UNIKAT’S Grzegorz Korczak and his team are regulars on our website. Invariably they manage to bring us the most inspiring machines you could ever imagine.
But this time the Polish Master in cinematography steps out with something totally unexpected. A build commissioned by one of his clients who wanted his Yamaha Tmax turned into something extraordinary.
Not our first love
Truth be told, it is very unlikely you will ever see our BikeBrewers staff riding this type of machine. Most of the time we look at them, shrug and continue with our daily work.
But our perhaps slightly antiquated attitude might be up for revision. When a master goes to work and shows the world a piece of work like this, we start scratching our heads.
Surely the bike will still not be everybody’s favourite, but we have to admit this is quite a piece of art.
Mastermind
This is how Grzegorz describes the process that went on in his head:
“Maciek – our client – contacted us in the autumn of 2019 and wanted his Tmax to look mean, furious and ‘totally black matte’.
We had already customized two Vespas and I was aware of the difficulties in this sort of process. It was more similar to reconstructing a car than a motorcycle due to its huge and complex frame and the amount of bodywork involved. We had never never tackled a Yamaha Tmax before and researching it on the internet didn’t do much to improve my knowledge about it’s potential as well as possible technical problems this procedure could entail.”
Wrecking brains
With all of the above in mind he sat down for a day on Excel, and calculated the budget for 3-4 months of work. Maciek and the builder agreed to the deal and shook hands online before the donor bike was even wheeled into the workshop.
“Business-wise it was a big mistake as the project took over 5 months to complete. But on the bright side, we would not have built this crazy and utterly original machine which gets anyone who feasts his eyes on it excited and smile. It’s really fast, loud and sporty in terms of its handling. It’s 30kg lighter than the factory version, and with its Malossi air filter and open exhaust it’s a real rocket!” our Polish hero adds.
Any colour as long as it is black?
An important factor in the positive outcome of this build is that, during the designing process, the owner and builder both agreed that there was more to the design than just painting it black.
The BikeBrewers team unitedly agree that the final version, a satin semi-gloss charcoal colour and the brown leather details, make a perfect warm contrast. According to the UNIKAT team all that was left from the original Tmax are its golden wheels as they were OK. They looked good and do the job.
Technical challenges
An intriguing build is an open invitation for prying a bit deeper. We asked Mr. Korczak about the most challenging aspects of this process. He retorted: “On top of the list of headaches was the hurdle to fit the new tank and cooling system in a much smaller sub-frame. If you count the hours spent on projecting and constructing vintage liquid visors for cooling liquid and gasoline you know you won’t earn money on this project hahaha!” he laughs out loud.
Continuing: “Having reached the point of no return, I decided to pull all stops and go full throttle. As a team we decided to just forget about making a profit (I wouldn’t dare ask for more money, it’s not UNIKAT’s style). No compromises whatsoever in terms of the front lights, additional LED stripes in front and a 3rd stop light just behind the wheel (and behind a plexi-glass window).
While we were at it went on and cut out wooden shapes of the frame and then hammered the metal net so that it fitted into the gaps. The cooling liquid tank also fits into one of these – on the left side.
We added “metal wings” next to the foot-pegs and around the head lamp for aesthetic reasons and to clean up the design (they cover the technical parts). I ordered the leather for the seat cover three times as the first two deliveries were not the exact shade that would match the frame. As you might have already guessed, a hallmark of UNIKAT is obviously also included in this design: hand-made leather grips in the same colour as the seat.”
Don’t look back in anger
“So with the finished project in the spotlight, what is your feeling looking back at the past period?” BikeBrewers investigates further.
UNIKAT’S owner replies: “At the end of the day I’m extremely happy with this project as it is truly ONE of ONE and I believe it’s the most exclusive scooter ever built. Maybe it’s a new option for scooter fans who need to have personalized machine. We’ll see :).”
Builder’s details:
Website
email
Instagram
Facebook
Leave a Reply