A motorcycle builder based in Margate, has transformed Yamaha’s XSR900 three-cylinder retro into a fully-faired 90s superbike tribute, taking inspiration from the YZF750, TZR250, and YZR500.
Called the XZR900 Thunderbolt, it’s been built Marc Bell of Haxch Moto, who specialises in bespoke builds designed to look like official factory designs of the 80s and 90s.
Previous projects include the Slabshot, which took a 2009 Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9, and restyled it to look like early Slingshot/Slabside, with this latest triple machine produced in partnership with Yamaha UK themselves.
“I’m blown away by the response, it’s mad really,” the Haxch Moto founder told MCN. “It’s been over a year-and-a-half since starting the build but the last three or four months have been so full on, so to go through all that and get such a good response is mad.”
Marc spent thousands of hours on the build and has actually moved into his van to reduce the working hours required by his other business to pay the rent, in order to dedicate more time to the build process.
“I just said in January that I need to commit and it’s all or nothing on the bikes,” Bell continued.
Starting with the naked road bike and a sheet of aluminium, he hand-rolled all of the bodywork, and fuel tank – using techniques including an English wheel. Order books are now open for further XZRs, with the hope that this machine will provide the springboard needed to go full time as a motorcycle builder.
“The plan is to take moulds of the fairings and reproduce them in carbon fibre,” Marc explained – adding that each build’s number boards will reflect the order of production.
Bikes will be produced to a customer’s specification, with lights, indicators, and a tail tidy being developed in the coming months.
“It’s really a blend of four bikes in the styling, and it’s cool to see what people pick out of it,” he continued.
Away from the bodywork, the bike continues to use Yamaha’s three-cylinder 890cc ‘CP3’ motor, however it’s been worked on by Seton Tuning to achieve a claimed 10% increase in performance.
The liquid-cooled lump remains housed in Yamaha’s aluminium Deltabox chassis, which is exposed against the vibrant bodywork, featuring a brushed finish. The flat bars are now also replaced with clip-ons below the top yoke.
Haxch Moto XZR900 Thunderbolt front disc
The geometry of the machine has now changed though, with a 40mm lift at the rear thanks to a billet linkage. Rake and trail have also been decreased, with lighter three spoke Dymag wheels – finished in white – also helping with faster changes of direction.
The standard KYB suspension has also been replaced by Maxton units, with HEL Performance supplying the braking hardware. Visit the Haxch website for more.
