Custom Motorcycle Builds

[DaveM]

PIÈCE DE RÉSISTANCE: Ducati 750SS by Cevennes Retro Motors.

The French are proud, passionate people who certainly love the finer things in life and know how to expertly craft them. Think of three French inventions off the top of your head, say Lingerie, Champagne and an Automobile, and instantly your day is guaranteed to be tres magnifique! So it is little surprise then that the Artisan’s who fashion these spectacular creations are held in such high regard.

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[DaveM]

Monza: WalzWerk’s best BMW cafe racer yet?

Most custom builders are low-volume guys. It’s often a sideline to a day job, or part of a wider operation selling parts. But there are a handful of companies that have a veritable production line, and in Europe, one of those is WalzWerk.

“We build around 50 of our ‘Schizzo’ BMWs per year, which is one bike per week,” says founder Marcus Walz. “All the bikes—the Roadster, Cafe Racer, Scrambler and Bobber—are based pretty much on the same concept.”

“But once a year we build a very special Schizzo, and this year it is this ‘Monza,’ which is inspired by old GP bikes of the 70s. Hence the reason for the nickname.”

‘Monza’ is a fantastic blend of minimalist and retro cafe racer design, based on a 1989 monolever R100 RS. And it weights just 168 kilos [370 pounds] with five liters of fuel, which is a drop of around 50 kilos on the stock R100RS.

“As always, we took the bike completely apart and rebuilt it,” says Marcus. “So it’s pretty much a brand new bike with an old title. It’s a real old bike, and not a faked retro bike. I believe this is why our production bike line is successful.”

WalzWerk have stripped all unnecessary brackets off the main frame and replaced the entire rear end, including the seat, with their classy in-house product. It’s a stepped design available as a complete kit, with no welding required.

The new frame bolts right on to the existing brackets of the main frame, and is already fitted with brackets for turn signals, a seat and the rear fender.

“After the metalwork, we powder coated the frame in-house with a special new ‘aluminized’ powder,” says Marcus. “We needed three attempts before we were satisfied with the finish.”

The 980cc boxer engine has been fully overhauled to give decades of more service, and has also been treated to a brand new, balanced crank and pistons, which are lightened and have slightly shorter skirts. The inlet and outlet valve sizes have been increased too.

The five-speed gearbox and rear drive have also been completely overhauled, with the housings then sandblasted and thermo-coated before being reassembled.

To boost reliability and smoothness, WalzWerk have also replaced the original ignition with a new crank-mounted Silent Hektik electronic system.

The lightweight ‘shorty’ 2-into-2 exhaust system has removable dB-killers, and is handmade out of stainless steel by SC Project in Italy and then black ceramic-coated. It’s a design exclusively made for WalzWerk, and fits all two-valve BMW airheads with 38mm header connectors.

It helps to lift power at the rear wheel to 70 hp, compared to the 60hp normally measured at the crank for a late 80s R100.

To upgrade the suspension, WalzWerk joined forces with Touratech. At the back is a fully adjustable monoshock, and the stock front end is shortened by 120mm. It’s tightened up with ‘Black-T’ progressive fork springs and new inner damper units.

The top yoke is new too, and CNC-machined out of a solid block of aluminum. The stock Brembo calipers are overhauled with upgraded floating stainless steel rotors.

The 18-inch wheel rims are lifted from a BMW R100R Paralever, with modified hubs to fit the Monolever application. They’re shod with wide-profile Shinko 270 Super Classic tires in 4.00×18 front and 4.50×18 on the rear. The rims and hubs are powder coated in a ‘BBS’-style gold metallic, inspired by classic BBS racing wheels.

The black anodized racing clip-ons come from ABM, and between them is a Motogadget Tiny gauge. A Bluetooth-controlled Motogadget m.unit blue control box keeps the new wiring harness up to date.

The most unusual item is the front fairing, which plays a big part in the weight loss. It’s heavily modified racing fairing from a Yamaha TZ250 GP bike, installed via newly manufactured brackets.

“We did all this work in house,” says Marcus. “The only things we didn’t do are the paint on the fuel tank, and the saddle work.”

“The bike is fully street legal. For the pictures, we removed the rearview mirrors, which are mounted at the bar ends. Most of the parts aside from the fairing are available in our online store.”

With a little talent, anyone can build their own TÜV-approved ‘Schizzo,’ using WalzWerk’s well-designed and priced parts.

Marcus and his crew have developed the template, and very clever it is too.

WalzWerk | Facebook | Instagram

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[DaveM]

BACK WITH A BANDIT: 1999 Suzuki Bandit 1200 by Zed Made.

It’s one of the only memorable moments of The Godfather Part III, Michael’s “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!” For Sander Ziugov the words ring true, but thankfully the sentiment is a hell of a lot different, as he was willingly drawn back to the world of custom motorcycles. More than six years ago we featured his last build, a stunning Yamaha XS400, but now having seen the...

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[DaveM]

A Honda CT125 Hunter Cub … with a ‘Gatling gun’ exhaust

The Honda CT125 Hunter Cub is one of the most exciting motorcycles to come out of Big Red’s stable in recent times. Effectively a ‘scrambler’ version of the C125 Super Cub (‘T’ is for ‘Trail’), it’s a pint-sized adventure scoot that harks back to Honda’s beloved ‘Postie’ bikes.

You get a 125 cc air-cooled four stroke with both electric and kick-start systems, a four-speed ‘box, 17” wheels and disc brakes. But more importantly you also get a sump guard, a massive rear rack and just enough suspension travel for light exploration.

It’s what we’d pick for carrying on the back of a motorhome on camping trips—or hopping from cafe to cafe on an easy Sunday morning.

