Venturing into the left field is risky business for any builder. Go too
far, and you could end up with a garish and impractical machine. But
ride the line between quirky and classy just right, and you’ll have a
hit on your hands.
Christian Schwarzenlander’s Yamaha SR500-based “ExesoR MACHINE” strikes that balance beautifully. Operating out of Germany as ExesoR Motorcycles, Christian’s aim was to build a café-racer-styled custom, “with a touch of Dieselpunk.”
Christian picked up the SR500 for a steal—but it was totally
disassembled. “Even the engine was taken apart,” he says, “but it was
90% complete and no important parts were missing.” Naturally, the engine
received a full overhaul—finished off with bespoke cooling fins. It now
inhales through a velocity stack, and exhales via a stainless steel
exhaust system from Two Hands Motorcycles.
For the bodywork, Christian turned to Bernhard Naumann, AKA Blechmann,
for assistance. Bernard is an accomplished builder in his own right,
known for building “Walton”—a wild Norton-powered chopper
that took 6th place at the Sturgis World Championships in 2010. “His
knowledge was essential for the final result,” says Christian. The two
are now good friends.
Bernard was responsible for the SR500’s seat (covered in tobacco brown leather), and he’s modified an Omega Racer
fairing to suit the bike. The tank is also from Omega Racer, now fitted
with a custom filler cap. All the bodywork is aluminum, finished in a
raw, semi-matte effect. Furthering the Dieselpunk agenda are various
brass components—including fastener covers.
The re-wired SR500 now sports a custom ignition system, complete with a
hand-built coil and cool little electron tube indicator light (below).
The bulk of the new harness is stashed away under the seat. Embedded in
the fairing are two LED headlights, and out back is a one-off tail
light.
Christian made extensive mods to the frame too. It’s been cleaned up
and reinforced in key areas, and shortened in the rear—with a pair of
LED turn signals embedded in the tubing. There’s a new swingarm, made
out of two SR500 units, and 7cm longer than stock. The frame and
swingarm are painted in a color taken from Porsche’s swatch book: Seal
Grey.
The front suspension has been lowered and upgraded with Wirth springs,
and a pair of custom Hagon shocks prop up the rear. The original Yamaha
SR500 wheels are now painted in an antique copper color and fitted with
Avon tires.
The final product is kitted with a Daytona speedo, LSL rear-sets and
Fehling clip-ons—adorned with a pair of hand-crafted aluminum and
leather grips. Christian has also fitted custom sleeved cables, a
CNC-machined brake fluid reservoir and a host of other fine details that
reward close inspection.
ExesoR’s SR500 is a great example of the interplay between creativity
and functionality. I’d even go as far as to call it art—and rideable art
at that.
Photos by David Matl. Keep in touch with ExesoR via Christian’s website or Facebook page.
The post Yamaha SR500 by ExesoR Motorcycles appeared first on Bike EXIF
Not so many moons past, a good friend of Deus Camperdown came to us with
a special request. We had suspected this gentleman harboured a deep and
abiding love affair with the internal combustion engine by the
frequency with which he produced well thumbed pictures from his wallet
of a race prep’d ’69 Camaro and 2 CBR1000 track-only Fireblades, high
horse power puppies sporting eye-bleed bright colour schemes.
He’d seen our signature hardtail Kawasaki W650 on the floor and
requested just such a steed to park in his own garage, but with a bit of
glow-in-the-dark presence.
Jeremy set to work on a late model low mileage puppy stripping the
bike into its component parts in a jiffy. The wheel set is now 21 inch
front, 17 rear – laced in stainless with rims and hubs powder coated in a
hue so intensely bright they can be seen from space.
Bates style head light, custom bars, and custom mirrors live amongst
the top triple clamp. A customised Yamaha SR400 fuel tank nestles onto
the square section back bone of the W, while a Verona electronic speedo
fills the void and is surrounded by LED warning lights.
With the motor out for a splash of black satin, the chassis is placed
in a jig to receive the Deus custom hard tail section. A custom
battery box and air box eliminator kit allow the W to breath through
K&N filters, while gasses exit via stainless 2 into 1 headers
flowing into an open tulip style muffler. All of which is ceramic coated
in brilliant white.
Fenders are bespoke units massaged into shape by Jeremy here in the
House of Simple Pleasures. The steel base, coil sprung seat has hand
stitched leather in black.
The colour is a perfect reflection of the owner, not only does the
scheme match his pair of racing Fireblades with the fluorescent orange
of the wheels, but the striking contrast of the black with white
striping can be found on his Camaro. A winged steed to join the stable.
