Custom Motorcycle Builds

[DaveM]

RAZOR SHARP: Honda CB750 by Cardsharper Customs.

Buying a new car or motorcycle is a pretty easy thing these days, and there is no shortage of expert reviews to steer you away from the lemons. But that’s not so easy when it comes to selecting who is going to craft your custom bike, and you’re often relying on them to be a great fabricator, painter, mechanic, and designer all in one. Normally you’d want to meet the builder, pound the flesh...

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[DaveM]

#BOLT40: A Honda CBX1000 built for a world champion

One thing we rarely talk about in the custom world is the ability of the rider. But maybe we should. Because a client who takes a Gixxer to track days and runs fast laps is unlikely to be happy riding a retro roadster with Firestone tires and a flat spot in the middle of the rev range.

So when we heard that Bolt Motor Co. had built a bike for a four-time World Champion, we were intrigued. Their client was Jorge Martínez Salvadores, known as ‘Aspar,’ and the bike is a 1981 Honda CBX1000 inline-six. It’s over 40 years old, but undoubtedly well-sorted.

‘Aspar’ is an official Dorna MotoGP Legend, alongside guys like Agostini, Doohan and Hailwood, and today he runs the Aspar racing team. The man with the tricky task of designing a bike for him was Bolt boss Adrián Campos, who has something of a head start in this territory: he also runs a racing team, but focused on F2 and F3 cars.

The first job was to choose the bike. Adrián and Aspar settled on one of the finest old school muscle bikes of all time, the mighty CBX1000.

Adrián is well aware of the history of this machine. “The CBX1000 was designed by Shoichiro Irimajiri, an engineer also responsible for the bikes that Taveri and Hailwood rode when they won the 1966 and 1967 championships,” says Adrián.

“Irimajiri became managing director of Honda, and led the CBX project. It has a generously sized engine suspended from a steel chassis…and that six-cylinder is difficult to access. Just ask our mechanics!”

Despite those difficulties, the immaculately restored air-cooled 1047-cc motor looks like new, with six gleaming Keihin VB-61A carburetors fitted with custom intakes. And even though the engine is only a couple of inches wider than the four-cylinder CB750, it looks extremely imposing.

There’s just over a hundred horsepower on tap, which is plenty enough for Aspar. Back in the day, Cycle World managed the quarter-mile in 11.6 seconds, and topped 130 mph for the first time on a production bike. Those figures are still respectable today.

So Bolt have left the engine internals alone, and restricted their drivetrain mods to a lightened flywheel and new end cans—with three free-flowing and slightly curved mufflers on each side of the CBX.

“These are handmade exhausts,” says Adrián. “Aspar let us advise on aesthetics and finishes, but the sound and sensations he was looking for were very clear to him. His face when he heard the bike for the first time was priceless.”

The suspension is an even bigger departure from stock. The original 35mm fork tubes were undersized on the CBX, especially given that the engine is ‘hung’ from the top of the frame. So Adrián and Aspar spun their Rolodexes and went hunting for MotoGP parts.

The forks are now Öhlins units from an Aprilia MotoGP bike, with a Moto2 front wheel. The carbon fender is a one-off, but the Brembo front brakes are donated from a Yamaha MotoGP bike. The hoses are Goodridge: “All machined, tuned, balanced and tested by the Bolt team,” says Adrián proudly.

You might expect to find clip-ons too, but despite the sporty Brembo controls, the bar setup is more relaxed. “Aspar was looking for a striking but comfortable motorcycle, so we decided to use straight bars—for comfort and practicality.” The headlight fitted snugly between the fork tubes is a modern LED unit, attached using 3D-printed brackets.

The swingarm looks rather fancy, and it is—it was plundered from the same Aprilia MotoGP bike as the forks. (“Fitting that swingarm to a Honda CBX was not an easy job, but the result could not be more spectacular!”)

The rest of the back end bears little resemblance to the bulky posterior of the factory CBX1000. The new subframe is narrow, propped up by CNC-machined supports. The removable tail unit is virtually a flush-fit, with a passenger seat underneath and a discreet LED brake light out back. “The tail was designed in 3D and manufactured to make everything fit together perfectly.”

Bolt opted to keep the CBX’s bulky gas tank though. “We wanted to stand out by mounting a classic tank,” says Adrián. “In this way, we give even more prominence to the iconic six-cylinder engine.”

The familiar semi-circle of the Motogadget Motoscope Pro gives Aspar all the info he needs while riding, and the German company also supplied the indicators, grips and sundry electronics to complete the brand-new electrical installation. Every inch of the wiring has been checked over or replaced, along with all the electrical components.