The CT125 has only just hit the market in Asia, but Thailand’s K-Speed have wasted little time in customizing it. We’re not surprised either—they’re a sizable operation, with a high output and a thriving aftermarket parts catalog. Plus they’ve already swung spanners on the Super Cub, and the Honda Monkey, with spectacular results.

They clearly run a tight ship too: this CT125 was turned around in just 10 days. K-Speed built it as a prototype to develop new parts, with a mandate to make it stand apart from any other CT on the market.

They gave it a ‘combat’ theme that would look kitsch on any other bike—but ramps up this mini-trailie’s fun factor exponentially.

K-Speed’s first job was to ditch the stock swing arm, and replace it with a custom-built unit that’s 2” longer. That allowed them space to upgrade the Cub’s 80/90-17 rear rubber to a chunky 100/100-17 enduro tire.

The OEM mudguard was in the way, so that was ditched in favor of a much slimmer, and higher mounted unit. K-Speed then fabricated a new rear rack to hold the mudguard, and support a ‘tool box’ up top. Lastly, they installed a set of Diablo (their in-house brand) shocks, adding both a 1.5” lift and extra strength to cope with the load.

Next up, the CT125’s seat was stripped, slimmed, and recovered with a classy combo of diamond and pleated stitching. Other tweaks at the back include a new chain guard, and a set of LED taillights and turn signals from K-Speed’s catalog.

Moving to the cockpit, the crew modified the stock triple tree with new risers, then added a set of enduro-style Diablo handlebars. They wear new grips, a new throttle, mini-switches, bar-end mirrors, and a Takegawa brake master cylinder.

Out front is a new LED headlight, hiding behind a custom made grill that mounts to the original headlight bracket mount points. Lower down is a high front fender sitting on a custom bracket, with a 90/100-17 knobby front tire to match the rear.

K-Speed also added extensions to the Hunter Cub’s crash bars, and the stock LED speedo is now mounted on the side of the bike, on top of the left crash bar. The front turn signals are harder to spot, but they’re there.

Rounding out the parts spec is a set of finned plastic side and engine covers, a bigger sump guard, and burlier foot pegs. And if you look really closely, you’ll spot practical considerations like upgraded brake lines, and a nifty side stand footprint extender.

Perhaps the quirkiest part on this adventure scoot is the bizarre Gatling gun-style exhaust. It’s a fully functional unit, and actually spins faster and faster as the Cub accelerates. It’s the sort of feature we’d hate on a reality TV chopper, but this custom is cute enough to get away with it.

By cherry picking from their own catalog, adding handful of clever one-off parts and applying a distressed paint job, K-Speed have managed to make the already cool CT125 even sassier.

Hand us the keys, and we’ll happily cram as much as we can into that toolbox and escape reality for a few days.

K-Speed website | Instagram | Images by Hipmotography

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[DaveM]

SALVAGED SR: Yamaha SR500 by Sane Motion Moto.

Many bikes we feature have lived a rough life before being salvaged by a global array of builders who nurse them back to their best. But this here motorcycle must have been a cat in a past life, as it’s certainly used up eight of its nine lives; left to rot in a backyard, crashed, and even caught on fire. Most owners would have long given up and simply thrown it into the garbage dump.

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[DaveM]

Bullenbeisser: A 150 hp Harris Magnum streetfighter

The streetfighter scene is marked by outrageous performance and unapologetic aesthetics. In the battle of function and form, fast wins pretty much every time. But sometimes we come across a streetfighter that crams silly power into a package that’s both stylish and cohesive—and that’s when we really take notice.

This streetfighter blends an output of 150 hp with a seriously tasty parts spec, all with a super-sano cafe racer vibe. If you couldn’t pinpoint the donor right away, that’s because it’s not an off-the-shelf setup; you’re looking at a custom Harris ‘Magnum 4.’

The Magnum 4 is a tubular steel chassis that go-fast gurus Harris Performance have been building since the 90s. This particular bike was built in 1995, and that’s when current owner Timo LeMans first fell in love with it.

“I’ve been in the German streetfighter and custom bike scene since the mid to late 90s” he tells us. “I’ve always liked trick frames made in the 80s and 90s, including Spondon, Martek, Harris and Rau. I’ve always liked the design, and especially the performance.”

“This exact Harris Magnum 4 was very well known in the German streetfighter scene in the 90s and 2000s. It was known by the name ‘Bullenbeisser’ and was originally built by a friend of mine named ‘Jörg the Duke.’”

“Jörg owned the bike until early 2019, when he sold it to me. So I just had to wait 20 years to own the bike that had a big influence on me when I was just starting in the motorcycle scene.”

‘Bullenbeisser’ roughly translates into ‘cop biter,’ and it’s an apt name for this monster. The Magnum 4 chassis was originally designed to host a Suzuki GSX-R1100 or 750 mill, and Jörg had opted for the bigger of the two here. What’s more, this one has been cranked all the way up to eleven.

The work was originally done by renowned German tuner Christian Mende, who sadly passed away in 2016. He took the motor up to a whopping 1,240 cc, with machined heads, JE forged pistons and a Yoshimura camshaft. The work added almost ten horses to the stock output.

But when Timo got his hands on the bike, it hadn’t run in a few years, and had been passing the time in Jörg’s living room. So it went straight to Wolfgang Bätz at Custom Wolf, who was tasked with getting it back on the road—and customizing it even more.

Wolfgang spent the next year and a half turning it into the bike you’re looking at here. Other than the frame and motor, only a couple of key parts remain: the original Harris fuel tank, and a chromed Benelli TNT swing arm that had been grafted on some time ago.

