Another XV!
So when our friend Jeremy Duchamp of JeremMotorcycles shared his modified Yamaha XV1000 TR-1 with us last year, we were over the moon! The Frenchman can’t seem to get enough of the Yamaha XV, so he spent over 240 hours in his shed brewing on another Yamaha XV project, this time is a XV750. We have to say that we were blown away by how this café racer turned out!

It goes without saying that the XV didn’t start of its life like this. Jeremie bought the 1983 XV750 about 1 year ago and it was not in a good shape, according to the craftsman. Each and every bolt was removed and replaced where necessary. The subframe and swingarm had sever corrosion and were removed and decluttered, after which they got sandblasted and powder coated in a gloss black finish.

Serious components
The front end of the XV received a serious upgrade. The front fork has been adopted from a Ducati Monster and was mated to a  Ducati Diavel front wheel. To make it all work , a custom triple clamp was made by USV Racing. Integrated into the top yoke is a KOSO speedo. The radial brakes are courtesy of Brembo and offer tremendous stopping power. The brake lines are of aviation grade quality too. On the clip-ons we find CNC’ed micro switches. All the switches and electrics have been connected to an M-Unit by MotoGadget. Talking about electrics, the café racer received an LED headlight, mini front indicators, and a tail light that appears to be floating, pretty neat! All of this is powered by a Solise lightweight Lithium battery which has been placed underneath the tank.

Moving towards the back of the Yamaha, we can see some serious eye-candy. The rear wheel is an absolute stunner, with the closed rim giving it an old-school racer look. A custom rear-set ensures the rider maintains full control. The rear shock comes off an MV Agusta 800 and has a custom mounting system. The single seat has been built to spec by “Point Sellier 34”, in a beautiful black leather finish with a colour matching piping.

Engine Refreshment
The engine wasn’t up to snuff to begin with, so Jeremie decided to replace it completely by a unit with a lower mileage. With less than 10.000 km on the clock it definitely was a lot fresher. From there it was simple. Replace the original carburettors with a pair of Dellorto PHF32’s, open air-filters, and get the lot tuned by “Les Belled d’Oc” in Béziers, France. To let all the gases out in an efficient way, a custom exhaust was made in the JeremMotorcycles workshop.

Green by AUDI
To finish this custom project off, the engine received a fresh coat of paint, and the fuel tank got painted in a lush AUDI green paint. The fuel tank also received a protective KEVLAR layer underneath to protect against any unwanted influences. There are little easter eggs hidden all over this build; JM logo’s are engraved or painted in countless places, most notably on those Metzeler tires.

Putting all things together, we can’t imagine how Jeremie completed this build in only 240 hours. It is truly impressive, and we hope that someday we can see and hear this beautiful café racer rip the streets of France, in real-life.

Photo Credits: Jonathan Silene

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Lately we have been seeing a trend in the café racer scene. More and more builders are starting to look at the venerable Honda CB 750 to use as a base bike. We think that this could be the revival of the Honda café racers and we are digging it! Don’t get me wrong, we love seeing Triumphs, BMW’s and Moto Guzzi’s being chopped and rebuilt into tasty café racers and scramblers. But there is something about the shape and style of a JDM inline-four that catches our interest. After all, they did deliver super-bike performance for moped prices back in the day.

You may remember the name Jeremy Duchampt from some time ago. The Frenchman is responsible for two Ducati’s and a Yamaha TR-1 that we featured here on BikeBrewers not so long ago. When we received a message from the main man behind Jerem Motorcycles that he had built a Honda CB 750 Rothmans café racer, we got warm and fuzzy feelings in our bellies; we knew it had to be good! Oh boy were we in for a treat. This Honda is so elegant, the proportions are so well-balanced, it looks like the CB is doing 100 mph at stand still!

The foundation of this project is a Honda CB 750 F2, as it is officially called. A model which was produced by Honda from 1992 all the way up to 2007(!). Honda’s R&D department must have been very pleased with this, no doubt. On paper, the CB 750 produced around 75 hp and 65 Nm of torque, with a claimed weight of around 210 kg. No mind boggling specs, but there is more to it. The Seven Fifty stands out in it’s a simplicity, reliability, and overall reputation of being bulletproof.

What Jeremy did to this bike is extraordinary. The list of modifications is long, so here’s a brief summary.

