Following in the footsteps of Shinya Kimura, Roland Sands has stepped up and collaborated with Yamaha to create an exciting new chapter in the ‘Faster Sons’ story. Taking everything cool and iconic from Yamaha’s Sport Heritage bike building philosophy and taking it to the next level with pure sports DNA running through its veins.
The ‘Faster Wasp’, is Californian custom builder Roland Sands’ fifth Yamaha collaboration, and is a thoroughbred concept with more than a hint of legend Kenny Roberts in its design.
A professional racer himself, Roland Sands embraced the ‘Faster Sons’ philosophy of classic timeless style blended with cutting edge Yamaha technology and added a third element, infusing Yamaha’s racing pedigree into the mix. The result is a machine with massive impact, paying tribute to Kenny Roberts’ iconic TZ750 in instantly recognisable yellow and black ‘bumblebee’ colour scheme with just as much bite. Taking Yamaha’s latest 850cc in-line 3-cylinder engine with a lightweight aluminium frame, the ‘Faster Wasp’ has a serious sting in its tail with powerful performance wrapped in a classic package.
“Faster Sons is a mind-set to respect what comes from the old days, pureness, quality materials and design simplicity, blended with cutting edge technology”, commented Yamaha Motor Europe Product Manager, Shun Miyazawa. “Roland did a fantastic job with this build, respecting this philosophy in great detail. This has given us a huge confidence and, as with Shinya Kimura’s concept, has again confirmed our direction and bike building philosophy. We are working on future Faster Sons products and this concept is going to help us to accelerate bringing future products to the market.”
“I go way back with Yamaha,” said Roland Sands. “I used to race TZ250 race bikes and ride a lot of Yamaha dirt bikes off-road so I have a lot of history. When I see what the Yamaha brand has done and where they want to go I find it really inspiring. We’ve built quite a few bikes together already. The triple package is really lightweight and performs really well. It’s not a race bike but it brings that level of race performance into a consumer friendly bike, which is great because it brings the fun factor. For me, that’s a great platform to build a custom on, I feel a bike needs to be fun, so you can have a good time but have good performance as well. This Faster Sons concept we’ve worked together on, bringing my racing heritage together with Kenny Roberts, one of my heroes and smashing it together with the triple has made a fun project to work on and I’m really happy with the end result.” The concept build features numerous parts by Roland Sands Designs, including the hand-fabricated aluminum gas tank, tail section, intake scoops, radiator covers, front number plate & front fender. There’s also a prototype Clarity timing cover, prototype rearsets, rear brake reservoir and prototype case guards. The chain guard, timing plug, axle sliders and gas cap are also all prototype RSD items.
The ‘Faster Wasp’ rolls on RSD Morris forged aluminium wheels (17×3.5” front & 17×6.0” rear) wrapped in Dunlop Q3 tyres. The screaming triple sound track comes courtesy of Two Bros Racing stainless steel headers with an RSD Slant muffler. The power is transferred to the back wheel with Renthal sprockets and stopping power comes from RSD custom superbike front brake rotors, Performance Machine radial brake calipers, an RSD Radial brake master cylinder and Spiegler brake lines.
An RSD cable clutch perch and Barnett custom clutch cable keep the gears in check and RSD Nostalgia handlebar risers, Renthal FATbar handlebars and RSD Traction grips give the rider total control. An Öhlins front fork cartridge kit and Öhlins rear shock keep the ride tight and Samco cooling lines adds a race level touch of detail.
The stunning look of the ‘Faster Wasp’ is perfectly detailed with a custom leather seat by Bitchin Seat Co., that amazing yellow and black colour scheme by Airtrix and Cerakote by Specialized Coatings.
See the Wasp in the raw HERE!
For more information on Roland Sands Design, check out their website RolandSands.com