?He was infuriated by the comment,? explains photographer Mark Meisner. ?So there was only one thing to do: Build a whole new bike around an engine!?
Maarten has two guidelines for his builds. He only ever works on Yamahas, and nearly always models that are hard to come by in The Netherlands.

The same goes for the eye-catching girder front end?which uses a pair of adjustable wheelchair shocks for damping.
Tucked into the frame are two handmade, stainless steel tanks?for fuel and oil. There’s some trick plumbing at play too: oil is fed from its tank through the frame itself.

The wiring’s been redone, with everything stashed in the seat or the headlight, which is a modified Kreidler Florett unit. Maarten’s sunk an aftermarket speedo in there, and installed a Bates-style taillight out back.
Naturally the engine and twin Mikuni carbs have been rebuilt too, and there’s a custom intake hooked up to a K&N filter originally designed for a Land Rover. A simple exhaust pipe from RVS wraps around the engine.

?He crashed and got two plates fixed inside him,? says Mark. ?Then he crashed again, and new plates had to be inserted during surgery. Now he’s learnt, and doesn’t race any more!?

The finishes are simple. A matte grey powder coat on the frame dominates what?s left of this XT550, punctuated by brass accents?from the homemade rearsets to the frame bolts.
Anyone still got any doubts about Maarten’s abilities"
Images by Ma...