The Harris runs like a dream, spurred along by a four-into-one Scorpion exhaust. But it wasn’t always that way: it came with Keihin FCR41 carbs, and Timo wasn’t happy with how it ran. So Wolfgang switched them out for Mikuni TMR36s, replaced the ignition box, installed new coils and wiring, and revived the monstrous Suzuki motor.

Then it was time to upgrade the running gear. The front end got a set of newer Suzuki GSX upside-down forks, held in place by a set of custom-made triples. Wolfgang made some tweaks to the custom swing-arm arrangement too, and installed a WP rear shock.

The wheels are a set of lightweight OZ Racing alloy units, measuring 17×3.5 in the front and 17×6 out back. The brakes are a mix of Nissin (front) and Brembo (back) stoppers, with Beringer brake and clutch master cylinders.

Higher up, Wolfgang ditched the auxiliary bodywork and crafted his own fiberglass tail unit to complement the Harris tank. Ledermania handled the upholstery, and it’s some of the best we’ve seen; a contrast-stitched honeycomb design with an embroidered Harris logo.

Up front is a custom-made fender, right below a modified Benelli headlight. Just behind it, Wolfgang sunk a tiny digital Motogadget speedo into the top yoke, along with a line of LED indicator lights. (The bike’s had a full rewire with a Motogadget m.unit, too).

The rest of the cockpit features new clipons, aluminum grips made by Wolfgang himself, Motogadget mini-switches and bar-end turn signals, and a set of bar-end mirrors. The rear turn signals are from Kellermann, and double up as a taillight.

Most of the components have chromed, polished, raw or black finishes … all except for the technicolor frame. “The frame has been painted like this since the mid 90s,” explains Timo, “and it was clear to Wolfi and me that we wanted to keep this one-off paint scheme.”

“The legend says that those flashy colors were painted with nail polish, and then preserved by a clear coat.”

Timo’s ‘cop biter’ is a splendid mix of 90s streetfighter attitude, with top-spec components and just a hint of cafe racer style. Throw in a very special frame and a highly tuned Gixxer motor, and you’ve got a winner.

Custom Wolf | Facebook | Images by (and with thanks to) Marc Holstein and Christine Gabler

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[DaveM]

Giant Killer: Honda CB400F ‘Raptor’ by Ripple Rock Racers

It’s a long time since we’ve featured what you might call a ‘traditional’ café racer. The term is used very loosely these days—we’re as guilty as anyone—and it’s easy to forget how far we’ve moved on from the classic style.

So this Kandy-Kolored tangerine-flake streamliner is a good reminder of ground zero. It comes from Kemp Archibald of Toronto’s Ripple Rocker Racers, and it’s been gracing the window of the local Town Moto store since March.

The guys at Ripple Rocker Racers make custom parts for café racer builds, but also use their know-how and machinery to build bikes for their customers. Occasionally, they’ll build a bike for themselves.

“I started this one ten years ago,” says co-founder Kemp. “I gathered parts to create an homage to Kaz Yoshima and his CB400F—which roamed the streets and racetracks of southern California back in the mid 70s.”

“The idea of the little guy beating Goliath has always appealed to me. A Honda CB400F that could slay a Kawasaki Z1, like Yoshima’s did…that was my build plan. But customer builds meant it was constantly relegated to the back of the garage till this past winter, when things finally came together.”

The build began with a 1973 CB350F frame, which was reinforced to handle the additional load and forces generated by a bigger engine and more powerful brakes. “We manufactured our own billet triple trees—with our partner Mechetronics Specialty Services—so we could adapt the 35mm forks from a 1980 CB750F,” says Kemp.

The forks were modified using CB550 springs and Race Tech Gold Valves. “We built aluminum caliper plates to adapt the Brembo calipers from a Ducati SportClassic,” Kemp reveals.

The front wheel is a CB750 hub, with Buchanan spokes laced to a D.I.D. shouldered aluminum rim. Adapter plates were machined up, to mount FZ600 rotors to the CB750 front hub.

The rear wheel sports a 1962 Super Hawk twin leading shoe rear brake laced to another D.I.D. rim. The tires are Heidenau’s K45 race pattern.

The engine was sourced from a CB400F, but it’s not the mild-manner inline four that left the factory. The cylinder castings have been bored out to accept CB500 sleeves, and CBR125 high compression pistons give a displacement of almost 500cc and a compression ratio of 12:1.

The intakes have been bored too, and are matched to 26mm Keihin CR Carbs and 1 mm oversize valves and springs from Kibblewhite, plus titanium retainers. A Web Cam 63B hot cam with a Yoshimura HD cam chain and a TT400 slipper guide and adjuster were added.

Kemp then gutted the oil pump and installed rotors from a CB750, machined to fit. This mod doubles the oil pressure delivered to the custom-built Carrillo rods, which are fitted to a lightened and balanced crank. It’s a very trick (but also proven) setup, created with help from the engine gurus at Gord Bush Performance. A Dyna ignition, coils and wires keep the electrics in check.

To leverage the newfound power, Kemp has kept the bodywork as light as possible: he’s used an aluminum road race tank and seat, originally designed for the CB350F by Halcott in England many decades ago.

Connery Custom Paint applied the lovely Candy Apple Tangerine metalflake, with Black Pearl accent stripes. Bespoke Original Design upholstered the ‘bump stop’ seat, and Kemp found the little bullet fairing and fiberglass front fender in his garage stock of goodies.

“We made a custom electronics box and hid the Antigravity battery and Ricks rectifier/regulator under the seat,” he says. “We also went a little crazy with Motogadget parts, and sourced an m.unit Blue and a Chronoclassic 14,000 RPM analog tachometer, now in our custom billet mount.

