto in Phoenix Arizona pride themselves in spotting the potential in an old...
I’ve worked on my fair share of custom builds to know that things can get a little stressful. When I...
In motorsport, race teams are always looking for new ways to improve lap times. Back in the fifties when motorcycles...
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...
One of the biggest decisions you’ll make when building your own Cafe Racer, or any style of custom motorcycle for...
During the mid-70s, the Yamaha RD400 was the ultimate middleweight sport bike. Known for its explosive power and lightweight frame...
It wasn’t until I featured our first Yamaha TRX850 cafe racer back in 2013 that I learned of their existence....
All hail Yamaha. As part of their Yard Built series they’ve been sponsoring some of the wildest, genre-pushing builds we’ve...
Mike, who is a designer by trade, takes pleasure in finding lemons online. Not because he likes to own basket...
Buying any customised or incomplete motorcycle can be fraught with danger. That’s why we recommended against it in our 10...
“I have been riding motorcycles on and off road for more than a decade and I wanted to combine my...
Rapid prototyping, CNC machining, 3d printing! Whatever happened to good old hammers, spanners, and the occasional grinder? I get a...
To transform the XV950 cruiser into a cafe racer styled machine Marcus began by dramatically modifying the bikes rear end....
We all know Kentucky Fried Chicken. It’s second only to McDonald’s for making Americans fat and scaring farm animals globally....
Andi Akbar and his Jakarta based workshop Katros Garage aren’t showing any signs of slowing down. Katros Garage has continued...
You could be forgiven for thinking that laying bricks and building custom motorcycles have nothing in common. But if you’re...
Recently found XS650 Chopper website which has a load of custom Yamaha XS650 projects. Great for inspiration or to just perve on...
The Yamaha Yardbuilt series will soon be celebrating its 10 year anniversary. Originally the brainchild of Yamaha Project Manager, Shun...
I’ve always been intrigued by Yamaha’s MT-01 V-twin “muscle bike”. Back in 2008 I got really excited when they released...
Spotted this great Yamaha R5 “Giant Killer” custom on Garage Project motorcycles. After a bit of digging all I managed to...
I first met the Ask Motorcycle guys when I went to the Mooneyes Yokohama Hot Rod and custom show in...
While the idea of belting down a freeway at a ton and a half on a big bore Cafe Racer...
After more than 35 years of production, the Yamaha SR400 has had little in the way of design modifications. The...
Is it just me or does this look like insanely good fun? There’s no denying that Yamaha’s legendary SR400 is...
Brrr… Lars and Jorg of Motorradtke GbR in Germany traditionally build and maintain Superbikes for the race track. However after...
Theo’s Frankenstein bike started out as a ‘96 Yamaha TRX but very few TRX components remain. The new engine hails...
The Yamaha features the same Benelli 360 tank and custom seat combo that Greg used on the last Virago, but...
These days you don’t get much of a bike for 300 quid. Every now and then though you hear about...
“I guess, it’s a modern take on a Cafe Racer, but I was born around 20 years too late to...
Opening up the emails I receive through the “Submit a motorcycle” link on the site is one of my favourite...
The Eau Rouge Yamaha XJR1300 features a plethora of custom fabricated components made in house by the Deus Italian workshop....
I’ve been covering the Yamaha Yardbuilt series of custom bikes for some time now and have really enjoyed the projects...
The Blue Rhapsody takes its main inspiration from the 90’s race bikes Keinosuke saw on the streets of Japan in...
Dressed all in black the Skullmonkee is easily recognisable as a Wrenchmonkees build. Tight proportions, clean lines, killer finishes...
Yamaha XS650 Classic Cafe built by the Wheely shop. A beautiful balance of old styling and modern technology. ...
If you ask me there’s two types of custom build, the clean and the down right dirty. Richard and Lex...
I know I’m probably going to get a few frowns for this as it’s certainly not a Cafe Racer,...
You’ll have to forgive me for veering off the Cafe Racer path slightly but when I see a custom motorcycle like this...
If you’re going to customise a motorcycle it’s always best to start out with a bike that’s got a good...
There’s two ways you can build a custom motorcycle. One way is to have a design idea that’s laid out...
Yamaha’s XS650 would have to be in the top 5 list of most customised motorcycle in the world. It’s bullet...
It’s not often that I feature Bobbers on the site and even less often that I feature custom motorcycles from...
The mighty Yamaha XS650 has been a hot favourite in the custom scene for decades and a personal favourite of...
Down here in Australia it seems like Mother Nature’s hell bent on killing us all off. Our surrounding oceans are...
British vs Japanese engineering. It’s a debate that I’ve often heard between motorcyclists. It’s easy to see why each party...
The Wrenchmonkees have just released details of the bike that represents a half-century of custom motorcycle builds from the Denmark based...
“Sport Heritage” Never has the combination of those two words made as much sense as when applied to the Yamaha...
My dog doesn’t care for the Yamaha XSR900. When I arrive home on any other motorcycle the small ball of...
Nothing beats a hand me down, especially when it’s in the form of a motorcycle. When Christian was given his...
This is the Mongrel. A custom Yamaha XT600 haling from the darker side of Sydney’s Cafe Racer scene. The Mongrel...
Firstly a design was rendered in conjunction with Oberdan Bezzi Design which took styling cues from the Yamaha FZ750, a...
The XJR1300 was delivered to the Denmark workshop of the Wrenchmonkees with the basic brief of “make it even better”....
Nostalgia is a powerful thing. For seasoned motorcyclists, nostalgia can quickly become an obsession. A chance sighting of a beloved...
Nothing makes me happier than featuring custom motorcycles that have been built in my hometown. Today’s café racer is the...
“Stop dreaming, just start building!” These are the words you’ll find on Andy Megerle’s Instagram profile. I’ve featured a couple...
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