The Yamaha XJR1300 20th Anniversary Continues with Yard Built ‘Botafogo-N’. Following in the footsteps of the Wrenchmonkees Yard Built ‘Skullmonkee’ and itroCkS!bikes Yard Built ‘Dissident’ comes the first build from Numbnut Motorcycles.
The Amsterdam based custom collective are no strangers to Yamaha; situated in the Dutch city of Amsterdam, just a stone’s throw away from Yamaha Motor Europe headquarters. Having participated in many ride outs and biker activities in the area, it was only a matter of time before the Dutch builders collaborated with Yamaha on a Yard Built project. The result is a visceral racing machine with road friendly manners, a fitting tribute indeed to the XJR.
Inspired by a one-off 1917 FIAT racing car, the ‘Botafogo Special’, the Yard Built XJR1300 ‘Botafogo N-Type Special’ fits perfectly into the Yard Built family. The bike is an impressive custom machine built using a mix of in-house custom and aftermarket bolt-on parts with no cutting or welding to the original XJR frame.
Lead builder Roderick Seibert worked with Gannet Design to ensure the build has visual hints that pay homage to the 1917 race car, with purposeful looking satin black Boranni M-Ray wire wheels and Pirelli Phantom Sport tyres setting the period tone.
Adding to the vintage racing feel is a Numbnut custom aluminium gas cap and custom made mesh side panels and rear underseat panel. A Numbnut ‘Imola’ custom front fairing with mesh headlight cover hides a state of the art LED headlight at the front, set off in stunning light green paintwork by painter Mark van Wijk.
The bike gets a proper racing stance with Yamaha R1 forks, radial calipers and modified R1 fender at the front and Ohlins twin shocks at the rear. The stripped back racer look is further enhanced with Tygon 2375 clear brake reservoir hoses front and rear and all black Goodridge steel braided brake lines. Pro-bolt titanium brake disc bolts keep everything locked down.
A clever custom Numbnut primary socket cover lights up at the flick of a switch and Steel Dragon Performance aluminium velocity stacks and RF Biketech radiator provide some understated bling. A Stack ST200 tachometer keeps the rider up close and personal with the engine and Bike Sport Developments GP style control buttons get the action going next to Biltwell grips. Power is delivered to the back wheel with a 520 RK racing chain wrapped around Chiaravalli sprockets front and rear. A screaming custom matt black 4 into 2 exhaust by MVS Race Engineering provides a suitably raw soundtrack.
A host of in-house Numbnut custom parts finish the bike, including foot pegs, clutch and brake levers, heel guards, a custom alcantara seat by Eller Meyer and custom side and seat covers. To find out more, visit the numbnut motorcycles website.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7RALSeCtQg
all images and video courtesy of YAMAHA