Motorcycling can be a selfish endeavor—and yet, motorcyclists can be some of the most charitable people around. If you’re one of those motorcyclists, CROIG and Yamaha have a treat for you. This wild Yamaha XSR900 is being given away to raise funds for Waves for Water, a nonprofit that provides clean water to communities that need it.
This is the second time the two parties have teamed up for charity. The project, dubbed ‘Yard Built for Good,’ is the brainchild of David Chang—founder of the immensely popular CROIG (Café Racers of Instagram)—and is supported by Yamaha’s Yard Built custom initiative. The idea is simple; build a killer custom bike, and give it away to one lucky Waves for Water donor.
For this round of Yard Built for Good, the crew took a 2022-model Yamaha XSR900 and turned it into a fully-faired racer. Inspiration for the build came from the iconic Tech21 Yamaha FZR750 that King Kenny Roberts rode in the 1985 Suzuka 8 Hours.
The guys turned to Los Angeles-based custom shop Strange Industries to do the heavy lifting. Their first step was to tear the XSR900 down to its frame, unbolt its factory subframe, and shape new bodywork out of foam. The design was then taken into the digital realm, refined, and used to create 3D-printed molds.
Those molds were in turn used to shape the final parts out of AmpliTex—a high-performance fabric that offers a sustainable alternative to carbon fiber. Despite the radical design, the base bike remains unmolested. The bodywork attaches to it via a set of bespoke brackets, the OEM fuel cell hides under the tank cover, and the original subframe has been unbolted to make way for a custom unit.
The heavily sculpted bodywork is sprinkled with neat details. Up front, an aero wing (inspired by modern MotoGP bikes) is complemented by a pair of razor-sharp Rizoma mirrors. A removable cover sits in front of the stock headlight, while an LED taillight sits inside a slotted housing out back.
David didn’t want to compromise the XSR900’s reliability or usability, so the remaining mods were chosen to enhance performance. They include a custom air intake that’s integrated with the bike’s Deltabox frame, and a full exhaust system from Akrapovič.
The team also fitted Öhlins suspension at both ends, plus stunning carbon fiber wheels from Rotobox and Bridgestone Battlax tires. The clip-ons and rear-set pegs are Gilles Tooling parts.
Tying everything together is a kinetic livery that plays on traditional Yamaha and Tech21 color palettes, designed by Ryan Quickfall. The whole thing is pitch-perfect, and would sit nicely in Yamaha’s line-up alongside the XSR900 GP as a tribute to a different era of racing.
If the Yard Built for Good Yamaha XSR900 floats your boat, donate at least $10 to Waves for Water. All proceeds will go directly towards clean water initiatives all over the world—and you might end up with a slick new addition to your garage.
Enter here | CROIG | Strange Industries | Images by Kevin Pak and Brandon LaJoie
