This bike was built by George Woodman, a carpenter slash furniture designer slash interior architect from Biarritz, France. Yes, his...
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.
Jesse attributes his interest in building bikes to a 1971 Honda CB175 he restored with his father at the age...
Jamie’s younger years were spent in the UK. He was bitten by the motorcycle bug at an early age after...
Since launching Return of the Cafe Racers back in 2006 I have only come across two builders who have managed...
With a name like “Vintage Addiction”, it’s odd to see the YZF sitting in their build portfolio, but when the...
There’s two ways you can build a custom motorcycle. One way is to have a design idea that’s laid out...
I’ve been covering the Yamaha Yardbuilt series of custom bikes for some time now and have really enjoyed the projects...
There are countless failures throughout automotive history. All of the big motorcycle manufacturers have at least one they’d prefer to...
Firstly a design was rendered in conjunction with Oberdan Bezzi Design which took styling cues from the Yamaha FZ750, a...
Berry Bads Motorcycles are yet another Japanese custom tuner/builder who’s work has caught my attention. With a gallery full of Bobbers,...
“I have been riding motorcycles on and off road for more than a decade and I wanted to combine my...
I know I’m probably going to get a few frowns for this as it’s certainly not a Cafe Racer,...
David Gonzalez from Ad Hoc is renowned for customizing Yamaha motorcycles. He gained international acclaim for his work on the...
With 200bhp on tap and an astounding 2.5 second 0-60mph time, the Vmax V4 engine is well suited to dragstrip...
Tim Kills BSA A65 Bobber On November 3rd & 4th I co-hosted a custom motorcycle exhibition in Melbourne named Oil...
No sooner had the doors of the 2015 One Motorcycle Show closed for another year, than the brothers Busch and...
Here’s a great segment from the cutting room floor of Cafe Racer TV. In this online episode they reveal the...
This is the Mongrel. A custom Yamaha XT600 haling from the darker side of Sydney’s Cafe Racer scene. The Mongrel...
“My name is Teguh Setiawan. I’m a 23 years old and studying at a university in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. In 2012...
Rapid prototyping, CNC machining, 3d printing! Whatever happened to good old hammers, spanners, and the occasional grinder? I get a...
But, dear reader, should you? Is it worth tracking down one of Yamaha’s cheerful little runabouts for your next custom...
Gold Rush is Daniel’s 3rd XJR1200 based build. As you would expect by now he’s become somewhat of an XJR...
There’s beauty in simplicity. Apple have proved that with their design approach and in the custom motorcycle world that...
If you’ve been following Enginethusiast for a while, you’ve probably noticed that Anthony Scott has a soft spot for vintage...
Well, that wraps up yet another year of amazing cafe racer builds from custom workshops and backyard builders around the...
After my recent purchase of a Yamaha TW200 I have rediscovered my love of “little” bikes. While I’m not about...
“I guess, it’s a modern take on a Cafe Racer, but I was born around 20 years too late to...
When great minds come together, great things happen. Often in the world of custom motorcycle building workshops keep to themselves....
The bike Spartak’s customer found was a rare find in his hometown of Minsk, a late eighties Yamaha XJ600. The...
Due to the surging demand for nostalgia-infused motorcycles with a retro aesthetic, it was no surprise that Yamaha decided to...
Established by Dare Jennings, Rod Hunwick and Carby Tuckwell, Deus ex Machina in Camperdown, Sydney, produces motorcycles for the post-modern world. What the hell...
Yamaha’s XS650 would have to be in the top 5 list of most customised motorcycle in the world. It’s bullet...
After more than 35 years of production, the Yamaha SR400 has had little in the way of design modifications. The...
Bernhard Naumann, aka Blechmann, grew up in Burgenland, a federal state of Austria in central Europe. Growing up in a...
As it always goes, popularity affects price, so the days of picking up a bargain XS are gone and it...
Nothing beats a hand me down, especially when it’s in the form of a motorcycle. When Christian was given his...
At the end of World War 2 many British motorcycle manufacturers were on the verge of closure or had already...
Yamaha’s legendary XS650, it’s reputation precedes it. The XS is one of the most widely customised bikes in the world so to...
The Eau Rouge Yamaha XJR1300 features a plethora of custom fabricated components made in house by the Deus Italian workshop....
I spent the weekend in Sydney celebrating a mates Birthday (which I am still recovering from!) and while I was...
The Yamaha XS-V1 Sakura (Prototype ie coming soon!) oozes Cafe Racer style and should pck plenty of punch based on...
What you’ll also notice about this Yamaha XS850 Special is it’s a tad rough around the edges (which makes it even more appealing...
It’s getting easier and easier to build a cafe racer. It used to be that you’d either have to pay...
Santi García has been contributing to the build portfolio at the Barcelona workshop of La Carono motorcycles for the past...
“Stop dreaming, just start building!” These are the words you’ll find on Andy Megerle’s Instagram profile. I’ve featured a couple...
Just got home after spending the day out with the guys from Fuel Tank TV and Christian from Modern Motorcycles....
I met Michael Capraro some years ago at a communal motorcycle workshop I was involved in. His enthusiasm for bikes...
To improve the v-twin’s power and torque Yamaha fit the SRV with a beefier cam profile, two carburetors rather than...
The Varkain (“Finnish for By Stealth”) Yamaha SR400 is one of my favourite creations to come out of Raider Motorsports...
The old saying ‘practice makes perfect’ rings true in the custom motorcycle community. Over the years I’ve seen many builders...
