On a recent trip to Sydney I stuck my head in at Deus (as always) and grabbed a copy of...
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.
Japanese workshop AN-BU Customs has developed an instantly recognisable style of their own. Their recipe involves mixing tight proportions, with...
If you’ve been following Enginethusiast for a while, you’ve probably noticed that Anthony Scott has a soft spot for vintage...
With a name like “Vintage Addiction”, it’s odd to see the YZF sitting in their build portfolio, but when the...
I never thought I was a fan of muscle bikes until I rode a Yamaha XJR1300. It was in 2015...
Greg Hageman, aka Hageman Motorcycles, aka Doc Chops may not have been the first to build a Virago cafe racer,...
Due to the surging demand for nostalgia-infused motorcycles with a retro aesthetic, it was no surprise that Yamaha decided to...
For the Hyper Modified campaign Yamaha approached three well known custom builders and gave them a straight to the point...
Tower’s been messing about on bikes since he was a kid, but in 2008 a chance meeting with Ian Halcott...
In motorsport, race teams are always looking for new ways to improve lap times. Back in the fifties when motorcycles...
No sooner had the doors of the 2015 One Motorcycle Show closed for another year, than the brothers Busch and...
Back in 2016, Yamaha bit itself off a decent-sized chunk of the modern retro market with the release of the...
The bike Spartak’s customer found was a rare find in his hometown of Minsk, a late eighties Yamaha XJ600. The...
At the end of World War 2 many British motorcycle manufacturers were on the verge of closure or had already...
In the early days of Yamaha’s venture into motorcycle production their YA-, affectionately known as the Akatombo or Red Dragonfly,...
Yamaha’s Yardbuilt series is the brainchild of the companies visionary project manager, Shun Miyazawa. The series kicked off back in...
Back in 2006 one of the first motorcycles that really got me excited about the custom scene was a Yamaha...
I’ve worked on my fair share of custom builds to know that things can get a little stressful. When I...
Rapid prototyping, CNC machining, 3d printing! Whatever happened to good old hammers, spanners, and the occasional grinder? I get a...
“Yamaha and Abarth have created the XSR900 Abarth – a lightweight high-performance retro special whose authentic café racer design reflects...
Down here in Australia it seems like Mother Nature’s hell bent on killing us all off. Our surrounding oceans are...
Few motorcycles have the cult status of Yamaha’s SR400. During the past decade, the SR has come into the spotlight...
After my recent purchase of a Yamaha TW200 I have rediscovered my love of “little” bikes. While I’m not about...
I’ve always been intrigued by Yamaha’s MT-01 V-twin “muscle bike”. Back in 2008 I got really excited when they released...
A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of meeting the Muharremi brothers, the duo behind the United Kingdom’s...
This 1981 Yamaha XV750 Virago has been transformed into a cafe racer, featuring a metallic gray finish with gold accents....
Thanks to their continued support of custom workshops, Yamaha Motorcycles have played an integral role in the growth of the...
With 200bhp on tap and an astounding 2.5 second 0-60mph time, the Vmax V4 engine is well suited to dragstrip...
When great minds come together, great things happen. Often in the world of custom motorcycle building workshops keep to themselves....
Yamaha XS650 Classic Cafe built by the Wheely shop. A beautiful balance of old styling and modern technology. ...
The Yamaha Yardbuilt series has been running for an impressive 7 years now. Since then Yamaha has commissioned over 50...
To start with can you tell us where the bikes name “Tramontana” comes from? Spartak: This is the bike’s name...
The story of the TX750 is one that Yamaha would rather we all forgot. The bike, which was set to...
Recently found XS650 Chopper website which has a load of custom Yamaha XS650 projects. Great for inspiration or to just perve on...
Spotted this great Yamaha R5 “Giant Killer” custom on Garage Project motorcycles. After a bit of digging all I managed to...
Daniel cut his teeth on cars and bikes at a young age. “I drove my first moped at the age...
Honda CB750 “Cold bitch” More home built Cafe Racers sent in by our talented readers. Thanks for sharing your motorcycles...
Gold Rush is Daniel’s 3rd XJR1200 based build. As you would expect by now he’s become somewhat of an XJR...
Cafe Racer SSpirit, located in San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, is a motorcycle customization workshop founded in late 2014 by a family...
“Purpose Built Moto came about after I started modifying street bikes of my own. I then became frustrated that no...
The Yamaha XV920 ‘Double Shot’ is a prime example of Yamaha’s timeless cruising motorcycle, skillfully transformed and rebuilt in the...
Andi Akbar and his Jakarta based workshop Katros Garage aren’t showing any signs of slowing down. Katros Garage has continued...
After more than 35 years of production, the Yamaha SR400 has had little in the way of design modifications. The...
“Years ago I rode a ’72 Yamaha XS650 from California to Sturgis. I was wearing a Walmart rain suit in...
The Yamaha TX650, introduced in the early 1970s, was a motorcycle designed to rival the dwindling popularity of British twins....
Back in 2005, when I first became interested in the Japanese custom motorcycle scene, finding insights into their world took...
Is it just me or does this look like insanely good fun? There’s no denying that Yamaha’s legendary SR400 is...
This post apocalyptic road warrior is Icon’s Kawasaki ZX-7 ‘Thunder Chunky’. It’s the latest addition to Icon’s series of custom...
To improve the v-twin’s power and torque Yamaha fit the SRV with a beefier cam profile, two carburetors rather than...
The old saying ‘practice makes perfect’ rings true in the custom motorcycle community. Over the years I’ve seen many builders...
