A Yamaha MT-10, built ten years before the MT-10 appeared
Here we are at the rat’s nest stage
The first version, as featured in Performance Bikes
This is the second colour scheme, still with a huge fuel tank
And it really was built in a shed
Simon’s Yamaha R1 BABIYOS
Once again the RR website is graced by a Simon Martin masterpiece: this time it’s his R1-based all-rounder.
If you used to read Performance Bikes in the early 00s you may remember this bike, which Simon designed and built as a project bike. The BABIYOS name stands for Build A Bike In Your Own Shed. Which is pretty much what he did. Frame, sub frame, tail unit, yokes, swing arm and front mudguard are all unique and built from scratch.
In its original guise it also had a huge fuel tank, which helped Simon do 40,000 miles in ten years or so. More recently he decided to give the bike a refresh, with a normal R1 tank and a small KTM nose cone – with a screen which you can’t see because I left it off in these pics.
The suspension is Maxton, and therefore superb. Electrically it’s simpler than the original R1, with a single headlight, basic warning lights and no safety cutouts on the sidestand and clutch. Simon sourced a tiny ignition switch for it, so there’s a relay to switch the heavy currents. And the speedo is a Daytona Velona Dark.
I know I would say this, because Simon and I have been friends since college, but the BABIYOS is a brilliant motorcycle, easily as ingenious and well made as a Bimota.
The fuel level sensor was, as is usual, proper knackered. This is the best repair I could do, using hot glue and adhesive heat shrink
Fuse box is dangling because Simon will make its bracket. He is a bit better at that sort of thing than me
Warning lights for oil, hi beam, neutral, fuel and left/right. Plus the period Performance Bikes key fob. The Speedo is a Daytona Velona Dark
