2007 Yamaha YZF-R1 - Rolling Retro

Take a look at this bike, and just for now ignore its graceful lines and concentrate more on what's going on within the monochromatic paint scheme. The airbrushing shows Yamaha riders from the company's most successful era in American roadracing. For every season from 1972 until 1984, Yamaha totally dominated Daytona. During those 13 years racers, from all-American hero Kenny Roberts to international legend Giacomo Agostini, won the world-famous 200-mile race aboard a Yamaha.

As tribute, a Californian by the name of Carlos Avelar recently built this custom Yamaha YZF-R1. If you know your motorcycle history then you'll have already recognized the race numbers of those two-wheeled legends depicted within the paint job. All of this has me wondering something...did I miss the news? Did something happen to Yamaha?

Seriously, every time there's a retrospective, it's because what it's celebrating is over, done and dusted. Think about it; whenever a big band calls it a day, there's always those "Best of" CDs doing the rounds. And we've all seen the tribu-mentaries that follow the demise of any remotely recognizable name in the entertainment community. So Carlos, what the hell happened to Yamaha?

"They gave me a bike."

Ahh, OK. There you have it. Rumors of Yamaha's demise have been greatly exaggerated, and Carlos just figured this was a nice way of thanking the company for the bike sponsorship.

Just how Carlos got Yamaha North America to give him a bike to use as the base for his custom build is going to remain a tantalizing secret. Equally intriguing is how he managed to score all of the other parts on the bike that also came as part of a sponsorship agreement. There can't be too many disappointed partners, though, considering it was shot for this magazine feature only days after completion.

At the front is a Cyko Racing chrome wheel wearing an Avon tire that's been set into a fully chromed front end that's also been dropped an inch and a half for the smooth, slammed look. Carlos then added multi-colored LEDs (which are hidden all over the bike) inside the regular light housings. LEDs aren't uncommon on customs, but Carlos went the extra distance with his set-up. He took the standard Yamaha light housings apart and had the alloy reflectors chromed so that when he fires up his LEDs their visibility is magnified intensely.

The rider's view of the fork tops has been tidied up greatly, too. Everything has been chromed and top-covers were fitted to match the look of the handlebar grips and bar ends. There's also a TV monitor that's spring-loaded. The smart arrangement only takes a push for it to disappear into the gas tank, while another nudge makes it reappear.

The tank not only features the sick airbrushed paintwork, but it also incorporates Yamaha's tuning fork logos and the signature racing stripe running down the center. Carlos even managed to get some of the historic racers to autograph the tank checkers. Those Yamaha race stripes run down each side of the motorcycle too, from the belly pan right up through each side of the bike's re-worked tail section.