Wrenchmonkees – Weary Rider

Picking the right donor for your custom project can be a daunting task. And if you’ve got the cash or the credit history, there are good reasons to spring for a new-ish machine—one with modern suspension that starts every time.

Yamaha’s XSR900 comes to mind. We rode it and loved its brutish nature—and the modern amenities like ABS and switchable power maps. The looks were near perfect too in our book, short of a few gripes.

Enter the Wrenchmonkees, whose rendition of the XSR900 we’d park in our garage without a moment’s hesitation.

This urban scrambler-slash-brawler is called ‘Monkeebeast,’ and it’s the latest collaboration between the Copenhagen workshop and the Yamaha Yard Built program.

The Danish duo of Per Nielsen and Nicholas Bech recently adopted the slogan ‘Wrenched from Black’—a mantra that the XSR900 proclaims proudly. But there’s more going on here than a murdered-out paint job.

The guys have massaged every angle of the XSR900 into place, creating a mash-up of minimalism and menace.

The tank covers are stock, but the seat is a one-off. And the unsightly boxes that normally adorn the sides of the frame have been binned—with the electronics originally housed inside them relocated.

Gone too are the XSR900’s ultra-modern cast wheels. In their place is a pair of Borrani rims, laced to blacked-out hubs with 9mm stainless steel spokes. Continental’s chunky-but-road-friendly TKC80 tires take the scrambler motif further.

Even though the XSR900 handles and brakes well out of the box, the Wrenchmonkees couldn’t resist a few enhancements. There’s a K-Tech shock out back, along with a TRW brake disc and Gilles Tooling chain adjusters.

The front brakes have been upgraded with a Nissin master cylinder, and the whole system is now hooked up to braided hoses.

Keeping the front-end trimmed is a MT-03-style headlight, high-rise Magura handlebars and Biltwell Renegade grips.

The XSR900’s speedo is one of the best looking stock units on the market, so the Wrenchmonkees have kept it. But they ditched the switchgear, opting for minimal switches from Motogadget instead.

Matched to the new, taller seat are rearsets from Gilles Tooling—modified to take enduro pegs.

Custom-made, angular fenders—and a burly engine guard—cap the build off at both ends. And a SC Project silencer on a modified MT-09 system provides a suitable soundtrack.

‘Monkeebeast’ is an exercise in restraint rather than excess. A byproduct of what happens when a shop with years of experience considers each mod carefully, to create a subtlety that’s hard to emulate.

The Yard Built ethos dictates that the chassis is left untouched as much as possible. And the Wrenchmonkees did just that—reworking the bike without cutting anything.

The Wrenchmonkees have history with the Yard Built program, with dark, low-key customs like the XJR1300s Monkeefist and Skullmonkee—and the oddly named SR400 GibbonSlap.

As with those bikes, the plan is again to retail the parts used on this new build. project for XSR900 owners that want their own Monkeebeast.

Count us in.

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It feels like we haven’t heard from the Wrenchmonkees for a while. And we’ve just found out why: the original alt-moto superstar builders have changed the way they’re doing business.

To save their sanity, principals Per Nielsen and Nicholas Bech are now building fewer but better bikes. And here’s an exclusive look at their first release for 2016: a dark and handsome Harley Sportster 883 tagged ‘AW16.’

It’s right up there with the best from the Danish workshop, and justifies the return to high-end building: “We had no fun building bikes on a budget just to pay the rent,” says Nicholas.

As well as the ‘less is more’ approach, the Wrenchmonkees are increasing the emphasis on the parts and clothing side of the operation. (Hence the ‘AW16’ name for this bike.) And they’re working more with manufacturers—as they’ve done with a Yamaha XJ1300 for the Yard Built project.

AW16 is has the signature Wrenchmonkees vibe—times ten. They’ve defined their style as ‘wrenched from black,’ and this new custom has that familiar yet edgy core of darkness.

The base bike is a 2001-spec Sportster 883. Sitting on top of the modified frame is a Storz Road Race aluminum tank, with a high-flow Pingel petcock handling fuel supply.

The rest of the bodywork has been custom-built in house, from the seat and tail unit to the side covers—and the discreet inner fender that keeps crud away from the back of the engine.

The fairing is fiberglass and modeled on the style of the classic Yamaha TZ race fairings. The headlight is an ellipsoid reflector spotlight—much brighter and more compact than usual.

The turn signals and taillight come from the German brand Highsider. They’re probably the smallest Euro-approved lights you can legally install.

The engine internals are unmodified, but there’s a K&N air filter and one of the best exhaust systems we’ve ever seen on a Harley, a slightly modified ‘Bossley Reventon’ from the Japanese company Easyriders.

The belt drive is gone, replaced by a ThreeD chain hooked up to an aluminum rear sprocket. There’s also a Power Clutch to reduce the force required at the lever.

The forks have been modified with a Progressive Suspension lowering kit, including progressive rate springs for a smoother ride. The tubes are held in place by massive Chainsickle CNC’d aluminum triple clamps, and there’s a matching set of clip-ons from Joker Machine, anodized in black.

The levers are from the Italian specialist Grimeca, plumbed into steel braided hoses. The brake system has been upgraded with Russell full floating rotors.

To avoid the monkey-on-a-motorcycle look that so many café’d Sportsters have, this one has LSL rearsets—made from high tensile, anodized billet aluminum.

It’s all very low-key and perfectly judged, and that extends to the wheels. The aluminum rims and hubs are powder coated, and the size has dropped down an inch at the front to 18 inches. The rear keeps the standard 16-inch Sportster size.

The tires are Continental’s rare K112 pattern, with a longitudinal tread modeled after 70s superbike tires—but a modern compound rubber.

It’s great to see the Wrenchmonkees still firing hard on all cylinders, after eight years in the business. And if you can’t put one of their machines in your garage, keep an eye out for the new clothing range. Like the bikes, it’ll be dark, functional, and subtly stylish.

Here’s to the next eight years, Per and Nicholas. Skål!

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