Some of us spent their youth elbow deep in grease, taking apart anything that was in some way held together. Usually for no apparent reason as the if it aint broke, don't fix it mantra had yet to sink in. Years of trial and error resulting in a wealth of experience allowing swift diagnosis of recalcitrant engines of ours and our mate's motorcycles. Or at the very least guesswork delivered with enough confidence and gusto to sound as if it were delivered verbatim from a Haynes manual. Sound familiar? If that is one of the reasons that you steer clear of the current crop of decades old custom show ponies then Yamaha's re-release of the SR400 could be for you. With the blueprints dusted off and converted to CAD drawings the factory added a few additions to keep up with modern times, notably a decent front stopper and polar bear friendly fuel injection. As we know from Yamaha's hugely successful Yard Built program, the factory are offering brand new donor bikes on a plate, ready for customisers and builders to ply their trade. The chaps from Auto Fabrica are no strangers to making SRs look pretty, their choice of colour palette and attention to detail has seen them gather quite a fan base, and luckily for the bank manager, an order book. This latest build from them, the Type 7 is the first chance to work with a brand new bike, allowing the countless hours usually spent peeling away the years to be channelled into fit and finish. The signature cream tank is the first giveaway that this is an Auto Fabrica build, the cafe latte tone complimented by a perfectly proportioned saddle, covered with proper leather of course. For crashing over London's terribly potholed streets a good wedge of foam is a welcome feature. Another area that receives a deal of AF workshop time, both in the design phase and on the bench, are exhausts. Sand filled and hand bent stainless pipes feature on the all their latest builds, with a lovely flowing radius that a mandrel bender struggles to match. On the Type 7 a Yoshimura inspired reverse megaphone muffler has been welded to the header to give a single, continuous exhaust, before being sanded and thoroughly linished, giving a gorgeous matt finish. With a few heat cycles having passed through it the burnt gold colour compliments the rest of the scheme nicely. The O2 sensor remains in place to keep the ECU happy but neatly out of sight. This free-flowing pipe and open filter give the little 400c single a bit more pep but as any racer will know, shedding weight is just as important as adding more poke. Where possible cheaper factory fitted components have been swapped out, for thinner, lighter and of course more visually appealing alternatives. Mudguards, indicators, the tail light are often the worst offenders at weigh-in so these were an easy win. Rear shocks are by Hagon and the forks have been stiffened for a more sporting ride. The knobbly rubber isn't simply for off-road wanderlust, the customer specified that he wanted a bike to cope with city street and the odd byway excursion, should the opportunity present itself. The subtle colour scheme continues with the black parts, with matt finishes on the mudguards and bars and gloss for wheel rims and frame. Side panels are an often discarded part of builds these days but in this case the black paint allows them to surrepticiosly hide the ugly gubbins required to run the fuel injection system. Overall the style is clearly Auto Fabrica but it takes a keen eye to notice that this was fresh out of the showroom a few months ago and not from eBay's not so frugal classic section. The motor is kickstart only so the owner will still have that connection to his machine, whilst being able to garner cool points outside whichever trendy café has decent bike parking. If the idea of carrying around spanners and drip tray is what puts you off riding a custom then perhaps remove the rose tinted spectacles and look up the guys at Auto Fabrica and order yourself a modern day classic. Next weekend head down to Bike Shed London 2015 and see the Type 8 & 9 in the flesh. Click here for the website and follow the latest builds on Facebook and Instagram