Source: Bike Bound
Triple-Cylinder Super Hooligan Street Tracker from Triston Rue…
In 2014, Yamaha introduced the original FZ-09, a naked middleweight packing a feisty three-cylinder crossplane “CP3” engine good for 100+ horsepower and 60 pound-feet of torque. Known as the MT-09 in markets beyond North America (and now everywhere), the bike was light, nimble, fast, and cost less than eight grand, making it an incredible value for the money.
“The Yamaha MT-09 / FZ-09 is one of this generation’s great motorcycles.” –Motofomo
Though poor throttle response and soft suspension hampered the bike in stock trim, these were fixable issues, and the “Fuzz-9” soon earned something of a cult following.
One of the early adopters of the Yammie triple was Triston Rue (@triston_throttles), who started washing bikes right out of his high school at this local dealership, Roseville Motorsports, and worked his way up to head mechanic over the years. Though he left to work at a dyno turning shop for several years (where he learned a ton), he’s now back as head mechanic at the dealership where it all started.
Triston’s father is a road racer and track days have long been a big part of his life. This 2014 FZ-09 was the first new motorcycle Triston ever bought, and once he retired it from the track, he wanted to a combine his love of various custom bikes into a single, highly capable package.
“The bike started off yellow and as a three cylinder it made sense to give it a Kenny Roberts vibe as a tribute to his racing career. I’ve taken to calling it ‘Trigger’ like Willy Nelson’s guitar, as I’ve had it the longest, spent years fixing it, and it means the most to me.”
It can be difficult to transform a modern bike to such a high degree, but Triston’s passion for the FZ has shone through. This is actually one of five FZ-09’s he’s customized, so he’s come to know the platform incredibly well. We’ve never seen an FZ/MT-09 look quite like this, and Triston says the riding experience is phenomenal:
“It feels like nothing I’ve ever ridden. It’s grippy when it needs to be and you can make it slide whenever you want; as it’s very upright, it feels lightweight and flickable like a supermoto, but with sportbike power.”
It has to feel even better that he built the bike himself, putting his track time, mechanical expertise, and dyno tuning experience all to good use. Below, Triston gives us the full story on “Trigger.”
FZ-09 Street Tracker: In the Builder’s Words…
I’m a twelve-year motorcycle mechanic, starting off washing bikes right out of high school at the local Yamaha dealership, which is where I originally bought this bike brand new. I worked there for several years and left as head mechanic and then went on to work at a dyno tuning shop and learned a lot about all makes of motorcycles. Eventually I came back to the same Yamaha dealership where I still am currently as a head mechanic.
Motorcycles certainly are my drive in life as I love going on adventure rides, dirt bikes, flat track, and the biggest part for me would be track days and helping my dad with his road racing career.
So in 2014 I bought my very first new motorcycle, a 2014 Yamaha FZ-09. I had other bikes before but I wanted something fun and torquey that I could both commute on, travel, and take to the track. Since then it has seen many miles, many crashes, and many changes.
This is the first of five custom FZ-09 builds I have. I retired it from the track after I fell in love with adventure riding and from there the build really exploded. As a kid I was really into cafe racers; that later turned into a love for scramblers, street trackers, and choppers all in the custom bike world, and I wanted to combine them all into something. So many are works of art but I wanted mine to look cool but also be extremely capable as well.
The bike started off yellow and as a three cylinder it made sense to give it a Kenny Roberts vibe as a tribute to his racing career. I’ve taken to calling it “Trigger” like Willy Nelson’s guitar, as I’ve had it the longest, spent years fixing it, and it means the most to me.
Working at the dyno tuning shop was a treat to test and tune and change so much on the bike. It’s currently making 117hp to the wheel and 58 ft lbs of torque.
It feels like nothing I’ve ever ridden. It’s grippy when it needs to be and you can make it slide whenever you want; as it’s very upright, it feels lightweight and flickable like a supermoto, but with sportbike power.
I’m most proud of all the suspension work and geometry done to accommodate the flat track wheels that were built by Cognito Moto; they have been a big help over the years.
These days the bike sits on display at our dealership Roseville Motorsports for our customers to view and for a casual rip every now and then to let it stretch its legs.
Follow the Builder
Instagram: @triston_throttles
Dealership: www.roseville-motorsports.com