Given the client’s racing pedigree, the final flourish of paint has obvious track connections. “Aspar was looking for a tank inspired by the paint that Red Bull uses on their cars,” says Adrián. “We added the checkered flag to make it clear that racing will always be in his DNA, and on his bike.”

It must have been intimidating to build a bike for a guy who has 37 Grand Prix victories to his name. But if anyone could do it, it would have to be Adrián and the Bolt crew. And best of all, you just know that this machine is not going to be pottering around the back roads in second gear.

Bolt Motor Co. | Facebook | Instagram

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[DaveM]

NEW LEASE ON LIFE: BMW R65 by Bandarra Motor Classic.

There is no doubt we are living through some incredibly challenging times and many are hoping that, as Sam Cooke sang, a change is gonna come! So rather than drown ourselves in further misery, today’s little tale comes to you about a man who had a crisis run him close to the edge and has now fought his way back to absolute success. Gerard Gutiérrez is a man on the rise and building his empire...

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[DaveM]

Lil’ Shredder: A Honda Super Cub scrambler from the UK

The saying goes that there’s no replacement for displacement, but that’s not always true. Small bikes can be as much fun as big bikes—provided you’re not in a major hurry to get anywhere. And what better way to take in the scenery, than with a custom Honda Super Cub scrambler?

This diminutive dual-sport started out as a 1979 Honda C70 Super Cub, and was given a thorough reworking by Jack Lamburn. Based in Devon in the UK, Jack builds custom bikes after office hours as Scar’s Motorcycles. He’s had a few bikes on display at the Bike Shed show in London in the past—which is how the owner of this Super Cub found him.

“The brief was completely open to me,” Jack tells us. “I drew up a couple of sketches, and we decided to go down the ‘urban scrambler‘ route. With my client it was agreed that the outcome would be a complete surprise, with no input from him at all… so no pressure to get it looking right then!”

“I started out by collecting imagery of parts I wanted to use that would suit the concept sketch. I wanted the bike to be as minimal as possible to pay tribute to the Cub’s original simplicity. With that in mind, I decided to keep the original geometry of the front forks and swingarm.”

The first thing Jack hunted down was a new set of tires. He wanted treads that could handle some dirt, but that would also be small enough to fit the Cub, while maintaining the size difference from front to back that’s common on adventure bikes. A set of 18F/16R Heidenau K41s ticked those boxes.

Jack had a local wheel builder lace up new rims in matching sizes, with stainless steel spokes. To squeeze the new front wheel in, the forks had to be cut, widened and welded back together, and new spacers had to be machined. A set of longer YSS shocks at the back made room for the 16” rear wheel.

Jack’s client was clearly not after outright performance, but even so, the Cub’s 70 cc motor wasn’t going to cut it. So an upgraded 125 cc, four-speed ‘semi auto’ mill was ordered from OORacing in Kent—a company that specializes in Cub tuning.

The little Honda’s been converted to a 12V electrical system, and rewired around a Motogadget mo.unit box. There’s a Rick’s Motorsport regulator/rectifier mounted under the seat, with a Lithium-ion battery and the rest of the electrical bits stashed under the fuel tank. A 3D printed battery tray and access cover keep things tidy.

Jack used Motogadget parts elsewhere too; the bar-end and rear turn signals, grips, mirror, switches and tiny digital speedo are all from the German company. The scrambler-style handlebars and risers are from Gazinni, with all the wiring running inside the bars.

Out front is a pair of Highsider LED headlights, mounted on a custom bracket with a hand-made metal guard.

At the back is a custom subframe to support a simple bench seat. The front third lifts up to reveal the fuel filler, and snaps back in place with a magnet. Rounding out the tail is an LED taillight, tucked in deep above the rear fender on a 3D printed bracket.

Jack also fabricated a set of bolt-on pannier brackets to carry a set of soft bags. He designed them to not only be easy to attach and detach, but also so that the bike would look equally clean with or without them on.

The simple down-swept stainless steel exhaust is another one-off piece, and has a small baffle inside to keep the noise levels civilized. “The brake pedal had to be altered quite considerably to get it to operate around the exhaust,” says Jack. “This took time because I wanted it to look unaltered.”

“This is a good example of my philosophy for certain areas of the build: for people at first glance to not notice that it was much different from the original iconic design. However, in detail it’s a totally different bike.”

