FEATURE – 2005 Yamaha SR400 Ross Racing custom
Words: Mike Ryan. Photos: Stew Ross
There’s no denying Yamaha’s SR400 has been a keystone of the modern custom motorcycle phenomenon. Builders worldwide have turned to the humble Yamaha single for all manner of custom builds over the past decade, turning out café racers, street trackers, scramblers, rat bikes, racers and even a few that defy categorisation!
Here in Australia, that renewed popularity fed a rise in grey imports and ultimately led to Yamaha introducing the SR400 to the local market as a listed model in 2014 (more on that later). A small aftermarket industry has also developed, supplying SR400 custom parts to feed enthusiast demand.
While that popularity is great, it’s also made the SR400 somewhat ubiquitous. As such, to stand out amongst the crowd of custom SR400s on the scene today, you have to create something special. Something like this bike.
Fresh Green
What you’re looking at here is the ‘Green Hornet’. It’s the product of long-time motorcycle owner, builder, restorer and racer Stew Ross and is the first of a planned series.
After years of building bikes for himself, including an SR500 that’s a two-time class record setter on the salt at Lake Gairdner, Stew decided to share his skills and vision with others.
“The Green Hornet is a collection of many of the things I would like to have in my own SR café racer and it’s been made using quality Japanese after-market components,” Stew explained.
Japan, of course, is the birthplace of the SR400 - the short-stroke version of the SR500 that was produced to meet Japanese registration rules.
The ‘big brother’ SR500 was officially sold here in Australia for only a handful of years from 1978, but the SR400 remained a stalwart of the Japanese domestic market for years. When SR400s started coming here as grey imports, the likes of Deus Ex Machina started modifying them (along with other models), feeding the whole “cool factor” of the modern custom scene
The base for the Green Hornet was actually one of those early Deus imports, and it came into Stew’s possession in close-to-stock condition.
Stew had a comprehensive café racer-themed bike in mind, but as it was built to sell, he took a different approach to his past builds.
“I deliberately made the Green Hornet with all those aftermarket parts, so that, in the event of the bike being damaged, the new owner could simply go to somewhere like Vanem or Deus and buy the replacement part as if it was a production bike.”
From nose to tail, there’s a pretty long list of parts Stew has added to this bike, but he deliberately left the engine stock, explaining that the buyer (see breakout) can choose to play with the 399cc single-cylinder powerplant should they wish to.
While the engine internals remain as Yamaha built them, there is an aftermarket silencer fitted, along with K&N air and oil breather filters and an aftermarket oil filter cover.
Bar the addition of a one-tooth larger front sprocket for slightly higher gearing and a quality DID 428 O-ring chain, the 5-speed transmission is unchanged, too.
It doesn’t look it, but the frame is also stock, as are the wheels, front suspension and most of the electrics.
Quality, Quality, Quality
Stew’s no-expense-spared approach to the Green Hornet is best evidenced on the tinware, which has seen all the factory gear replaced with Japanese aftermarket items.
The stainless-steel front and rear mudguards are a combination of Official at the front and Daytona at the rear, both Japanese aftermarket parts specialists. That beautiful polished alloy low-line fuel tank is from WM, aka Wellington, which is another Japanese aftermarket parts supplier, despite its ‘kiwi’ name!
To fit an appropriately retro-look Monza flip-up fuel cap to that tank, Stew turned to Bernie Willet, who he’d called on previously to make a new fuel tank for his salt racer. Unfortunately, Bernie passed away last year, but his superb metalwork lives on in the Green Hornet and many other projects.
The polished oil filler and dip stick are other WM parts, with the nearside hand-hold and chainguard from the Japanese aftermarket, too.
Finally, those oh-so-Ducati side covers are from Posh-Faith and were resprayed locally by Brett at Mitchell Smash Repairs in the ACT.
Obviously, the paint lends its name to this build, but getting the “right” green was a process in itself.
“It’s a PPG Emerald Green candy,” Stew explained. “A beautiful colour, but best seen with the naked eye – it’s hard to get what it looks like in photographs.”
Brett produced samples in several shades of green before the final colour was settled on. As applied to the side covers and headlight shell, it’s a nice touch and complements the polished alloy used everywhere else.
Electrickery
On that custom headlight shell (which is a Daytona retro-style unit based in an Aprilia headlight), there’s a compatible Velona speedo that Stew modified to reduce cable clutter at the front end.
