One-Off Yamaha XV750 Street Tracker Looks Like the Polar Opposite of a Stock Virago

The lads at Thornton Hundred handle most aspects of their custom builds in-house, always leading to some spectacular results. Jody and his squad are highly proficient with metalwork in particular, which has been the case for several years now. For instance, the striking one-off we’re about to look at isn’t among their latest builds, having attained its current form all the way back in 2018.

Still, it does a great job at showcasing what the Thornton crew was capable of achieving only two years after the workshop’s founding. Street tracker styling is clearly the name of the game on this machine, but the project’s donor was actually an old-school Japanese cruiser. To be more exact, the Brits picked a Yamaha XV750 Virago from 1983 as their starting point, so tweaking its geometry was no walk in the park.

Yamaha’s V-twin runner offered a pretty solid basis from a technical standpoint, though, with 60 hp coming from its air-cooled 748cc powerhouse. As the motorcycle was being built for promotional purposes and set to appear at The Bike Shed gathering of 2018, it had to look like a million bucks in order to stand out from the crowd. There are many cool details for us to cover here, so let’s dive straight in.

Once the classic Virago arrived at their shop in Milton Keynes, all its original bodywork was immediately taken out of the equation. Items like the factory wheels, exhaust, and suspension have been ditched, as well, then the custom sorcery got underway. First things first, the XV750’s frame was subjected to a radical makeover, which saw its rear section chopped off and replaced with a handmade substitute.

The main portion of the framework has also been heavily revised, completely altering the Yamaha’s anatomy from front to back. With the skeleton sorted out, Thornton moved on to the other major thing on their list, that being the bike’s new bodywork. They fashioned a stunning monocoque structure from scratch, merging the mild steel fuel tank and tail section into a single unit.

A pair of thin seat pads are placed in front of the pointy tail, and the tank wears a flush-mounted filler cap for an immaculate silhouette. Up north, we notice a handmade nose fairing surrounding the headlight, as well as a small yet effective front fender lower down. These are both fitted in between a set of inverted forks, which were transplanted from a Ducati Monster 821.

Along with these suspension items, the same Duc also donated one of its drilled brake discs and Brembo calipers. Out back, the new forks are complemented by a replacement shock absorber, mostly hidden out of view behind the reworked frame. The swingarm and rear drum brake have also been revised, but what’s even clearer is the fresh footgear worn by this XV tracker.

Jody and his teammates installed stainless-steel spokes and Excel rims on both ends, enveloping the latter in Pirelli MT 60 rubber. In the cockpit, you’ll spot an aftermarket handlebar equipped with Brembo clutch and brake master cylinders, but there are no rear-view mirrors to speak of. The switchgear is kept at a bare minimum, too, and some plain rubber grips round out the package in that area.

Moving on to the powertrain-related mods, Thornton Hundred gave the Virago’s twin-cylinder engine a comprehensive once-over and had it refurbished where needed. They also added some youthful breathing equipment, first in the form of a Mikuni TM40 carb that breathes through a large Ramair pod filter. The two are connected via a tailor-made manifold, but it’s the new exhaust that drew our attention right from the start.

It was painstakingly put together by Sir Millhouse without any assistance, and the manner in which it snakes its way back to the muffler is absolutely majestic. The pipework runs a two-into-one layout with stainless-steel headers and an aluminum silencer, ending nice and high on the right side of the subframe. In addition, a hydraulic clutch from Magura rounds out the performance upgrades.

Finally, the Kenny Roberts influence is unapologetically obvious in the specimen’s livery, which consists of a yellow base and Yamaha speed block graphics on the upper bodywork. The frame, rims, and engine covers have all been painted black, but pinches of bare metal can be seen on some of the other items. Altogether, Thronton Hundred’s custom XV750 street tracker is a genuine head-turner, and we’re sure it wowed onlookers at The Bike Shed a few years back.