Yamaha RX 115 Cafe Racer by Yohansuper

The Yamaha RX 115 is a lightweight 2-stroke naked bike had enjoyed a production run of more than 25 years, from 1981 to 2008. With a 15-hp engine and top speed of 99 mph, the RX 115 packs more punch than meets the eye. The bike was especially popular in Indonesia — a contemporary hotbed of custom culture, where ingenuity and passion burn red hot, forging some of our favorite builds.

Enter Yohanes Prasetya Jati — aka Yohansuper — who built the 1995 Yamaha RX 115 cafe racer you see here. Yohansuper may claims that he’s not a builder, just a boy who lives custom culture. However, the hand-made nature of this build speaks otherwise.  Yohanes loves to recycle used parts, so much of the bike was built from materials salvaged from the junkyard, from the swingarm of seamless pipe to the custom-welded handlebars to the gas tank shaped from 1mm plate.

Yohansuper submitted the finished build to the largest and most prestigious custom culture festival in the country, Kustomfest, and was accepted. Congratulations, brother! Below, we get the full story on this hand-built, 2-stroke cafe racer.

Yamaha RX Cafe Racer: In the Builder’s Words

My name is Yohansuper — I’m not a builder just an Indonesian boy who loves custom custom culture. I built a cafe racer from Yamaha RX 115 with a 2-stroke engine. Why did I choose a Yamaha RX 115? Because in Indonesia, many people build cafe racer from 4-strokes like Honda GL 200, GL 160, Kawasaki KZ200, or Yamaha SX225. I wanna be different, so I choose a 2-stroke engine.

I built this bike for Kustomfest 2017, the biggest Indonesian custom culture festival in the country. To join this fest is very difficult, because your bike must be perfect. If it’s not perfect, your bike will be eliminated and cannot join the competition.

Now, I will tell the story of the build. I got this bike from my friend in bad condition, but it’s no problem for me because I just use the engine and frame. Almost every part of this bike is hand-made. Gas tank and hornet built from 1 mm plate, handlebar made from welded pipe, footpegs made from 8mm and 5mm plate, swing arm from seamless pipe. And all of that material I got from junkyard. I like to recycle unused material.

I take some parts from other bikes:  front hub from Yamaha AS3, front suspension from Yamaha RX 135. And some aftermarket parts like the headlamp. To upgrade the performance, I also put many racing parts like PWK carburetor, racing ignition, racing exhaust, etc.

I envisioned a skinny cafe racer, so I chose a small size tyre and rim. Front use 1.60 x 18 rims with 2.75 – 18 tyre, rear 1.85 x 18 rims and 3.00 – 18 tyre.

After all the body and parts were complete, I start finishing this bike with paint and polishing. I put Yamaha racing classic livery on the body. And the last, i named “Kinjeng Tangis” because when he hears the engine sound, my grandfather always remembers the sound of kinjeng tangis (a name of insect in Indonesia).

After all was finished, I took photos of my bike and sent an email to Kustomfest. After a few days waiting, I got an email from Kustomfest that my bike can join the competition. I was very happy read that email.

Follow the Builder

• Instagram: @yohansuper
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/yohanes.prast