First appeared in http://deuscustoms.com
If you’ve been to Istanbul, you’ll know that it’s riot of color. The
bazaars and basilicas are an assault on the retinas, in the best
possible way.
So it’s surprising to discover that this cool and understated Yamaha
SR500 comes from the city formerly known as Constantinople. It’s the
work of brothers Mert and Can Uzer of Bunker Custom Motorcycles, and was commissioned by a kite boarder.
“After the first conversations with the client, we decided on a
primitive but robust machine. The SR500 was the first to pop into our
minds, but it’s really hard to find decent bikes in Turkey—and finding
an SR500 is even harder.”
Mert managed to locate an SR500 for sale a whopping 330 km away, in the
mountain city of Eskişehir. And as soon as the bike was back in the
shop, the Bunker crew set to work. “We’ve aimed for a scrambler-style
setup,” says Mert. “The bike will spend time on the rough roads of
Alaçatı, one of the best surfing spots in Turkey.”
The look is handmade and raw, with the custom tank dictating the
style. “Although we love the original SR500 tank, we always thought it
could have been better.” The new tank has a more geometric design, and
it’s also a little shorter—to suit the new riding posture and
ergonomics. It’s finished with a brushed effect and stark black and blue
stripes, with a clear coat to protect it.
To keep weight down, Mert and co. have used aluminum wherever possible.
The fenders and engine guard are hand-made, and there’s a new loop at
the back of the frame—fitted at an angle to allow for longer-travel,
14.25” Progressive Suspension shocks.
The engine has been rebuilt with big valves and now breathes through a
38 mm Mikuni Sudco racing carb and a K&N filter. Gases exit via
stainless headers hooked up to a Dime City Cycles muffler. “It’s tuned
accordingly,” says Mert, “and the torque is amazing.” High flow, dual
feed oil lines from Motolanna help keep temperatures down.
Bunker have hand-sanded the frame down to the metal, to accentuate the
raw look, and added a coat of electrostatic clear paint for protection.
There’s a new CNC-cut handlebar clamp, engraved with the model number
and year, and a rack on the side of the frame for carrying a large kite.
The electrics are now under the custom brown leather seat; they take up
minimal room, thanks to a battery eliminator kit.
It’s a clean and beautifully detailed build—with a cool elegance that
will stand out amidst the hustle and bustle of Istanbul. Top marks to
the Uzer brothers, and expect to hear a lot more about Bunker in the
future.
Photos by Onur Aynagoz. Follow the adventures of Bunker Custom Cycles via their Facebook page. Our coverage of their previous builds is here.
The post Yamaha SR500 by Bunker of Istanbul appeared first on Bike EXIF.
Being a Climbing Arborist, (a man that gets paid to climb trees and
chop bits off; awesome) Heiner Trapp, from Austria knows a fair
bit about maintaing a two stroke engine and keeping one tuned. Having a
gnarly Husqvarna chainsaw bog down on you mid cut, outstretched and
hanging over a power line is nobody’s idea of fun.
Heiner is no stranger to custom bikes, having been introduced to a
CX500 by a neighbour when he was just 12 years old before starting his
riding life with a Kreidler RMC, in full chrome trim. Google it, I had
to; If I could have had a tank like that at 16 there would have been
a world shortage of Autosol. A couple of years later and nearly grown up
Heiner upgraded to a Yamaha RD, the stuff of dreams and now legend.
Without the money to modify back then, this legend needed revisiting.
Whilst felling trees on some old guys farm Heiner noticed an old
“puke green” RD/ RZ350 YPVS, lurking in the corner of a stable. He
simply had to have it, so struck a deal, carted the jalopy home and set
about a design; it was to be the fast, lightweight custom he’d dreamt
about as a skint teenager.
With some assistance from Austrian customiser, Bernhard Naumann,
Heiner set up Tree Work Csutom to build “der Kosmische Reiter” or in
less foreign, The Cosmic Rider
Bernhard was commissioned with fabricating the aluminium tank and
tail section, which look mighty with the tan leather strap and Monza
cap. Another bike that looks fast, stood still in the studio. The
pictures here with the darker tan seat are from a previous shoot, Cosmic
Rider now wears the lighter and more handsome suede version.
The engine was completely stripped and all cases and exterior faces
vapour blasted and powder coated. Wössner pistons were fitted to a race
spec crank, using Emil Schwarz bearings; these people have umlauts and
Zs in their names so must be very fast indeed. Normal sounding Jim Lomas
made the exhaust, but a quick Google suggests he is far from normal. An
racer and exhaust manufacturer with a knowledge of two stroke and how
to coax ponies from Yamaha twins and singles. The ECU is by Celltronic
which plays its part in the 70hp dyne result.
