EE's XJR 1200 Mastino
By Anthony van Someren - 02 Nov 12
This 1995 Yamaha XJR 1200 was the mostly quickly turned-around bike to come out of young-blood custom shop Emporio Elaborazioni. Romans Leo, Schizzo and Dopz christened this bike Mastino (Mastif) and its muscular looks live up to its tough name. The plan was to build a bike with a vintage feel, but not a pure cafe racer - providing modern performance and chassis parts in a bike that would be hard for the casual onlooker to put a date on.
With a big bike like this cutting weight was a priority, as they are heavy, but the guys also wanted performance and handling. They reworked the engine, stripping out the airbox to run open pod filters on the rejetted carbs, feeding a 4 into 1 black-wrapped Vance & Hines headers into a Megatron end-can. Not rocket-science, but proven and effective.
Forks were massively improved with a Hyperpro kit and a pair of Ohlins gracing the rear which is a good as it usually gets for a bike like this. Naturally the cosmetic mods included a subframe rebuild, cafe seat and the kit to support the plate, plus simple gauges and lighting.
The bright paint clashes with the solid build to lighten the vibe of the bike, and the clear fuel strip on the side of the Imola style tank is remniscent of the 70s Ducatis, adding a subtle vintage touch.
The guys also added cute touches (as on other EE builds) like fixing the tank to the frame with a welded-on 13" wrench and making a space under the seat for a whisky flask.
The finished bike manages to look pretty timeless; with wide rubber, beefy chassis parts and big engine, graced with 1970s tank and 80s paint scheme, and with 1200cc to play with - grounded on quality suspension - this is a bike that should make its mark on the road - or even surprise a few Sunday racers at the local track day. Love it.
See more from Emporio Elaborazoni on The Bike Shed EE pages or on their own Website.