Even though custom Harleys are Winston Yeh’s bread and butter, his creativity extends far beyond just the Bar and Shield’s catalog. The frontman of Taiwan’s Rough Crafts regularly turns his hand to other makes and models, constantly redefining his comfort zone.
Rough Crafts’ latest project is a bigger departure from their usual remit than we’re used to, but it’s no less spectacular. Collaborating with Faber Lai at Faber Studio, Winston set out to turn a brand-new Yamaha Ténéré 700 into a slick flat tracker with all the Rough Crafts hallmarks. As usual, he nailed it.
“The flat tracker is one of my favorite styles of custom builds—a nimble narrow chassis, upright sitting position, and wide handlebars, perfect for Taipei’s city streets,” Winston tells us. “During my regular online custom bike surfing, I saw a Yamaha YZ450F flat track race bike by Estenson Racing. It was just so cool and so attractive.”
Winston shared the YZ450F’s photo with Faber, who was assisting with a couple of other Rough Crafts projects at the time. The guys first considered the Husqvarna 501 and Honda CRF300L as potential donors, because they’d worked on them together before. But neither option quite hit the mark.
“The 501 sports a more extreme big single engine, and CRF300L has this easygoing power unit,” Winston explains. “One is too hardcore for the street, one is less exciting to ride.”
“Faber happened to be servicing his own Ténéré at the shop. We stared at the Ténéré frame and thought ‘This geometry looks very similar to the YZ450F frame’s.’ I went back to my studio, pulled up a Ténéré 700 photo and YZ450F photo, and Photoshopped them together, thinking ‘Why does this look like it’s meant to be?’”
Winston sent the mockup to Yamaha Taiwan, who agreed to supply a fresh Ténéré 700 for the build. The bike went straight to Faber’s workshop, where it was unceremoniously stripped down to its bones.
The first big job was grafting the lightweight aluminum subframe from a YZ450F onto the T7’s mainframe. Faber cut off the OEM subframe, fabricated new mounts, and bolted the YZ unit on. The change not only facilitated the fitting of new bodywork, but also helped shave weight off the twin-cylinder adventure bike.
Next, Faber worked his magic on the T7’s wiring, trimming the loom down to just the essentials so that all the vital bits could be tucked away. Once that was sorted, JZO Crafts built an aluminum fuel tank to fit the shape of the hybrid Ténéré-YZ frame. The new unit holds 6.8 liters [1.8 gallons] of fuel and wears a Harley-style Rough Crafts filler cap.
With the new tank in place, the crew fitted a full set of YZ450F plastics from UFO, along with a modified YZ saddle. MTR Wrapping
added the kinetic graphics.
“Once the body was YZ shaped, we focused on turning it into a flat tracker,” says Winston. “Roland Sands Design’s Traction and Hammer flat track wheels are the baddest-looking out there—especially the heavier Hammer rear wheel. It might be overkill for this bike’s weight, but it does look pretty cool.”
For the suspension, Winston called on longtime Rough Crafts supplier Öhlins. They sent over a set of custom-tuned forks and a bolt-on rear shock. Faber created a custom linkage to match the rear ride height to the front, and worked out a custom mounting position for the shock’s remote preload adjustment dial.
Other upgrades include FAOR supermoto triple clamps and Beringer brakes, with a custom carrier accommodating the rear caliper. The rear sprocket is a custom item from KCT, designed to match the shape of the RSD rear wheel. Hidden details include a DNA air filter and a BS Lithium battery.
The cockpit wears Renthal flat track handlebars, a Domino throttle and grips, Beringer controls, a single push button, and a GPS-enabled KOSO speedo. The ‘headlight’ (a small spotlight mounted to the frame) is another KOSO part, as are the Rough Crafts-branded LED taillights. Zeta foot pegs lower down add extra grip.
When it came time to design the exhaust, Winston and Faber initially planned to build a low-slung system. But since the YZ tail cowl already had space for a muffler on the right, they settled on an asymmetrical system instead. JZO Crafts was once again roped in to realize their vision.
The result is a 74-horsepower twin-cylinder flat tracker that weighs just 158 kg [348 lbs], fully fueled. It’s also a testament to the fact that Winston can apply his signature Rough Crafts style to just about anything.
Rough Crafts | Facebook | Instagram | Faber Studio | Images by Kin Lin Foto
