Yamaha Motor Europe's 2016 'Yard Built' dealer competition will see Yamaha’s European dealers again "mix it" with some of the best custom bike builders in the world to create their own 'Yard Built' projects from Yamaha’s Sport Heritage range.
Yamaha say that "dealers have been busy over the winter and now they need the public's help to choose the best build!
"Further to recent collaborations with iconic builders such as Portugal’s 'it roCkS!bikes' and Yard Built newcomers GS Mashin of Switzerland have added fuel to the fire and motivated the dealers to really pull out all the stops. The results show that the only limits are the imagination. The builds prove everyone can take a brand new bike from the Sport Heritage range and personalise it to their liking - opening the world of custom possibilities to bike owners who have considered their own custom, but were afraid of the technical knowledge required".
The competition has simple rules - the bike needed to be from the current Sport Heritage range, and an unspecified number of genuine aftermarket accessories had to be used.
This year Yamaha Motor Europe is awarding special prizes to the best custom build in the following three engine categories: single-cylinder and parallel-twin, V-twin and V-four and finally inline-four. Voting closes on the 31st March. Yamaha say they will be opening up the competition to the public later in the year.
The initiative started two years ago with a Yamaha Yard Built campaign that saw invited customisers collaborating to create builds based on the Sport Heritage range. The competition last year then saw European Yamaha dealers create 41 of their own interpretations of the platforms - over ten thousand bike fans from across Europe cast votes online to help choose four category winners for unveiling at the Glemseck 101 event in Germany in September.
“This project has proved a great validation that the custom scene is truly alive and kicking - not just in the niche custom world, but that it has now been embraced across Europe by our dealerships”, commented Yamaha Motor Europe Product Manager Shun Miyazawa.
“The end results have been really impressive, with some stunning builds that wouldn't be out of place sitting alongside the top custom builders. More importantly it shows that our Sport Heritage range of motorcycles is the perfect base for personalisation".
Many of the builds featured genuine Yamaha as well as aftermarket bolt-on accessories, showing that riders can achieve quality results without any cutting or welding to the frame.
The VMAX category winner was Liberty Yam of France with a tribute to legendary Yamaha France icon ‘JCO’ - muscular Café-Dragster build in 60th anniversary yellow and black colours. The XJR1300 class was won by internationally respected German dealership Motorrad Klein with a purposeful, race-inspired machine that made more than a passing reference to WSB racing star Noriyuki Haga.
The winning XV950 came from Portuguese dealer Yamaha Motor 7 with a dual colour scheme scrambler-inspired build; the winning SR400 was a classic café racer style interpretation of the popular SR platform by Motor Madrid.