The last piece of the puzzle was the Cub’s leg guard, which, although it mimics the original fairing, was built from scratch with a slightly more modern look. Jack shaped it from aluminum, along with the bike’s fenders. “I hadn’t had much metal shaping experience at all previous to this build, so this was quite a challenge to say the least,” he admits.

In the shade, the Super Cub’s paint job looks almost black—but it’s actually a deep metallic blue, with bronze powder coating on the rims. As liveries go, it’s about as subtle and tasteful as you can get.

As a slick city runabout that can meander down fire roads on the weekend, this Super Cub hits the spot. Heck, it’d even be fun to go touring on—as long as you have enough vacation days saved up.

Scar’s Motorcycles Instagram | Images by Max Howard

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[DaveM]

Speed Read, January 16, 2022

This week’s edition of Speed Read is about as eclectic as it gets. We’ve got a Honda super-commuter from Taiwan, a twin-engined salt racer, a movie recommendation, a futuristic Yamaha XSR155 render and a nine-wheeled Harley motor home.

Honda CRF300L by Rough Crafts It’s fun to take a peek behind the curtain and see what custom bike builders choose to ride every day. This week we’ve got a look at Winston Yeh’s Honda CRF300L, a slick little custom that’s perfect for darting about in Taiwanese traffic.

Winston’s custom workshop, Rough Crafts, specializes in sleek, ultra-modern builds with an emphasis on angular bodywork and dark color tones. So it’s no surprise to see it bleed over to his own bike, in a build sponsored by YSS Suspension Taiwan.

“I think it’s pretty obvious that I’m obsessed with street tracker style,” Winston says. “And growing up in Taiwan, in a tight city full of bikes and scooters, it’s hard not to fall in love with builds that are nimble through traffic, have an upright seating position and nice flat handlebars.”

One of the first things Winston did was switch out the upside-down forks to more traditional ‘right side up’ models.

“It might seem odd,” he says, “but I can’t get rid of the image of those legendary flat track race machines, plus YSS Suspension have super cool KG308S forks that come with radial caliper mounts. They’re also fully adjustable—and those front reservoirs are just so tasty looking.”

To help flatten the stance, the new forks were dropped through custom Rough Crafts triple clamps. A YSS shock with a lowering link was fitted out back, and both ends were tuned for a more urban-focused ride. The Honda also now rolls on 19” flat track wheels from Roland Sands Design, with a Beringer brake set.

New headlight brackets were fabbed up too, to bring the headlight assembly closer to the head stem. The toolbox was removed out back, while a tail tidy kit from 2 Loud Custom paired with Rough Crafts LED lighting helps trim the rear end down.

Winston also added his own Rough Crafts x Koso LED turn signals, an SC Project exhaust, Rough Crafts risers and Neken flat track bars. Faber Studio helped out on final assembly, while MTR Custom Wrapping tackled the new graphics kit.

It’s clear to see why Winston chooses to kick about in Taiwan on this gorgeous CRF300L. The thing is striking as all hell and sacrifices none of the real-word reliability and performance the little Honda is quickly becoming famous for. [Rough Crafts]

KennyBilt Harley-Davidson camper Hang on tight, as we flip from the eminently sensible to the completely impractical, with the ‘KennyBilt.’ It’s an Evolution-powered Harley-Davidson trike that tows a matching 30 foot camper trailer—proving both that American ingenuity knows no bounds, and that the war on drugs really was lost in the 80s.

This bizarre creation has been purchased by the Wheels Through Time museum in Maggie Valley, North Carolina. The massive facility has hundreds of gorgeous classic motorcycles and cars, with an emphasis on domestic American production. Their goal, echoed in their logo “The Museum That Runs,” is to have every motorcycle and car in their vast collection in serviceable order—and that includes the KennyBilt.

Alabamian Kenny Kilpatrick completed the long-haul rig after a decade of hard work. Astonishingly this wasn’t a completely solo effort by the builder—he had the explicit support of Harley-Davidson, who provided the 1,340 cc engine and gave Kenny their blessing to use their branding.

The front end takes elements from a mid-80s FLT Harley Davidson, with a bench seat taking the place of the sleeping cab. A custom-built trailer follows, with the whole arrangement attached to a double rear axle and double pivot section. Hell, there’s even a pair of working truck-like exhaust stacks.

The Kennybilt toured bike shows around the United States through the 90s and smashed out awards wherever it went before being retired… to a gravel pit. Although the team from Wheels Through Time had some trouble recovering the 4,000 pound rig, they managed to get the KennyBilt thumping along again.

