“Black Pearl” Yamaha XTZ 125 Classic Tracker by Tuba Garage

One of the breakout builders from Talisay City Cebu is “Tuba Garage”. They made their debut back in 2018 during the 1st InsideRACING Bikefest “Cebu Biker Builds”. The base bike of this build is the Yamaha XTZ 125, an entry-level off roader from Yamaha which they converted into a Classic Tracker. The project which they dubbed as the “Black Pearl” took 2 months to build and it was inspired by the “Black Pearl” ship of Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Tuba Garage is headed by Ronell Salvado who started out as a stockman at an Electrical Hardware store. Ever since then he has always been fascinated with motorcycles. He always loved the art of building or customizing motorcycles. “It all started when I modified my own bike back in 2016 and my friends and fellow bikers really admired it. They asked me to work on their bikes and they really liked the outcome until the word spread out in the motoring community until I got so many build requests so I decided to pursue it full time. The skills that I have are mostly self-taught. I never had formal training. Slowly but surely, I got more experience and in turn it further developed my skills as a builder. You never stop learning and as you gain more experience the better you get,”  said Ronell.

Tuba Garage specializes in metal fabrication, electrical, paint and chassis work. One of their trademarks is their ability to use unconventional materials for their builds. They have the uncanny ability to find purpose for discarded materials from the junk yard and they integrated it seamlessly to their builds. “Tuba Garage” got their name from the Coconut Palm sap wine or “Tuba” which their crew often drinks to celebrate the ending of each successful build project.

Going into the bike, they completely cut the original dirt bike frame and created a new tracker sub-frame. They made a custom seat pad then outsourced a custom-made leather seat. The team got the Honda TMX gas tank and fenders from the junk yard and completely restored it. They also replaced the original dirt bike wheel set to XPD Rims and CST dual-sport tires. The side covers were taken from a spin drier they found in the junk yard and they custom-cut it as side covers. They also made the custom underbelly exhaust to make the bike lighter and have a better weight distribution. It made the bike more agile and it improved heat dissipation. The team also used Renthal low riser handlebars which they custom-painted. They also used aftermarket classic hand grips, bar end side mirrors, headlight, and turn signals. The bike was then custom-painted to carry out the overall classic theme.

“I would like to say thank you to my family, my friends, especially to my wife for supporting and believing in me and my passion for building motorcycles and in the journey that I have chosen. Thank you to all “Tuba Garage” supporters. Thank you for appreciating our works. Thank you for trusting us. Thank you so much to Inside Racing Magazine for featuring our build project,” shared Ronell.

Parts Used:

Custom modified chassis

Custom fabricated side covers

Restored Honda TMX gas tank

Restored junk fenders

Aftermarket classic hand grips

Aftermarket classic bar end side mirrors

Aftermarket classic headlight

Aftermarket classic turn signal lights

CST dual-sport tires

Custom-made underbelly exhaust system

Custom-made leather seat

Custom paint

Original front and rear suspension

Renthal low riser handlebars

This was published in InsideRACING Magazine Volume 17 Number 3 issue

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