The custom fairing provides somewhere to hide from speed robbing
fresh air, if the front wheel will actually stay in contact with the
road that is. Anyone who’s tried to pass a TüV in Germany or any other
foreign version of th UK’s MOT will attest that EU laws are stringent
and bonkers but somehow this thing is fully road legal in Austria.
Heiner must have a contract doing the trees at the Department of
Transport or something.
There’s something a little bit Paul Smart Ducati about the overall
look of this bike with the fairing on. Dutch, fancy a go on this one and
make yourself feel young again?
Youth revisited and smiles all round, Heiner is settling into a more
sedate build for number two, a BMW R50 1955. Let’s see how that one
turns out.
heiner.trapp@baumpflege-trapp.at
sent you some files
‘1.
My name ist Heiner Trapp, I am from Austria and I am an climbing arborist.
I love and build bikes since I was a teen (now about 34 years ago ).
I started my “carreer”, when a neighbour showed me he his CX500 when I was 12 years old.
From this day on I was “infected” and started with a Kreidler RMC in full chrome, long fork, etc.
For the RD I was “inspired”, because it was my first
“real-ride”, when I was 18 years old, but I didn´t have money to
customize it..
So I wanted to “return”
Just call me “TreeWork-Custom”
For my actual bike I worked together with Bernhard Naumann –> the “Blechmann” from Burgenland here in Austria.
2.
My bike is a Yamaha RD/ RZ350 YPVS, built in 1984.
I found the bike when I was working at a farmers house, it was hidden in a corner of a stable.
Remembering my “first bike with 18″, I HAD to have it
The Yamaha wasn´t in a good condition and coloured in pukey-green
My vision was a fast light-white custom 2stroke, as I would have built in my youth if I had the money for it.
Customs:
– modified frame
– Wilbers suspensions
– Jim Lomas race exhaust
– Custom Wireless with celltronic ECU
– Emil Schwarz bearings
– Wössner pistons
– race crank shaft
– the aluminium parts are ALL HANDMADE and hand-polished (by Bernhard Naumann – the”Blechmann”)
– all parts were glas-blasted and powder-coated
– the seat is handmade fine-leather
Now with all modifications it has 70PS horsepower.
Challenge? Mistakes? – the whole bike-building was a “challenge” from the beginning till the end
Unique signature features? – would say the whole bike is one , especially the plate “der Kosmische Reiter” (the Cosmic Rider)
So “we” named my custom racer “der Kosmische Reiter”
How it rides? – lineaged from the Yamaha TZ250 GP Racer it “rides like hell”, especially in curves…
Finally I can just say – I AM VERY HAPPY WITH THE RESULT of MY bike, but you know – “A bikerÂŽs work is NEVER done”…
The next project I have in mind is to custom a BMW R50 1955 – I will let you know of the results if you like to.
Yours
Heiner – TreeWork-Customs
To the pics:
The pictures with the red seat are from the FIRST update in 2011.
By the way – the bike is all street legal!
Do you know what THAT means in Europe??.. ;)’
Posted by Ross Sharp on Sep 1, 2014 in Shed Builds
First appeared in http://thebikeshed.cc
It’s one thing to talk about the ‘enduring appeal’ of a motorcycle.
It’s quite another for that appeal to translate into solid showroom
sales, year after year.
There are a handful of bikes that have stayed in production for
decades, essentially unchanged—Royal Enfields and Urals spring to mind.
But the king of that particular hill is the Yamaha SR400, a bike that
has been punching above its weight for over 35 years.
Not surprisingly, there’s a huge array of aftermarket parts available
for the SR400. It’s a mainstay of the thriving Japanese custom scene,
and it’s now available again in the USA—this
time with fuel injection. If you’re tempted to lay down some cash for a
new model, or even dig out a secondhand one, take some inspiration from
these five great recent builds.
Deus Grevious Angel Outside Japan, the Australian
company Deus is probably the greatest exponent of the custom Yamaha
SR400. ‘Grevious Angel’ is one of Deus’ signature builds, with looks
that have scored it a place in Sydney’s Powerhouse museum. This SR400 is
sporting a tweaked frame, an alloy bullet-style fairing, beadblasted
engine cases, a CV carb and a K&N intake kit. The tank and ducktail
seat unit are from the legendary Japanese brand Nitroheads, and the
tires are classic Avon Speedmasters. Fans of Top Gear take note: James
May has one of these in his garage. [Deus Customs]
Skull Motor Cycle No.19 With so many custom SR400s
around, it’s hard to find one that’s truly different. This machine from a
little-known Japanese workshop fits the bill, with radical hub-center
steering and a pair of shocks tucked under the custom seat unit. The
tank is from a Honda Dream 50 and the lovely pipe is from an XS650.