Kemp has also sunk a RFID ignition lock into the billet top triple, and installed m.blaze turn signal, and an inductive proximity speedo sensor. The Honda’s new wiring system has all circuits on relays and uses waterproof ‘Deutsch’ connecters for the ultimate in reliability.

The brake master is a late model GSX-R750 item plumbed into Russell braided lines, and the tiny chrome headlight is from Bates and fitted with a LED bulb. Mechetronics helped again with custom billet aluminum headlight and fairing mounts.

There’s a vintage ‘ready to race’ vibe about this machine, but Kemp has yet to ride it in anger. “I have run the little beast in the garage, and the sound from the Yoshima pipe is awesome. We expect to see about 65hp at the rear wheel.”

He’s called this Honda ‘The Raptor,’ because “It’s little, fast and aggressive. A predator with a small footprint, designed to destroy much bigger prey on the roads and tracks of southern Ontario. We are absolutely frantic to get the beast out and on the hunt!”

The lockdown is bad news for Kemp, but not so bad for moto fans in the Toronto area. Pop over to Town Moto to get a closer look, because time is running out for classy old school builds like these.

Ripple Rock Racers | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Sid Tangerine

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[DaveM]

CATALONIA CHOPPER: 1990 Harley-Davidson Springer by Free Kustom Cycles.

Spain has a rich history in motorcycling, from producing an endless list of world champions across every discipline of racing to being home to famed brands of the two-stoke era like Ossa and Bultaco. It’s also the land of endless race tracks, Catalunya near Barcelona, Motorland Aragón, the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia and Jerez, just to name a few. But it’s not too often that you link the...

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[DaveM]

Ricky 800: Imagining a Rickman BMW R80 desert racer

The world’s first big-bore dual sport, the BMW R80G/S, broke cover forty years ago. Born from off-road competition, it soon dominated at the Paris-Dakar rally, before going on to become an icon of adventure motorcycling. But there’s one arena it never really featured in: the Californian desert.

The G/S missed the heyday of the Californian desert racing scene by a decade or two. So it wasn’t even a concept when the Rickman Brothers‘ Triumph- and BSA-powered Metisse scramblers hit the scene. Had the timelines been synced, we may have been treated to a BMW Metisse … and it would probably have looked something like this.

This vintage boxer scrambler belongs to Jens Kallweit, who lives in the German town of Frechen, on the outskirts of Cologne. Jens is an engineer by trade, but for the past 25 years he’s been doing occasional custom work on the side, for himself and friends.

Enamored with the original Rickman Metisse Mk3, Jens had the idea to build the first boxer-powered Metisse. He didn’t use a G/S though; instead, he used an ex-police 1980 BMW R80/7. And he’s turned it into exactly what we imagine a period-correct BMW Metisse would look like.

Jens’ project was also initially far more ambitious than it turned out. He had imported a Rickman Metisse frame and tank of unknown origin from the UK, and had planned to simply use the BMW motor and final drive.

But he wanted the bike to be street legal, and Germany’s uber-strict TÜV policies wouldn’t allow it—so in the end, he had to stick to the stock BMW frame.

It’s not quite stock anymore though. Jens called in specialists SWT Sports to de-tab and reinforce the main frame, and to extend the swing arm and driveshaft by 100 mm. They also built him a hefty sump guard to keep the bottom of the engine safe.

A set of BMW R100GS forks and yokes were grafted on up front, with a pair of Öhlins shocks doing duty at the rear. Jens also swapped out the ugly OEM reflectors on the forks, employing a set of handsome aluminum inserts from Tolle Engineering.

Next, a pair of 21F/18R Akront rims were polished, anodized gold and laced up. Tires are Continental’s tried and true TKC80s. The front brake got an upgrade too, by way of a 320 mm disc and a Spiegler caliper.

Going deeper, Jens sent the motor off to his BMW workshop of choice for a full rebuild. They also added a Silent Hektik digital ignition with Nology cables. The airhead motor still uses its original airbox and Bing carbs, but now exhales via a custom exhaust from BMW specialists Hattech.

Jens also treated the R80 to a full rewire around Motogadget’s popular m.unit control module, and installed a Lithium-ion battery from BF-Akku. Most of the electrical components are hiding under the fuel tank (its tunnel was modified to make space), including the key ignition.

The only Rickman Metisse-looking piece Jens had at the start of the project was the fuel tank. So he reached out to HoltWorks in the UK, who fashioned him a replica alloy tail section and number boards.

Even though the BMW’s headlight nacelle looks like an off-the-shelf enduro part, it’s actually a one-off. Jens is chummy with the crew at Valtoron in Spain, who sand-cast it for him in aluminum, because that’s what they specialize in.

The only bit of plastic on the bike is the classic enduro mudguard that rounds out the front end.

Higher up, you’ll find a set of LSL handlebars, a throttle and grips from Magura, and two Beringer clutch levers—one flipped over and matched to a brake master cylinder that’s hiding under the fuel tank.

For switches, Jens picked CNC-machined items from Renard Speed Shop that match the Beringer levers’ clamps.

The turn signals are Motogadget bar-end units (front), and tiny LEDs from Kellermann (rear). There’s a small LED taillight sunken into the tail piece, and a 1960s Bosch fog light mounted onto the left hand crash bar. Other upgrades include a mirror from Highsider, custom brake and shifter levers, and grippy off-road foot pegs from Scar.

Those race numbers are from when Jens tagged along with the Valtoron boys on ‘Los Malditos 300’—a one-day, 300 km ride at an off-road park in Aragon, Spain. He jokes that “We Germans only made it through 180 km,” but we get the impression he’s talking about his abilities rather than the bike’s.

This R80’s combo of classic looks and modern components hits the mark for us, and the fact that it’s street legal is an added bonus.

