Category: Yamaha XJR1300

Custom Bikes Of The Week: 18 March, 2018

Post author By Matt Neundorf
Post date March 18, 2018

The best cafe racers, scramblers and trackers of the week
A sinister Yamaha XJR1300, a smokin’ hot RD350, a Honda CX500 with R6 suspension, and an 80s-style Hayabusa rocketship. It’s all about the grunt this week.

Yamaha RD350 custom by Jake Drummond
Yamaha RD350 by Jake Drummond Working from drawings that he’d penned about a year earlier, 24-year-old Jake Drummond wanted a custom that dipped toes in both the board tracker and mountain bike ponds. After two years of labor and learning on the fly, he’s done more than succeed with his Yamaha RD350.

Jake didn’t even know how to weld properly when things got underway, so instead of blasting towards a finish line, he took his time. Barely anything, aside from the engine cradle has been left stock. The subframe is an all-new unit, designed to work with the modified swingarm that holds the 21-inch rear hoop and provide a mount for the twin inboard shocks. The steering head has been completely re-worked, and the lines on that custom tank earn Jake near-Golden Arm status.

Yamaha RD350 custom by Jake Drummond
Up front a shortened YZ250F front end has been fitted, and the front cowl was designed to mirror the look of the two-stroke’s cooling fins. The seat is Jake’s first upholstery attempt, and he even fabricated the aluminum silencers. The package is unique and stunning, and given his age, we’re sure even better things are on the horizon. [More]

Yamaha XJR1300 cafe racer by deBolex Engineering
Yamaha XJR1300 by deBolex Engineering Last year I found myself on a ferry ride to the Isle of Man to take in the action of racing’s most amazing spectacle. And thanks to a friend, there was a Yamaha XJR1300 in the belly of that boat for me to flog around Snaefell during my stay. But as thankful as I am, my loaner sure as hell didn’t look anything like this stunner from deBolex Engineering.

This bike belongs to Gareth Roberts, the man behind the eagerly awaited upcoming moto documentary Oil in the Blood. And while the job started out as a mild refresh, it didn’t take long until a full redux was underway.

Yamaha XJR1300 cafe racer by deBolex Engineering
To dull the shine on the Yammie’s frame, everything was stripped out so that a matte finish could be applied. Then deBolex’s Des and Calum figured they’d Cerakote just about everything they could.

Blacked out and sinister, attention was now turned to the custom tail. The seat is a single piece of kit that sits on a new subframe structure. And you’ll notice the pillion can be padded or cowled, depending on which piece slides onto the metal racking.

On the performance end of things, the Marzocchi forks have been lifted from a MV Agusta Brutale and Öhlins Blackline shocks are mounted in the rear. An Akrapovič exhaust has been fitted up to custom headers, and the big inline-four breathes through a less restrictive set of K&N cones. [More]

Honda CX500 cafe racer by Redwood Cycles
Honda CX500 by Redwood Cycles Putting together your first custom build can be a tricky affair: just ask Chris Kent. Thanks to an ‘off’ and some disastrous electrical gremlins, he and the team at Redwood Cycles had to do everything twice. Persistence paid off though, because Obersten Regal (‘Top Shelf’) is one of the sweetest CX500 builds we’ve ever seen.

The transverse twin engine has had a complete rebuild—along with an overbore, and the accompanying new, right-sized internals. Mikuni carbs now feed the beast, breathing through a bronzed set of velocity stacks with integrated screening. The exhaust is a bespoke, slinking underbelly unit that exits through a set of 12-inch cones.

Honda CX500 cafe racer by Redwood Cycles
An R6 surrendered its front end in the name of handling and a Penske shock controls the rear. The Warp 9 wheels came hubbed courtesy of Cognito Moto and are flanked up front by a Gixxer’s petal rotors.

