Written by Andrew Jones
Vincent?s brief for his new custom bike was as quick as it was poetic. Leaning on the corner of his French bar, his hand-drawn sketch showing a classic early 70s scrambler was handed to Yann from BCKustoms with a smile, a handshake and a deposit. A true biker, 60-year-old Vincent looked back fondly on his memories from that time and had decided that he wanted to create an homage of sorts to the era, sans the prerequisite expense and maintenance involved with the real deal. It was increasingly looking like Yann?s collection of rusty Yamaha XS500 parts might come in handy after all.

?The idea was to build a ?new? bike,? begins Yann. ?New in the sense that it would soak up all the tears and scratches off-roading brings without too much stress for Vincent. We also wanted a create a race bike that was built for road use and not the opposite way around. Hence the choice of placing the headlight on one side. It’s not a road bike that has been made to look like a scrambler, but rather a scrambler that’s been made roadworthy while still being capable of racing in a field and, if requested, crossing a small river.?
Yann’s old barn-find Yamaha XS500 parts, minus the engine, were sent off for sandblasting to ensure he had a clean base to start things off. Then he grabbed the Mash 400 tank off his own McQueen-inspired Scrambler project, after realising that its rounded design and vintage look would suit this new project perfectly.

?Hell, is...