Istanbul-based brothers Mert and Can Uzer are known for their sleek, super-clean custom builds, but their latest creation has a surprisingly practical mien.
The commission came from Kerem, a customer living in the ancient city of Adana. A nine-hour ride south from Bunker?s workshop, it?s near the border with Syria and is one of the world?s oldest recorded settlements. It?s also a place where temperatures can reach a sweltering 45 °C (114 °F) in summer.

?The upside of living in Adana is that it?s next to Turkey?s largest and lowest plain,? says Mert, ?and surrounded by the Toros Mountains?which have beautiful pine forests and charming roads.?
Kerem?s brief was simple: he needed a reliable, single-cylinder bike to escape the summer heat. He?d be using it for camping and exploring the high-altitude mountains, and for his daily commute in Adana in the winter.
Mert and Can chose a 2007 Yamaha XT660?the ?R? version, which has a 21-inch front wheel rather than the 17-inch hoop found on the supermoto-themed ?X.? It?s powered by a 47 hp SOHC single, which is durable rather than exciting, and let down only by its low-speed fueling. (After all, the plains of southern Turkey are not the right place to test reliability.)
?First we had to get the engine ready,? says Mert. ?Although the XT660 has a really ?proven? engine, we used K&N filters and a Power Commander to retune the leanness at low revs.?

Next up was a call to SC Project. The Italian specialist supplied a mu...