Some things just don’t seem to work together,no matter how hard they try: Tony Blair and morality, Mariah Carey and music, The Chuckle Brothers – the list is endless. To be fair, you might think the same if somebody suggested you buy a perfectly decent Yamaha TDM850 and put a Suzuki GT750 engine in it. Who in their right mind would try such a random mechanical caper?

Fortunately for us Phil Larkin had the vision to utilise a Kettle to make a very Special Brew indeed, and the results are unsuspectingly brilliant. Yet it’s a project that only got off the ground thanks to a mixture of a misbehaving standard engine and a completely rash eBay purchase.

“I bought the 1993 TDM850 for £1200 about five years ago from a dealer online. I ran it standard for a few months, but the thing would never start. It was a nightmare, so the last time it did it I just gave up and took the engine out.” Says Phil...

So far, so normal. From here you’d have thought Phil would either delve inside the engine, or get a different but at least vaguely TDM-compatible one. Instead, Phil’s thought was to buy a completely leftfield engine that no one had ever contemplated transplanting into a TDM before, with no idea whatsoever if it would work.

“I fancied a big two-stroke but bikes like Yamaha RD500s were going for really silly money, so I started thinking about Kettle engines. Some bloke was selling one on eBay along with the carbs and a three-into-one exhaust for £600. I thought, ‘I wonder if that’ll go in the TDM?’ I just bought it there and then and decided I’d make it fit by hook or by crook.”

#Moto #Bike #Custom