Another concept supersport machine, but at the opposite end of the scale from the BMW we talked about yesterday on a number of fronts. Where the BMW Concept RR was a primped-up full-factory project, this is a labour of love, handbuilt over a couple of years by an artisan British custom bike builder, Marc Bell of Haxch Moto in Kent. Dubbed the XZR900 Thunderbolt, it’s based on a heavily-modified Yamaha XSR900 retro-roadster, reimagined as a homage to the Yamaha road and race supersports machinery of the 1980s and 90s.
The most striking part is the bodywork, which has strong echoes of the likes of Yamaha’s TZR250, FZR600/750/1000, YZF750 and YZR500 road and race machinery. Incredibly, it’s not fibreglass or plastic, but is made from thin, hand-shaped, aluminium sheets, formed using traditional tools like the English wheel and soft mallets. Hundreds of hours went into making template shapes from card, before cutting and forming the metal into the 3D panel shapes, and the result is stunning up close.
The classic retro paint rounds it off beautifully, too: pastel teal, blue and purple slashes on a white background tips a hat to the various peacock/cocktail colour schemes of the 1990s. Even the Thunderbolt graphic is retro styled, with a hint of the ‘Streetfighter’ video game logo.
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It’s not just all cosmetic either: the bodywork needed a whole set of bracketry fitted, and Bell went to extreme lengths to get the look right, relocating the rear subframe and removing standard cast frame mount points then renewing the factory finish. He’s also rejigged the chassis, pushing more weight over the front end for a sportier ride.
Dynamically, it’s got a mild engine tune for an extra 10 per cent power from an exhaust and stage one remap, and the chassis gets a British update, with Maxton suspension front and rear, and HEL four-piston front brake calipers, hoses and master cylinders. It’s currently not road legal, but Haxch Moto is working on a version with lights and an MOT, as well as developing a plastic fairing design (the aluminium panel production process is far too labour-intensive to be practical, and would cost tens of thousands of pounds to buy).
The bike itself was built in association with Yamaha UK, as part of the firm’s ‘Yard Built’ custom programme, so is sort of factory approved – though we’d not expect to see an official version: the XSR900 GP does much of the same job.
“I wanted to channel the soul of the 90s race era but deliver it with modern performance and craftsmanship, with factory build quality,” said Marc Bell, founder of Haxch Moto.
And Bell is now taking orders. More info at www.haxchmoto.com or follow @haxchmoto on Instagram.
PICS: @kanelayland
