“I think in the first hour of riding my face hurt from smiling so much…”
Those are the words of Canada’s David Isachsen, describing his first ride on a brand-new Honda 50 Mini Trail in 1975 — a gift from his late father. Fast forward more than 40 years, and David spends hours in his garage with his two sons, working on nearly anything that burns fuel.
The 1981 Yamaha SR250 you see here started as a barn find, a “$250 rust bucket purchase off of Craigslist from a nearby town.” The bike had been not been on the road since 2001, and sitting outside for the last two years. For the build’s direction, David ended up taking inspiration from our very own article on the top Yamaha SR250 customs, written by SR maestro Jake Snowdon of Jadus Motorcycle Parts!
In the span of just three months, David stripped the bike and rebuilt it as a “brat scrambler,” David managed to shed more than 40 pounds from the original machine. We especially love the red-on-white Yamaha speed block paint job and custom crash bars. Can’t wait to see what you do next, David!
Yamaha SR250 Brat Scrambler: Builder Interview
• Please tell us a bit about yourself, your history with motorcycles, and your workshop.
Well, I love to ride anything that burns fuel. My first motorcycle was a brand new Honda 50 Mini Trail given by my late father way back in 1975 when I was ten years old. I think in the first hour of riding my face hurt from smiling so much. Today my workshop aka the garage is a humble two-bay spot where I spend hours with my two sons.
• What’s the make, model, and year of the bike?
1981 Yamaha SR250
• Why was this bike built?
I built this bike because it needing saving — I kinda felt sorry for it if that makes sense? I needed a winter project and well after buying it for only $250.00 in June 2018, dragging it onto my pickup and carting it home the same evening, I started and finished stripping down to the frame. Well that was quick…next day started the other direction and time to rebuild… Winters here are too cold to ride anyways. I need to rebuild something, anything now. I like my hands to be busy. If it runs on gasoline I can fix it — well, that’s what I tell myself.
• What was the design concept and what influenced the build?
The design concept was to build a fun city bike but be able to tear it up on the dirt too. On the google machine for my concept I randomly came across some pictures from Bikebound.com, the top 5 next level SR250’s — well these are nice I now have a direction.
• What custom work was done to the bike?
Custom work was: I wanted or needed the speed block paint job, red on white for a little pop, like the R6 Yamaha colors. And cutting the frame down for a hoop and removing close to 40 lbs of weight. I used a glasspack muffler, wrap, re-jetted, painted, new tires, lowered, gas tank…built it in 3 months.
• How would you classify this bike?
Evolving into what I call a BRAT SCRAMBLER as it has several cues to both.
• Was there anything done during this build that you are particularly proud of?
I’m particularly proud of completing my first bike with no help in 3 months and looking forward to another but maybe this next build will be a winter project this time.
Yamaha SR250 Customs
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