What a fantastic glimpse at what could have been, had the worlds of Rickman and BMW collided.

Images by (and with thanks to) Marc Holstein and Christine Gabler

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[DaveM]

ART AND THE MACHINE: Yamaha XS650 by Atelier JAB.

It’s the quote made famous by the Will Smith movie franchise Bad Boys, ‘We ride together, We die together, Bad Boys for life!’ Only it appears wife Jada didn’t get the memo. Moving away from Hollywood gossip it’s a sentiment that rings true for bikers around the world, solo on our machines, united in our passion for them. Which is exactly how a group of France’s finest came together to build one...

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[DaveM]

A Velocette MAC engine in a Yamaha XT600 frame? Ja bitte!

After cataloging the greatest custom builds in the world for over a decade, we’re often tempted to think we’ve seen it all. But we’d be wrong, because there’s always something new or interesting around the corner.

This creation from Germany made us pause, though. A ground-up scrambler build, using a Velocette engine in a Yamaha XT frame? That’s some creative thinking (and craftsmanship) right there.

The bike might be unusual, but in many ways, Sven Brands is the stereotypical modern custom builder. Although he earns a living as a graphic designer, he spends every spare hour working on bikes—and in particular, old Brit iron.

“My approach is to build them up from bits, rather than modifying an existing bike,” he says. “I wouldn’t call it a hobby—it is a vital part of my life.”

Sven works under the name ‘Garage Brands’ and this project started about two years ago, when he spotted a Velocette MAC single cylinder engine for sale.

“It was offered on German eBay. The seller told me it had been used in vintage speedway racing in East Germany. So I purchased it on behalf of my friend Bernd Meyer, as a decoration/object for his desk!”

The MAC engine is undeniably pretty: a 349cc unit that powered Velocette’s post-War commuter bike to a surprisingly rapid 75 mph (121 kph).

The engine was ‘stuck’ when Sven got his hands on it, so he took it apart and did a top end rebuild. Then plans changed when he accidentally discovered an abandoned Yamaha XT600 frame—hidden in a dark corner of his community workshop in Ostkreuz, part of the former East Berlin district of Friedrichshain.

“I started dreaming,” he recalls. “Why not turn the XT frame and Velocette engine, into a ‘bitsa,’ using the boxes of leftover parts from my previous Brit bike builds?”

Bernd was also exited by the idea, so Sven got working on the ‘XT-CETTE.’ He documented and shared each step of the process via Facebook, so although Bernd was located in Darmstadt, he could be involved in the process and give his input.

As you can imagine, there’s quite a bit of work needed to fit a Velocette engine into a Yamaha frame, and also balance out the handling. “The essential mods included shortening the frame by cutting off the rear loop, and cutting out the front cross tube that also acts as a head steady,” says Sven.

“I replaced it with two homemade plates to allow the MAC engine to fit. The stock XT engine bracket holds the engine at the front, but custom-made plates secure the engine and gearbox at the rear.”

The bike also features a set of very classy modified Norton forks. “To fit them, I machined two rings on the lathe and pressed them into the Yamaha steering head column to accept the smaller diameter Norton bearings,” Sven reveals.

“The fork itself is a mix and match of Roadholder and Commando fork parts.”

The rear suspension required a bit of lateral thinking too. “The swingarm comes from a Yamaha XT250, with alloy spacers machined up to compensate for the too-narrow width.” The two 12.9-inch shocks, tucked under the seat, are Girling replicas built by Emgo.

Sven must have a quite extraordinary of old bike parts, because the wheels are from a 1980s Armstrong MT500 military bike—along with the Grimeca front drum brake—and the rear brake is mix of Armstrong/Grimeca and German MZ 250 parts (“which surprisingly fitted with just a bit of filing here and there”).

The fuel tank is a modified prewar NSU fitment and the gearbox is an old AMC item (as used on Norton, Matchless and AJS bikes). But the oil tank, seat, primary-case and exhaust are all custom made.

The Velocette is now ready to be shipped to its new home in Bernd’s garage, and Sven is now working on a new project—a Norton featherbed special powered by a Vincent Comet single. A little more conventional…but equally intriguing.

Garage Brands website

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[CarlS]

The engineering is cool; but it is not my style of bike. I like practical and comfortable.

 

[shanered6]

That BMW desert racer is i would ride that in a heart beat .

 

[DaveM]

URBAN FUN MACHINE: 2018 Suzuki DRZ400 Street Tracker by Purpose Built Moto.

The Suzuki DRZ400 has established itself over the years as being a reliable donor for building street trackers or desert sleds. With good ground clearance, decent suspension and enough power for most, it makes for a fun little all-rounder. This one was originally purchased for off-road trail riding, but after a few years the owner, Tim, decided he wanted something a bit more road-ready...

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[DaveM]

‘Bombshell’: Deus mods the MT-07 with a sharp new kit

Since modern motorcycles are far more complex than their predecessors, it makes them harder to customize. But a few bikes buck that trend—like the Yamaha MT-07, and the MT-derived XSR700.

The MT engine and its requisite plumbing are a little cluttered to the eye, but it’s a hella peachy mill, packed into an equally playful chassis. And the rest of the bike’s put together like a Meccano set, making it fun to pull apart and reconfigure. So it’s no surprise that leading custom shops have been producing bolt-on MT-07 and XSR700 kits.

‘The Young Jerk’ is a tight and focused rework on the MT-07, and comes from star builder Jeremy Tagand at Deus Ex Machina in Sydney, Australia. Yamaha Australia commissioned it as a one-off—but once Jeremy got cracking, he decided to take it a step further and use the build as a prototype for a bolt-on kit.

This new kit will fit either the MT or the XSR, in your choice of fiberglass or carbon fiber.

