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JvB-Yamaha Super 7 in the driving report

With JvB after JwD

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Great day! A ride with motorcycle designer Jens vom Brauck on his home route. And also test whether his latest Yamaha conversions are any good…

S.Just don’t write that I’m a customizer, ”says Jens. "Because I am not. I see myself more as a parts developer." We are standing in front of his shed in downtown Cologne. I don’t really want to write anything, I think I’d rather ride my motorcycle with him. The Rhine flows within a stone’s throw. “Yes, take a look around,” says Jens, “I’ll have to get out of here soon, then everything will be rebuilt here.” It sounds wistful, almost sad. And who knows Jens, understands him. His second birth took place here on Hafenstrasse. After his first life, which he says he spent as a "gypsy" after completing his industrial mechanic training, he took time and leisure in the brick, barrack-like old industrial buildings to change the world a little.

JvB-Yamaha Super 7 in the driving report

With JvB after JwD

Show must go on

Today the abbreviation JvB is known all over the world. It stands for reduction and minimalism. And it represents him. His machines are like himself. Thoroughly honest. No frills. Never intrusive or chubby. They are made for sporty motorcycling. Anyone who has ever driven with Jens understands why they are the way they are. “Don’t look so bogus, I have to get out of here, but the show goes on. Already have another booth, I’ll build my workshop in there. ”Dripped? At most because you feel sorry for the movers. Because Jens has accumulated quite a bit over the years. Together with his inability to seldom part with things, mountains of spare parts and materials have grown here, waiting to be rediscovered under a thick layer of sanding dust.

Helmets on, electric start, deep rumble from two Arrow silencers. We’re sitting on two bikes that look very similar at first glance. Sure, they basically have almost identical frames and engines. The basic vehicles, or let’s say part carriers in this case, are the Yamaha MT-07 and XSR 700 models. Both bikes are selling very well. “I first developed my add-on parts for the Yamaha XSR 700 and thought they would also fit the Yamaha MT-07. Think! The frames look very similar, but the brackets and screw connections are completely different. Nothing fits the other motorcycle here, ”says Jens, who named both machines Super 7.

JvB-XSR 700 radically reduced

Rest gears, nod briefly, off you go. We scurry through traffic in Cologne, always cheating on poles, three or four intersections later the tires roll on the A4 towards Bergisches Land. And they roll completely differently. My back tester rests on the one-man seat of the MT-07 base, on which the coarse-tread Continental TKC 80 are mounted. They give the machine something martial along the way. In general, the JvB-MT does not appear as radically reduced as the JvB-XSR. In contrast, the JvB-MT has a luggage rack that makes the rear appear more massive. And that’s it anyway, unlike the Yamaha XSR 700, it can’t be unscrewed. So far everything is clear?

Well. Then off the train. Into the curves. It’s crazy, but with the coarse-treaded TKC 80 almost the same lean angles are possible as with a road tire. Tour guide Jens wavers in advance, swings with his Super 7 over the few straights as if there were invisible pylons that must be avoided at maximum speed. It is not easy to overtake a man with enough cornering speed, such antics and optimal line choice.

Prototypes that go into series production

I don’t want to either. We take a break, shaded by trees. As a customer, can you actually come to Jens with your XSR and have it converted? “Nah, the times are over,” says the Cologne native. “I only develop parts for motorcycles. Prototypes that go into series production. In the case of the two Yamaha twins here, you can buy the parts either on my homepage or from KEDO in Hamburg. ”Anything else would be too expensive, difficult to calculate and not efficient. If he was going to make any changes at all, it would only be to promote his parts. A clever business model that big names in the scene such as the Californian Roland Sands rely on. And who chooses the bikes, does the manufacturer approach Jens and ask if he doesn’t like to prettify them? “No, that’s not how it works,” says Jens. “If I think a motorcycle sucks, then I can’t develop parts for it. It really has to turn me on at the base. Only then will something good come out of it. ”His finger points to the Super 7.“ I like the Yamaha twins, despite only having 75 hp, they have pressure at all speeds. And driving is extremely easy. They can be steered almost like a bicycle. "

Less than five minutes later we’re back in the saddle. Milling through the tightest of radii, braking precisely – oh, surprise, the two of them here have no ABS – and eating us deeper and deeper into the Bergisches Land. Switching to the road-tire XSR is confusing for me. The box is not that much easier to handle. Instead, as a driver behind me, I now experience how Jens draws beautiful black lines when accelerating in an inclined position – with 75 hp, mind you! It’s crazy what a different handlebar, a different seat, a few pounds less and, above all, a better sound can do. Both Super 7s are crisper, more direct and somehow even lighter than the already loose, fluffy, beginner-friendly basic models. They beguile the senses more. Acoustically – the Arrow sends its regards – and visually anyway. This is where the JvB’s Reduce-to-the-Max principle comes into play again. The good thing about its parts solution: Depending on your budget, you can buy the conversion parts one by one. Or the whole kit. Those with average craftsmanship can easily do the work themselves. O-Ton Jens: "Screwing on the parts is not much more difficult than building an Ikea cabinet …" At the last stop, I remember what I really want to know: Why does Jens say that he was a gypsy in his first life to have been "I’ll tell you tomorrow when you drive the infrared." To be continued.

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