‘80 Yamaha XV750 – Open Road Cycles

Written by Marlon Slack.

Australia receives a lot of things from South Africa – their wine, their rugby team and occasionally, nervous men sweating their way through customs with cocaine in their bum. But this time around we’re lucky enough to be sent Jacques Pieters – a former carpenter who is turning his hand at creating custom bikes under the guise of Open Road Cycles in Perth, Western Australia. Featured here is his first build in his new country – a distinctive 1980 Yamaha XV750 dubbed ‘The Dirty Mexican’ that draws together a host of interesting themes to make a tracker that, while it might not be able to jump any borders, certainly turns a few heads.

After exchanging the orange-and-red barren landscape of South Africa for the orange-and-red barren landscape of Western Australia, Jacques killed some time by trawling Gumtree – the Australian version of Craigslist. In between ads for stolen dirt bikes and late night meet-ups in public toilets he found the old XV Yamaha and decided to build it into something suitable to wheel out for the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride. A frantic rush to get the bike ready meant the upholstery was left until an hour before he was due to leave – Jacques found some material emblazoned with Mexican art hanging around from a bike he’d built back home and laid it over the seat. It drew some appreciation from the crowd and someone on the ride dubbed the Yamaha ‘The Dirty Mexican’. The name stuck.

After the DGR the Yamaha was stripped down for a more calculated, careful build. Despite how effortless and proportionate this XV looks it’s no small task to turn a porky 80’s cruiser into a lean-looking custom. To this end Jacques enlisted the help of a few small custom workshops and some advice from the ever-helpful guru of XV’s – Greg from Hageman Cycles. Jacques wanted to build something in that vein… but a little rougher and a little more ‘out there’ than the usual polished café racer.

While the XV was being stripped down the bike underwent all the usual upgrades and modifications you’d expect in a fastidious build. It had new wheel bearings fitted, new brakes and brake lines and a new headlight and fork gaiters, controls, grips and turn signals.

The wiring loom was stripped back and simplified. The engine was painted, the notoriously unreliable stater replaced, new VM34 Mikuni carburettors fitted and a custom-made slim-line exhaust and air filter mounts. The existing subframe was modified and painted along with the frame and swingarm. Compared to the rest of the work, that’s all the easy stuff.

The front wheel is actually an XV rear, modified to fit so it could run a wider tyre. The tank was altered by Jacques with the help of Sideshow Cycles who also helped with a one-off front fender and the raised lines that run through both.

The rear fender was also modified, rearsets fitted and then finally the paint scheme was completed. The deep red flake and candy job with gold lettering took ‘countless hours’ according to Jacques (who received help from local shop Custom Modifications) and I don’t doubt him. It was clearly worth every second.

The end result is a bike that’s hard to fit in any particular category. It’s got the basic outline of a tracker – with its high pipes, bars, and knobby tyres – but it also has rearsets and a low-mounted front fender. The strong metal flake and gold lettering brings to mind an LA bobber while the seat fabric that gave the bike its name points to an origin further south.

All of it comes together to make a distinctive, beautiful bike that balances the bombastic paint scheme with just enough patina to make it work. Open Road Cycles are currently working on another XV – a 1000 this time – and I’m hoping they’ll be able to produce another Japanese V-twin custom that’s as well-crafted and histrionic as this one.

[Photos by Manny Tamayo]

via PIPEBURN