The endless stream of ‘Yard Built’ Yamaha specials shows no sign of slowing and the latest is a Dutch-made café racer based on the XV950 cruiser.
That’s important, because Yamaha has plans to expand the range of XV-based machines and a production café racer version could be on the cards.
The firm has just revealed the SCR950, a scrambler based on the VX950 engine and chassis. At the same time as registering trademark rights on the SCR950 name, the firm also secured rights to the title ‘XCR950’. That suggests another model is coming and logic says it will be a close derivative of the SCR950, and a café racer version would make a lot of sense.
The new Yard Built special, called Son of Time, might give a clue as to the way Yamaha is thinking. It’s built by Dutch firm Numbnut Motorcycles and has the backing of watchmakers TW Steel.
The firm says that the bike is a homage to salt flat racers. Builder Roderick Seibert said: “I’ve loved building this bike. From the start of the stripping process you can get really excited about where we are going to go with this. I really sparked with TW Steel as well, combining our creativity led to some super cool details on the bike. I’m really proud of the finished machine, I believe it stands for old school cool mashed up with new ideas, and above all speed!”
Yamaha Motor Europe Marketing Coordinator Cristian Barelli added: “Roderick has done it again with yet another original custom build from one of Yamaha’s Sport Heritage range of motorcycles. The Son of Time shows the Numbnut Motorcycles distinctive custom style whilst keeping the soul of the XV950’s powerplant.”
While Yamaha may well be considering a café racer of its own, don’t expect it to share too much with Son of Time. The Dutch machine has Dymag carbon fibre wheels, race-spec Brembos and high-end K-Tech suspension that mean its cost is leagues above anything that could be considered for production. In overall style, though, it shows how well the XV950 engine suits the café racer look.
