Yamaha GT540 Grey Power Cafe Leads the SR500 Nameplate Into Custom Territory

On the one hand, their mother worked at a prestigious fashion design studio in Paris, while their father was a mechanic by trade. Guillaume and his brother went on to combine the arts with engineering, which is how Angry Lane came into existence halfway around the world. Now, the monochromatic cafe racer shown above isn’t among their latest projects, but it does warrant a closer look, nonetheless.

Dubbed the GT540 Grey Power Cafe, this sexy thing started out as a stock Yamaha SR500 from the model-year 1999. It’s not the first instance when these Frenchmen have tackled the SR platform, so they already knew the donor like the back of their hands. The finished build is a splendid sight to behold, and it also comes with several performance upgrades to spice things up.

For their opening act, the Barras brothers took the SR500 apart and did away with all its factory bodywork. Items like the OEM front brake and rear suspension followed suit, but so did the exhaust system and all the cockpit equipment. After this initial teardown, Angry Lane’s specialists were left with a blank canvas awaiting customization, and they wasted no time getting started.

Their first port of call was the motorcycle’s single-cylinder engine, which could certainly benefit from a little extra grunt. Its cylinder was bored out and fitted with a new piston, boosting capacity to a healthier 540cc while raising the compression ratio to 10:1. Race-spec Kibblewhite valve springs also make an appearance, along with an aftermarket camshaft and some premium breathing equipment.

On the intake side of things, we find a Mikuni TM40 carb topped with a K&N air filter. Exhaust gases are channeled via custom stainless-steel pipework and a Spark silencer – a much shorter setup than the stock plumbing. The lubrication system has been upgraded, too, and a layer of ceramic coating made its way onto several engine covers. With the powertrain all beefed up and ready to rock, it was time for Angry Lane to address the chassis.

Although the original forks are still present, they now feature top-shelf Wilbers internals and are held in place by bespoke triple clamps. Down south, the standard shock absorbers made way for YSS substitutes with adjustable preload, but the swingarm has also been deleted in favor of a lighter module. Moving on to the brakes, some seriously heavy lifting took place at the front.

There you’ll see a floating disc bitten by a Brembo caliper, with the latter holding on to an off-the-shelf bracket from MotoLanna. Everything is pieced together with titanium screws, and those eight-spoke alloy wheels were transplanted from a much older, American-spec SR500. They’ve been ceramic-coated and wrapped in a grippy pair of Bridgestone Battlax BT-45 tires prior to installation. When the footwear was taken care of, the guys had a rolling chassis.

Next up, there was the bodywork. We spot an aftermarket fuel tank from Omega Racer center-stage, oozing Norton Manx vibes and topped with a Monza-style filler cap. On the other hand, the stunning cafe racer tail unit was built from scratch using aluminum, and it carries twin LED lighting modules at the back. Moreover, there’s a tiny license plate bracket right below the taillights, complete with Motogadget turn signals.

As for the elegant saddle found a bit further ahead, it’s been upholstered by Ben in a mixture of standard black leather and suede. Rounding out the GT540’s attire is a compact front fender that sits on tailor-made mounting hardware. An LSL headlight comes into view as we glance upward, and the same brand supplied the clip-on handlebars installed in the cockpit.

Flanking a Motogadget ChronoClassic dial, the clip-ons are equipped with modern switchgear and black rubber grips. On the right-hand side, Angry Lane added a Grimeca brake master cylinder, a foldable mirror, and a quick-action throttle. The ergonomics are finished off with CNC-machined foot pegs, looking just as shiny as the swingarm, forks, and triple clamps. That finally brings us to the creature’s paintwork.

The tank and tail were cloaked in a glossy layer of grey, with two black stripes running from front to back up top. Once again, black was the color of choice for items like the frame, front mudguard and headlight bucket. All things considered, the GT540 Grey Power Cafe is one of those machines that don’t need a colorful livery to turn heads, but it does come with some teeny pinches of red here and there.