The Forager - Yamaha XSR700
Is the Yamaha XSR700 a cool bike? This question has formed a divide amongst the Deus House of Simple Pleasures not seen since the infamous chicken parmi or parma debate of about 20 minutes ago when I conducted the study, we're still reeling from the results.
One of those in the "love it camp" for the XSR, however, is the owner of this beautiful example, Ty. "I saw the potential for customising it pretty early on and had that in mind when I purchased the bike." What started out as a simple colour change and lighting upgrade quickly blew out into a full blown custom build- a tale as old as time for some of us.
The cockpit set up was changed dramatically, yet subtly, with a set of Biltwell moto bars chosen to take care of the lefts and rights. The stock clock was ditched for a Daytona Velona unit while the rest of the goodies like the buttons, grips and mirrors are all Moto Gadget items controlled by a Purpose Built Moto Black Box.
The headlight was replaced with a 7" piece and Kellermann Atto indicators on either side. A more compact LED tail light was perched atop a new brushed alloy rear fender in the stock position all held on by the shaved and neatened subframe. JVB fork gaiters protect the forks above the SW-Motech Alloy front fender.
The last pieces to make their way onto the bike is a beautiful hand polished set of spoked Alpina Raggi wheels- dressed in Pirelli MT60RS Tyres and a genuine Yamaha single seat re-trimmed by Dave at bad arse trim co.
The green and gold tank was inspired from a couple of different motorsport references "I wanted to keep the bike green when I started thinking up colour and design options, I found inspiration in vintage racing cars, one of the biggest was Jack Brabham's BT19 colourway. I also really liked the gold colour of the Arrows A2 F1 car" recall's Ty.
"I honestly couldn't be happier! I think the work Jeremy has done has really tied in with my vision for the bike" The end result is what we believe the XSR700 should have been- Something truly classic inspired.. It's hard to have a shop divided when the end product is this cool.
If you're based in Australia and like what you see - check out all the parts here, at Deus Parts.
Builder - Jeremy Tagand
Words by - Cam Rogers
Photos by Kenyon Batterson
