Yamaha have a long history of custom motorcycles
through their Yard Built project, which spawned the XSR production bike series.
Now they’ve teamed up with Southend-on-Sea builders Auto Fabrica to produce two
of their wildest machines yet.
To create the bikes, Auto Fabrica co-founders Gaz
and Bujar Muharremi joined up up with designer friend Toby Mellor. They wanted
to blur the lines between classic and modern style. They decided to make the
first bike, the Type 11 Prototype One, a track-only machine, so they weren’t
held back by road regulations.
Auto Fabrica stripped the stock XSR900 right back to
the engine and frame, swapping the suspension for custom Öhlins, as well as
adding Brembo calipers, PFM brake discs and BST carbon wheels. The bodywork was
hand-beaten and formed from sheet aluminium then finished with a flush-fit
speedo and endurance-style quick-fill tank. The highlight really has to be the
sand-bent three-into-three exhaust, which finishes off the classic racer style.
After producing the track-focused Prototype One,
AutoFabrica made a road-going custom from a classic XS750, which then formed
the basis of the Type 11 Prototype Two, a road-going XSR900 version of the
Prototype One.
Sticking with the same design philosophy and taking
the same suspension, brakes and wheels as the track model, the Prototype Two
adds a classic single round headlight, trimmed seat, indicators and road tyres.
The handmade alloy bodywork remains but instead of the quick filler, there is a
conventional fuel tank hiddenunderneath a lifting panel.
The bikes will be on show at the Bike Shed Show in
London, from May 25-27. The road-going Prototype Two will be supplied by Auto
Fabrica in a limited run with the first deliveries expected by Autumn 2018. But
Yamaha say it could cost as much as £ 68k.