The rear subframe is long gone and in its place sits a flat tracker perch. A set of street tracker bars delivers control, and Motogadget were enlisted to tackle the electrics. Underground Art Studio shot the paint on this build and, set against the bronze and red accents, it looks absolutely killer. [More]

Moto Guzzi V7 Stone by Lucky Custom
Moto Guzzi V7 by Lucky Custom When a brand spanking new V7 Stone landed on the bench at Argentina’s Lucky Custom garage, they knew a transformation from tourer to racer wouldn’t be easy. And yet they’ve pulled it off and delivered one hell of a looker.

The biggest changes to this ‘modern classic’ Guzzi V7 are the suspenders. For a firmer ride and more confidence through the sweepers, the forks are now fully adjustable units—and the monoshock setup out back is a completely new design. Of course, having that shock run right through the V7’s old airbox and battery tray meant relocating just about everything the Guzzi engineers tried to hide, as well as crafting a new subframe to support a rider.

Moto Guzzi V7 Stone by Lucky Custom
With the stance sorted, the next change was made at the wheels. The hubs at both ends were reworked to accommodate a new lacing pattern and some fatter Bridgestones were spooned on.

The tank received some cosmetic tweaks to mimic the new front fairing, and the tail unit is a stunning slender hump that’s only bested by the new exhaust. And the good news is that Lucky Custom will be selling a limited run of these beasts. [More]

Suzuki Hayabusa restomod by Frank Dirla
Suzuki Hayabusa by Frank Dirla It’s hard to believe we’ve been tolerating ‘Busa bros and their LED-lit, stretched-swingarm customs for two decades—but lo and behold, the Hayabusa is turning twenty. And while the peregrine falcon-inspired plastics never rocked my world, this retro-tastic reimagining has me feelin’ a touch squidly.

Modeled after a 1989 GSX-R1100, this restomod is a tight and tidy representation of what could have (nay, should have) been. Instead of bulbous bodywork, Frank Dirla worked some magic to deliver slab-sided, late eighties elegance to his once busted ‘Busa.

Suzuki Hayabusa restomod by Frank Dirla
Starting with a stripped and beaten 2000 GSX1300R, Frank put the 175 hp mill on the bench for a rebuild, after a timing problem caused the engine to eat itself a few years back. Once it was running smooth and strong, he let his experience as a tuner on air-cooled first generation Gixxers take over.

On the chassis side, Frank hacked away at the subframe to so he could squeeze on some bodywork from three different eBay sourced Gixxers. The OEM tank underwent some massaging to match aesthetics and to enable fitment of the new/old plastics. As a restomod it totally rocks and I’m a fan of Frank’s sense of humour, too. It can be appreciated with his German phrasing throughout with the “Bremse” brakes, “Ohldrin” (oil in it) forks and Suzuki Advanced Comical System stickers. [More]

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Custom Bikes of the Week

Post author By Matt Neundorf
Post date February 7, 2016

A Ducati Scrambler with a weird Manga vibe, a Yamaha XJR1300 with monocoque bodywork, and one of the best custom Bonnevilles we’ve seen in years. Check out the motorcycles that revved our engines this week.

Ducati Scrambler by Vibrazioni Art Design The first motorcycle to capture my imagination as kid was the Delta Mk IV Megafighter from the admittedly abhorable 1982 Hal Needham movie, Megaforce. The Suzuki RM125s were outfitted with weapons and solid block wheels, and they could fly. At four years old, this was enough to convince me that bikes were the coolest thing on the planet.

This Ducati Scrambler from the welding-masked men at Vibrazioni Art Design has a very similar vibe. ‘Flamingo’ doesn’t have cowl-mounted missiles, but it looks ready for war. The remote reservoir, balance-free-fork style front suspension should tackle any terrain, and the high-mount oil cooler with integrated headlight exemplifies form meeting function.

If the multi-faceted and heavily-dented bodywork with Texaco logos isn’t your ideal, just let your eyes fall south—and focus on the weld work on the exhaust. [More]

Yamaha VMAX by it roCkS!bikes It seems a week can’t pass without falling in love with yet another Yamaha Yard Built project. This time, the yellow and black object of affection is a quarter-mile VMAX from the Portuguese duo at it roCkS!bikes, dubbed ‘CS_07 Gasoline.’

