One-Off Yamaha SR500 Bobber Is so Charming It’ll Leave You Utterly Dumbfounded

In short, the sky is the limit when it comes to customizing this platform. Countless SRs of all shapes and sizes have been featured on autoevolution over time, yet there will always be room for more! With that being said, we’ve the pleasure of introducing you to a delicious SR500 bobber built up in Scandinavia. It is the work of one Andreas Jonsson, who operates as Black Lanes in the Swedish capital of Stockholm.

The distinctive visual quality of Scandinavian design is in full bloom on his bobbed one-off, which is said to have been inspired by skateboarding to an extent. In all fairness, we’re not too sure where the skating influence is supposed to be reflected here, but what we can say for sure is that Andreas built a genuine head-turner out of the single-cylinder Yamaha.

He started with a 1999 variant of the SR500 family, slowly modifying it into this custom gem in his spare time. You see, Sir Jonsson isn’t what you’d refer to as a full-time builder, his day job instead being that of a woodwork teacher. Black Lanes is thus nothing more than a side gig, which makes us wonder what this Swede would be getting up to if he went all-in on the motorcycle customization path.

I mean, his bespoke SR could easily hang with those put together by professionals, which is like an amateur guitarist writing a song as well as, say, Jimi Hendrix. Anyway, let’s go ahead and examine how the transformation process played out on this gorgeous piece of machinery. Once the donor had been dismantled, Andreas busied himself with finding a set of springer forks for its front end.

Eventually, he scored an aftermarket DNA setup and had it installed with the help of a local collaborator. The next thing on the list was an extensive bit of frame surgery, which saw the SR500’s subframe shortened rather considerably. It is now supported by replacement shock absorbers enveloped in chrome plating and topped with an elegant bobber-style saddle. The seat was enveloped in black leather by a local upholstery expert named Anton Sandqvist.

Right beneath it, we come across a custom rear fender complete with chromed stainless-steel struts, all built from scratch at Black Lanes’ HQ. Andreas decided to keep the stock SR fuel tank, but had it repositioned to give the bike a lower profile. Its drum brakes and rims have been polished to a mirror finish, then linked back together via fresh stainless-steel spokes.

Vintage-looking whitewall tires from Shinko finish things off in the unsprung sector. Before going on to address the powertrain-related work, the project’s author sent much of the hardware to Loen of Lucky Boy Customs, who took care of the paint job. Items such as the frame, swingarm, rear fender, and fork legs were all treated to a stunning off-white finish we simply can’t get enough of.

The gas tank wears the same hue on the sides, but the rest of it is cloaked in a handsome layer of greenish blue paint. While the color scheme was being applied, Andreas indulged in a rejuvenating internal rebuild of the 499cc single-cylinder engine. He also had it polished on the outside and ultimately fitted with a handmade exhaust system, which was fabricated with the help of a friend over a painstaking 14-hour period.

Fashioned out of stainless-steel, the pipework features an unusual one-into-two layout that strays far from what you’d expect to see on an SR. There are CNC-machined foot pegs mounted above the rearmost portion of the exhaust pipes, complementing the wide low-rise handlebar present in the cockpit area. This part is adorned with chrome plating and white grips matching the bike’s paintwork.

A tiny speedometer can be seen a bit further back, neatly recessed into frame’s backbone and hooked up to a new wiring harness. The latter runs through a Motogadget controller, also providing power to a retro-style headlamp and discreet Kellermann turn signals. Last but not least, Black Lanes added a swingarm-mounted license plate bracket on the left-hand side.

With all the aforementioned goodies installed, Andreas could finally stand back and admire his two-wheeled masterpiece in all its glory. He must’ve felt a great sense of satisfaction while doing so, because what he was looking at was one of the sexiest custom SR500s in existence! Crafting such a beautiful machine is no small feat for a solo builder, and our protagonist simply aced it.