Yamaha’s Yard Built program returns to Germany for the first collaboration with talented builder Dirk Oehlerking of Kingston Customs. Dirk’s project with Yamaha takes its place in a line of superb custom builds this year, following in the footsteps of builders including Matt Black Custom Designs, itrocKs!bikes and Deus Ex Machina who have all delivered beautiful interpretations of Yamaha’s Sport Heritage Range. The final result, the Kingston Customs Yard Built XV950 ‘The Face’ is the first Café Bob to join the Yard Built line up. An original take on the Sport Heritage machine, it makes yet another statement proving how easy it is to utilise the XV950 as a base to customise for a totally unique look without any cutting or welding to the frame. As with most Yard Built projects this build has a couple of signature tweaks that identify it as a Kingston Customs build, including the cool spark plug sitting in the headstock and the yellow MX visor screen, cleverly placed behind the head light. “Our design and build philosophy is always moving forward and innovating,” commented Yamaha Motor Europe Product Manager Shun Miyazawa, “so in light of this we are always looking to work with custom builders who stand apart and also push the boundaries as they create original and fresh builds. Dirk is someone we have wanted to work with for a while, especially with the XV950. As a base bike it has some many possibilities for customization, it’s very easy to work with and there are many directions you can go in." "We are really impressed with the result; Dirk has taken the XV950 and shown that with no cutting or welding you can add a completely original look to the bike. What’s also very important for us and interesting for our customers is the fact that most for the custom parts developed and used for this build will now be sold by Dirk himself so anyone with an XV950 can create their own Kingston Customs ‘The Face’ look!” “The XV950 has been a really great bike to work on,” adds Dirk. “It’s very easy to strip to the base and stat working up again and there are so many possibilities for a different look. I Think the XV is perfect as both a bobber, but also as a café racer so I wanted to combine the two and show that you can blend them for one original bike. So that’s what we’ve done, I’m really proud of our first Yard Built project, it’s a real Café Bob! It’s also been a really great challenge to create custom parts that we can then make available for anyone who wants to make their own ‘Face’.” To create the XV950 ‘The Face’, Dirk designed and built many parts in-house, including the transparent ‘The Face’ style air filter cover and the custom hand stitched café racer seat. Kingston Custom designed and made parts also included the foot peg bracket, speedometer bracket, foot brake lever, gear-shift and unique MX visor screen. A selection of quality aftermarket custom parts were also added, including LSL handlebars, Motogadget indicators, Highsider rear lights, LSL brake lines, Motogadget grips and genuine Yamaha YZ/WR footpegs. The XV stays connected to the ride with matching white-walled Shinko tyres whilst Kingston Customs modified suspension and a megaphone exhaust finishes-off the look. The Yard Built is complete with a cool paint job sporting an iconic Yamaha design. As with all Yard Built projects the upgrade parts can be ordered for your own project directly from Kingston Customs. For previous Kingston Customs projects The Bike Shed Archive | Web | Facebook And for Yamaha's Yard Built series The Bike Shed Archive | Web | Instagram | Facebook Words: Gavin Matheson | Images: Yamaha Motor Company