This is Osvaldo Coutinho and Alex Santos’ third bike for the Yard Built series. Built to celebrate 30 years of Yamaha’s muscle bike, this VMAX was designed to be quick and slippery. The aerodynamic metal fairing is handcrafted and blends perfectly with the workshop’s signature monocoque tank, seat and tail unit. Of course, the real fuel cell resides below the seat, so the false unit houses electrical necessities such as a slick digital display.

The four-into-two exhaust is capped with free-flowing SC Project cans, and the rear rubber is a 6” x 18” Mickey Thompson slick. Somebody drop the flag already. [More]

Triumph Bonneville by Rustom Over the course of its fifteen-year run, we’ve seen almost every imaginable iteration of the Triumph Bonneville. Trackers, cafe racers, scramblers, bobbers…you name it, we’ve seen it. And thanks to this overexposure, our eyes can tend to gloss over as soon as “Tri” is read in a heading. Thankfully, there’s plenty to focus on here.

After some 300 hours of work and finesse, a 2002 Bonneville was transformed into this ‘Triumph Forty’ by the skilled Italian hands at Rustom Motor Art Design. (Its name stems from the fact this build was commissioned for a customer’s fortieth birthday.)

Everything you see is hand-shaped metal. The girder-style front fork caps are the absolute business, their muscularity balanced perfectly by board-tracker bars, and complemented by the wide tire conversion. On top of the aesthetic changes, Rustom added modern touches like fingerprint ignition, a tank-mounted GPS and that gorgeous LED headlight.

If my wife is reading this, I can only hope I’m so lucky when I hit that milestone in the next couple years. Hint, hint. [More]

Adam McCarty’s Ducati 350 Is a renowned design house behind this Ducati ‘wide case’? Its clean lines and delicacy would look at home in a Deus shop, or even Revival’s garage. But no: this 1967 Ducati is actually a home-built project, a labour of love from Adam McCarty of Denver, Colorado.

After finding and winning the bike on eBay, Adam took a clean and minimalist approach to the Italian thumper. Over the next eighteen months, almost every part received his touch: he completely tore the bike down, before trimming excess, deburring and repainting. The 350cc mill was rebuilt and a Mikuni carb fitted. From there Adam added custom touches to the tank—including knee dents and a carved tunnel to hide the coil—and fabricated the seat and tail from aluminum to deliver a clean, cafe aesthetic.

The purity and balance of this build are second to none and truly capture the character of this Italian single. [More]

Yamaha XJR1300 by Motorrad Klein Had your fill of Yamaha’s iconic ‘wasp’ livery? Then take a look at this gorgeous blue-on-white XJR1300 from Motorrad Klein of Röntgenstraße, Germany.

Built for Yamaha’s European Dealer Contest, it’s a 2016 model treated to a bevvy of performance upgrades. A full SC Project four-into-one exhaust was fitted, plus Öhlins suspension. There’s a custom monoshock set-up at the back, and a custom single-sided swingarm too. Brembo handles the braking, both front and rear, and Kineo spoked wheels add a classic vibe.

It’s way more than just bolt-on upgrades, though: Dominik Klein’s bespoke work on detail touches like the front fork brace/fender mount truly set this bike off. [More]

Harley-Davidson Street 750 by Custom Works Zon To help gain international sales traction with their new entry level bike, Harley has invited some of Japan’s top builders to have their way with the 750 Street. We’ve already seen some of the stunning results, but this one, from Custom Works Zon, took home the top honors at Yokohama’s Mooneyes Show.

Dubbed Zonnevlek, or Sunspot, the Custom Works Zon creation is a drag strip scorcher with just the right amount of decoration. The H-D’s frame was rebuilt into a cradle design to lower the center of gravity and help shed some weight. To further this, the fuel cell hides beneath the seat and that gorgeous, angular tank now hides the electrics—as well as the upper linkage for a jockey shifter.

