2021 Honda CB1000R 5Four
If you watch ‘The Motorbike Show’ on the tellybox, you may have heard of Guy Willison (he’s the one who looks a bit like Mick Jagger). But let me tell you who he is, in case you haven’t. He is a professional bike designer and creator of ‘5Four Motorcycles’.... Read more
Supercharged Yamaha SR400 by Krugger
The latest addition to Yamaha’s Yard Built lushness is this inconspicuous SR400 retro racer. Built by Belgian custom builder, Fred ‘Krugger’ Bertrand, the 1970s lookalike takes inspiration from one of Valentino Rossi’s mechanics, Bernard Ansiau – who has also spannered for the likes of Wayne Rainey and Kenny Roberts.  ... Read more
Yard Built VMAX ‘CS_07 Gasoline’
Yes, this is a VMAX, albeit an unrecognisable VMAX that triggered social media uproar today. The whimsically named ‘it roCkS!bikes’ duo from Portugal are responsible for this piece of art: the radical ‘CS_07 Gasoline.’ Yamaha’s European-inspired Yard Built project continues to produce some striking one-offs. This retro dragster is... Read more
A Trio of Sexy Scramblers
Living in Italy has its obvious benefits: exquisite coffee, proper pizza, beautiful cities and architecture, just as beautiful ladies, sunshine in the summer and lashings of snow in the winter. Limoncello rhymes with Mugello. The list is endless but we’ll finish with Verona – the home of Shakespeare’s Romeo... Read more
‘Faster Wasp’ by Roland Sands
Legendary custom builder, Roland Sands has joined Yamaha’s Yard Built project with this naughty little number – his fifth collaboration with the tuning fork firm. Although there’s no official mention, the ‘Faster Wasp’ is based on the MT-09 and decorated in the renowned Speed Block colours, paying homage to... Read more
JvB-moto Yamaha XSR700 ‘Super 7’
Yet more Yard Built goodness from Yamaha, this time in the shape of the firm’s all-new retrosexual XSR700: a bike based on the popular MT-07 that’s currently being launched and ridden by the world’s press. Our invite was lost in the post, or something… German-based JvB-moto has created the... Read more
Yamaha XJR1300 ‘GUERILLA FOUR’ by Rough Crafts
Yet more Yard Built custom goodness from Yamaha: say hello to the ‘Guerilla Four’ by Rough Crafts and Taiwanese builder, Winston Yeh (we hope that’s his real name). Based on the 2015 Yamaha XJR1300, Winston used the traditional outlets on the streets of Taipei to customise the Yammy into... Read more
Kingston Customs’ Yamaha XV950
Without overly championing beards, hipsters and grinders, we’re convincing aficionados of Yamaha’s Yard Built series. The latest addition is this XV950 Café Bob: ‘The Face’ by German builder Dirk Oehlerking of Kingston Customs, and another class example of how to transform a dreary, budget bike into something fucking cool... Read more
Yamaha XJR1300 CS-06 Dissident
You should know by now we’re massive fans of the Yard Built project: Yamaha’s efforts at working with Europe’s top custom bike builders/designers without the prerequisite (and over-exuberant) hipster beards and angle grinders. This is the XJR1300 CS-06 Dissident by Portuguese outfit, ‘it roCkS!bikes’ Celebrating 20 years of the... Read more