If you live in the USA, you probably won’t have seen the Yamaha MT-125. But the mini ‘hyper naked’ is popular in Europe with younger riders and city commuters, where it’s an alternative to the Honda Grom and Kawasaki Z125 Pro.
The MT-125 is loosely based on the more familiar YZF-R125, with a high-revving 15 hp single, a six-speed ‘box, and a top speed of around 80 mph. Performance is peppy, build quality is high, and weight is low—a mere 138 kg (304 pounds).
Dirk Oehlerking, owner of Kingston Custom, is a fan.
He built ‘Young Star’ for Yamaha Motor Germany, and we’re betting they were surprised when Dirk said he wanted to build an MT-125, rather than the MT-07 or MT-09 chosen by most customizers.
“I wanted to build a beginner bike for youngsters and the young at heart,” he says. “A small tracker whose conversion costs should not exceed €1,000 [US$1,130].”
“There are only a few bike builders in Europe who dare to ride small motorcycles. In Europe, almost nothing under 400 cc is offered,” Dirk points out. “But one of the co-founders of the custom scene, Deus Ex Machina, rebuilt a Yamaha XT250 ten years ago.”
Dirk decided to go for a ‘beach tracker’ vibe, and it suits the little MT-125 perfectly. “I took the bike apart, removed the seat and stripped the frame at the rear.”
“In the workshop I had a Storz flat tracker seat, which was perfectly tailored for the Yamaha—I just had to adjust it a bit. And wow, the optics fitted perfectly with the original tank cover. Already the line of the tracker was finished.”
The new tail unit hides a compact lithium polymer battery, and the original wiring harness (including the ABS system) is tucked under the microfiber-covered seat.
Dirk has added a custom-fitted aluminum seat pan to protect everything, and hidden the radiator reservoir behind the tank cover on the left hand side.
The stock suspension is good—with 41mm KYB USD forks—but to get a flatter stance, Dirk has shortened the forks by 40 mm. He’s also extended the original shock linkage by a few millimeters, moving it downwards, to flatten the rear a tad.
Adding to the flat track vibe is a headlight board from C-Racer with two small headlights built in.
It works perfectly with the original bars, and the cockpit looks much cleaner now that the stock headlight nacelle has gone and the instrument panel has been moved backwards to sit right on the bars.
On each side are small flat track number boards, handmade from aluminum. Dirk has also switched out the enormous stock muffler for a sleek Norton Commando-style reverse cone unit, and replaced the turn signals and tail light with discreet units from the German LED specialist Highsider.
None of this is radical surgery though—just careful tweaks that, when combined, completely transform the look of the MT-125. Even the color of the bike is stock, although the rims have been finished in gold and shod with Heidenau’s grippy K60 tires.
“My goal was to keep as many original parts as possible,” he says. And the plan is to offer this conversion as an easy-to-fit kit.
Unlike most custom builds, Kingston’s MT-125 is practical and well suited to young urban riders—who may not have the skills or cash to handle a bigger bike.
As Dirk says, “It doesn’t always have to be big to be great!”
Kingston Custom | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Kati Dalek
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