Custom Yamaha TW125 “Tank” by Atelier Medusa

Today, we are thrilled to feature this 1999 Yamaha TW125 “Tank” — a post-apocalyptic custom from Atelier Medusa, an up-and-coming workshop out of Northeast France. The engineering students behind Atelier Medusa share a love for apocalyptic and futuristic films — an inspiration clearly evident in this build. In fact, we’re certain that Mad Max himself would want to throw his jackboot over the saddle of this “Tank.”

This was the team’s first entirely hand-built bike, and we love some of the handmade details such as the tractor piston headlight, fork cage, and instrument panel. Below, we get the full story on this radical custom.

Yamaha TW125 Custom: In the Builder’s Words

We are Atelier Medusa, a young emerging garage coming from Nancy, North-East of France. We are two engineering students both fans of apocalyptic and futuristic movies, and we are willing to convert our inspirations into unique motorbikes.

Our first guinea pig was this Yamaha TW125, coming straight outta Mad Max’s universe, somewhere in between cafe racer, scrambler and even some details you could match with bobber style. This reinforced vehicle is built to be bulletproof.

This was our first bike we entirely made with our hands, and it was our first steps into craftsmanship and the art of metal shaping. It made us progress a lot.

About some technical aspects, fairings, frame, swing arm, handlebar, shock absorber covers are handmade. The headlight is made with a tractor piston we machined to make the BMW Xenon light bulb fit in it. Most of the electrical equipments are in the back seat and were modified as well to take less place as possible.

Speaking of seat, this is the only thing we didn’t do ourselves because a local craftsman nearby does it way better than us, so we gave him the plans, we chose the leather and he worked his magic.

The engine guard is covering a complete custom made exhaust line and “muffler”.

This showbike was for us a cool way to express ourselves and share our vision of what an apocalyptic ride could look like. We are well aware that its small 125cc engine shows its weaknesses when it comes to make its 180kg go up a rising slope. Nevertheless, we have to love this “Tank”, because it represents our craziness and early days. We hope you will love it as well.