Auto Fabrica Yamaha ‘Yard Built’ XSR900
OK. First thing to get your head around with this project and the crew who built it are the numbers involved. What you’re looking at here are three builds, rather than just one. All were created by London-based custom bike builders, Auto Fabrica, and the XSR900-based ‘Prototype Two’ is the main bike of the three featured here.
Prototype Two is also classified by the English builder as a ‘Type 11’ that includes Prototype One, also based on a new Yamaha XSR900 triple, while Prototype Three was built on an older XS750.
Just to make things a little more complicated is the fact that Prototype Three came BEFORE Prototype Two, while Auto Fabrica’s output since this trio has skipped Type 12 entirely, moving on to Type 13 and Type 14, before “going back” to Type 0.1.
Confused yet? Never mind, how about we just focus on what’s gone into these radical-looking Yamaha customs, rather than what order they were created in, hmmm?
Brother Built Auto Fabrica was founded in 2013 by Albanian-born brothers Bujar and Gazmend ‘Gaz’ Muharremi, with Toby Mellor, a friend of Bujar’s, joining the firm in 2016.
Trained in industrial and automotive design, and with years of work in design consultancy, the Muharremi brothers’ initial goal, back in 2011, was just to build a bespoke motorcycle for themselves.
The quality of their initial work, the balance of form and function, as well as their own design language and a “full service” ability to design, prototype, fabricate and finish builds brought them wider attention, followed by the realisation that they could make a business out of these skills and passions.
In less than five years since the business started, Auto Fabrica has gone from strength to strength, with their initial Kawasaki ‘Type 1’ café racer followed by more than two dozen other major builds. These creations have been showcased in countless online and magazine articles, while their Yamaha-based ‘Type 6’ graced the cover of the second edition of The Ride book and their builds have even been displayed in galleries
In terms of style, most Auto Fabrica builds to date have been stripped-back café racers or street scramblers, based on classic Japanese models, but with an older BMW or two, as well as a Moto Guzzi thrown in.
In 2015, what became the Type 11 family kicked off when Yamaha sent a pre-production prototype of their XSR900 to Auto Fabrica for a future instalment of their ‘Yard Built’ custom bike project. That was followed soon after by a second XSR900, as well as an older XS750.
For their first collaboration with a manufacturer and their first build on a modern motorcycle, Auto Fabrica could have gone the safe route and remake what they’d done before, but after years of looking to the past, they decided that Type 11 would look to the future.
‘One’ for the Track What became known as ‘Prototype One’ within the Type 11 family was designed and built to be a racetrack-only machine from the outset, so there’d be no limitations in terms of practicalities required for road use.
Components used and techniques applied on Prototype One would later be applied to Prototype Two as a roadgoing version of the initial concept, but as explained earlier, there’s a degree of cross-pollination in these builds, with Prototype Three influencing parts of Prototype Two, even though work on it started later.
While the Yamaha 847cc triple on Prototype One was unaltered, there were major alterations to the cycle parts, starting with a new subframe of Auto Fabrica’s own design and manufacture.
The distinctive “combined” front fairing and fuel tank on Prototype One was made from aluminium, and while Auto Fabrica utilised a lot of CAD and 3D-printing on this build, the tank and fairing were produced the old-fashioned way, using an English Wheel to hand-form those graceful curves.
A gauge has been flush-mounted into the top of the tank, with a quick-fill fuel cap recessed further back, while the overall shape was designed to marry up to a rear section and seat base made from carbon fibre, topped by a minimalist saddle trimmed in Alcantara. Like the subframe, the seat and saddle were one-offs created by Auto Fabrica.
Customised Ohlins suspension was added to each end, along with BST carbon fibre wheels, which wear Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa V2 tyres.
Those sweeping 3-into-3 open pipes were created using sand bending and coated in Zircotec ceramic heat-shielding material, while the brakes were upgraded with PFM discs and Brembo calipers.
A pair of Renthal clip-on bars were fitted and capped with bespoke grips, while at the rear, blade-style tail lights look to have been inspired by similar approaches used on modern hypercars from McLaren and Aston Martin.
In profile, the finished Prototype One had a graceful, yet aggressive and very modern look, with more than a touch of H.R. Giger’s original ‘Alien’ design in the appearance of that fairing and fuel tank.