• Custom front fender
• Modified subframe
• Custom café racer leather and Alcantara seat with stitching (Irina: Point saddler 34)
• Custom made cowl with integrated LED taillight (FFPro Design)
• LED bar-end indicators
• Bar-end mirrors
• LED vintage-style, round yellow headlight with custom brackets
• Keyless ignition (KAIROS RFID)
• Vintage speedo (FIVEACES)
• Laser-cut top triple clamp yoke (USVracing)
• Clip-ons with brown handlebar grips
• BREMBO brake master cylinder and levers
• Powder coated rims
• Modified rear shock absorber
• Air box removed to with DNA pod filters
• Blacked out engine, frame and swingarm
• Custom 4-in-1 exhaust
• Carb tuning
• Custom painting Rothmans Style (FFPro Design)

The way this café racer turned out is mesmerising. Growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, cigarette companies often sponsored race teams, one of which was Honda. Who remembers the NSR250, NSR500 or RC30? This Rothmans inspired design brings back memories of those days, where small displacement, high revving engines dominated the tracks and the streets. It’s not a secret that we would love to get our hands on this Honda. For now, we have to do with the pictures.

Builder details:
Jerem Motorcycles
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V-Twin

Cult-Classic
Due to its unpopularity at the time, the XV slowly started to grow a cult-like following. Being an underdog, second-hand XV’s have been up for grabs for beer money, and it soon became the custom builder’s base bike of choice; with its narrow frame, short wheel-base, easy to work on engine, and Japanese build quality. No surprise that we at BikeBrewers have featured modified XV’s over a dozen time!

Jerem Motorcycles
We have seen what France-based Jeremie Duchampt of Jerem Motorcycles is capable off in the past. This time, he did his magic on the venerable Yamaha XV 1000 TR-1. The bike he used was a neat looking 1982 model. All stock and original. Jeremie first took the entire motorcycle apart, replacing each and every bolt and bearing. The first modifications were done to swingarm and subframe. The swingarm got cleaned-up by removing any unnecessary tabs, and the rear-subframe was swapped out for an in-house made unit. After that, both parts received a sandblast and a fresh coat of black gloss paint.

Cannibal
At the front things have become a bit more serious. The front end of the Yama was swapped out for a fork and front wheel from a Kawasaki ZX6R Ninja. The same goes for the Tokico radial calliper brakes. Combined with a Brembo master brake cylinder and steel-braided hoses, they give the old TR-1 some incredible stopping power. Visibility is provided by LED lights at the front and rear, as well as LED indicators all around. A KOSO speedo gives all the necessary info whilst maintaining a minimalistic look. The rear wheel is a unit from a 2006 Suzuki SV 650, and is now being offered traction by a Sachs rear shock which was cannibalised from an MV Agusta.

The engine received a rebuild and was tuned on a dyno by Thorn Bike, not that it was necessary, but more for peace of mind. The carburettors were rebuilt as well, and are now mated to a Harley-Davidson air-filter. The piece-de-resistance has to be the exhaust system. Built by hand in the Jerem Motorcycles workshop, it looks like a piece of art. Other eye candy has to be the handmade seat. Made by Point Sellier 34, it fits the XV like a glove.

Digital meets Analog
Although the build was kept minimalistic, there are a ton of details on this bike. The original fuel tank was replaced with another Yamaha fuel tank, one from an XV750. It got slightly modified to accommodate a Motogadget fuel sensor. Special paint with Stardust glitter finish and 12 layers of clear coat was done by the folks at A2F. Underneath the fuel tank, a light weight Solise lithium battery is housed, together with the M-unit. The underside of the tank received KEVLAR protection.

Finally, a few more small details that leave a big impact. The bike has the JM Logo engraved on various part of the motorcycle, making it clear that Jeremie built this one. About 400 hours of labor has been put into this café racer, but the results, speak for themselves. We haven’t received any official specs, but it is safe to say that most of the original 70hp and 80Nm of torque are now available on tap. Combined with the heavy weight reduction… If we were in France, we would surely drop by to check this build out. In the meantime, we will have to make do with the pictures Jeremie sent us.

Builder details:
Jerem Motorcycles
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We recently shared the first part of Daan Stafhorst’s Alaskan adventure. Daan is the Dutchman residing in New York from where he shares his motorcycles stories with all of us.

On a recent motorcycle road trip between San Francisco and Los Angeles, Daan ran into another Dutch biker. Turns out they were in the same year at University. This old pal decided to give up his well paid job and head out for the great unknown.

He flew to Portland Oregon, got himself a Kawasaki KLR 650 and set out for a year-long trip all the way south to Patagonia.

Daan connected us with Koen Theeuwis who agreed to be our correspondent on during his trip.

