Tell us a bit about the bikes on the trip. The donor bikes are both Yamaha Bisons, a pretty popular 150cc commuter bike here in Indonesia. Yamaha gave us two to customize. I think they expected us to make some slick café racers, but we made all terrain dirt bikes with a vintage aesthetic instead, ha ha.
The boys in the ‘bengkel’ (Indonesian for workshop) made quick work of stripping them down. Here’s a little run through of what we did to them.
Harrison’s bike We did quite a few engine mods to get a lot more bite outta the little 150cc engine. A camshaft mod, a bore up to 200cc, and some valve work. We also changed the gearing to get more out of the low end, to suit the off-road riding they would be doing.
The whole frame has been custom rebuilt. It’s got the upside down forks from a YZ250 and the back springs are Öhlins YA917s. Up top we have Renthal handlebars, the tank is from a DR650, and the seat was custom shaped and wrapped.
The rims and tires are 21” by 140 in the front and 18” by 215 in the rear. Sounds are provided by a custom-built exhaust and muffler.
Zye’s bike Zye’s bike had pretty much the same treatment when it came to performance, just a few minor differences. The forks are from a Honda CR250, and the tank was alloy and custom made here at the Temple.
Agi’s bike Our friend Agi Agassi also came onto the project. He’s a three-time MX2 Indonesian motocross champ and a great enduro rider.
We wanted his Husky WR250, a two-stroke enduro bike, to keep one hundred percent of its functionality—but to give it a solid Deus makeover. So we rebuilt the sub-frame and gave it a custom seat and hand made alloy tank.
The engine just got a few little mods to give it more torque. We also had to make up a couple of custom alloy radiator guards, since we had taken its protective plastics off. Then we stripped it of everything it didn’t need and gave it some vintage looking Acerbis plastics for the fenders.
Forrest’s bike Forrest Minchinton is a friend of ours from California who decided to do the last minute trip to Bali. We just so happened to be going up to the volcano that weekend, and he decided to tag along.
Being from Cali, Forrest is a great desert rider. The only problem was that we didn’t have a bike for him to ride. So we ended up taking an older Husqvarna TE250 we built a few years ago.
We had built and sold the bike, but the buyer decided it had too much power for the streets of Bali, and left it to be sold in the Deus showroom.
So we grabbed it at the last minute and stripped it down, built a new sub-frame, and put the original exhaust back on with a few minor bends to fit. The original 18” and 21” rims were fitted back on, and we then gave it a set of Acerbis fenders. That was pretty much it for the cosmetics. We also adjusted the suspension and gearing to lean more towards off-road riding.
All the bikes were built at our workshop here at the Temple in Bali. We were surprised by how well the Yamaha Bisons held up—they got put through a lot of abuse but just kept ticking. Both the Huskies, with their mods, held up pretty well too, considering how hard they were ridden by the two more experienced riders.
Now that South to Sian’s been released, what’s next? We actually just wrapped up a shoot with a cool independent motorcycle magazine from the States called META. The project is called ‘Membah’ and is getting released in November. So look out for that.
After that? I don’t really know, but I’m starting to get itchy to do something.
South to Sian is now available to buy on iTunes | Watch the trailer on Vimeo | Visit the Deus Temple of Enthusiasm
