Your complete guide to Yamaha cafe racer motorcycles, from classic RD two-strokes bikes to modern-day XSR specials. Here you’ll find everything from traditional XS650 cafe racers to the latest builds based on newer models. Discover the parts, seats and performance upgrades that’ll take your own Yamaha to the next level.
We don’t see many Yamaha XS1100s around these days, which is a shame—it was an absolute beast of a machine. It was often called the ‘XS 11,’ because it could run the quarter-mile in under 12 seconds, but its extended wheelbase made it more of a tourer than a sportbike. The unusually long air-cooled engine…
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Bad Winners is one of those shops that consistently do good work. It’s owned by Frenchman Walid Ben Lamine, who has an unusual and very performance-focused CV—including stints as a championship rower and a race team mechanic. It’s not surprising that the machines he puts together in his workshop in the 19th arrondissement of Paris…
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After an incredible seven years, Yamaha’s Yard Built custom program is still firing on all cylinders. In 2012 it kicked off with the Wrenchmonkees’ iconic ‘MonkeeFist’ XJR1300, and there have been over 60 pro builds since. This is the latest, an XSR900 called ‘CP3’ from Jens vom Brauck of JvB-Moto in Cologne. It tips the…
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Every time Maarten Poodt completes another project, we feel like we’re looking at some obscure, classic Yamaha that we’ve never heard of. Which is exactly how the Dutch custom builder likes it. Maarten has a penchant for Yamahas, and particularly the models that are hard to come by in the Netherlands. He mostly goes for…
Read more »A pair of Yamaha cafe racers from the opposite ends of the capacity spectrum, Roland Sands gets stuck into the Indian FTR…
Read more »Wrap any decent Yamaha in a good King Kenny livery, and you’ve got an instant crowd-pleaser. But this Yamaha MT-07 from Greg…
Read more »The Yamaha MT-10 is about as mental as naked bikes get. The 998 cc inline-four makes a stonking 158 hp and 111…
Read more »The world’s most prestigious motorcycle calendar is back. The 2019 edition of the famous Bike EXIF wall calendar showcases 13 incredible new…
Read more »The correct answer to ‘How many bikes?’ is always ‘one more.’ And these two dapper Yamaha XS650s from German wunderkind Nico Mueller…
Read more »Despite having a population of almost ten million people—more that Denmark or Switzerland—Hungary has a pretty low profile on the European custom…
Read more »The Yamaha XSR700 gets the looks to match its performance, Paton releases a street legal version of Michael Dunlop’s IoM TT bike,…
Read more »The new wave custom scene was originally built on a love for the old school. But these days, we’re seeing more ‘neo’…
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