Jeremy started off by putting a call in to fellow Frenchman Simon Dabadie at Dab Design, to help him visualize his ideas. Simon has history with Yamaha builds, and laid down a 2D rendering of the concept; a street tracker, with a monocoque body that would fit over the Yamaha’s OEM frame and fuel reservoir.

Next, the MT-07 went off to Greg Kerba at Sydney Composite, to create the mold for the fiberglass body.

Greg started by stripping the bike down and 3D scanning it, so that there’d be a digital version of the bike to work with. But once the guys laid the 2D design on top of the 3D render of the MT, nothing lined up.

Andrew Simpson and his crew at Vert Design came to the rescue, knocking the renders into shape, so that the final molds could be milled out of timber. Greg then laid down the final fiberglass prototype, which, after a few more adjustments, fit.

Deus wanted the kit to be an easy installation for even most novice of builders—and without having to scar the frame at all. So they tasked Mario at Ricci Engineering with machining a set of five billet aluminum mounting brackets, to interface between the new components and the chassis. It’s a low-stress, bonafide bolt-on affair.

Capping the monocoque off is a carbon fiber seat pan, wrapped in white leather by David Britton from Bad Arse Trim Co.

With that sorted, Jeremy started fleshing out details beyond just the kit. Out back, he fabricated a new tail tidy with a license plate bracket surrounded by six Kellermann Atto LEDs, to handle taillight and turn signal duties. Kellermann BL 2000 bar end turn signals take care of business up front.

The front end’s finished off with a LED-equipped tracker headlight from Dab Design, and a high-mounted fender on a custom bracket from Mario. Further back, Jeremy relocated the MT-07 speedo onto new bar risers, now gripping a set of Renthal Fatbars.

Carlisle Tyre & Accessories hooked the team up with a set of K&N filters to replace the air box, and a two-into-one exhaust system, terminating in an SC Project can. The guys also installed a Power Commander V unit, so that Harley Borkowski at RB Racing could coax a few more horses out of the already pokey motor.

Jeremy kept the stock suspension, wheels and brakes, but swapped the tires for a set of Pirelli Scorpions.

Deus’ design team wanted the Yamaha’s livery to reflect the same sensibilities as their apparel line, so they collaborated with a New York creative studio, Young Jerks, to develop an original graphic. Dutchy’s Motorcycle Spray Painting laid down the design in blue and off white, with a satin finish.

With the MT-07 buttoned up, Deus decided to try two more ideas: execute the kit in carbon fiber, and adapt it to the XSR700. After all, the MT and XSR are effectively the same bike, under the hood.

Jeremy went back to Greg, and asked him to build the same shell—except this time out of carbon fiber. Using basically the same bracket set as before, the kit bolted straight onto the XSR donor.

Jeremy handled the details on this one a little differently. It got a different set of bar risers, with custom made bars, made by Jonathan Okada at Kansai Giant. Dave handled upholstery again, this time with an Alcantara cover. And Jeremy built another custom tail tidy, this time with Purpose Built Moto taillights and blinkers.

The rest of the XSR is mostly stock, highlighting the difference the kit makes. The only other upgrades are a full Akrapovič exhaust system, and a set of Bridgestone Battlax Adventure Cross tires.

The Deus ‘Bombshell’ kit is now available in the material of your choice, with all the required mounting hardware, and looks cracking on either bike. All you have to do is design your own tail light and plate setup (because the OEM stuff gets in the way), and you’re set.

Deus Customs | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Thomas Walk

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[DaveM]

THE GREEN HORNET: Honda CB600F by Drive-In Workshop.

The day to day running of a custom bike shop is not all the glitz and glamour that many people believe it to be. A niche industry rides the waves of global and local economic strength, and for all but the most hardcore devotees, a tricked out motorcycle is a want, not a need. So amongst the big dollar builds comes the day to day grind and when a friend’s bike is vandalised it’s a good time to help...

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[DaveM]

The Apprentice: A Honda Egli returns home for restoration

Most businesses need a succession program. And if you’ve been operating for more than half a century, training up the next generation becomes a rather pressing matter.

Egli Motorradtechnik, the famous Swiss workshop that can trace its history back to 1965, has taken big steps to protect its future. And this very smart Honda-powered special is proof—because it’s been restored to perfection by a young apprentice called Sara.

In Switzerland, a mechanic apprenticeship takes four years, with one day a week of formal schooling and four days of hands-on practice. Egli takes on a new apprentice every two years, alternately giving a young woman and a young man a chance.

“Our junior mechanics restore and customize Egli bikes,” Egli spokesperson, Felicitas Frei, tells us. “They’re bikes that are already in our workshop/showroom, or ones that we buy back from our customers.”

“We call it, ‘The youngsters are taking over’.”

For the Honda project, the brief was: “What should an Egli should look like, to appeal to the younger generation?”

The job went to Sara, a qualified cook with a flair for mechanical things, in the third year of her apprenticeship. To meet the brief, she took an Egli Honda EH9-C to work on. (A note on the nomenclature: E is for Egli, H for Honda, 9 for 900cc, and C for cantilever.)

This particular bike was built as a kit in 1982 for a Swiss customer, who installed the CB900 engine himself. The kit included a nickel-plated rigid backbone Egli frame with a cantilever swingarm, engine mounting plates, and an original Egli Racing Fork.

The delivery crate also included Lockheed brake calipers, fully floating 300 mm Brembo brake discs, Campagnolo wheels, a polyester tank, and a polyester tail unit. Plus a gorgeous Egli ‘Schuele’ 4-2-1 exhaust system.

