There’s a multitude of factors that make Rough Crafts one of the most respected custom motorcycle operations on the planet. Headed up by Winston Yeh, Rough Crafts consistently delivers stunning designs brought to life using a factory level fit and finish—not to mention the fact the shop also utilizes a spare-no-expense selection of ultra-high-end components and running gear, and a beyond-liberal amount of carbon fiber. While these areas alone make Winston a world-class builder, his body of work is made all the more impressive by the extreme diversity of his projects, which range from Enfields to Harleys to Hypermotards.
The eclectic nature of the shop and its ability to knock projects out of the park no matter the donor type is on full display with its latest build, the YenereZ 700 FT, a one-off Yamaha Ténéré 700 adventure bike turned flat tracker—and in typical Rough Crafts fashion, it looks incredible.
A Plan Coming Together
The concept for building the YenereZ 700 FT wasn’t really outlined from the jump, and was more of a serendipitous accident. When scrolling on social media, Winston came across an image of a YZ450F flat tracker built by Estenson Racing.
“Flat trackers have always one of my favorite style of custom builds. The nimble narrow chassis, up right sitting position, and a wide flat handlebars make it perfect for the city streets of Taipei,” explains Yeh.
Stumbling Upon A Donor
Initially, Winston was considering more traditional dirt bike and dual sport options for the project’s donor. Around this time, he happened to be working with Faber Studio on a different project and took notice of Faber’s personal Ténéré 700 being serviced at their shop—in particular how similar the Ténéré’s frame geometry is to Yamaha’s YZ450F dirt bike chassis. After a bit of Photoshop magic Yeh’s suspicion was confirmed. The frames were similar enough to turn the adventure bike into a tracker.
“I proposed the build to Yamaha Taiwan and that super quick Photoshop image convinced, so they provided a Ténéré 700 to bring the project to life,” relays Yeh.
Reframing Things
Working in collaboration with Faber Studio, the 2021 donor was stripped down to a rolling chassis before having its steel subframe lopped off and replaced with a lighter aluminum unit from Yamaha’s flagship 450 dirt bike. The wiring was also stripped and reduced to the bare essentials.
The Engine
At the heart of the tracker is Yamaha’s tried-and-true liquid-cooled 689cc CP2 parallel-twin engine, which cranks out around 72hp and 50ft-lbs of torque. The twin has been fitted with DNA filtration and a custom Rough Crafts x JZO Crafts full 2-into-2 exhaust system culminating in a high-mounted muffler on the right side of the bike in the traditional MX location.
Running Gear
For theYenereZ 700 FT’s suspension, Yeh got his hands on a set of ultra-premium Öhlins items—a flat track race-tuned RXF48S fork slotted in a FAOR supermoto triple clamp, and a YA818 rear shock with a lowering linkage. Braking hardware on the build consists of six-piston Beringer supermoto calipers comping down on 320mm rotors with custom Rough Crafts machining on the inner carrier—a detail also found on the 267mm disc out back that’s bit by a dual-pot Beringer caliper. The entire build rides on a set of 19-inch Roland Sands Design Traction Flat Track wheel shod in Dunlop K180 tires. The rear wheel has also been fitted with a custom disc insert.
700 ADV Cosplaying As A 450 MX
With the chassis modified and fitted with the motocrosser’s subframe, Winston and Faber were able to dress the adventure motorcycle in YZF450F UFO plastics cloaked in a multi-shade black and grey graphics scheme courtesy of MTR Wrapping. A YZ450F’s seat was also modified and tacked onto the build. Yeh also called on JZO Crafts to fabricate a custom full aluminum 1.8-gallon tank that also serves as some of the mounting points for the builds plastics.
Final Touches
Other odds and ends including a KOSO headlight, a Rough Crafts x KOSO ION 3-in-1 taillight, a KOSO GPS speedo kit, ZETA foot pegs, a Rough Crafts gas cap, and Renthal tracker bars with Berringer controls, and Domino grips and throttle housing.
Why We Love It
Maybe we’re a little biased, but pretty much everything Rough Crafts touches is exceptional, and this new tracker build is no different. For starters, it looks amazing. Next, the unconventional choice of donor makes it a lot cooler in our eyes, and the shop’s ability to dress the bike up win YZ plastics and lower it really have completely transformed the thing into a bike that not only looks like a flat tracker, but one that almost certainly goes as good as it shows. Of all of the projects that we’ve seen that go fast and left, this one has to be at the top of our list.
Spec Sheet
Class: Flat Tracker
Project Name: YenereZ 700 FT
Builder: Rough Crafts
Donor: 2021 Yamaha Ténéré 700
Chassis: Double-Cradle Steel Tube
Engine: Liquid-Cooled 689cc Parallel-Twin
Horsepower: 72.4HP
Torque: 50FT-LBs
Wheelbase: 62.8”
Production: 1-of-1
Pricing & Availability
Rough Craft’s Ténéré 700-based “YenereZ 700 FT” build is a one-of-one build that is already spoken for. Having said that, the shop is accepting commissions for future builds.
Recap
2021 Yamaha Ténéré 700 “YenereZ 700 FT” By Rough Crafts
Winston Yeh of Rough Crafts further diversifies his custom moto portfolio with a Ténéré 700 adventure bike turned one-off flat track racer, taking a step out of his comfort zone while maintaining the top-notch design chops, build quality, and overall execution that have made him one of the most renowned custom motorcycle builders in the world.
