It’s ever present in the world of motorcycles, often only the very next corner away, but we tend to avoid the subject like the plague; crashing! It’s going to happen to all of us, and when you’re lying prone on the ground and realise all of your limbs are intact, you quickly spin around, praying your beloved motorcycle is still in one piece. Sadly for Portugal’s Francisco Menezes, his recently completed full rally raid Yamaha Ténéré had more than a minor scar following a spill and some of his most elaborate work had been instantly destroyed. But rather than sulk in his beer, he completed the weekend’s competition and then used the crashed bike as the basis for an all-new project. The result is a 10-piece kit from Holy Moly Motorcycles, available in five cool colour schemes, which instantly transforms your new Yamaha T7 into a retro Dakar-inspired delight.
Based smack bang in the centre of Lisbon, Holy Moly has been around for over a decade and they have more than 50 full custom builds under their belt. But the truth is, even before it was an official business, Francisco has been messing around with bikes his entire life. He’s always favoured the classic Japanese products and has recently fallen for all of the modern-retro machines that have become such a big part of our scene. This Yamaha Ténéré came to the shop as an almost brand new bike to be sold on to a new home, but Francisco decided to ride it as the workshop bike. Doing everything from the daily run to the shop, as well as light off-road and some major highway runs.
What was supposed to be a bike for a few months turned into a three-year love affair, and Francisco had a huge appreciation for the midweight adventure bike and set about building it into a full-blown rally raid machine. He gave it a bodywork overhaul with rally plastics, in-house made intake, selectable ABS and single disc front end conversion to reduce unsprung mass. He laced up some sweet Excel rims and wrapped them in tubeless Mitas off-road rubber, put on a full exhaust with titanium headers, and working with his friend at MCPRO, they 3D printed a rally tower that used a sweet 7Solid display. The bike even had a trick paint job and looked simply stunning, as well as having some serious speed.
Then just three weeks before the Malle Canyon event, disaster struck: a crash destroyed the front of the bike and made a meal of the rally tower that had taken so much work to create. He made a few minor tweaks to be able to race the bike, and then when the event was over, he rolled the T7 back into his workshop and realised this was an opportunity. Looking at the bike in such a state, he figured that not only could he make it lighter and faster, but if he was willing to start cutting up those rally plastic body panels, he could fashion something truly stunning. And that’s exactly what he did, taking inspiration from the early XT600, with the big Ténéré fuel tank, and moulding his modern plastics to capture those retro lines.
The finished kit is brilliant in its simplicity and nowhere is that more evident than in its installation. Designed to fit all new Ténéré’s from 2019 on, the first step is to disassemble your stock bike and that takes a good three to four hours. But installing the Holy Moly kit is an absolute breeze and in just an hour, your machine will have been transformed, with the benefit of a 10kg weight drop to boot. Starting at the front, the big factory screen and its complex supporting components are replaced by a classic Acerbis Elba headlight and surround, but with the bulb now a full LED that casts a brilliant beam for those nighttime raids.
Below, the new front high-rise fender is a full bolt-on affair, utilising the plastic from an early model YZ dirt bike, and the kit retains the back section of the stock lower fender to keep rocks away from the radiator. The next step is to attach the new tank covers, and the individual sections create a look that is infinitely more attractive than stock. The sides of the tank covers have been shaped to perfectly mirror the leading edge of the 30-litre early Ténéré tank, before they extend down to protect the sides of the radiator. The side covers themselves are a simple one-piece bolt-on, replacing the complex multi-piece items that come stock, they also have the benefit of coming with a textured surface to provide grip, especially important for when you’re riding standing up.
At the back of the bike, the reverse becomes the equation, the single-piece tail unit is stripped off, and three pieces of plastic go on as replacements. Not only does this look better, but should you damage just the back piece or either side, you can replace them individually at a much cheaper cost. The practical components are all there too, the radiator guard itself is heavy duty and provides the sort of protection you need for a bike this off-road capable. A small tail tidy cleans up the rear end and saves a load of weight, and four tiny LED indicators take over the lighting duties! Then the stock dash is relocated to the bars, using a 3D printed part supplied by Emanuel from MCPRO, making the display easily visible when riding either sitting or standing.
Then you have the choice of five different colour schemes, and each will appeal to a certain taste, with the classic double blue and yellow my clear favourite. Also in the line-up is black and gold, blue and black, yellow and black, and finally a white and red finish. Each set of plastics comes with the full graphics package, a stunning mix of vintage Yamaha Speedblocks and Francisco’s own retro-inspired designs to capture the essence of his new ‘Ténéré 700’ classic kit. The full kit costs just €1395, a serious bargain for such a well thought-out and brilliantly designed setup, all of which allows you to transform the excellent stock T7 into a stunning go anywhere retro racer. To order, contact Holy Moly Motorcycles directly on Instagram and they have a webstore coming very soon.
