It takes a certain kind of madness—or brilliance—to take a perfectly good Yamaha Ténéré 700, rip it apart, and rebuild it into something straight out of the 1980s. Francisco Menezes of Holy Moly Motorcycles in Lisbon, Portugal, is that kind of builder.
When his rally-prepped T7 took a tumble and destroyed its front end, most would’ve reached for OEM replacements. Francisco, however, reached back in time.
This Retro Custom Yamaha T7 Puts Other T7s to Shame
The result? A T7 that looks like it rolled off the sands of a Paris-Dakar stage in the XT600Z’s heyday. With its gold Excel rims, Mitas rubber, and a minimalist 10-piece kit that trims 10 kilograms off the stock bike, this machine is all about blending the best of then and now.
Titanium headers? Check. Rally plastics and a custom 3D-printed navigation tower? Naturally. Francisco didn’t just build a bike; he built a time machine for the trail.
It’s lighter, leaner, and unashamedly retro—proof that sometimes, to move forward, you’ve got to look back. Skeptics scoffed, but Francisco turned doubters into dreamers.
Come 2025, you can buy the kit yourself. Until then, we’ll keep dreaming about the T7 that dares to go boldly where the past and future collide. For a full interview with the builder, check out BikeBound.
