To say the Yamaha XT500 is a legendary bike would be an understatement. More than 40 years later, it is still one of the best thumpers in motorcycle history. After winning the Paris to Dakar rally shortly after its release in 1976, it paved the way for future enduro and off-road bikes. But what if it was released today as a larger capacity scrambler" Jesper Johansen from Slowbuilt in Copenhagen, Denmark, wanted to build a larger capacity XT with all the retro cues of the original classic ? only bigger. ?I always loved twin shocks dirt bikes,? he explains. ?Especially the Yamaha XT500 and HL500 ? had a few over the years, especially the white 1976 model XT with the iconic tank decals.?

Slowbuilt is a small custom shop based in the heart of Copenhagen. Jesper named it after his personal mantra: good things take time. ?I don?t want to rush the builds because the best things take time. I mainly do custom modifications and service on older metric bikes.?
Jesper has an impressive stash of motorcycles ? over 12 at the moment ? and one of these bikes turned out to be the perfect donor for his supersized XT project. ?In my garage was a Yamaha XV920 Virago rat bike with a XV1100 engine that I found 4 years ago and didn?t know which way to go with it.? After playing around with it in Photoshop, Jesper decided the monster XXXT would work. ?The aesthetic and proportions were really important to me. That?s why I built it in Photoshop first. Nice to know if the idea works or not.?...