Bolt Motor Co.’s futuristic 51st build… Former racers consistently build some of our favorite specials, as their high standards of design, engineering, and execution tend to carry over into their customs. One of these racers […]
Tag: Yamaha Virago
Steampunk Virago: Yamaha XV1000 Rat Rod
Black Cycles Australia builds a “Steampunk Rat Bike”… The rat bike has a long and storied tradition in the motorcycle world. Rat bikes are generally hard-ridden, uncleaned machines with plenty of rust, patina, road grime, […]
Blechmann “Drecksbecher” — Yamaha XV1100 Virago
Street-legal Blechmann special, rebuilt by Martin Buchmayr… Bernhard “Blechmann” Naumann is one of the world’s most respected customizers, renowned for his hand-shaped aluminum and sheetmetal work. In the customs world, he’s known simply as “Blechmann” […]
Turbofan V-Twin: Yamaha XV1000 “TR1-R”
Ortolani Customs builds a race-inspired TR1… Introduced in 1981, the Yamaha XV1000 TR1 was the biggest V-twin to roll out of Japan at the time, sporting a 980cc / 69-hp 75° V-twin. With the motor […]
Know Thyself: Yamaha XV750 Cafe Racer
Polish engineer builds one unique Virago 750… In Latin, the phrase nosce te ipsum means to “know thyself.” This maxim was inscribed on the ancient Temple of Apollo, and writers, philosophers, poets, and luminaries over […]
Mean Green: Yamaha Virago 750 Café Racer
Jerem Motorcycles builds a mean, green XV750… In the early 1980s, Yamaha introduced the XV750 Virago, their first V-twin “custom”-style cruiser. Though the air-cooled V-twin seemed like a completely novel design, it was actually well-rooted […]
Green V: Yamaha XV1000 TR1 Cafe Racer
Lys Motorcycles builds a sporty V-twin Yamaha… In 1981, the Yamaha XV1000 TR1 appeared in European showrooms. Though it bore close semblance to the shaft-drive Virago series, the 980cc V-twin TR1 featured a fully enclosed […]
Yamaha XV1000 TR1 “Django” by Remastered Cycle
Awoken from oblivion… The Yamaha XV1000 TR1 was introduced in 1981, a more powerful Euro-spec version of the XV920 Virago we received here in the States. The 980cc TR1 boasted a stout 69 horsepower from […]
“Iron Man” Virago 1100 Cafe Racer by LV Custom
The Virago was Yamaha’s first series of V-twin machines, and the XV1100 was the king cruiser of the line, featuring a 62-hp engine and some of the best handling and brakes in all of cruiser […]
Virago 920 “YamaDuci” by Augment Motorworks
A Japanese-Italian love story… The Virago series was Yamaha’s first entrée into world of V-twin cruisers, and one of the first motorcycle mass-produced with a monoshock rear suspension. It was a bold move for Yamaha […]