Despite its 43-year production run ending in 2021, the SR400 remains a hot favourite amongst riders in Japan. The SR400’s...
The Winning Loser. Saved from a scrapyard and transformed in to a piece of custom motorcycle art, this Yamaha SR 250...
Buying any customised or incomplete motorcycle can be fraught with danger. That’s why we recommended against it in our 10...
Nothing makes me happier than featuring custom motorcycles that have been built in my hometown. Today’s café racer is the...
The quick turnaround on this build was made possible when Pat acquired the Virago as an unfinished project. “The previous...
Jamie’s younger years were spent in the UK. He was bitten by the motorcycle bug at an early age after...
I spent the weekend in Sydney celebrating a mates Birthday (which I am still recovering from!) and while I was...
Berry Bads Motorcycles are yet another Japanese custom tuner/builder who’s work has caught my attention. With a gallery full of Bobbers,...
We all know Kentucky Fried Chicken. It’s second only to McDonald’s for making Americans fat and scaring farm animals globally....
This Yamaha XS650 stands out as a captivating and tastefully modified representation of the popular classic Japanese motorcycle. Crafted into...
This is the Mongrel. A custom Yamaha XT600 haling from the darker side of Sydney’s Cafe Racer scene. The Mongrel...
The Wrenchmonkees have just released details of the bike that represents a half-century of custom motorcycle builds from the Denmark based...
Trevers father, John Scales, was a 2 stroke road racer during the 1970s. “I heard so many stories from my...
With a workshop name like “it roCKS!bikes” the Portugese builders Osvaldo Coutinho and Alexandre Santos have set the bar high...
There was always a motorcycle in our house when I was growing up, but my father’s real passion was collectible...
I recently stumbled across the Instagram profile of Cyu-G and his Yamaha SR400 cafe racer. Despite a language barrier we...
Brrr… Lars and Jorg of Motorradtke GbR in Germany traditionally build and maintain Superbikes for the race track. However after...
All hail Yamaha. As part of their Yard Built series they’ve been sponsoring some of the wildest, genre-pushing builds we’ve...
Most custom motorcycles rolling out of workshops tend to be polished to perfection or feature paint jobs more expensive than...
The saying ‘to bite off more than you can chew’ is one that many budding bike builders can relate to....
David Gonzalez from Ad Hoc is renowned for customizing Yamaha motorcycles. He gained international acclaim for his work on the...
Yamaha’s beloved SR400 may have ceased production back in 2021, but it remains a hot favorite amongst custom builders in...
After a complete tear down the XJR’s subframe was trimmed to tighten the bike’s proportions. In place of the original...
Stu Lloyd grew up in the UK during the late ’70s and early ’80s. As a young boy, his leisure...
When you are the organiser of what is arguably the biggest custom motorcycle event in the world it goes without...
Yamaha produced the mighty TZ 250 from 1973 all the way through to 2004. When the model was first released...
Shaft driven motorcycles have been around since the early 1900’s, but Yamaha’s shaft driven debut didn’t come until the late...
Jesse attributes his interest in building bikes to a 1971 Honda CB175 he restored with his father at the age...
Neo-retro cafe racers have certainly become “a thing”. Merging retro styling with modern engineering is a very appealing proposition for...
It wasn’t until I featured our first Yamaha TRX850 cafe racer back in 2013 that I learned of their existence....
Since launching Return of the Cafe Racers back in 2006 I have only come across two builders who have managed...
“Stop dreaming, just start building!” These are the words you’ll find on Andy Megerle’s Instagram profile. I’ve featured a couple...
Andrew Starkman and the team at Roast Moto in Phoenix Arizona pride themselves in spotting the potential in an old...
After building his own bobber and plenty of customer bikes, James decided it was time to set himself a new...
Review Summary: The 2022 Yamaha XSR900 Retro Triple is a much meaner and more powerful bike than its sibling, the...
Some people find it a real struggle to sit still. Take Stu Lloyd for example. It hasn’t even been 4...
Mark Bliss is a man of many talents, but it’s his work with motorcycles he’s most proud of. Both of...
The Modern Motorcycle Company is a custom workshop based in Melbourne, Victoria. Owned and run by Christian Condo the workshop...
Theo’s Frankenstein bike started out as a ‘96 Yamaha TRX but very few TRX components remain. The new engine hails...
The Arcanum build began when I picked up a ‘78 Yamaha SR500 from a guy in Newcastle, it was an...
There have been many custom workshops that have evolved their brand into an apparel range. In Taiwan, the clothing label...
There’s two ways you can build a custom motorcycle. One way is to have a design idea that’s laid out...
This Cafe Racer thumper hails from the Japanese workshop Gull Craft. It’s an extensively modified Yamaha SR400 Cafe Racer complete...
“Building motorcycles is probably the only thing I am good at.” professes Aseem. “The FS350, my first custom motorcycle, was...
Nothing beats a hand me down, especially when it’s in the form of a motorcycle. When Christian was given his...
Deus ex Machina came on the scene around about the same time I set up Return of the Cafe Racers...
The XJR1300 was delivered to the Denmark workshop of the Wrenchmonkees with the basic brief of “make it even better”....
Feast your eyes on Jay LaRossa’s 1978 Yamaha SR500 “Solus” in this short video by Ricki Bedenbaugh. This video reminds me of...
The Yamaha XS-V1 Sakura (Prototype ie coming soon!) oozes Cafe Racer style and should pck plenty of punch based on...
What’s not to love about two-stroke motorcycles? The alluring smell, the exhilarating sound and the white-knuckled terror of an unpredictable...
