We all have our inclinations, preferences, and particular predilections. In custom motorcycle circles, a BMW boxer or Triumph Bonneville are considered mainstream choices, while unlikely donors present a more left-field option. Yamaha?s Virago is one such machine?but it’s not enough of an outlier for Jimbo Turner.
Jimbo reserves his fervor for only one variant of the XV1000?the Yamaha TR1. He didn?t discover his kink straight away; dalliances with a rigid Yamaha XS650, a Honda CB, a Ducati Monster, and more were explored before he found his two-wheeled soulmate. But once he discovered the TR1, his bike-building exploits were elevated to a whole new level.

This playful Yamaha TR1 café racer is the self-taught custom builder’s second TR1. His first, which debuted at the 2022 Bike Shed Show in London, featured a new front-end, home-made pie-cut exhaust, and Ducati Scrambler fuel tank. But it failed to sufficiently scratch Jimbo’s itch. He had learned so much in regards to his new muse, that he had to do another. Soon enough, he had sourced an engine from Holland to pair with the spare frame he had acquired along the journey of that first build. With the ambition to improve on what he had done before, he set a deadline for the 2023 Bike Shed show.

The first decision to make was what to repeat. The TR1 frame has been successfully graced by many different fuel tanks, but to Jimbo, the Ducati Scrambler item adorning his first build (which was plucked from ...