Yamaha TRX850 is one of our favorite motorcycle anomalies. It was built in the mid-90s, when Japanese brands tried to dominate the European market by injecting Italian flair into their sports cars. The TRX850’s trellis frame, three-spoke wheels and sculpted fuel tank have a distinctly Ducati feel, but the parallel twin engine and angular tail reveal its Japanese heritage.
Although it didn’t really explode the market when it launched, Yamaha TRX850 has finally found its place in the ‘if you know, you know’ second hand market. Old enough to be considered a true classic, it offers a fun ride and timeless ’90s swagger without breaking the bank.
Those qualities also make the TRX a prime candidate for customization—or, as Holger Breuer masterfully demonstrated with his latest project, a great candidate for refinement. fix.
Is ‘HB’ in German HB-Custom, most of Holger’s projects are complete custom jobs. However, the owner of this 1996 Yamaha TRX850 has owned the bike for several years and is more interested in restoring it than tearing it apart. That said, there are a few areas he feels need improvement, starting with the TRX850’s massive rear end.
Holger removed all of the rear plastic, then cut off the end of the subframe and fabricated a new loop. Next, he hand-shaped an elegant cafe racer rear end out of aluminum. It sits neatly on the Yamaha frame, extending forward to form a harmonious connection with the fuel tank.
The original fuel tank, fairing and front fender of the TRX850 are still used at the customer’s request. Holger replaced the OEM windshield with a tinted windshield from MRA Racing and swapped the bulky turn signals for slimmer LEDs. The rear signals are mounted to a new, cleaner tail rack, with Highsider LED taillights placed in a French style in the tail section.
Despite the lack of major cosmetic changes, Holger still has his work cut out for him. “The bike was stripped down to the last screw and refurbished,” he tells us. “For the first time, I realized that restoration takes a lot more time than a custom bike.”
At least getting genuine Yamaha parts for the bike proved easy enough. Holger refurbished the OEM wheels, forks, and brakes, and upgraded the rear end with braided stainless steel tubing. A new YSS shock now sits at the rear.
Holger also kept the original controls, switches and control panel but swapped the battery for a smaller Lithium-ion unit. It now resides under the rear of the car, along with the car’s other important electrical components.
As a testament to Yamaha’s reliability, the TRX850’s 28-year-old engine needs nothing more than maintenance to keep it running well. Holger modified the exhaust to feed into a pair of Storm mufflers that are shorter and lighter than the stock exhaust, and tuned the carburetor to optimize the car’s performance.
Holger had complete freedom when it came to the color of the bike. Since his client is a die-hard Yamaha fan, he took inspiration from the classic FZR paint scheme to create a paint scheme that, while not technically an original Yamaha design, certainly feels period-appropriate.
While we’ve seen wilder builds from HB-Custom, we welcome the restraint shown in this project. The proportions are perfect, the graphics are great and the balance between old and new parts is perfect. If we had a Yamaha TRX850 in our garage right now, we’d be hard-pressed not to follow the same formula.
HB-Custom | Instagram | Image by Emayat Wahab