Three’ for Inspiration With Prototype One deep into production and Prototype Two being fleshed out, work on Prototype Three got underway, with a view of applying the same DNA from Prototype One to something that could be used on the road.
Starting with a 1976-model XS750 triple, Prototype Three kept the engine, gearbox, frame, wheels and other major componentry, but swathed it in an aluminium body that was much lower and sleeker than what was created for Prototype One.
While a compact ducktail was added and connected to the fuel tank as a single piece, the fairing was separate on Prototype Three’s design. Attached to the forks, this fairing was mounted so close to the front wheel it looked like it was melting over it. Like Protototype One, all this aluminium bodywork was hand-formed from aluminium and finely finished.
The pipes were another set of sand-bent units and also ceramic coated, as per Prototype One. Induction was via the stock carbies, but the filters were replaced with a trio of velocity stacks that Auto Fabrica 3D-printed.
Clip-on bars, an Alcantara-trimmed seat, a Motogadget compact speedo and Brembo brake upgrade also featured on Prototype Three. Many of these features would also be applied to the ultimate roadgoing version of the Type 11 family - the Prototype Two.
‘Two’ for the Road Conceived as a road-legal version of Prototype One from the outset, Prototype Two combines most elements from that build, but includes features and finishes explored on Prototype Three; what Auto Fabrica calls “a beautiful combination of all the conceptual ideas” in one unit.
From the XSR900 base, Auto Fabrica mocked up the same fairing/fuel tank unit as Prototype One, but this time finished it in silver to provide greater contrast to the black carbon fibre rear section and seat unit.
A flush-mount headlight of the same size and type used on Prototype Three has been added, with the instrument pod mounted similarly to Prototype One, but unlike the racer, the fuel cap on Prototype Two is of the conventional type, positioned under a flip-up lid at the rear of the tank.
Indicators have been added, too, even though they’re hard to pick, while the BST carbon fibre wheels and Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa V2 hoops have been carried over from the racer. Also from Prototype One are the customised, black-finished Ohlins suspension units, with FGRT forks shortened 50mm to suit the stance, and the STX45 rear shock bobbed for the same reason.
PFM floating 330mm front brake discs and Brembo calipers feature, as do Renthal clip-ons, K&N open air filters and those sinuous hand-formed exhaust pipes. As well as the pipes, parts designed and manufactured by Auto Fabrica for Prototype Two include the billet aluminium triple trees, subframe, minimalist front mudguard, carbon fibre seat unit and rear light unit.
The radiator cover and other selected parts are also bespoke, designed and 3D-printed in-house using a combination of carbon fibre and nylon that’s said to be 20 per cent stronger and 40 per cent stiffer than a plastic equivalent.
As with the Prototype One, that brawny Yamaha 847cc triple has been left unaltered, bar the addition of K&N filters. Although the performance of Prototype Two has yet to be tested, stripping back the factory parts and adding the open pipes and freer-breathing air filters would likely result in a little more grunt than the XSR900’s stock 84.6kW and 87.5Nm.
“Seeing this project evolve has been something really special for us,” said Antoin Clemont, Motorcycle Product Manager for Yamaha Motor Europe. “This went from a beautiful idea with a great bike to three incredible creations that speak to everything Yamaha’s Yard Built platform represents.”
. . . .and for Sale Reaction to Prototype Two has been so great that Auto Fabrica will use this creation as the basis for a limited production run of similar machines.
The actual numbers to be built and per-unit pricing are yet to be confirmed, but with the sort of CAD and 3D printing technologies at Auto Fabrica’s disposal, the ability for customers to have a broad range of finishes, materials, colours and bespoke design touches incorporated means that pricing, as with any tailor-made motorcycle, will very much depend on individual requirements
With orders already in place, the first units are expected to be completed later this year.“That the Prototype Two is going to find its way into enthusiasts’ hands is thrilling,” said Clemont. “So often, these are one-off pieces, so knowing that this bike will be ridden out there in the real world, by people with a love for unique design, is something we can all get a kick out of.”
To see more of the Prototype Two and Auto Fabrica’s other builds, go to: autofabrica.com
Words: Mike Ryan Photos: Yamaha Europe