In the world of electronic music, Girts Ozolins is a titan. As the founder of Erica Synths, he spends his days designing modular synthesizers that are as raw and uncompromising as the industrial soundscapes of his home in Riga, Latvia. But when the soldering iron is cold, Girts translates that same passion for high-fidelity grit into the workshop of ZEPS Moto.
We’ve previously marveled at Girts’ sharp-edged KTM RC8, but his latest project is something more visceral. He again teamed up with Andis Zeps to transform the 2006 Yamaha MT-01. With a massive 1,670cc air-cooled V-twin, the MT-01 is a hammer of a motorcycle.
Riga is a city of contrasts: a UNESCO-listed Old Town defined by medieval charm and Art Nouveau elegance, bordered by a modern, bustling metropolis on the Baltic Sea. It’s a fitting backdrop for Girts’ design philosophy.
“I love the raw power and torque of the MT-01, but the original design is a bit outdated by today’s standards,” Girts explains. His goal was to maintain the bike’s aggressive, “muscle-on-wheels” silhouette while stripping away the mid-2000s bulk to create something that feels simultaneously familiar and alien.
The most polarizing feature of a stock MT-01 is its jet-fighter-inspired, under-seat exhaust system. To streamline the bike’s rear, Girts called in BZL Exhaust, a local one-man specialist, to fabricate a custom stainless steel system that now terminates in a low-slung Remus muffler.
With the massive pipes gone, the rear of the bike looked unfinished. Zeps developed a custom, shortened subframe and a bespoke fiberglass tail unit. The new fairing was designed to sit flush against the aluminum frame, elegantly hiding the mounting “bumps” where the original exhaust once lived. The result is a strictly solo-rider machine.
Girts admits to having a “sweet spot” for belt drives—a rarity in the high-performance sport-naked category. He sourced a conversion kit from VH Motorradtechnik, but the build hit a technical snag when he decided to replace the factory three-spoke wheels with Kineo spoked units.
The Kineo rear hub utilized a custom sprocket pattern that didn’t match the belt pulley. Undeterred, the team modified the belt sprocket to fit the Italian-made wheel, combining the classic look of stainless spokes with the silent, maintenance-free efficiency of a belt drive.
The details of the build exemplify the “less is more” philosophy, with every component selected to emphasize the MT-01’s brutalist architecture. Up front, the original bulky lighting has been replaced by a custom fiberglass fairing that tightly hugs a Highsider LED headlight and a secondary high-beam unit. The engine’s visual mass was further enhanced by reshaping and slimming down the side covers, a surgical touch that reveals more of the 48-degree V-twin’s massive, air-cooled cylinders.
The cockpit underwent a similar thinning process to achieve a razor-sharp profile. Girts opted for Grazzini risers and handlebars, creating a clean command center topped with a Magura hydraulic clutch and brake system for modern tactile feedback. The bars are finished with Motogadget mo.view frameless mirrors.
To tie the project together, a local upholsterer crafted a bespoke solo seat, while the bodywork was drenched in deep matte black. The final flourish is a pair of matte silver racing stripes that run the length of the bike, a design Girts mirrored on his matching Hedon helmet for the ultimate coordinated aesthetic.
By ditching the “signature” features of the MT-01 in favor of a leaner, more industrial aesthetic, ZEPS Moto has brought this monster into the modern era. It is a bike that sounds like an Erica Synth—deep, rhythmic, and capable of shaking the foundations of any street in Riga.