So next time you’re heading through North Carolina and have a hankering to genuflect at the altar of Harley Davidson, waste no time in checking out one of the most striking blends of rebel lifestyle and 90s-laminate RV living we’ve seen. [More]

Yamaha XSR155 by PapnMam Modified Back in the world of motorcycles with less than nine wheels, we’ve got a sexy new Yamaha XSR155 render from Indonesian newcomers PapnMam Modified, crafted as part of Yamaha’s enduring ‘Yard Built’ series.

It might surprise many Western readers to know that there’s a diminutive brother to the XSR900 and 700 series we’re familiar with. Often seen throughout South East Asia, the neat little XSR155 is a snappy commuter that takes in the same styling cues as its older brethren.

So it makes sense that during the latest ‘Yard Built’ round of customization, Yamaha Indonesia focused on one of their most popular models—and PapnMam Modified took up the challenge.

Working from renders by RAXE97NINETYSEVEN, the team are aiming for a futuristic flat track concept. They’ve really pushed the limits of what you can do to a stock bike, with the Yard Built series not allowing any frame cutting or shutting. But despite this, virtually nothing is recognizable from the standard model.

The bodywork has been completely removed and a new rear subframe designed, to hold up an ultra-slimline seat unit. The new angular tank and belly pan draw the eye to both elements, while somehow managing to hide the little liquid-cooled engine underneath. It’s not going to be a multi-day commuter, but nor is it designed to be.

At a quick glance, the XSR almost looks like a custom electric bike, which is a truly exceptional bit of design work by the Indonesian workshop. It’s being built as we speak, and we’re eagerly anticipating how close to the mark they’ll get it. [More]

The Anti-Christ by Bob Guynes Capping off this week’s custom bike highlights is a twin-engined Honda CB750 racer, designed and built by the late, great Boris ‘Bob’ Guynes of Redding, California. It’s part of a collection that’s being taken to auction by his son, after Bob’s passing late last year.

While we’re sad to hear of Bob’s death, we’re gladdened to think that this one-off racer will go to a good home. It’s a fitting capstone to his incredible life, with Bob being an army veteran, celebrated fabricator and successful professional model maker, with his work appearing in films such as Das Boot.

He spent much of his early life racing, having competed at events as diverse as the Isle of Man and the Bonneville salt flats. But as he aged he increasingly focused on his fabrication work, letting younger riders take his creations to the track. His twin-engined CB750 salt racer is the acme of his craft and a perfect example of the purpose-built racers he made that sacrificed neither speed nor striking good looks.

Details on the bike itself are limited, but we can tell you it’s two 1972 CB750 engines linked by their primary drive. It runs a dry sump oil system with externally-mounted breather, outboard-mounted carbs with velocity stacks and straight-through exhausts. The tubular steel hardtail frame is entirely scratch built, and features some of the tightest exhaust-to-downtube clearances you’re likely to see.

Tipping the scales at over 1,000 pounds, it was raced by Ray Byrne who sadly passed away some years ago. When speaking to the Mecum auction house, Bob’s son, Lawrence, explained the Anti-Christ was, as much as anything, a statement piece designed to show Bonneville that he “wasn’t mucking around.”

If this or other salt-racing bikes with a real pedigree tickle your fancy, you can join the no-reserve auction that kicks off later this month here. [More]

The Roost film Locked down and looking for some killer entertainment? We’ve got just the film for you. It’s called ‘The Roost’ and it’s a Japanese production that’s just finished its two year festival run, and is now available for streaming online.

If you’re into the Japanese custom scene, it’s a must-watch. Hell, if you’re into custom bikes at all it’s worth a look, as Japan produces some of the most talented customizers in the world—a select cabal of gifted individuals that set trends the rest of the world follows.

The Roost focuses on a few of the most influential Japanese builders on the scene today. That includes established players like Kengo Kimura from Heiwa Motorcycles, and newer builders like Toshi Nakajima.

We’ve been lucky enough to cast an eye over it and it’s a damn good watch. There’s mountains of cool footage of some wild custom rides and oodles of people throwing vintage bikes around off road. And it’s not all SR400s and W650s—there’s mountains of patina-riddled old single BSAs, 60s Triumph twins and all sorts of coolness being chucked around, all set to a pretty neat soundtrack.