Hiroshima-based Skull built this machine a couple of years ago as a
showcase for their fabrication skills, and not surprisingly, it whipped
the Japanese custom scene into a frenzy. [More about this bike | sr400times.com]
Gasoline Customs ‘Tomahawk’ Sometimes simple is
best—especially if you’re after a daily rider, a role the SR400 fulfils
admirably. We’re back to Australia for our third choice, this time to
East Sydney’s Gasoline Customs, a workshop of some 20 years’ standing.
There’s no rocket science in this build, but it’s beautifully
judged—from the powdercoated XS650 wheels and brake rotors to the
reworked frame and minimalist tail unit. The exhaust system is as simple
as it gets, but adds to the industrial vibe of the machine. The tires,
in case you’re wondering, are Shinkos originally designed for trials
use. [Gasoline Customs]
Motor Rock SR400 #5 There’s relatively little ‘formula’
in Japanese custom building, compared to the West. You’ll often see the
top workshops building a Kawasaki bobber one week, a Triumph café racer
the next, and a Harley with skyscraper-high ape bars the week after
that. Motor Rock of Nagoya is one such shop. Since opening for business
ten years ago, they’ve built 20 Yamaha-based customs—most of them
super-clean SR400s. Like many Japanese bikes, this one looks a little
off-kilter to Western eyes. But it has a strangely appealing charm:
there’s a hint of bobber styling at the back end, and a touch of café
bike at the front. The detailing is beautiful, and the paint on the tank
is to die for. [Motor Rock]
Boogie Single Racer SR400 At last year’s EICMA motor
show in Milan, Yamaha Europe caused a splash by showcasing three ‘Yard
Built’ customs. One came from the Wrenchmonkees, one came from Deus
Milan, and one came all the way from Japan itself. ‘Boogie Single Racer’
was built by one of Tokyo’s top customizers—who officially remained
nameless—and just drips with style. The forks are vintage Ceriani, the
tank is immaculately cut-and-shut, and the rear frame loop isn’t simply
chopped and tucked under the seat—it curves over the outside of the
custom rear fender. There’s a vintage Honda drum brake up front and
delicate filigree carving on much of the bare metal, including the wheel
rims. Pure class. [More about this bike | Yamaha Yard Built Specials]
Last week’s Top 5 covered vintage Triumph hardtails.
The post Top 5 Yamaha SR400 appeared first on Bike EXIF.
I have to admit that I’m immune to the charms of modern-day motocross
bikes. I have a soft spot for the old Husky 400s and Honda Elsinores,
but the garish, logo-emblazoned machines of today leave me cold.
There’s no question about their performance, though. And there’s
something magical about riding a bike that weighs less than 250 pounds.
So I like the idea of taking a dirtbike, stripping off the plastic and
stickers, and turning it into a classy roadburner.
I’m guessing Joey Subrizi was thinking along the same lines when he
built this amazing Yamaha YZF 426-based custom. The early 2000s YZF was a
perky four-stroke single with nondescript styling, but had around 45 hp
pushing only 230 lbs around. So Joey has kept the bike’s strengths but
given it an amazing dose of style.
The frame is all-new from the tank backwards. And that tank is an
inspired choice: It’s from a 1976 Yamaha XS360, and matched to a tiny,
waspish tail unit. The frame, swingarm and part of the tank have been
powdercoated in shades of grey and black, with gold trim providing
subtle highlights.
Joey works for Öhlins USA, so there’s a trick gold shock out back. The
original swingarm linkage is gone, and the shock is now a direct
mount—“I don’t need eight inches of travel,” Joey notes.
The forks have been lowered a little from the typical skyscraper
heights of motocross bikes, and compact raw metal guards add a touch of
steampunk—along with the peak over the headlight. The engine is now
blacked-out, and the brightest element of the whole bike is the
hand-made exhaust system.
So it looks sharp, goes fast, and doesn’t cost a bomb to run. What’s not to like?
Images © Frank Bott. Check out his website and Facebook page for more fine motorcycle photography.
The post Joey Subrizi’s roadgoing YZF 426 appeared first on Bike EXIF.