The forks are CW Zon one-offs and are only slightly less impressive than the gold leaf pinstriping and intricate engraving that adorns the rest of the build. [More]

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The Sinner: A Devilishly Good XJR1300 by Macco

Post author By Wesley Reyneke
Post date November 12, 2015

If you live in sunny Spain and fancy a custom Bonneville, you’d do well to give Macco Motors a call. The Málaga shop has become famous for its sublime Triumph builds.

“Most people come to us to get a Hinckley twin in the Macco style,” Tito and Jose tell us. “But although we always have fun with Triumphs, we’re feeling the need to build other bikes.”

So the guys decided to book in an internal project. They briefed themselves to build a practical but elegant machine with a café racer aesthetic.

They picked a 2006-model Yamaha XJR1300 as the donor. “It’s a powerful bike that we’ve owned before—and we think it’s one of the most fun bikes to ride, ever.”

This one just got even more fun: Macco have seriously upgraded the handling. The forks and front wheel are Suzuki GSX-R1000 units, and there are now Tokico brake calipers at both ends. A pair of Öhlins shocks keeps the rear in check.

There’s a fair amount of practicality at play on this build. Macco made up a fiberglass fender for the front, and the tires are as grippy as you’ll ever need: Metzeler Sportec M5s.

Even the airbox is still intact, though the exhaust has been replaced by a custom-made four-into-two system from Escapes GR. And the XJR1300 has turn signals, a taillight and a license plate bracket to keep things legal.

Macco are no slouches in the aesthetics department either. We have a redesigned subframe, a custom-made humped seat, and a neat set of number boards. But the strongest visual hit comes from the paint—a mouthwatering red scheme with touches of black and yellow.

The requisite café stance is present too. Semi-elevated TRW clip-ons and Avon grips have been fitted up front, matched to a set of alloy rear sets. The cockpit’s been pared down to a 5¾-inch headlight, a tiny MMB speedo and bar-end mirrors. There’s a cleaned up triple clamp too, and the ignition’s been relocated.

‘The Sinner’ is not the usual Macco fare, but it’s an exciting change of direction. And if you like what you see, you’re in luck: it’s for sale.

Now where did we put that credit card …

Macco Motors | Facebook | Instagram | Photos by Sergio Ibarra from Semimate.

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Big Bad Wolf: El Solitario’s Yard Built XJR1300

Post author By Chris Hunter
Post date October 19, 2015

It takes a brave man to commission a bike from El Solitario: founder David Loner Borras is famed for his wayward, mischievous intelligence. And his small crew of Galician ‘cannibals,’ as they describe themselves, build bikes that incite controversy.

Two years ago, El Solitario wrapped a BMW R nineT in stainless steel rods, creating the world’s first ‘Bōsōzoku-Chopper-Racer.’ The reaction from the interwebs was intense, to say the least. But that didn’t stop Yamaha Europe product manager Shun Miyazawa from knocking on Borras’ door earlier this year.

Miyazawa wanted El Solitario to oversee the final Yard Built XJR1300 of 2015, celebrating 20 years of the iconic street machine. The result is a race-inspired track monster that lives up to its name, ‘Big Bad Wolf.’

BBW broke cover for the first time at the Glemseck 101 festival in Germany last month, lining up on the drag strip. The goal: to end the reign of defending sprint champion Séb Lorentz and his famous Lucky Cat Garage Sprintbeemer.

Despite the transition from street machine to pure race bike, El Solitario stayed true to the Yard Built ethos: there’s no frame cutting or welding on Big Bad Wolf.

But that didn’t make the project easy. “El Solitario is not familiar with 4-cylinder bikes,” says David Borras. “For months we tried to answer the question: How could we take it further?”

The only answer was to focus on performance and technology. “Both were unknown and expensive paths for us. We are motorcycle poets, not engineers.”

