Diamond Atelier smashes the mold with a radical XSR900

Motorcycle styling, even in the custom scene, tends to edge forward in increments. Bikes fit neatly within genres, perhaps stretching the envelope in one direction but playing safe in others. But occasionally someone will try something completely new. And so it is with this groundbreaking design from Diamond Atelier, the Munich workshop famous for its immaculate BMW airhead customs. It’s a Yamaha XSR900 built for the Dutch watchmaker TW Steel and called ‘Æon.’ And yes, there’s a huge gap where you’d normally expect to see a tank. Diamond’s Tom Konecny takes up the story: “We’d never ridden, let alone built...