Custom Yamaha DragStar 650 | Wild Boar | Mad Crow Garage
Joaquin approached Mad Crow Garage to customize his Yamaha 650 Dragstar,
there was little idea on how to go about this custom build. For
starters, the Custom Yamaha DragStar 650 had to have the widest rear
tyres. numerous parts were sourced from Harley-Davidson, the Short rear
fender and the springer suspension was installed followed by Kuriakin
air filter and exhaust pipes and incredible custom triple-coated paint
job.
First appeared in
way2speed.com
While the idea of belting down a freeway at a ton and a half on a big
bore Cafe Racer sounds like a blast, it's not the sort of practice most
of us often get the chance to do. In fact it's probably illegal where
many of you live making it an even less frequent exercise. In big cities
small capacity motorcycles rule the streets and although many may argue
"There's no point making a Cafe Racer out of a 250cc bike!", I beg to
differ. Big bikes get the blood pumping but small bikes make you smile. I
am lucky enough to have one of each and I have to say my little 200cc
thumper is the best fix for Monday morning blues. It's quick off the
line, splits through busy traffic without knocking a single mirror and
handles like it's on rails. So when a bike like this latest build from
Tricana in Portugal appears in my inbox I'm all smiles.
Over dinner with friend Jonathan of Tricana Motorcycles was told by a
lady friend that she wanted a Cafe Racer, his solution to her request
went something like this...
“I want a cafe racer and I want you to build it for me.” She had always
liked motorcycles, and was looking for a ride and nothing else would do
except for a cafe racer. I explained that she should start with a light
Japanese bike to gain some confidence, and then, evolve to a more
powerful base and she agreed it was a good idea. However this was a
project had a twist, this cafe racer would be built in the memory of her
late father. So when the moment to choose the name for the bike came,
she chose “Saudade”, a Portuguese word without direct translation into
any other language that simply means the feeling of deeply missing
somebody or something.
At that time I had a Yamaha SR 250 in the back of my shop and it was the
perfect bike for the project. It was a real mess with many parts
missing, so a big part of the work was to find those missing parts and
restore the components that I wanted to keep.
Originally the bike had alloy wheels, so I used a front hub and a rear
drum brake from another bike, a front brake disc that was mounted on the
wheel of a Honda CB900 Bold‘or and a Brembo caliper from a Guzzi. I
also had to design a new support for the caliper and the disc/hub in
aluminium to mount everything up.
The front suspension came from an old MX bike that I found in the
Portuguese equivalent of Ebay. I have to say that was the part that took
me more time to adapt. I had to lathe it down to level the bike out how
I wanted, I also had to adapt conical bearings to the triple trees.
I repositioned the original tank supports so I could lay down the front
and again keep the line that I wanted for the bike. The seat is an
custom designed part from Tricana Motorcycles and is attached with only
one bolt, the same bolt that also attaches the gas tank. When I finished
the handle bar I called Sofia to come to the shop to position the brand
new CNC machined rear sets designed to fit a Ducati 999. We chose a
comfortable position so she could use the bike on a daily basis and
easily go manoeuvre through traffic.
The intake has a K&N filter and the exhaust is a titanium Akrapovic.
I’ve also made a removable chromed support for a leather bag, and
placed a rear led light in the left side of the bike to clean the rear
and keep some of the racing style of a Café Racer. The new Michelin 17”
tires also gives some modern racing look.
Some motorcycles just scream fun. Before the Honda Grom there was the
Yamaha TW200: A low-riding dual-sport bike that can’t decide if it
belongs on the beach or the farm. With low gearing and big tires, it’s
also at home on potholed city streets—as Maximilian Funk has found.
The TW200 has been around since the mid 80s, and in 1987 it became
the first motorcycle to reach the North Pole. Nothing much has changed
since, but Yamaha grudgingly upgraded it with disc brakes, an electric
start and a better carb just after the turn of the century.
Berlin-based Herr Funk (yes, that’s his real name) built this Yamaha on a
budget: the bike owes him less than 2,000 euros. It’s a 1999 model, but
it’s got the later front disc brake. Plus an XS400 tank in original
colors, which matches the stubby frame just perfectly.
Other mods include new lights, and a 220 kph analog speedo that’s
compact and optimistic in equal measure. (Top speed would be just over
60 mph on the Autbahn.) The chunky seat is a custom-made item, and
conceals a skateboard acting as a fender underneath. Mechanically, the
TW200 is stock apart from a stubby Supertrapp race muffler.
If there was ever proof that small capacity bikes can be fun, this is it.
The TW200 is still sold in some countries, including the USA.
The post Herr Funk’s Yamaha TW200 appeared first on Bike EXIF.