Borras pulled together a tight-knit crew of specialists to work with his mechanics, led by Mauro Abbadini of Madrid-based Classic Co. “As technical director of the build, he brought with him the confidence and know-how of a veteran racer.”

The frame, tank and bars were left alone, but almost everything else on this XJR1300 is custom made. Wet weight is down by a whopping 25 per cent, from 245 kilos to 183 kilos (403 pounds).

The motor was blueprinted, and the heads ported and flowed—the intake port flow is up by 50%. Compression is up too, from 9.7:1 to 10.7:1. The combustion chambers have been reshaped and the squish areas increased. The rods were reinforced with titanium bolts and the crankshaft was rebalanced.

Fuel is now metered by state-of-the-art Lectron 42 carburetors, developed specifically for the XJR1300 on Lectron’s flow bench, and a Dynatek programmable ignition handles the spark. This XJR1300 now records 148 hp at the rear wheel, which lifts the power-to-weight ratio into sportbike territory. The Big Bad Wolf sits somewhere between the BMW S1000 RR and the Ducati 1299 Panigale.

There’s a smattering of carbon fiber. It’s present in the tail section and belly pan fabricated by Classic Co., and in the Dymag wheels—which fit not only the BBW, but also a stock XJR1300.

For the metalworking, El Solitario sent their designs to Acke Rising of ISR in Sweden. He’s turned out beautiful triple trees, disc rotors and an exquisite rear brake caliper bracket.

As a bonus, Acke popped a few more ISR parts into the return mail package, including hand controls and brake calipers—six pistons at the front, and four pistons at the back.

The forks and shocks are just as trick, being a joint effort from K-Tech Suspension and Novatech. For the exhaust system, El Solitario turned to Asahina Racing in Japan, who fabricated a custom titanium number. If you’ve got an XJR1300 in your own garage and a few readies to spend, you’ll be glad to know it’ll fit a stock XJR1300 too.

After putting so much work into the engine, it was critical to keep it cool. Taleo Racing of Madrid created the semi-circular oil cooler, using the same technology they supply to MotoGP teams. Then EMD of France machined a set of aluminum motor covers (which XJR1300 owners will soon be able to add to their shopping lists too).

A TWM custom gas cap sets off the tank, and an aluminum swingarm and rearsets from Over Racing finish off the rear. Electrics are routed through a Motogadget m-Unit, activated by a digital ignition m-Lock with remote RFID tech.

El Solitario bikes always have a huge visual impact, but the Wolf introduces a new element of style and restraint. We love the slender geometrical pinstriping—the work of London artist Death Spray Custom.

It’s a new approach for David Borras and crew, and they’ve nailed it at first attempt. “The timing was just right,” Miyazawa says. “We believed they were ready to push out in a new direction and break new ground.”

“We wanted to challenge them to show a different side to El Solitario.”

An even bigger challenge came at Glemseck, in the race to unseat Séb Lorentz’s all-conquering Sprintbeemer. The latest version of that machine, you may remember, has race-spec internals in its R100RS motor and a NOS system.

With Mauro Abbadini on board, the Big Bad Wolf destroyed all-comers in the heats and finally faced up against the mighty Sprintbeemer. Everything was going to plan. Then disaster struck—but for the Sprintbeemer, which blew its ignition on the start line.

An interlude was agreed to allow Lorentz time to repair his BMW. Then the bikes lined up again … and The Big Bad Wolf killed the Lucky Cat.

But we can’t imagine the friendly rivalry between Lorentz and Borras will die down. After all, cats have nine lives. Here’s to next year, and a rematch between these two magnificent machines.

Yamaha Motor Europe | Yard Built Facebook | El Solitario MC | Facebook | Instagram

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Colossus: Maria’s mighty custom Yamaha XJR1300

Post author By Wesley Reyneke
Post date October 14, 2015

The XJR1300 is hot property right now, and it’s all Yamaha’s fault. First they reissued the iconic model line, and then fed it into the prolific Yard Built program. Interest in the four-cylinder brute has never been higher.

