Junk to Jewel: Resto-modded XT500 from Workshop43… The Yamaha XT500 remains one of our favorite single-cylinder motorcycles of all time. The big air-cooled enduro won the inaugural Paris-Dakar Rally, swept the podium in the second […]
Tag: Yamaha
The Bald Anthony Naked R1: Lean, Mean, and Clean
“I wanted to build a naked bike that looked like it came from the Yamaha factory.” The Yamaha YZF-R1, known simply as the R1, has remained one of the world’s fiercest factory superbikes since its […]
Two-Stroke Giant-Killer: Yamaha RD443LC Hybrid
Mark Goulding builds one wicked “Elsie”… In 1980, the Yamaha RD250LC arrived, a liquid-cooled 247cc / 35-bhp two-stroke street machine destined to become one of motorcycling’s great hooligan machines. In the UK, the “Elsie” satisfied […]
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 […]
Two-Stroke Gold: Yamaha RD350 Café Racer
For Sale: “Goldhead” RD350 by Twin Line Motorcycles… The Yamaha RD350 remains one of the sweetest, most well-balanced two-strokes of the 1970s — and one of motorcycling’s great giant-killers, both on the track and the […]
427 Tracker: Yamaha RD400 Street Tracker
Smyth Innovations builds a 427cc two-stroke street tracker… In 1976, Yamaha released the next evolution of the two-stroke RD series: the Yamaha RD400. Contrary to popular belief, it was much more than a punched-out RD350: […]
BA Special: 1985 Yamaha RZ350 Restomod
Bald Anthony builds one bad RZ… The Yamaha RZ350 was the ultimate, most modern two-stroke street bike sold in the United States. The liquid-cooled two-stroke, rubber-mounted parallel twin was rated at 52 bhp, and equipped […]
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 […]
Monsieur Dakar’s Super Smoker: Yamaha “YZ535” Supermoto
Stéphane Peterhansel is the most successful racer in Dakar Rally history, having won the world’s most demanding race a record 13 times — six on motorcycles, seven in cars. Born in 1965, “Monsieur Dakar” first […]
Go-Zilla: Yamaha XSR900 “Gojira” by Unik Edition
A triple-cylinder hooligan inspired by the Skyline GT-R… In 1989, Nissan released the R32 Skyline GT-R, an all-wheel-drive street car with a 2.6-liter twin turbo straight-six engine that made 320 horsepower in factory trim…but could […]