With 103 hp on tap and a wet weight of just 197 kg (434.3 lbs), the EH9-C was a very spirited ride. But in the 90s this machine returned home to the Egli workshop, where it has lain dormant until Sara got her hands on it.

The biggest change is the new bodywork. The tank, with scalloped knee indents, is a classic Egli design and fashioned out of aluminum. Sara then took a tail unit designed for the EVTT 500 racer, shaped it up herself, and adapted it to the 1980s frame.

At the same time she tweaked the tail design from an open to closed unit, as you would normally find on a road-going bike, and created space for a compact battery. She also adjusted the seat construction with extra padding for comfort; it’s now finished in imitation leather.

Extending further behind is a tail extension—a necessary addendum to meet Swiss license plate regulations. Underneath is a Rizoma all-in-one unit handling brake and blinker duties.

At the opposite end, there’s a super-bright LED headlight from JW Speaker, a fresh set of OEM Kawasaki control switches from the 80s, and a big Motogadget Chronoclassic analog tacho. The air-cooled DOHC inline four engine was still in good condition, so it was serviced and left stock.

The Egli is still street legal, which is no small achievement for a custom in Switzerland: the country has strict German TÜV-style quality controls and restrictions on modifications.

Sara has restyled and upgraded a machine that can still hold its own at the traffic lights Grand Prix, and on the alpine passes. It sounds like the historic Swiss workshop is in safe hands.

Egli Motorradtechnik | Facebook | Instagram

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[DaveM]

Custom Bikes Of The Week: 2 August, 2020

A slammed Royal Enfield Interceptor from K-Speed, a gleaming Yamaha TX750 cafe racer from Chicago, a BMW GS given the supermoto treatment, and an inch-perfect Yamaha DT-1 restoration from Germany.

Yamaha TX750A by Ron George At a glance, the ‘speed blocks’ and perfectly formed bodywork on this Yamaha make it feel like an immaculately restored classic racer … except it’s not. It’s actually a custom TX750A—a bike that Yamaha made to replace the XS650, but ended up being a total flop.

Most builders wouldn’t touch one with a barge pole, but Chicago-based hobbyist Ron George was bold enough to have a go.

Ron got the donor from a friend, who’d picked it up as an abandoned project but decided not to go ahead with it. The TX was in pretty beat-up shape, but luckily it was a TX750 ‘A’, and not the first-gen TX that had a notorious amount of issues. And as you can probably tell, much of his inspiration came from Kenny Roberts’ iconic YZR500.

Rather than working off sketches and renders, Ron dove in head first to translate what was in his head into metal. All the bodywork is custom—and that’s especially remarkable,because this was Ron’s first time shaping aluminum. He didn’t stop there though, and the Yammie is sporting under-the-hood upgrades too.

The forks have been rebuilt, and there’s a completely custom (and adjustable) mono-shock setup out back, held up by a Yamaha R6 shock. The front brakes are twin R6 calipers with Suzuki rotors, and the rear drum brake has been converted to a hydraulic setup. Yes, really.

Ron did almost everything himself, from rebuilding the carbs and rewiring the bike, to adding in an oil cooler and TIG-welding a stainless steel exhaust system. He even tirelessly polished all the metal and laid down the graphics, outsourcing only the seat upholstery. Can you say ‘commitment?’ [More]

Royal Enfield Interceptor by K-Speed Royal Enfield’s new parallel twin Interceptor is still a relative newcomer on the scene, but it’s already making waves. It’s one of those rare bikes that looks great out the box, looks even better with a few tweaks, and is ripe for even heavier custom work.

This Interceptor lands somewhere in the middle. It’s a showpiece for Thai super-shop K-Speed, who have loaded it with a full range of bolt-on Enfield parts they’ve just developed. The only fabrication here is a cut-and-shut on the rear of the frame—but everything else you see is doable with the right tools and a bit of time.

Most of the parts are from K-Speed’s ‘Diablo’ catalog. That includes the rear fender, with its license plate bracket and LED taillight, and the seat, side panels and rear shocks. These shocks are a little shorter than stock, so K-Speed dropped the front end to match, then installed 17” wheels with vintage rubber, and a short front fender.

There’s also a new LED headlight, LED turn signals all round, and a set of low and tight handlebars with new grips and controls, and mini-switches wired in. The speedo’s sitting on a relocation bracket to the left of the fuel tank, just to clean up the cockpit even more. A full twin Diablo exhaust system rounds out the package. [K-Speed]

BMW R1200GS by Motorieep The big GS is one of the world’s best-selling adventure bikes, but it’s real tricky to customize. Most attempts to circumnavigate its quirky Telelever front end and complex bodywork fall flat, and few GS customs actually turn out great. Pierre at French workshop Motorieep has cracked the code though, with this wild GS-based supermotard.

The ‘1200 SMX’ is based on a 2007 R1200GS Adventure, but there’s little of the original chunky silhouette left. It’s been transformed with a genius concoction of parts: a modified Ducati 125 Regolarita Six Days fuel tank, a set of newer R1250GS front side panels, and KTM 690 SMC rear plastics.

The tank uses an external fuel pump and only holds seven liters—but there’s space under the seat to install a secondary 10-liter reservoir.

The front end’s been changed entirely, with a set of 50 mm Marzocchi upside-down forks. The rear shock’s from WP Suspension, and the brakes are from Brembo. Pierre swapped the swingarm out for one from a BMW HP2 Megamoto, and laced up a pair of 17” Excel rims.

Finishing kit includes an Acerbis headlight nacelle with LED internals, a custom speedo mount, a UFO front fender and upgraded foot pegs. Pierre also added a Lithium-ion battery, moved the fuel injectors, added a set of BMC conical filters, and built stainless steel exhaust headers that terminate with an Akrapovič slip-on.