Custom XJRs of both the new and old variety are now streaming onto the interwebs. This is the latest one to hit our desks—an imposing ’99-spec machine from the Portuguese maestros at Maria Motorcycles.

The bike was originally built up for Maria’s founder, Luis Correia. But when a new customer walked into the shop, plans quickly changed. “He fell in love with the massive look of the bike,” says Luis.

Even though work had already started, the new owner wanted something fresh—so he left it up to Maria to conceive a new design.

The ‘Colossus’ project kicked off with a full tear down. Every part was re-painted, and the frame given a matte black treatment. And all the fasteners were swapped out for stainless steel items, with a few select bolts coated in zinc.

Maria liked the shape of the XJR’s stock fuel tank, but not its bulk. So they cut, sectioned and rejoined the tank, maintaining the same profile in a slimmer package that would further emphasis the size of the engine.

A neat cut-and-loop set the subframe up for a custom-made nubuck and leather seat. The client wanted to retain two-up functionality, so the passenger pegs are still in place—and Maria built a second seat that can be swapped out.

Under the seat unit is a custom-made electronics tray. It hosts the ignition, a pair of Lithium-ion batteries and a Motogadget m-Unit controller (around which the bike’s been rewired).

The carbs have been treated to a Dynojet kit and a set of K&N filters. But it’s the beefy, yet intricate, four-into-four exhaust system that steals the show.

There are plenty of nice off-the-shelf parts too. The wheels are 17-inch Kineo tubeless units, wrapped in grippy Continental ContiRoad Attack rubber. A Renthal chain and sprockets transmit the power to the back wheel, and the front forks have been upgraded with heavier oil and Öhlins springs.

The rear turn signals, bar-end turn signals, grips and switches are all from Motogadget. The speedo’s sitting on an aluminum bracket, designed to utilize the original handlebar clamp mounting points. The cockpit’s finished off with LSL clip-ons.

Up front is a vintage Harley headlight, with a LED taillight tucked away under the rear frame hoop. The front fender is a hand-made piece.

As with all Maria builds, the paint is exemplary: slick and well thought out, right down to the last detail. (Note the valve covers and the carb tops).

With elegant lines and impeccable finishes, Colossus is both a little classy and a little frightening.

“The bike has become very light and agile, since we’ve removed many of the original parts,” Luis says. “It runs really smoothly at low speeds—but when you turn the throttle it gets really scary!”

Where do we sign up?

Maria Motorcycles website | Facebook | Instagram

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Guerilla Four: An XJR 1300 from Rough Crafts

Post author By Wesley Reyneke
Post date September 1, 2015

Yamaha’s XJR 1300 is proof that, once in a while, major manufacturers pay attention. And get it right. Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, the iconic street bruiser was re-released this year with a refreshed look and a layout that encourages customization—thanks to the prolific Yard Built program.

Driving the movement is Yamaha’s European product manager, Shun Miyazawa. Shun and his team have now turned their attention to Taiwan, and one of our favorite builders: Rough Crafts‘ Winston Yeh.

Known for his edgy Harley builds, Winston’s trademark aesthetic is tough, dark and menacing. A vibe that the muscular XJR wears well.

“We’ve been privileged to work with the best custom builders in the world,” says Shun, “and builders who are doing something original, pushing boundaries with a distinct style. The ‘Guerilla Four’ is no exception, with the Rough Crafts signature—a sleek, stripped back creation that really stands out.”

It’s one of those rare cases when the PR blurb matches the reality. Winston’s process is collaborative: he kicks off each build by sketching it out digitally, before turning to a trusted network of artisans in Taipei to execute it. And he has an arsenal of Rough Crafts parts at his disposal—bolt-on bits developed and refined over time.

His approach to the XJR 1300 was simple: ramp up the brutality with his signature ‘Guerilla’ look. As with all Yard Built customs, the trick was to leave the frame as unscathed as possible. It’s a look that can be emulated by ‘everyday’ XJR owners.

