Motorcycle Modification

Top 5 Yamaha SR500s Everyone loves a thumper—and few thumpers are as loved as Yamaha’s popular SR500. Manufactured for just over 20 years, from 1978 to 1999, it shared the same single-cylinder, air-cooled 499cc engine as the XT500 and TT500. Looks-wise it was styled to resemble its big brother, the XS650. While the popularity of some motorcycles has risen and fallen, the SR has remained a regular favorite within the new-wave custom scene, thanks to its easy-going nature. It sounds clichéd to say that it was tough to pick out just five SRs for our list, but it’s true. Just this week two more great examples landed in our inbox, both of which could easily have been included. Instead, we’ve decided to give each on its own feature, so look out for those in the next week or so. In the meantime, take a look at our top five below—and let us know in the comments what your own favorite SR500 customs are. Deus Ex Machina ‘Oddjob’ There are a few Deus-built SR500s that c...

Husqvarna Nuda customs I was pretty excited when the Husqvarna Nuda 900R was released in 2012—and equally disappointed when it was discontinued, following Pierer Industrie AG’s acquisition of the Italian marque a year ago. The supermoto-esque naked featured a punched out, 898cc version of the Rotax twin-cylinder mill found in BMW’s F800 series, and a tubular steel frame. This particular Nuda belongs to Marc Woodward, an ex-motorcycle racer based in Brighton who builds café racers as a hobby. As an ex-racer, Marc says his philosophy “is to try and create café racers that handle and go as good as they look.” He takes this philosophy fairly seriously—his radically restyled Nuda now kicks out a healthy 110bhp, thanks to a full Arrow race exhaust system and a remapped ECU. It also features the front end from a Ducati 1198S, earning it the ‘Huscati’ nickname. The Ducati’s Öhlins forks have been re-sleeved to fit the Nuda’s stock yokes, which have been milled to remove...

Top 5 Harley Sportster customs like it or hate it, the Harley Sportster has been an American motorcycling icon since 1957. Around 50,000 are built every year, taking up a fifth of the Milwaukee factory’s production capacity. Not surprisingly, quite a few XLs—to use the official designation—have found their way into custom shops. They’ve been turned into choppers, bobbers, café racers and trackers. And although most Sportster owners use their bikes for cruising and bar hopping these days, there’s a solid racing history behind the name, grounded in the US dirt track scene. Setting the choppers aside for the moment, we’ve picked out the best recent customs from well-established builders in the USA. As always, it’s a purely personal selection. But if you’ve got a Sportster in your garage and an itch to take it apart, let your inspiration start right here. Mule Motorcycles ‘Web Surfer’ If anyone can turn a Harley Sportster into a fire-breathing high-performance ma...

Top 5 Yamaha XS650 customs It feels like the Yamaha XS650 has been around forever, and that’s not far from the truth: it was offered in various guises from 1968 until 1985. But the air-cooled, parallel-twin engine has an even longer history—it was based on a 500cc German Horex copied by the now-defunct Hosk Motorcycles. The XS was conceived as an alternative to the classic British twins, and the original XS ‘Standard’ was styled in the vein of contemporaries such as the Triumph Bonneville T120. Riders of a more relaxed persuasion could choose the cruiser-styled ‘Special,’ which had a teardrop tank and high, swept back bars. The XS was popular among racers, with Kenny Roberts piloting it to victory in the 1973 AMA National dirt track series. It’s since become even more popular on the custom scene, probably due to its familiar engine and natural good looks. Here we’ve picked five of our favorite Yamaha XS650 customs, showcasing its versatility and potential. An-Bu...