We all have our inclinations, preferences, and particular predilections. In custom motorcycle circles, a BMW boxer or Triumph Bonneville are considered mainstream choices, while unlikely donors present a more left-field option. Yamaha’s Virago is one such machine—but it’s not enough of an outlier for Jimbo Turner.
Jimbo reserves his fervor for only one variant of the XV1000—the Yamaha TR1. He didn’t discover his kink straight away; dalliances with a rigid Yamaha XS650, a Honda CB, a Ducati Monster, and more were explored before he found his two-wheeled soulmate. But once he discovered the TR1, his bike-building exploits were elevated to a whole new level.
This playful Yamaha TR1 café racer is the self-taught custom builder’s second TR1. His first, which debuted at the 2022 Bike Shed Show in London, featured a new front-end, home-made pie-cut exhaust, and Ducati Scrambler fuel tank. But it failed to sufficiently scratch Jimbo’s itch.
He had learned so much in regards to his new muse, that he had to do another. Soon enough, he had sourced an engine from Holland to pair with the spare frame he had acquired along the journey of that first build. With the ambition to improve on what he had done before, he set a deadline for the 2023 Bike Shed show.
The first decision to make was what to repeat. The TR1 frame has been successfully graced by many different fuel tanks, but to Jimbo, the Ducati Scrambler item adorning his first build (which was plucked from the mighty DeBolex Engineering’s parts shelf) was an unparalleled vessel. So a second was soon sourced.
Jimbo once again used modern upside-down forks, this time from a Ducati 749, mated to Cognito Moto yokes. But with the rear end, he was looking to take a more dramatic departure from his proven formula. On his original build, Jimbo utilized the stock swingarm—but for the second take, he wanted a challenge.
He tracked down a single-sided swingarm and wheelset from a Ducati Hypermotard, collected all of the components to his North London lock-up, and then scratched his head. Creating a suitable mounting point for the shock would require serious surgery on the Yamaha TR1 frame. Too late to back down now.
Of the many skills that Jimbo had acquired during earlier builds, welding was perhaps his most accomplished—so he set loose with the grinder, fairly confident he could undo any miss-steps along the way. “I literally have no idea what I’m doing, I just make it up as I go along,” he admits. “Seems to be working out though…”
Jimbo created a reinforced pocket in the rear right-hand-side of the frame to clear the shock linkage, and, after a great deal of “trial and error-gineering” ushered the swingarm into its new home. Confident he had passed this highest hurdle, he turned to the subframe. Inspired by his Ducati digressions he designed and fabricated an elaborate trellis of tubing, and bolted it to the frame.
Then, in a tried and tested manner, he bounced up and down on it a few times as a stress test. But the design failed, and the structure slowly contorted out of shape. Back to the back of a napkin.
Jimbo’s second crack at the subframe, reinforced in every possible parameter, passed the same test with flying colors. With the stance taking shape, his mind turned to the TR1’s livery. After deploying a masculine military green on the first TR1, for his second, he was tempted by a more pastel palette.
Without applying too much thought to an overall scheme, he dispatched the spring of his Öhlins rear shock for turquoise powder-coating. Then he reimagined his garage as a paint booth and layered lashings of Pramac-esque purple to the tank.
For that sturdy subframe, inspiration came via the splatter paint jobs of nineties Marin mountain bikes. Channeling Pollock (and challenging the integrity of his temporary paint booth) Jimbo made a hell of a mess. Love or hate it, there is no denying its uniqueness.
With all these painted elements now in play, but still undecided on the final visual, Jimbo chose to focus on the outstanding elements and allow his ideas to coalesce. Of the many hard-earned skills he has acquired, exhaust fabrication brings him the most satisfaction. Track a path, choose an angle, slice, tack, weld, and repeat, until, from a few lengths and a pile of offcuts, a complete system emerges.
Moving to the Yamaha’s lighting, Jimbo fitted the same sort of e-bike headlight that he’d used on the previous build, with a Kellermann all-in-one LED unit mounted to the rear shock’s remote reservoir. The bike also features an Axel Joost ‘D-box’ controller, an engine cover and filter from 61 Meccanica, and Motone switchgear.
By this time, Jimbo’s full-time role as the Bike Shed’s venue manager, combined with a house and garage move, had pushed his deadline out to the 2024 show. But it was through this extended period that he finally found the inspiration that would tie his varied paint elements into a cohesive scheme.
An 88 Foxbody Mustang had caught his attention on Instagram. He tasked yours truly with creating a Photoshop rendering of a Timefox and TR1 hybrid and knew instantly that it was the direction to take. ‘Miami Slice’ was born.
The paint booth was once again rigged for the tank to gain a white top half, before the close-to-complete machine was taken to the workshop of Jimbo’s good friend, Sticky’s Speed Shop, for help laying the final graphic components; a pinstripe of turquoise to split the tank, and a pink scrawl of the machine’s new moniker straight down the center. A white vinyl seat with pink stitch detail, handled by Bazz at B.M.K Creative, and Miami Slice was ready for the show.
So, with two Yamaha TR1 café racers in the garage, what’s next for Jimbo? Well, once he has chosen his favorite offspring, the other must make way to make space for the next project. And while I’m not a betting man, I would certainly hazard a guess as to what that might be…
Jimbo Turner Instagram | Images by, and with thanks to, Thomas Kettlety