Winston started by beefing up the front end with a set of Yamaha VMAX forks. Held in place by custom-made triple trees, they’ve been dropped by 100mm and the front brake caliper mount’s been modified to take 11.5-inch discs.

Equally brawny are the wheels: 16×5.0 Roland Sands Design Boss rims, wrapped in chunky Coker Beck tires. Out back, the stock Öhlins rear shocks were stripped, refinished in black and re-assembled.

A new ISR braking system has been installed, and the XJR’s airbox has been replaced by a set of velocity stacks. The exhaust headers are stock, but the silencer is a Rough Crafts creation.

The steel bodywork—from the scalloped tank to the sharp tail section—was fabricated by OneHandMade Customs. And the paint, a typically monochrome Rough Crafts scheme, was executed by Taipei’s top paint shop, Air Runner Custom Paint.

A sprinkling of Rough Crafts parts were added to finish it off. These include foot pegs, handlebars and risers, grips, a headlight grill and a custom fuel cap. And all the instrumentation’s been binned for a super-clean cockpit (and extra attitude).

‘Guerilla Four’ is one of the best Yard Built—and Rough Crafts—bikes that we’ve seen yet. And, in typical Yard Built fashion, a selection of parts from the build will be available for owners to customize their own XJRs.

We reckon the XJR 1300’s popularity just went up a notch.

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Yamaha Yard Built XJR1300

Post author By staff
Post date August 12, 2015

Ever since Yamaha Europe’s Yard Built program began, we’ve been carefully watching what can happen when two worlds collide: OEMs and custom culture. As an homage to the 20th anniversary of the XJR, Yamaha collaborated with Iron Heart, a Japanese selvedge denim company, to put a fashion spin on Yamaha’s XJR1300.

Founded by Shinichi Haraki in 2003, the Iron Heart vision is to make beautiful clothing, blending the utmost in function and fashion. Haraki san was joined by Giles Padmore in 2005 and the partnership continues to grow the Iron Heart brand to today, cherishing craftsmanship and quality combined with innovative design for a global fanbase.

Yamaha Motor Europe Product Manager Shun Miyazawa is the driving force behind the Yard Built program, working continuously to find external creative forces to collaborate with to keep innovating. “Haraki-san and I have been friends for some years, primarily based on our mutual respect for the other’s belief in the importance of craftsmanship in the construction of our products. Iron Heart and Yamaha share a respect for traditional, timeless design where appropriate, blended with innovative, cutting edge technologies to create products that combine the best of both worlds. We wanted to work with Haraki- san for some time, and finally this year we have had the opportunity.”

“What I wanted to achieve was a beautiful café racer that fits perfectly into the Iron Heart universe,” commented Shinichi Haraki. “The bike is designed to be for a mature rider, not a kid. My inspiration came from 70s and 80s Japanese and European bikes that look like real bikes. Nothing has been modified or added that makes it shout more than it should, there is no design influence without function, it’s a real bike for grown ups.”

“Iron Heart has a huge respect for hand craftsmanship mixed with modern technology so we wanted to show that on the bike. We worked closely with Japanese customhouse Ken’s Factory to blend the two and bring the concept to life. The timeless craftsmanship is seen in the handmade parts such as the beaten aluminium front fender, fuel tank, seat base and tail and side covers.”

“The final bike respects the technical side of the XJR,” concludes Haraki-san, “so all the functional engineering aspects are preserved so people can enjoy both fast riding while still being to have a relaxed cruise down to an Iron Heart store to get some attention and look good!”

Expertly realized by Ken’s Factory in Japan, the Yard Built XJR1300 by Iron Heart features a CNC machined aluminium clock case, front and rear indicators, grips, headlight bracket, front fender and foot pegs. Lightweight Kineo wheels allow a different size tubeless tyre to be added and handle bars from Magura change the riding position. As you would expect from an expert in denim, the seat is hand made from 21oz selvedge denim and set with pure silver rivets.