If this sounds tempting to you, The Roost is available on the Toronto Motor Film Fest (TMFF) video on demand channel. Grab a beer, grab some mates and settle in for some of the best-shot, best-sounding custom bike footage we’ve seen in a long time. [The Roost | Watch]

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[DaveM]

PIPEWRAPPED #002

Welcome to another edition of Pipewrapped, this week we check out XSR’s both big and small, check out the kind of custom you ride when you’re an Oscar winner, and go take a look inside the workshop of one of the UK’s best builders. Our editor found this bike on his social media travels and later in this column will take a look at the XSR’s big brother. But Bali’s Treasure Garage have done an...

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[DaveM]

K(OTT)Z: Kawasaki KZ750 by Kott Motorcycles.

Two bikes with very similar specs and yet one – going by the numbers – is infinitely more popular; it’s a hard thing to explain. For the hundreds of Honda CB750s we’ve featured there’s only been two Kawasaki KZ750s, is its pedigree, aftermarket parts availability, one simply forgotten and ignored? It’s hard to say, but one thing we know for sure is that the Kawasaki has a whole bunch of potential...

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[DaveM]

Day and Night: Radically improving the CB750 Nighthawk

The first generation Honda CB750 has a peerless reputation. It’s one of the all-time greats, and was a game-changer for the Japanese motorcycle industry.

You wouldn’t want to mess with a good condition SOHC machine from the 70s, but the later generations were a bit of a mixed bag. In particular, DOHC bikes from the 90s are fair game—like this 1993 CB750 Nighthawk.

This café racer comes from Colin Darling, a mechanical engineer from Ashland, Oregon, who likes to build customs in his spare time. “It lets me step away from life as a carpet walker for a bit, get my hands dirty, and use engineering in a very creative way,” he tells us.

“This is a personal build, for the time being. I sold my last build shortly after it was finished, and immediately regretted it. So I’m going to hold onto this CB750 for a few seasons.”

The donor bike was a bone stock 1993 CB750 Nighthawk picked up in Texas. “I’ve always been a sucker for Honda engines. They’re only as complicated as needed, and just seem to work,” says Colin. “I knew this bike was going to have a deep overhaul, but I wanted it to still exude that simplicity.”

“The CB750 from that era was odd—in that it was a bitchin’ engine wrapped in tame geometry and mushy, uninspiring components.” Colin wanted his creation to ride like a modern sportbike, so he started with new suspension and brakes from the Triumph Daytona 675.

The forks are 41mm USD units, with twin disc brakes and four-piston calipers to match. Colin modified the Daytona yokes to get the forks to fit, added new turn stops, and built a beefy headlight mount into the lower triple.

Installing the rear suspension was much more complicated. “The 1993 CB750 has a dual shock setup, so converting to a monoshock is pretty much a ground-up effort,” says Colin.

Once the Daytona swingarm was mated to the CB750 frame pivot, Colin made a simple pivot point diagram in CAD so he could get an idea of where the mounting points needed to be. Then he CNC-machined new steel mounting tabs, and aluminum rocker arm plates.

The shock itself came from a 2014 Suzuki GSX-R750, and is a huge upgrade over the original Nighthawk suspenders.

The monoshock conversion also meant a new rear subframe. So Colin designed and fabricated one that also neatly houses the electronics and the battery, despite the slim silhouette. The taillight is an integrated LED hidden behind the perforated plate in the tail section.

The subframe is now carrying a custom seat wrapped in Spinneybeck’s ‘Volo’ leather, an ultra premium European cowhide. The upholstery was handled by Don Desroches of Austin, Texas, and Colin has raised the rear tank mounting point slightly to meet the new seat—and deliver the lines he wanted.

Honda did get it right with the Nighthawk engine, which delivers a smooth 75 horses with the help of four Keihin carbs. Colin has added CNC-machined air filter boxes and an aftermarket 4-into-1 exhaust with a slash cut tip, which he modified a little.

The carbs have been re-jetted to suit, and for a little more fun around town, Colin has nudged the final drive up to 2.76 with a new rear sprocket. A D.I.D. VX3 chain helps minimize drivetrain losses.

For lighting, Colin opted for a classic Bates headlight with a conversion lens running a 6K LED bulb. And the bulky instrument cluster was simplified with a Koso 72mm digital gauge.

New rear sets, clip-on handlebars, new levers and new throttle and clutch cables from Motion Pro complete the control system upgrade.

The paint proved to be tricky. “I tried a few different paint jobs on the bike—two tone, stripes and so on,” Colin reveals. “They all made it appear too busy, and I didn’t want the focal point to be paint.”

The solution was a simple non-metallic black, with a gloss clear coat. “It fits the rest of the bike incredibly well. Subtle color was added back with 3D-printed tank badges and ceramic coated bits throughout.”

