Hot on the heels of our Top 5 Yamaha SR500s feature comes this rather sharp looking example from new Swabian outfit Scramblers Motorcycles.
Based in Schnaitheim, in the south of Germany, Daniel and Michael Bosch and Sven Paukner share a love of motocross, skateboarding and snowboarding. Originally disinterested in road-going motorcycles, the switch flipped when they stumbled across a custom café racer that inspired them. After almost four years of dreaming about building their own bikes, they’ve finally kicked things off with this 1980 model Yamaha SR500.
They’ve named it ‘KRAD XX1’—KRAD being a shortened form of ‘Kraftrad’ (German for ‘motorcycle’) and ‘XX1’ signaling it as their first official build. It’s a stunner, combining the trio’s influences with a vision to “bring bikes to the street that have a classic style and spirit—no plastic!”
Scramblers MC stripped the SR of all non-essentials, aiming to slim it down and improve handling. As is necessary with most older motorcycles the engine has been overhauled, with a K&N air filter and engine breather installed, and the wiring has been redone and simplified. The subframe has also been altered and the front and rear turn signals swapped for smaller units and relocated.
Shorter and slimmer fenders have been fitted, along with Bates lights front and rear, and a smaller speedo. The rear suspension’s been replaced with longer shocks, and the bike rolls on stock SR mags wrapped in Avon rubber. A short, blacked-out reverse cone muffler has been fitted to the wrapped header.
For paint, Scramblers MC settled on Java Brown for the tank and fenders. “We love that color very much because it always appears different,” says Sven. “It switches from dark-grey-brown, with a very little bit of green, to coffee brown.” A simple black section on the tank matches the bespoke leather seat.
The engine covers have been bead blasted, with the Scramblers MC and ‘KRAD XX1’ logos laser etched into them. It’s clear that the team is obsessive over little details—according to Sven, “plastic cable ties do not fit into our ethic”—so they made their own leather and wire ‘cable ties’ instead.
Considering this is Scramblers Motorcycles’ first build, I can’t wait to see what they get up to next.
Images by Tom Ziora. Scramblers Motorcycles’ website is currently being built—in the meantime, follow them via their Facebook page.
