Due to the surging demand for nostalgia-infused motorcycles with a retro aesthetic, it was no surprise that Yamaha decided 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.
The Modern Motorcycle Company is a custom workshop based in Melbourne, Victoria. Owned and run by Christian Condo the workshop...
Neo-retro cafe racers have certainly become “a thing”. Merging retro styling with modern engineering is a very appealing proposition for...
The Winning Loser. Saved from a scrapyard and transformed in to a piece of custom motorcycle art, this Yamaha SR 250...
This bike was built by George Woodman, a carpenter slash furniture designer slash interior architect from Biarritz, France. Yes, his...
Well, that wraps up yet another year of amazing cafe racer builds from custom workshops and backyard builders around the...
Honda CB750 “Cold bitch” More home built Cafe Racers sent in by our talented readers. Thanks for sharing your motorcycles...
If you happen to be near The Dues Ex Machina store in Camperdown Sydney this week a quick visit is definitely in...
The story of the TX750 is one that Yamaha would rather we all forgot. The bike, which was set to...
The custom Yamaha SR250’s are taking over! After last week’s C59R “Little Blue” custom Tracker build from Barcelona we’ve headed...
For the Yardbuilt 2017 XSR700 project, Yamaha selected 7 workshops from different European locations to take part in the event. Representatives from Italy,...
When great minds come together, great things happen. Often in the world of custom motorcycle building workshops keep to themselves....
Theo’s Frankenstein bike started out as a ‘96 Yamaha TRX but very few TRX components remain. The new engine hails...
Mark Bliss is a man of many talents, but it’s his work with motorcycles he’s most proud of. Both of...
I hate to say it but there is a downside to riding a classic British cafe racer. Sure you’ll revel...
If you ask me there’s two types of custom build, the clean and the down right dirty. Richard and Lex...
A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of meeting the Muharremi brothers, the duo behind the United Kingdom’s...
I first met the Ask Motorcycle guys when I went to the Mooneyes Yokohama Hot Rod and custom show in...
Just got home after spending the day out with the guys from Fuel Tank TV and Christian from Modern Motorcycles....
The Eau Rouge Yamaha XJR1300 features a plethora of custom fabricated components made in house by the Deus Italian workshop....
There are a handful of motorcycles that became the poster children of the “new wave” cafe racer scene at the...
For a motorcycle that once laid claim to being the quickest street production bike, the Kawasaki 500 Triples certainly have...
To start with can you tell us where the bikes name “Tramontana” comes from? Spartak: This is the bike’s name...
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...
Yamaha XS650 Classic Cafe built by the Wheely shop. A beautiful balance of old styling and modern technology. ...
Despite its huge success, the Yamaha XSR700 is, in my opinion, one of the least classic-looking modern-retro motorcycles on the...
Sadly it looks like Yamaha’s venerable SR400s time is coming to an end. Like so many other motorcycles falling victim...
There are countless failures throughout automotive history. All of the big motorcycle manufacturers have at least one they’d prefer to...
This Yamaha XS650 stands out as a captivating and tastefully modified representation of the popular classic Japanese motorcycle. Crafted into...
It wasn’t until I featured our first Yamaha TRX850 cafe racer back in 2013 that I learned of their existence....
Despite its 43-year production run ending in 2021, the SR400 remains a hot favourite amongst riders in Japan. The SR400’s...
Down here in Australia it seems like Mother Nature’s hell bent on killing us all off. Our surrounding oceans are...
This Cafe Racer thumper hails from the Japanese workshop Gull Craft. It’s an extensively modified Yamaha SR400 Cafe Racer complete...
Auto Fabrica has transformed this Yamaha XJ600 into a one-of-a-kind modern classic sports bike known as the “Type 24”. This...
You could be forgiven for thinking that laying bricks and building custom motorcycles have nothing in common. But if you’re...
The old saying ‘practice makes perfect’ rings true in the custom motorcycle community. Over the years I’ve seen many builders...
While the idea of belting down a freeway at a ton and a half on a big bore Cafe Racer...
In 2007, Gregg DesJardins of GC Customs crafted an unparalleled streetfighter motorcycle, representing the pinnacle of customization. Starting with a...
David Gonzalez from Ad Hoc is renowned for customizing Yamaha motorcycles. He gained international acclaim for his work on the...
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know there are very few commonalities between nautical craft and motorcycles. Infact the...
Feast your eyes on Jay LaRossa’s 1978 Yamaha SR500 “Solus” in this short video by Ricki Bedenbaugh. This video reminds me of...
Japanese workshop AN-BU Customs has developed an instantly recognisable style of their own. Their recipe involves mixing tight proportions, with...
Yet another outstanding issue of Fuel Magazine is just about to hit the shelves. Grab a copy to see my...
Yamaha’s legendary XS650, it’s reputation precedes it. The XS is one of the most widely customised bikes in the world so to...
Tower’s been messing about on bikes since he was a kid, but in 2008 a chance meeting with Ian Halcott...
With a workshop name like “it roCKS!bikes” the Portugese builders Osvaldo Coutinho and Alexandre Santos have set the bar high...
