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.
The Yamaha DT175 is one of those classic bikes that look ‘just right.’ With a small tank, fat seat and raised fenders, it’s a pint-sized enduro machine that screams fun. The DT175 we’ve got here, however, was most definitely not looking good when it rolled into the workshop of Sabotage Motorcycles in Sydney, New South…
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Forty years ago, Yamaha made a brief foray into the flat track scene in the States with its XV750 race bike. Like most go-fast, turn-left machines, it was a bit of a looker—and provided inspiration for this phenomenal street tracker from Takashi Nihira. Nihira-san runs Wedge Motorcycle, one of the top Japanese custom shops. He’s…
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There’s nothing unusual about building a custom motorcycle with the primary purpose of taking it to a show. But what if the show in question has absolutely nothing to do with custom motorcycles? That’s a cool twist. This sharply styled Yamaha SR500 flat tracker is the pet project of 27-year-old Maxime Fontvielle. He’s an application…
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I just did a quick check, and my suspicions were confirmed: we’ve never featured a Yamaha TTR250 build on EXIF. Which is a bit of a surprise, because the TTR250 is one of the toughest off roaders around. In the mid 90s, the little Yammie was the first mainstream trailie to feature an electric start—and…
Read more »Like the Honda CX500, the Yamaha Virago is one of those “sow’s ear” bikes: it’s a challenge to make a silk purse…
Read more »It’s a newsier mix than usual this week, with the Yamaha SR400 finally down for the count, and a top European motorcycle…
Read more »Istanbul-based brothers Mert and Can Uzer are known for their sleek, super-clean custom builds, but their latest creation has a surprisingly practical…
Read more »If Yamaha let you choose any one of their bikes to customize, which would you pick? For David Sánchez and the wildly…
Read more »The Japanese have a profound love for motorsport and craftsmanship. Linguistic and geographic isolation has fostered unique styles and trends over the…
Read more »Yamaha’s annual ‘Yard Built’ competition was one of the first and most highly publicized custom competitions, delivering a steady stream of killer…
Read more »News from two major OEMs this week, as BMW Motorrad update the R nineT, and Honda release a new Grom. Plus we’ve…
Read more »Like most Japanese marques, Yamaha have some truly lovely UJMs scattered throughout their back catalog. Today, we’re taking a look at two…
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