If you live in the USA, you probably won?t have seen the Yamaha MT-125. But the mini ?hyper naked? is popular in Europe with younger riders and city commuters, where it?s an alternative to the Honda Grom and Kawasaki Z125 Pro.
The MT-125 is loosely based on the more familiar YZF-R125, with a high-revving 15 hp single, a six-speed ?box, and a top speed of around 80 mph. Performance is peppy, build quality is high, and weight is low?a mere 138 kg (304 pounds).

Dirk Oehlerking, owner of Kingston Custom, is a fan.
He built ?Young Star? for Yamaha Motor Germany, and we?re betting they were surprised when Dirk said he wanted to build an MT-125, rather than the MT-07 or MT-09 chosen by most customizers.

?I wanted to build a beginner bike for youngsters and the young at heart,? he says. ?A small tracker whose conversion costs should not exceed ?1,000 [US$1,130].? ?There are only a few bike builders in Europe who dare to ride small motorcycles. In Europe, almost nothing under 400 cc is offered,? Dirk points out. ?But one of the co-founders of the custom scene, Deus Ex Machina, rebuilt a Yamaha XT250 ten years ago.?

Dirk decided to go for a ?beach tracker? vibe, and it suits the little MT-125 perfectly. ?I took the bike apart, removed the seat and stripped the frame at the rear.?
?In the workshop I had a Storz flat tracker seat, which was perfectly tailored for the Yamaha?I just had to adjust it a bit. And wow, the optics fitted perfectly with the original tank cover. Alrea...