Crooked Motorcycles gives the popular Yamaha XSR700 a sharp street tracker makeover.
Although its looks are polarizing, the Yamaha XSR700 is universally lauded for its performance. Its parallel twin engine is both lively and usable, and it scores high in the handling department. So when Germany’s Crooked Motorcycles was tasked with customizing a client’s XSR700, they knew they had a good foundation to build on.
“He wanted something really special,” Crooked co-founder Dominikus Braun tells us. “He trusted our design language—so we could create a design piece focusing on lightweight construction and improving the rider setup, as he disliked the original XSR ergonomics.”
Crooked began by stripping off the XSR’s bodywork, airbox, suspension, and wheels. Starting with a blank slate gave them freedom to shave as much weight off the bike as possible, while also focusing on improving the XSR’s running gear.
The team fabricated a steel fuel tank, then created a one-piece fiberglass body to cover it. The design is a riff on the typical flat tracker silhouette, but with a more sleek, organic vibe. Details included a tidy pop-up gas cap, a Frenched-in taillight, and a luxe Alcantara seat.
The front fender is another fiberglass part, but the covers that flank the tank area were 3D-printed. Crooked designed them with ducts to encourage airflow to the electronic components, while relocating the ignition to a custom-made mounting plate on the right-hand side of the bike.
More 3D-printing magic was employed to produce the XSR’s new headlight housing—a compact design with sharp details and a powerful LED unit.
Next, Crooked replaced the original forks with a set of upside-down units from a Yamaha R1, secured by CNC-machined yokes. The XSR’s alloy wheels were swapped for spoked rims from Alpina, shod with Dunlop TT-100 GP tires, and the rear shock was upgraded to a YSS item.
The R1 donated its twin front brake calipers too, which are set up with Probrake discs and custom-made adaptors. Probrake levers adorn the cockpit, hooked up with braided stainless steel brake lines. Motogadget grips and bar-end turn signals round out the controls.
The team did a great job of clearing out the area below the tank and seat junction, fitting pod filters where the airbox once lived. Lower down, they fabricated a radical new exhaust system with a side-mounted muffler, finishing it off with an aluminum spoiler.
With the Yamaha XSR700 nearing the finish line, Crooked turned its attention to its color scheme. “We wanted a minimalist look that would really put the focus fully on the bike’s lines,” says Dominikus. “The engine comes with a very classic bronze side cover, so we implemented this color in the overall design with some golden details.”
Finished off with clever ‘Crooked700’ logos on the tank, this Yamaha XSR700 street tracker combines the donor bike’s best qualities with a razor-sharp aesthetic that manages to make it look even more lithe than before. If Crooked lent us the keys, we’d have a hard time giving them back.
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