Regardless as to what type of bike is wearing them, knobby all-terrain tires have the ability to give motorcycles a markedly more rugged, go-anywhere appearance. And while they undoubtedly hinder performance, custom motorcycles with shoes shod in ATV tires take this aesthetic to the extreme, as thoroughly evidenced by Yamashita Engineering’s latest build: a Yamaha TW200 that’s been transformed into a minimalistic, fat-tired scrambler.
The TW’s already-chunky tires have been swapped out for dual-sport rubber out front, while in back the swing-arm has been stretched in order to accommodate the rear wheel’s oversized Maxxis ATV tire. The retro-themed enduro’s stock tank, tail, and bodywork have all been binned to make room for a bare-metal vintage Japanese tank and a bobber-meets-scrambler-style saddle perched atop a one-off subframe. Guided by a round LED headlight, the build also features a revised sub-tank electronics setup, braced MX-style bars with bar-end LEDs, upgraded lines, and a bicycle pedal kickstarter. Despite only packing a sub-200cc displacement, the air-cooled single generates an impressive bark thanks to a bespoke short single-pipe exhaust mounted just above the swing-arm pivot. To see more work from the Yokohama-based custom moto shop, check out Yamashita Engineering’s social media channels, linked below.
