\\ YAMAHA XV950 BOARD TRACKER

Yamaha headed down through southern Europe to a workshop just outside Malaga in Spain for this latest Yard Built creation. Tucked away in the sun soaked streets of San Pedro, Anthony Partridges workshop where they built their first ever Yard Built project. The result is a true showstopper, paying tribute to the board track racers of 100 years ago. An impressive mix of custom, one-off and bolt on parts are beautifully crafted together to become the Yard Built XV950 ‘Playa del Rey’.

This Yardbuilt build required all the skills and creativity of Anthony Partridge who worked  his  magic  with  metal,  making  the  beautiful  tank by  hand  as  well as several other trick parts; master technician Kurt used his electrical genius  to  ensure  ‘Playa  del  Rey’s’  stunning  switch  gear  is  function  as  well  as  form.

No Yard Built is complete without a memorable paint job and the Anthonys  build  is  no  exception.  Paint  wizard  Ray  Hill  once again added  the  finishing  touch  with  a  beautiful  colour  scheme  and  intricate  pin  striping  as  well  as contributing to the bodywork and finalising of the build.

Inspired by the board track race scene, the Yamaha XV950 is a really fun bike to ride with its punchy v-­‐twin motor. The design is timeless, paying tribute to the cool custom machines of the old school race scene but complemented with modern components for reliability and class leading performance. This combination of new and old mixed together is something we saw in the work of Anthony’s previous builds,” commented Yamaha Motor Europe Product Manager, Shun Miyazawa. “As a result we knew they were the right people to take on the latest XV950 Yard Built project and the result is amazing. They’ve kept all the fun of the standard bike, but shown you can use it as a base to easily build something iconic with a perfect blend of vintage and modern without compromising the ride.”

Anthony was determined that no matter how crazy the build, they still wanted XV950 owners to be able to have a taste of ‘Playa del Ray’ for themselves. As a result an impressive list of custom machined billet bolt on parts were created. These include the stunning front and rear 21inch rims (also available in original size), the rear pulley with cush drive system, the plexi-­‐glass see through cam gear cover, left side crankcase cover and right side generator cover. The small right side cover and front pulley cover were also machined and an air filter adapter plate was created to go with a cool Crime Scene Choppers air filter cover

Of  course  as  a  one-­‐off  Yard  Built  project  there  are  also  some  unique,  bespoke  parts created by Anthony just for the build. These include the beautiful handmade fuel  tank,  both  the  electrical  and  battery  side  panels  and  the  rear fender, and a modified swingarm all hand built also the standard Yamaha XV950 headers flow into a one-­‐off custom collector before making noise at the end with a modified MIVV Ghibli Silencer. Although you can see it Anthony also fabbed up a tidy little custom battery box to hold the lithium battery that is hidden internally and the XV handlebars were modified ols Sportster bars to deliver  a genuine board tracker look. The custom work  continues  with  stunning  custom  foot  peg  adapters,  a  front  bash  guard  and  a modified wiring loom.

Continuing  the  theme  of  Yard  Built  concepts  that  can  be  created  at  home,  the  ‘Playa  del  Rey’  build  is  completed  with  a  selection  of  the  finest  custom aftermarket  parts.  The  show  stopping  springer  front  fork  comes  courtesy  of  Rebufini  with  some  minor  modification  by  Anthonys team whilst  the rear gets a set of Ohlins shocks to settle the ride.

The fuel cap was custom made by the  legendary  Crafty  B  in  the  USA  and  the  rocker  cover  was  hand  engraved  locally by Tony the Engraver! A Vitys headlight and grips add attitude at the front and mini hand controls and switch housings by Rebuffini set it off. 

Rizoma make an appearance with Bullet indicators and foot pegs and a Motogadget speedo and housing  take  centre  stage.  Stopping  power  gets  an  upgrade  up  front  with  PM  calipers and a set of risers by LA Choppers adds to the west coast vibe.

All in all this is one of the most detailed and thorough Yamaha Yardbuilt build we have seen to date and we are pleased to say that not only does this thing look amazing but with Anthony on board it seems to ride like a it was built to race!

- Thanks to Gavin Matheson for the words and Yamaha Press for the photographs.