Around the world, a motorcycle means many different things to many different people. But most of us reading these pages, myself included, remain largely oblivious to the biggest sector in the industry, that of the commuter bike. In large cities across the globe and finding their way into the countryside, small bikes with strange names from a host of manufacturers serve as simple no-fuss transport for the masses. Cheap and cheerful they have a utilitarian design that leaves them looking all the same, so one Brazilian was desperate to stand out from the crowd and headed for Cramento Motorcycles. Here head honcho Augusto has worked his magic and turned this little Yamaha Fazer 250 into a true custom creation that’s ready to do battle in the urban jungle.
For the last six years, architect and urban planner Augusto Borghetti Chinelatto has built himself a reputation for building beautiful bikes in the southern municipality of São Marcos. Making his way to the Cramento workshop, the owner of the 2008 Fazer wheeled in a bike that was in truly terrible condition. On the plus side, however, “the owner said that we would have carte blanche to set up the project and that the budget had a certain flexibility. In his words he wanted a legitimate Cramento,” Augusto smiles. So putting his university learned design skills to good use, it was out with pen and paper to sketch out a path forward.
With the bike disassembled and the dirt and grim swept away, it was down to business and the first task was to shorten the look of the bike by cutting back the subframe. And not just a trim around the edges, more than half of the metalwork was removed to give the bike an aggressive look and render it purely a single-seater. “As we wanted this clean look, we left it without side fairings, and without an air filter box, to have visual permeability through the frame.” That meant a super neat electronics box was required to be built to go under the seat, before the unit itself was shaped and covered in a gorgeous red material.
One of the items that makes all commuter bikes look the same is the crappy plastic tanks, but Augusto had a better idea. “The tank is from an old Yamaha 125cc from the 70s/80s that was cut and extended 45 mm to give more strength to the bike and fit the frame, the upper part was smoothed and the mouthpiece was relocated to receive the machined aluminum cap,” he explains. But what wasn’t so easy on such a small bike that is also fuel injected was finding a place for the pump to fit. Ingeniously, a fuel pump is now mounted at the front of the bike, although you’d barely know and the hidden hoses direct the go gas back to the engine.
The little single cylinder 250cc motor gets oil cooling to help keep it reliable on those warm summer days and the ignition switch has been relocated above. With the airbox and fuel pump changes, there was quite a bit of tuning work required to get it running smoothly, with a pod style filter now providing clean air to the throttle body. All painted up in black and with the hoses replaced in the same colour, the addition of the custom-built muffler gives the little engine a tough look.
Moving to the wheels and even by cheap commuter bike standards, the stock units are truly hideous; some designer at Yamaha was clearly having a bad day. So instead much nicer wheels from a 2018 Fazer were chosen and wrapped in Heidenau K73 tyres, measuring 120 in the front and 160 in the rear. “With the enormity of the 160 tyre for a 250cc motorcycle it is obvious that it does not fit in the rear, so we widen the swingarm, machined the wheels and manufactured new spacers.” While back there a small hugger was added and a new front fender formed for the front.
Working away on the swingarm, Augusto wasn’t happy with the tiny drum brake that the bike comes with from the factory. So back to some machining he went and fabricated all of the parts he needed for a disc conversion. A Nissin caliper is held in place on a new mount and a matching master cylinder is positioned beneath the rider’s foot. With the rider still on his mind and his height a consideration, the footpegs were then moved 15cm rearward to provide for a more comfortable and sporty riding position.
With his attention turned to lighting, the cheap factory gear was tossed aside, “I added a 7” LED headlamp, the LED handlebar turn signals, digital speedometer, rear signal in LED strip, LED plate light, and Aliant lithium battery. All electricals were relocated and the wiring redone.” Not one to name his bikes or go for flashy colours, Augusto then took care of the paint with the stunning gloss black and company logo finishing off the ultra-aggressive look of the build. His design approach favours a timeless design and mean looks and once again the man behind Cramento Motorcycles delivers in spades, turning out a commuter bike that is now a true custom killer.
