A half-chopped Yamaha, a head full of crazy ideas and a friendly wager: those were the ingredients for Jorge Rodrigues’ first build. And the results are pretty tasty.
Jorge is a director at a software firm in Portugal?but more importantly, he’s a motorcyclist who’s always wanted to build a custom bike. So he sourced a 1998 Yamaha XJR 1200 and got busy.

?The Yamaha XJR has one defining characteristic: its engine,? he says. ?This build had to be done around the engine, it had to exude power and show it, shed a ton of weight, be comfortable enough to ride all day and have a classic look. The ‘BMW R nineT‘ that Yamaha could have built.?
Jorge now calls his bike the ‘Yamaha XJR9T’?but getting it there was no easy task.
?When I bought it last year, it was already partially converted to a cafe racer. But with cheap parts, bad electrics, and a very bad paint job,? he explains. ?The only parts that are left from the ‘original’ bike are the engine, frame and swing arm. Everything else is new.?
Reinforcements were called in: Pedro Bacalhau from Lab Motorcycle, and Francisco Castro Ribeiro from RNM. Jorge would handle the design, order all the requisite parts, revamp the engine and carbs and handle final touches like cable routing. Lab were responsible for the paint, electrics, fabrication and assembly; and RNM tackled suspension, wheels and brakes.

Focusing on aesthetics, Jorge wanted a new fuel tank that would give the XJR...