Minus the mid-century innovations by Yamaha, Honda, and Suzuki, one could argue that motorcycling might be a lost art today. With their small engines, low profiles, and street-rider stances, these lightweight hallmarks of design give new riders all over the world a way into the fray, and experienced riders the perfect minimal ride.
These days, Yamaha motorcycles are at the core of the custom scene. They offer the perfect platforms for stylish urban rides with cheap price tags.
Models like the Yamaha XS650, SR400, XSR700 and XSR900 are among a legendary line of Yamaha motorcycles that beg to be turned into café racers, bobbers and trackers—and they fill our galleries of great builds.
Did you know that the evergreen Yamaha XS650 was launched over half a century ago? Although the production line closed down in 1985, the air-cooled parallel twin is still a top choice for many custom builders, including Minnesota-based Dan Riley. Operating as Gunn Design, Dan is a gifted freelance designer with good business smarts, too.…
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Building a competitive flat track racer is downright scientific. Countless factors like weight, geometry, power delivery and gearing all have to be optimized to the nth degree. But building a street tracker is simpler; as long as you have the flat track look and feel locked in, whether or not it can actually hold its…
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It’s always the hardest article to write, but also the most fascinating to research. Our annual roundup of the most popular customs on Bike EXIF reveals the dominant trends in the scene as well as the builders who have their fingers on the pulse. This year, outside of the top two builds, the competition was…
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We’ve seen some truly out-the-box builds come from K-Speed. They’ve done everything from Honda Monkey cafe racers to a Yamaha XSR155 that looks ready for the apocalypse. But Thailand’s busiest custom shop knows how to play with the big stuff too. This Yamaha XJR 1300 was built for a customer in Phuket. It’s so tastefully…
Read more »We love customs that have that ‘well sorted’ look—where you get the impression that everything is in the right place, it all…
Read more »Olivier Ortolani has a flair for the dramatic. This is a guy who once wrapped a Ducati Panigale 1199 S in hand-shaped…
Read more »Lots of people build a bike with the sole purpose of thrashing it. But it’s usually a ‘beater,’ with very little time…
Read more »There was a subtle takeaway from this year’s EICMA show: adventure motorcycles are more popular than ever. As well as the regular…
Read more »We’ve got used to heavy motorcycles. These days, anything around 450 pounds or 200 kilos is regarded as light. And most of…
Read more »We’re huge fans of the Japanese custom scene. But it’s not just the motorcycles that captivate us: we’re also conscious of how…
Read more »It’s an eclectic pick this week—from a Honda Monkey chopper to a one-off Triumph prototype from the 80s. We’ve also got a…
Read more »We don’t see many Yamaha XS1100s around these days, which is a shame—it was an absolute beast of a machine. It was…
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