These days you don’t get much of a bike for 300 quid. Every now and then though you hear about...
I hate to say it but there is a downside to riding a classic British cafe racer. Sure you’ll revel...
Moto Nisto of Ypsilanti, Michigan, expertly transformed this 1980 Yamaha XS650 into a stunning Cafe Racer. The modifications done on...
Opening up the emails I receive through the “Submit a motorcycle” link on the site is one of my favourite...
Yamaha’s beloved SR400 may have ceased production back in 2021, but it remains a hot favorite amongst custom builders in...
This Yamaha SRX600 has been meticulously transformed into a bespoke cafe racer with a sleek and unique style. It boasts...
In motorsport, race teams are always looking for new ways to improve lap times. Back in the fifties when motorcycles...
Adrián Campos and the crew at Spain’s Bolt Motor Co. are back again with yet another impressive build. This time...
Auto Fabrica has transformed this Yamaha XJ600 into a one-of-a-kind modern classic sports bike known as the “Type 24”. This...
Is it just me or does this look like insanely good fun? There’s no denying that Yamaha’s legendary SR400 is...
Neo-retro cafe racers have certainly become “a thing”. Merging retro styling with modern engineering is a very appealing proposition for...
In Osaka, Japan 28-year-old cafe racer enthusiast Yuya Ueda has been riding his SR400 for 8 years and it’s lead...
The mighty Yamaha XS650 has been a hot favourite in the custom scene for decades and a personal favourite of...
Theo’s Frankenstein bike started out as a ‘96 Yamaha TRX but very few TRX components remain. The new engine hails...
Recently found XS650 Chopper website which has a load of custom Yamaha XS650 projects. Great for inspiration or to just perve on...
Despite its 43-year production run ending in 2021, the SR400 remains a hot favourite amongst riders in Japan. The SR400’s...
You’ll have to forgive me for veering off the Cafe Racer path slightly but when I see a custom motorcycle like this...
Despite its huge success, the Yamaha XSR700 is, in my opinion, one of the least classic-looking modern-retro motorcycles on the...
When you are the organiser of what is arguably the biggest custom motorcycle event in the world it goes without...
Most custom motorcycles rolling out of workshops tend to be polished to perfection or feature paint jobs more expensive than...
This Yamaha XS650 stands out as a captivating and tastefully modified representation of the popular classic Japanese motorcycle. Crafted into...
The Yamaha Yardbuilt series has been running for an impressive 7 years now. Since then Yamaha has commissioned over 50...
Daniel cut his teeth on cars and bikes at a young age. “I drove my first moped at the age...
“We want to challenge the trope of nostalgic and aesthetically led custom motorcycles by encouraging others to experiment with the...
After building his own bobber and plenty of customer bikes, James decided it was time to set himself a new...
What’s not to love about two-stroke motorcycles? The alluring smell, the exhilarating sound and the white-knuckled terror of an unpredictable...
In 2007, Gregg DesJardins of GC Customs crafted an unparalleled streetfighter motorcycle, representing the pinnacle of customization. Starting with a...
For the Hyper Modified campaign Yamaha approached three well known custom builders and gave them a straight to the point...
All hail Yamaha. As part of their Yard Built series they’ve been sponsoring some of the wildest, genre-pushing builds we’ve...
Back in 2005, when I first became interested in the Japanese custom motorcycle scene, finding insights into their world took...
I recently stumbled across the Instagram profile of Cyu-G and his Yamaha SR400 cafe racer. Despite a language barrier we...
I first met the Ask Motorcycle guys when I went to the Mooneyes Yokohama Hot Rod and custom show in...
The Arcanum build began when I picked up a ‘78 Yamaha SR500 from a guy in Newcastle, it was an...
Andrew Starkman and the team at Roast Moto in Phoenix Arizona pride themselves in spotting the potential in an old...
As 2014 comes to an end I thought I’d take a (close up) look at some of the incredible work...
There are a handful of motorcycles that became the poster children of the “new wave” cafe racer scene at the...
Japanese workshop AN-BU Customs has developed an instantly recognisable style of their own. Their recipe involves mixing tight proportions, with...
Deus Bali appeared on the scene only a few short months ago and it seems they are already wheeling some...
If you ask me there’s two types of custom build, the clean and the down right dirty. Richard and Lex...
Over in the UK Shaun & Carl of custom workshop ‘Down and Out’ Cafe Racers usually play with parallel twins, but...
Dressed all in black the Skullmonkee is easily recognisable as a Wrenchmonkees build. Tight proportions, clean lines, killer finishes...
Some people find it a real struggle to sit still. Take Stu Lloyd for example. It hasn’t even been 4...
There have been many custom workshops that have evolved their brand into an apparel range. In Taiwan, the clothing label...
Sadly it looks like Yamaha’s venerable SR400s time is coming to an end. Like so many other motorcycles falling victim...
One of the biggest decisions you’ll make when building your own Cafe Racer, or any style of custom motorcycle for...
The Yamaha XV920 ‘Double Shot’ is a prime example of Yamaha’s timeless cruising motorcycle, skillfully transformed and rebuilt in the...
“Years ago I rode a ’72 Yamaha XS650 from California to Sturgis. I was wearing a Walmart rain suit in...
Stu Lloyd grew up in the UK during the late ’70s and early ’80s. As a young boy, his leisure...
This may sound ridiculous, but sometimes I wish I lived in a place where riding during winter wasn’t an option....
It wasn’t until I featured our first Yamaha TRX850 cafe racer back in 2013 that I learned of their existence....