A beautiful titanium manifold feeds into custom twin stainless steel mufflers to provide a suitable soundtrack and the bike is finished in a deep indigo blue paint job with Yamaha Speedblock and pin striping. The Yamaha and Iron Heart logos and motifs are cleverly represented in gold leaf and the Speed block design and stitching on the denim seat are in the Iron Heart brand signature orange.

Ken’s Factory realised all the modifications to the XJR without any cutting or welding to the frame. They will release a full set of aftermarket parts for this build so that those that wish to recreate this über cool machine can do so.

To step into the selvedge denim world of Iron Heart click HERE.
Parts from this build will be available soon from Kens Factory HERE .

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Dissident: A new Yamaha Yard Built XJR1300

Post author By Chris Hunter
Post date May 20, 2015

Three years ago, Yamaha Europe kicked off its Yard Built program with the Wrenchmonkees’ stunning ‘Monkeefist’ XJR1300. Since then, we’ve seen a steady stream of killer customs from some of Europe’s best builders, including Deus, Benders, Marcus Walz and JvB-moto.

And now we have ‘Dissident,’ a super-streamlined XJR1300 from the Portuguese builders with the weird name, it roCkS!bikes. Osvaldo and Alexandre are familiar with the XJR series, and to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the iconic street bruiser, they’ve delivered one of the best custom XJRs yet.

Choosing the Porto-based workshop was a gamble on the part of Yamaha’s product manager Shun Miyazawa. But it’s paid off. “It roCkS!bikes were high on the list of builders we wanted to work with,” he says.

“Their experience working on the 1200 and 1300 models shows: they can build stunning customs without losing the heart of the original.”

As with all Yard Built bikes, the brief was to modify the machine without cutting or welding: showing how far a ‘plug and play’ solution can transform the look of the XJR1300.

Osvaldo and Alexandre are civil engineers by day, and their engineering skills are plain to see. Their bikes all have ‘monocoque’ one-piece tank and seat/tail units, requiring precision and attention to detail.

On Dissident, the handcrafted metal flows in one unit—stretching from behind the triple clamps all the way to the tail, which conceals recessed LED lighting.

Suspension dynamics have been upgraded with YZF-R1 forks, modified to fit the XJR1300 steering column. Motogadget supplied the bar-end turn signals, plus a hi-tech Motoscope dashboard—which is mounted on a custom CNC-machined aluminum bracket, and protected by a hand-fabricated bikini fairing. The clip-on bars, grips, rearsets and pegs are all from LSL.

There’s also a complete new braking system from the Swedish masters ISR, connected with Hel Performance hoses. That includes new master cylinders and monster 340mm dual discs up front, with six-piston calipers to apply extreme force. The wheels are 17-inch tubeless Kineo spoked rims, shod with Pirelli Angel GT sport touring rubber.

On top of the tank is an aluminum Monza-style gas cap, and just behind it is an unusual ‘medallion’ featuring Yamaha’s tuning fork symbol. The hand-made leather seat is a masterpiece of craftsmanship, and clips into the one-piece monocoque in true café racer style.

On both sides of the engine, the covers are lightweight aluminium items with glass windows to reveal the engine internals. There’s a compact oil cooler to keep temperatures down, and a seamless custom 4-into-2 stainless exhaust system to raise the blood pressure.

The paint job bucks the current trend for minimalism, and we’re all for it. It’s a sublime reinterpretation of the classic Yamaha colours of the 70s and 80s, with pearl white, black and gold—and of course, the legendary speed blocks.

It roCkS!bikes are making small production runs of all the pieces used on this machine, which is good news for XJR1300 owners. (Check them out in the high-res gallery on our Google+ page.) Contact It roCkS!bikes via their Facebook page for pricing, and if you need to see the bike in the metal before handing over the cash, head over to the Bike Shed London event this weekend.

Yamaha Motor Europe | Yard Built Facebook