If the 1200 SMX appeals to you as much as it does to us, good news: Pierre will build you one in five weeks, provided you throw €27,000 his way. But only one, mind you … he’s limited production to three units, and two are already sold. Once that’s gone, you’ll have to wait until he designs the next-gen 1200 SMX, which will be based on the newer, liquid-cooled version of the GS. [Motorieep]

Yamaha DT-1 restoration by Peter Abelmann There’s a growing sentiment that small capacity motorcycles will save motorcycling. And when it comes to a legacy of building smaller bikes, Yamaha have some real gems scattered across their back catalog—like the charming DT-1.

First released in 1968, the DT-1 was effectively a street legal dirt bike before ‘dual sport’ was a thing. Powered by a 250 cc air-cooled two-stroke single, it was simple, solid and inexpensive.

According to Peter Abelmann, a German classic Yamaha two-stroke expert, the DT-1 was never really brought into Europe. But he managed to find one that was allegedly imported for a now-deceased tennis star; it had very low mileage but hadn’t been stored well, so Peter decided to bring it back to life.

Peter started with a deep clean, which also involved battling stubborn corrosion. Then it was onto repairing parts that hadn’t survived—like a single fork stanchion that had to be swapped out for a part from Peter’s stash. The previous owner had also fitted a 21” wheel up front, so Peter sourced an OEM 19” unit and slotted it in.

The engine was still good to go, but Peter did have to make two major changes. Somewhere along the line, the head had been swapped for a ‘Genuine Yamaha Tuning’ performance part, but it didn’t sound right, so he swapped it for an original head. And one of the cooling fins had broken, so he had a friend repair it with aluminum.

Some parts were repainted (like the exhaust), while others were simply touched up. The end result takes us right back to the late 60s, with just enough patina to keep things authentic. [Via]

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[DaveM]

SUPER SCOOTER: Yamaha TMAX by Lobomotive.

In the world of motorcycling, the scooter might have two wheels but it’s never really been part of the gang. The rivalry between the Mods and Rockers saw the peak of the battle, but the hand wringing by the British press over a few dust-ups was more than a little hysterical. That said, the scooter has always been a useful piece of transport but if you wanted your kicks, you stepped up to a real...

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[DaveM]

Fat SR: A chunky Yamaha SR400 from Greg Hageman

Like all good artists, the best custom builders have a handful of regular customers. They’re usually folks with an eye for quality and shared tastes, and they’re gold dust.

Iowa-based Greg Hageman has been in this business for many years now, and one of his most steadfast customers is Mike Martens. ‘Fat SR’ is the fifth bike that Greg has built for Mike over the years, although it’s really for Mike’s partner Sally.

“This bike is a 2015 SR400 that I purchased for myself,” Greg tells us. “But Mike was looking for a bike for his girlfriend to ride, and I ended up selling it to him. Kinda wish I had kept it—they are hard to find for a decent price now, since they discontinued them here.”

‘Fat SR’ is a classic example of moderate tweaking having a massive effect, so we were intrigued to see how Greg managed to make the humble Yammie look so good.

He started by stripping everything off to take a look at the bones of the machine. “I cut the rear of the frame off, made a bolt-on hoop unit, made up a seat pan, and shipped it out to my friend Chris at Tuffside for upholstery. Then I stenciled a Yamaha logo on the back of the seat.”

The tank was entrusted to a local painter, Joe Manley. He laid out a Candy blue color and a retro stripe that Mike had decided on—inspired by the early 70s Yamaha AT3 enduro color ‘Brigade blue.’

Greg and Mike decided to go for the fat tire look, so they got Buchanan’s to lace stainless spokes to 16×3.5 alloy Takasago rims.

After the hubs and rims were powder coated satin black, Mike found some raised white lettering Dunlop 491 Elite II tires—140/80 for the rear and 130/90 for the front.

“The front tire was a tight squeeze,” Greg admits. “We considered swapping out the front end, but instead I machined the original fork legs so I could keep a front fender on it. I made some alloy fenders, and had them powder coated metallic silver similar to some early 70s Yamaha models.”

To tighten up the handling, the SR400 forks have new internals from Race Tech, including upgraded springs and Gold Valve Cartridge Emulators.

Mike ordered YSS shocks from Europe, and with the help of a friendly contact, got a one-off set custom made and set up specifically for the bike. The front fork gators are from Motolanna, and much better quality than the original plastic units.

The exhaust is simply a stock header pipe with a slip-on muffler that was modified to fit. “We wanted something different, so Mike found an alloy can with good baffling, from France. We both hate loud singles because they tend to sound like a big lawn mower, so proper baffles are a must for sound and performance.”

For electrics, Greg has ditched the stock instruments and installed a clean, simple Koso unit. “I also made some tiny LED turn signals on my lathe. The headlight and taillight are Bates-style units with LEDs installed.”

The stock foot pegs were cut off and replaced with Tarozzi foldable pegs, but the passenger pegs remain in-situ for occasional use.

After trying on a pile of different bars, Greg and Mike ended up sticking with the stock items. “We also kept the stock switches and levers, but installed a set of Vans grips,” says Greg.

“The whole idea of this bike was to keep the relaxed riding position. Anyone who’s ridden an SR400 knows the power plant is anything but aggressive—so you may as well just go with it, and enjoy the ride.”

“The fat tires and great suspension all help with the smile per mile combination. And the 60+ mpg doesn’t hurt either!”

Client Mike is also happy, and reckons the SR is a rolling testimony to Greg’s underlying aesthetic: make it sexier, and create the illusion of a factory build.

It’s a philosophy we can get right behind too.

Hageman MC | Facebook | Instagram | Images by (and with thanks to) Don Gawf

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