The celebrations of the Yamaha XJR1300’s 20th anniversary step up a gear with a stunning new build from first time collaborator Rough Crafts. Taiwanese builder Winston Yeh joins the Yard Built family with breath taking take on the iconic street bruiser, creating an even tougher, meaner, stripped back machine.
“The Yard Built concept is always moving forward,” comments Yamaha Motor Europe Product Manager, Shun Miyazawa. “We have been privileged to work with not just the best custom builders in the world, but importantly builders who are doing something original, pushing boundaries with a distinct style. The Yard Built XJR1300 ‘Guerilla Four’ is no exception with the Rough Crafts signature, a sleek, stripped back creation that really stands out.”
“The 2015 XJR1300 has been influenced by recent custom builds and is designed to be easily customizable,” he continues. ‘This new build reinforces this philosophy showing that you can create truly unique motorcycles with the XJR as a base with no major alterations to the frame, opening up many possibilities and inspiring owners that don't necessarily have the skill for a full custom build to personalise their own machines.”
Winston’s custom building process is unique, having designed the bike virtually, he then works with a select number of artisan craftsmen to hand make every custom part and finish for the build. Making use of traditional metal workshops, painters, anodizers and fabricators on the streets of Taipei, the final result truly reflects the Rough Crafts ideal, ‘Handmade in Taiwan’.
Without any cutting or welding to the frame, Winston created the ‘Guerilla Four’ by adding a mixture of Rough Crafts designed components as well as incorporating pieces from other high level custom builders. The tough mean look of the front end was achieved by replacing the front shocks with those from the Yamaha VMAX, these were shortened by 100mm and the caliper mounts modified for 11.5inch discs. Rough Crafts custom-made triple trees keep everything together at the top and all instrumentation is removed for a super clean look.
The massive Coker Beck Style tyres wrap around Roland Sands BOSS Black Ops rims and the standard exhaust runs out to a Rough Crafts custom tail pipe.
The bike was beautifully painted in black with matching pin striping and Rough Crafts logo by Taipei’s top custom sprayer Air Runner Custom Paint. All metal fabrication was undertaken by local talent OneHandMade Customs whilst Anodizing took care of the chroming and plating work.
Rough Crafts custom foot pegs, Fighter handle bars and Fin Style risers add to the finish and an ISR braking system in black sets it off. A Rough Crafts custom designed headlight grill, velocity stacks, fuel tank, seat and tail section create a stunning slimmer line and the custom fuel cap finishes it off perfectly.