“The speedo is actually driven by an electronic signal from a generator located on the front speedo cable drive outlet, meaning it has no speedo cable.
“A handlebar-mounted push-button control means you can switch the LCD part of the display between total mileage, trip distances, electric system voltage display and even a clock – all on an SR!” Stew laughed.
Sitting aft of the speedo in their own brackets, there’s a neat cluster of idiot lights that blend well with that meaty Daytona top triple clamp. The lights are for indicators, high beam and neutral on the left, with an immobiliser and electronic problem light on the right.
Making the Green Hornet safer in emergencies, Stew has also incorporated hazard flashers for the indicators. Like the head and tail light, these compact indicators are Daytona brand, too.
Stance and Style
Proving he’s got the brain for engineering, as well as an eye for style, Stew’s careful selection of parts to complement the performance of the Green Hornet includes a steering damper, which is part of a ‘Ross Racing’ kit that he sells.
Now, a steering damper on a placid single like an SR400 may seem unnecessary, but Stew says riding without one is a mistake many riders make.
“There are always people who swear their SR has never given them a problem. . . ah, hit some broken corners or unexpected bumps on rough roads and see what happens,” Stew laughs. “In my experience, SRs need a steering damper - just to take the handling down a tad.
“A guy asked me at a rally why I had one fitted. I said they were a good idea, but he said he’d never had a problem. A year later he came up to me and asked if I had any kits left…he’d been thrown from his SR not long after I talked to him!”
Stew acknowledges that, while the SRs are great bikes, they can surprise the unwary if there isn’t a damper fitted. Prevention is better than a cure, they say, so the easy prevention is to fit a damper and avoid any issues.
Moving on to the front brake disc, it’s been upgraded to a Metal Gear semi-floating disc, with braided lines fitted at each end, while that aforementioned aftermarket silencer is from Peyton Place. Never heard of them? Neither had JUST BIKES until talking to Stew, who describes this muffler as a quality unit, Japanese of course, with a neat chamfered edge to deal with enthusiastic cornering and a strong note – “nice but not too loud”.
Continuing to the rear, the stock rear shocks have been replaced with Ikon units, comprising lightweight alloy body dampers with performance fork springs. While the Green Hornet has been set up as a solo ride, these Ikon shocks feature 4-position rebound adjustability to handle a pillion.
Stew has retained the original SR pillion pegs, which aren’t fitted in the photos here, but will be supplied upon sale.
The rearsets are fixed WM units, requiring a compatible WM kick lever (with unusual bend) to clear them, while the retro-look saddle is from Nitro Heads.
Clip-ons, like rearsets, are pretty much mandatory for a café racer and Stew’s choice for this build were adjustable-angle Daytona bars that offer up to 15 degrees of drop, matched to compatible shortened control cables.
The grips are from a modern Yamaha R1, while the levers are mix of stock SR400 for the brake and a Honda XR650 for the clutch and decompressor lever.
Finally, those retro-look folding mirrors are stainless-steel Halcyon items from the UK: one of the very few non-Japanese aftermarket parts on this build.
Green to Go
Months of work and thousands of dollars have gone into this build, but Stew says it’s been worth every minute and every cent.
As number one in a planned series of ten different ‘Ross Racing’ customs, Stew knew that subsequent builds would be judged by this one. As such, he spared no expense, selecting only the best parts and doing lots of test-fitting and trial-and-error work.
Given what he’s poured into the Green Hornet, you may think he’d be reluctant to let it go, but Stew’s pretty pragmatic – he built this bike to sell and reckons the new owner will get a kick out of it.
“The bike is lightweight and handles and brakes very well – it’s a real pleasure to ride.”
With Ross Racing #1 under his belt, what’s Stew got planned for build #2? He’s keeping that info under his hat for now, but our money’s on another SR!
The first Ross Racing-branded build, the Green Hornet has all the best SR400 gear available and is ready to jump on and ride away. A set of pillion pegs, tools and a bike cover will be included in the sale, along with documentation explaining how the various add-ons work. Stew can also provide 3 months registration and a roadworthy certificate for a buyer in the ACT. Asking price is $15,000. Contact Stew for more details on 0419 164 941. View the ad online at justbikes.com.au with the ad code JBM5046949.
UPDATE: This 2005 Yamaha SR400 Ross Racing custom Green Hornet has since been SOLD on justbikes.com.au
