Yamaha India has launched a customisation contest called "Build Your Own Custom" where designers and custom houses can submit their own take on the XSR 155. The part that makes this different from a standard design competition is what the winning custom house actually gets — not just merchandise but the chance to physically build their design and have the entire process filmed for Yamaha's social media channels. Three themes are on the table — Cafe Racer, Scrambler and Retro Sport — and all entries will be judged on creativity and uniqueness by Yamaha's in-house team. Winners will be announced on July 31, 2026, while the entries need to be submitted before July 1, 2026.
What's Actually Up for Grabs — Individual vs Custom House
The contest runs in two separate tracks. Individual participants who get
selected win exclusive XSR merchandise — riding jackets, XSR t-shirts and riding gloves. Custom houses that win get something considerably more useful: they actually build their custom XSR 155 and Yamaha documents the entire build journey into a short film that goes out on their official social media handles.
That custom house prize is worth thinking about more carefully. For independent builders in India, brand-backed visibility at a national level through a manufacturer's own channels is hard to come by and typically expensive to create on your own. Yamaha gets real, original custom content without commissioning it separately. The custom house gets a fully documented build and a platform. It's a practical arrangement for both sides which is why it works better than a standard prize-money contest would.
How to Enter and What the XSR 155 Actually Is
Entering is straightforward — go to the Yamaha India website, pick your theme, design your render, fill in your details and simply submit. Winners get announced on July 31, 2026. The XSR 155 is priced from around Rs 1.50 lakh (ex-showroom) and runs the same 155cc liquid-cooled engine as the R15 and MT-15 — 19.03 hp and 14.7 Nm through a 6-speed gearbox. The retro-sport body, round headlamp as well as upright riding position make it a natural canvas for customisation, which is presumably why Yamaha chose this over a more fully-faired model for the contest.
For anyone who's already had ideas about what they'd do with an XSR, this is a structured way to actually put that on paper — with a real chance of seeing it built. Seven weeks from the contest launch to the July 31 announcement date is enough time to put something together properly.
