Founded in 2005, Deus Ex Machina has created a philosophy around the world based on the culture, design and construction of custom motorcycles.
Early in 2013, Deus Ex Machina Italy were invited by Yamaha to create the next ‘Yard Built’ special using an XJR1300. To ultimately be offered as a kit version, Deus Ex Machina started from scratch, first taking a look at what was offered under the skin of this muscle bike.
Inspiration was drawn from legendary endurance racing machines from the late 1970s and 1980s. As the sole purpose of these bikes were to win races, Deus Ex Machina implemented a lean look on Project X.
First off, weight was stripped off the bike so that the 1251cc air cooled engine could be revealed. As the bodywork was removed, the XJRs aggressive stance was noticed and as such as this was emphasised with wider bars.
The bodywork was hand fabricated out of aluminium sheeting with the tank, side covers and cowl being moulded into a shape that the Deus team felt best showed off the XJRs lines.
As the shape began to take form, it was time for paint. “We call it ‘transparent dark’, as it is not black and is not brown but is actually both dark black and brown”, explains Deus Ex Machina. The paint appears amber when its transparent, allowing the aluminium of the metal to show through.
Once the bodywork and paint was sorted, it was onto finishing touches. Taking further inspiration from race bikes, a mixture of leather and suede was used for the seat unit whilst the speedometer was removed with only the rev counter left in place.
Deus Ex Machina created Project X as an extreme bike, hoping to entice and inspire XJR owners to modify theirs into something special. As such, all of the components in this example are now available to the public, so they may create their own ‘X’ machine.
KIT SPECIFICATIONS
– Hand crafted Aluminium Tank (2mm Aviometal)
– Hand crafted Aluminium (2mm Aviometal)
– Handmade cowl for the front lamp and tacho support in steel (laser cut)
– Handmade Aluminium (2mm Aviometal) Side covers / injection protection
– Aluminium Front fender (2mm Aviometal)
– Custom made two seat saddle, suede leather with modified rear frame
– Clip-on handlebar – Aluminium plate support with turn signals
– Full exhaust by SC-Project (EU homologation)
– 2 Front disc in cast iron by Discacciati (298mm)
– Aluminium CNC rear sets for driver and passenger rear by Discacciati
– Acewell Tacho
– Sprint Filter P08WP filter for original airbox
– Handmade painting by Kaos Design