Dressed all in black the Skullmonkee is easily recognisable as a Wrenchmonkees build. Tight proportions, clean lines, killer finishes...
After one full day of owning the 1979 XS650 Special Giancarlo’s called it quits. Stranded on the side of the...
Deus Bali appeared on the scene only a few short months ago and it seems they are already wheeling some...
Daniel cut his teeth on cars and bikes at a young age. “I drove my first moped at the age...
The bike Spartak’s customer found was a rare find in his hometown of Minsk, a late eighties Yamaha XJ600. The...
The quick turnaround on this build was made possible when Pat acquired the Virago as an unfinished project. “The previous...
“Years ago I rode a ’72 Yamaha XS650 from California to Sturgis. I was wearing a Walmart rain suit in...
Unless you’re living in one of those rule-free American states where they let tipsy 13-year-olds ride drag bikes on public...
The saying ‘to bite off more than you can chew’ is one that many budding bike builders can relate to....
During the early 1970s, Kenny Roberts shot to stardom as a rider in the American Yamaha racing team. In 1973...
In motorsport, race teams are always looking for new ways to improve lap times. Back in the fifties when motorcycles...
One of the biggest decisions you’ll make when building your own Cafe Racer, or any style of custom motorcycle for...
Trevers father, John Scales, was a 2 stroke road racer during the 1970s. “I heard so many stories from my...
“My name is Teguh Setiawan. I’m a 23 years old and studying at a university in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. In 2012...
“Yamaha and Abarth have created the XSR900 Abarth – a lightweight high-performance retro special whose authentic café racer design reflects...
Vintage Steele of Brattleboro, Vermont, transformed this 1975 Yamaha XS650 into a café-racer. The bodywork, featuring the original four-gallon fuel...
Back in 2006 one of the first motorcycles that really got me excited about the custom scene was a Yamaha...
“I guess, it’s a modern take on a Cafe Racer, but I was born around 20 years too late to...
Yamaha’s ‘Race Developed’ series of motorcycles from the early seventies left a lasting impression on the motorcycling world. The 1973...
Yamaha produced the mighty TZ 250 from 1973 all the way through to 2004. When the model was first released...
There was a time when it seemed that every other custom build to roll out of a workshop was built...
Tim Kills BSA A65 Bobber On November 3rd & 4th I co-hosted a custom motorcycle exhibition in Melbourne named Oil...
Over in the UK Shaun & Carl of custom workshop ‘Down and Out’ Cafe Racers usually play with parallel twins, but...
The Wrenchmonkees have just released details of the bike that represents a half-century of custom motorcycle builds from the Denmark based...
In Osaka, Japan 28-year-old cafe racer enthusiast Yuya Ueda has been riding his SR400 for 8 years and it’s lead...
Andi Akbar and his Jakarta based workshop Katros Garage aren’t showing any signs of slowing down. Katros Garage has continued...
Since launching Return of the Cafe Racers back in 2006 I have only come across two builders who have managed...
Opening up the emails I receive through the “Submit a motorcycle” link on the site is one of my favourite...
No sooner had the doors of the 2015 One Motorcycle Show closed for another year, than the brothers Busch and...
Not content with simply building a tidy Yamaha SR based Cafe Racer, the crew at Rocker Classic Cycles decided to...
There’s two ways you can build a custom motorcycle. One way is to have a design idea that’s laid out...
A collaboration with El Solitario seemed like the perfect pairing for Yamaha’s next Yard Built project, but as El Solitario’s...
Adrián Campos and the crew at Spain’s Bolt Motor Co. are back again with yet another impressive build. This time...
Santi García has been contributing to the build portfolio at the Barcelona workshop of La Carono motorcycles for the past...
Buying any customised or incomplete motorcycle can be fraught with danger. That’s why we recommended against it in our 10...
The Yamaha XV920 ‘Double Shot’ is a prime example of Yamaha’s timeless cruising motorcycle, skillfully transformed and rebuilt in the...
Back in 2005, when I first became interested in the Japanese custom motorcycle scene, finding insights into their world took...
To improve the v-twin’s power and torque Yamaha fit the SRV with a beefier cam profile, two carburetors rather than...
The Skorpion Sport was produced by German motorcycle manufacturer MZ (Motorrad und Zweiradwerk) between 1994 and 2004. Although you may have never...
The Yamaha SR400 was the poster child of the “new wave” custom scene back in ’08/’09. Thanks to workshops like...
Nothing makes me happier than featuring custom motorcycles that have been built in my hometown. Today’s café racer is the...
I’ve worked on my fair share of custom builds to know that things can get a little stressful. When I...
Firstly a design was rendered in conjunction with Oberdan Bezzi Design which took styling cues from the Yamaha FZ750, a...
All hail Yamaha. As part of their Yard Built series they’ve been sponsoring some of the wildest, genre-pushing builds we’ve...
Review Summary: The 2022 Yamaha XSR900 Retro Triple is a much meaner and more powerful bike than its sibling, the...
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