Jul 22, 2019 at 12:08pm ET
2 min read
By: Kate Murphy
The Yamaha Yard Built line of custom bikes is a great concept, and I don’t know why more bike manufacturers don’t have a program like it. Manufacturers working with custom builders to make the bikes more easily customizable helps everyone.
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The latest entry in this series comes from the garage of JvB-moto, a German outfit founded by Jens vom Brauk, who is known for his minimalistic custom designs. His design philosophy is to re-imagine the bike and improve on its stock form with the customization, without cutting up the frame or making any severe changes to the bike.
This is part of the beauty of the Yard Built series: the designers work within the confines of the existing motorcycle while giving feedback to Yamaha about their wants and needs. This way, the final customized product is not only a beautiful non-stock motorcycle, but many of the pieces used in the build are then made available to the general Yamaha-riding public.
This build, dubbed the CP3, is a retro-influenced custom XSR900. Its influences are all about 70s and 80s concept cars and has a “concept bike” feel. The front fender, tank, seat pan, tail, as well as the added carbon fiber wheel covers, are all done up in a deep matte midnight blue. The front brake disks are upgraded to Behringers and the exhaust to a Termignoni.
Gallery: Yamaha Yard Built JvB-moto XSR900 CP3
2 Photos
Each piece is designed to be easily installed by the customer. The point of the build is to show how easily customizable the bike is, and to supply the pieces to the customer to do their own customizing. The pieces are available as a full kit or just single bolt-on parts, depending on how deeply the customer wishes to customize their own bike to look like the CP3.
The full kit currently includes:
- Wheel covers
- Brakes
- Footrests
- Seat
- Exhaust
- Front fender
- Fuel tank covers
- Handmade tail section with LED taillight
- Speedometer relocation kit
- Tapered handlebar and riser
- LED headlight and cover
- Front and back LED indicators
- Number plate carrier
These parts and more will be available from JvB-moto for the XSR900 in early 2020. I don’t know about you, but knowing about the availability of a pile of aftermarket accessories for a given bike is a heck of a draw when it comes to buying a new motorcycle.
Gallery: Yamaha Yard Built JvB-moto XSR900 CP3
2 Photos
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Yard Built: Retro Lines, Adrenaline Vibes
In garages all over the world, Yamaha owners dream of creating their own customized motorcycle. Weseek to enable these dreams by asking talented customisers to provide inspirational ideas on how totransform Sport Heritage models into 'Yard Built' specials. Many builders will not only inspire Yamaha owners with their ideas, but will also make custom parts and accessories available to help owners turntheir dream into reality!
JvB-moto Returns
The latest Yard Built project sees the return of long-time Yamaha collaborator Jens vom Brauck.Founder of JvB-moto, German custom builder Jens is hailed for the minimalism of his bike designsthat bring out the vision ofthe original within a brand-newskin.The first JvB-moto Yard Built special was the 2015 VMAX 'Infrared', a dragster-meets-café racer thatmarked the 30th anniversary of Yamaha's iconic VMAX cruiser. Customised nose to tail from the sub-frame up,the retro Infrared cemented JvB-moto's distinct style within the Yard Built community.
The VMAX was followed by the 'Super 7', the first customised version of the new XSR700 that showedoff the huge range of options available (and sold by KEDO Germany) to personalise the stock bike. Re-imagining the XSR700 without any cuts or welds to the frame, JvB-moto produced yet another incredible machine that boasts clean, tidy lines while embracing the raw power and agility of thestandard bike.
An Adrenaline-Fueled Concept
Four years later and JvB-moto has returned for another round of dazzling customisation, projectingtheir vision onto the 2019 Yamaha XSR900 to create the CP3. The bike was first presented at the 2019Café Racer Festival where it received the Best of Show prize.
Talking about his latest creation, vom Brauck was clear in explaining his vision:"The biggest retro influence is on the lines and proportions. I am a big fan of 70s and 80s concept cars andgot a lot of inspiration for this build there. The bike has an understated, clean look and has more of a concept bike 'feel' than a typical custom bike."
The CP3 captures perfectly the JvB-moto design philosophy of clean lines that enhance the stock bikeas a base for easy customisation and breathe new life into it. While the retro theme is in part aninfluence on the CP3, JvB-moto's design stresses that the bike is a Yamaha through and through at itscore, and one that is easy to customise. The dark blue Yamaha racing colour used was darkened further and made matte, highlighting the new body work whilst retaining the stock bike's character.
Though thedesign is inherently minimalist, the CP3 sports a number of cutting-edge modifications that elevate itfrom a typical custom bike to a true concept motorcycle. Carbon fibre wheel covers house the PirelliSuper Corsa tyres, with Behringer front brake disks packing extra stopping power. Lightech footrestshelp reduce weight and give an assuring platform for the rider, with a new seat to accommodate the feel ofthe CP3.
Ultimately JvB-moto envisaged the CP3 as a reflection of the XSR900's powerful 850cc 3-cyclinder engine, unchanged in the customisation, and designed the bike to look how the engine feels to ride. The Termignoni exhaust amplifies the emotive sound of the triple and provides a small boost inhorsepower, completing the CP3 package that raises the very high standard of Yard Built specials evenfurther. Jens elaborated on this approach:"I wanted it to look fast without looking aggressive, for it to be less retro and more minimalist, with areduced and purposeful design."
A Concept Bike for the Customer
Yamaha's Sport Heritage range is made of state of the art technology machines with retro looks - therange is an easy access to real personalization and through collaborations with professionals like JvB- moto,the brand aims to bring this creativity even closer to the customer.
Apart from bringing a stunning new concept bike into the world, JvB-moto's CP3 above all else showsjust how easy to customise and flexible the Yamaha XSR900 really is. As a result, JvB-moto is now developing a kit to enable customers to either reproduce their own CP3 or just adapt parts of it, emphasizing that the bike is a perfect fit for the vision of the intrepid customiser looking to easilymake their own set of customisations to the Yamaha XSR900.
The kit includes:
- Wheel covers
- Brakes
- Footrests
- Seat
- Exhaust
- Front fender
- Fuel tank covers
- Handmade tail section with LED taillight
- Speedometerrelocation kit
- Tapered handlebar and raiser
- LED headlight and cover
- Front and back LED indicators
- Number plate carrier
There is also a range of parts yet to be developed. JvB-moto expect this bolt-on kit to be available tocustomers in early 2020, and will give them nearly unlimited options to tailor their own XSR900.
Taking the Covers Off
Demonstrating that the highly active Yard Built scene in Germany continues to go from strength to
strength,the CP3 debuted in its homeland at a July Yard Built Night in Hamburg, alongside the HookieCo. Grasshopper, another German-made 2019 Yard Built bike. Over 150 guests from motorcycle mediaoutlets and the customising scene came together for the unveiling of the two bikes which was hostedat KEDO, a motorcycle dealer located next to an industrial railway line that perfectly suited the gritty,backyard feel of Yard Built bikes.
Both JvB-moto and Hookie Co. attended the launch, explaining in live interviews their individual approaches to customising bikes and how they envisage the Yard Built project. The builders alsodiscussed their plans to offer bolt-on kits and parts for customers to purchase, embracing the YardBuilt concept to empower Yamaha customers to imprint their own vision onto their motorcycles.
The CP3 and Grasshopper showcase the customising potential of the XSR900 and XSR700 and just howeasy each model is to change to suit personal taste. With nearly fifty Yard Built bikes created, Yamahahas shown yet again how diverse and accessible retro style is in 2019.
Check out JvB-moto here
To buy JvB-moto parts, click here
Check out Hookie Co. here
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