The Yamaha TRX850 is one in all our favourite motorcycling anomalies. It was constructed within the mid-90s, when Japanese marques tried to nook the European market by injecting Italian aptitude into their sportbikes. The TRX850’s trellis body, tri-spoke wheels, and sculpted gas tank felt distinctly Ducati—however its parallel twin motor and angular tail part gave away its Japanese heritage.
Though it didn’t fairly set the market ablaze when it launched, the Yamaha TRX850 finally discovered its area of interest within the secondhand market in an ‘if , ’ type of manner. Sufficiently old to be thought-about a bonafide basic, it provides a enjoyable experience and infinite 90s swagger, for not an excessive amount of cash.
These qualities additionally make the TRX an ideal candidate for personalisation—or, as Holger Breuer has so expertly demonstrated along with his newest mission, an ideal candidate for tasteful restomod.
Because the ‘HB’ in Germany’s HB-Customized, most of Holger’s tasks are full-on customized jobs. However the proprietor of this 1996-model Yamaha TRX850 had owned the bike for a variety of years and was extra eager on restoring it than tearing it aside. That mentioned, there have been a number of areas that he felt ought to be improved, beginning with the TRX850’s chunky rear finish.
Holger ditched all of the rear plastics, then hacked off the top of the subframe and fabricated a brand new loop. Subsequent, he hand-shaped a chic café racer-style tailpiece out of aluminum. It sits neatly atop the Yamaha’s body, extending ahead to type a harmonious junction with the gas tank.
The TRX850’s authentic tank, fairing, and entrance fender stay in play, as per the consumer’s request. Holger swapped the OEM windshield out for a tinted merchandise from MRA Racing, and traded the cumbersome flip indicators for slimmer LED items. The rear indicators are mounted to a brand new tail tidy bracket, with a Highsider LED taillight Frenched into the tail bump.
Regardless of the dearth of main aesthetic adjustments, Holger nonetheless had his work reduce out for him. “The bike was dismantled all the way down to the final screw and reconditioned,” he tells us. “I spotted, for the primary time, {that a} restoration takes longer than a customized bike.”
Getting authentic Yamaha elements for the bike proved to be simple sufficient at the very least. Holger refurbished the OEM wheels, forks, and brakes, upgrading the latter with braided stainless-steel hoses. A brand new YSS shock now props up the rear.
Holger additionally saved the inventory controls, switches, and dashboard, however swapped out the battery for a smaller Lithium-ion unit. It now lives underneath the tail bump, together with the bike’s different very important electrical bits.
As a testomony to Yamaha’s reliability, the TRX850’s 28-year-old motor wanted nothing greater than a service to maintain it ticking over. Holger modified the exhaust headers to circulate right into a pair of Storm mufflers which can be shorter and lighter than the unique cans, and tuned the carbs to optimize the bike’s efficiency.
Holger had whole freedom when it got here to the bike’s coloration scheme. Since his consumer is a large Yamaha fan, he took inspiration from basic FZR paint jobs to concoct a livery that, whereas it isn’t technically an authentic Yamaha design, actually feels period-correct.
Whereas we’ve seen wilder builds from HB-Customized, we applaud the restraint proven on this mission. The proportions are good, the graphics are chic, and the stability of previous and new elements is ideal. If we had a Yamaha TRX850 within the storage proper now, we’d be hard-pressed to not comply with the identical formulation.
HB-Customized | Instagram | Photos by Emayat Wahab
