Gentai: Can We Ride Your Mannequin?

The Baltimore boutique skate shop Gentai is a great spot to pick up a pair of Vans for your feet or a set of Phil Woods for your fixie. But Oliver Jones, Gentai’s owner, is as much into design as he is into selling gear. Witness the shop’s newest addition: a Yamaha TW200 tricked out in dirt drag form. Jones, who opened Gentai a few years back, says he fell in love with the duel sport in 2000 while living in Japan. “They are kind of an old man bike,” he says. Jones bought his a few years back and has been modifying it since then. The shop toy sports an extended swing arm, a custom stainless exhaust and a front end from a Yamaha SR500. “The only thing that’s factory is the tires and the motor” Jones says. He’s taking the bike to Timonium Motorcycle Show this weekend. But in keeping with the shop’s biker motif, he will replace the TW with a bobber/chopper project he’s got in the back.