This is his personal introduction and the reasons why he decided to follow his dream. We welcome him aboard and look forward to sharing his adventures with all of you.

The BikeBrewers’ editorial team
—–

Beloved Motorcycle Enthusiasts,

Let me start with a short introduction about myself, before we get to the important topics.

My name is Koen, a typical Dutch name, (I guess my parents never meant for me to go abroad) but still, as it means ‘brave’ it is a name I wear with pride. I was born and raised in the Netherlands. I studied Business and Finance (which I still love), but around 10 years ago I discovered my greatest interest: people and their different cultures.

There’s only one thing allows you to truly experience people and their cultures to its fullest; travelling.

So this is what I decided to go for. Now you may think to yourself: ‘I’m on a bloody motorcycle blog, what do I care about this guy loving people, I want the smell of gasoline and roaring engines’. Good thought, keep it, we’ll get there in a sec.

How was this dream born?
During my studies in Rotterdam, I did an exchange in Istanbul and an internship in Nigeria. That fuelled my ‘wanderlust’ (terrible term, I agree) even more. So before starting work in the Consulting sector, I travelled South-East Asia for 6 months and lived a life of total freedom and with absence of busy schedules and ‘important’ meetings. This is where my love for two wheels started spinning. After renting all kinds of motorbikes in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia I was headed for Vietnam.

 
Inspired by a four wheel guru
The great Jeremy Clarkson (of ‘Top Gear’ fame) inspired me to buy my own motorbike , as he and his Top Gear buddies did the craziest things all over the world using all sorts of vehicles.

For a mere $ 250 I bought a Chinese rip-off version of a Honda Win. Packed with no less than 110 ccs of pure power and beauty (..). Who needs a licence, insurance or lessons? Not me! I rode it from all the way from Ho Chi Minh down the Mekong Delta and back up to Hanoi. After these 4000 km / 2500 miles I was hooked for life. Infected by the motorcycle virus, it was clear that the motorbike was going to be my means of transport to explore the world.

In hindsight riding Vietnam without any preparation was of course rather irresponsible (sorry mom, we’ll talk about this later). So after I came home, I came to my senses and realised I should actually get a licence. Of course I purchased a bike as well. The second ‘moto’ love of my life was a customized Kawasaki CSR 305. It wasn’t fast, but it looked amazing and sounded even better.

[INSERT CAFE RACER VIDEO]

While riding in Vietnam I promised myself I would make a big trip on a motorbike, before I turned 30. When I learned about the Pan-American Highway I instantly knew this was going to be the next one up.

Finding the right moment
But as with most dreams, regular life kind of got in the way. My career was going well and I really enjoyed what I did (after Consulting I worked for Kraft Heinz, who doesn’t like to sell all 52 varieties of ketchup?). However, the itch for an adventure trip kept creeping up.

But when is the right time? One thing I learned: there is never a good time. You just have to go for it. I luckily did manage to find a slot that was less ‘bad’ than others. The actual planning started in February (2021), I informed my employer in April I needed a year off and decided on leaving last September (2021).

I was finally going to do it! Maybe not finish before turning 30, but starting it, for sure!

Preparations
In daily life I am a very organized person, but when traveling I prefer to go without a plan as much as possible and let things just come my way as they do.
There were a few things that required my attention:
1. COVID – needed to wait for vaccinations, hence my leave date in September. Otherwise I would have started in Alaska in July
2. Route – I wanted to make sure it was actually possible to ride my bike all the way. Turns out, it is not. But there’s solutions
3. Motorbike – was I able to legally ride a motorbike in all the countries on my route? With an American vehicle, yes. Any Latin / South American vehicle was probably going to raise questions of border officials at some point. This thus also concluded my starting country
4. Starting point – I have a good friend in Vancouver (Washington state, just North of Portland) who rides bikes as well. Figured it would be helpful to start somewhere where I had a ‘guide’
5. Other ‘trivialities’ – insurance, vaccinations, luggage, visas, other documents, etc. Will not go into the boring details here, but please find my contact details below if you have any questions.

In my next blog I will write about my arrival in the US and all the hoops I had to jump through to actually start riding. Sneak preview: it was a success, see my monster below. Stay tuned!

[INSERT KAWASABI PHOTO]

Contact
By great demand (;)) I started using Instagram, feel free to follow me on a more day-to-day basis: koentheeuwes
If you have any more specific questions you can reach out there or send me an email at koen.theeuwes@gmail.com. Happy to answer / help!

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