These days, if you’re in the States you can pick up a good Nighthawk for just two or three grand. That makes it one of the bigger bargains on the custom scene, especially when you factor in the quality (and longevity) of Honda engines.

Anyone else feeling inspired to have a go?

Darling Cycles Instagram | Images by Pretty Sweet Studios

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[DaveM]

CANYON CARVER: Ducati Monster by RSD.

It’s the bike that saved Ducati from the liquidators and has gone on to be a global icon all of its own, but the Monster has come a long way from its humble origins. Once a parts bin special that was primarily about filling a void in the model line-up, the Monster is now as important to Ducati as any other machine and has been given all of the latest tech the Bologna factory has on hand. So...

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[DaveM]

Super Fly: A custom Suzuki TS185 with 90s steeze

The 90s was a weird and wonderful time for graphic design. And nowhere was this more pronounced than in the motocross scene, where bikes and gear were slathered in retina-searing colors and chaotic patterns. Australian custom builder Cheyne Speak has captured a little bit of that vibe with this Suzuki TS185 street tracker, and we’re all for it.

Cheyne’s based in Perth, where he works as a motorcycle postie (that’s a postal delivery officer, if you’re not familiar with Aussie slang). He’s been into motocross, BMX and hot rods all his life, but this is a first time he’s built a custom street bike. And it’s a stellar effort.

Starting with a basket case 1976 Suzuki TS185, Cheyne kicked off the project with no particular direction in mind. “I stripped it down to a bare frame, put it on the bench and let the bike develop organically from there,” he says. “I basically just designed and fabricated as I went along, just doing I though looked right.”

Cheyne did everything except for powder coating himself, working out of his home garage without any particular sense of urgency—so the project took 18 months to complete. It only cost him about $2,500 though, because none of the parts on it were particularly expensive. “It was a combination of parts I had in my workshop leftover from my MX bike builds, marketplace finds, and parts friends had laying around,” he explains.

Up front are the forks, yokes, hub and brake from a KTM 450 SX-F, traded from a friend for a case of beer. Cheyne welded the KTM’s head tube to the TS frame, and slammed the forks with internal spacers and new springs. The conversion’s steepened the Suzuki’s head tube angle by about 6 degrees.

Out back is a custom swingarm, measuring almost 2” longer than stock. Cheyne fabricated it himself, using the pivot tube and bearings from Yamaha YZF-R15, and the axle blocks from a YZ250. It’s connected to a pair of Kawasaki Zephyr 750 rear shocks; a cheap secondhand find.

The rims are 19” Excel items, wrapped in Dunlop K180 flat track tires. Cheyne used the YZ250 brake caliper out back, mounting it upside-down and routing its hose through the swingarm. Other changes include custom wheel spacers, Zeta wave discs and Renthal sprockets.

It’s a drastic change to the overall geometry, but Cheyne says it’s paid off. “Even with the extended swing arm, the wheelbase is close to stock due to the steepened head tube angle. As a result the steering is more responsive and the weight of the bike is now more centralized, and with the low ride height it feels like riding a BMX with an engine.”

Under the hood, Cheyne treated the two stroke Suzuki mill to what he describes as “a bare minimum rebuild with a half-assed port job.” It runs with a no-name-brand flatslide carb and a DNA Filters filter, and the bike’s been rewired with a 12V conversion and a Yamaha TTR110 battery.

The exhaust was pieced together from scratch, using Pro Circuit internals for the silencer. “I didn’t use any software when designing and building the pipe,” Cheyne tells us, “I just welded a bunch of cones together into a shape that I thought looked like it would work. It made a big increase in power in the mid-high rpm range and it sounds like a 125 cc motocross bike.”

There are more changes up top, where he installed a smaller 1975 Suzuki TM75 fuel tank, retrofitted with a pop-up gas cap. Out back is a custom subframe, carrying a barely-there seat covered in high density foam and a recycled KTM 250 SX-F seat cover. The seat pan and number plates were shaped from aluminum, along with the custom oil tank hiding behind them.

The rear fender and LED taillight are from a Honda CRF, chopped and shaped to fit the Suzuki. An LED light bar handles headlight duties, with tiny LED turn signals fitted at both ends.

Controls include new Renthal bars, a modified Yamaha YZ250 throttle assembly, ODI lock-on grips and a Works Connection clutch perch. The foot pegs and controls are Yamaha YZF-R15 units, hooked up with a custom-made adjustable shifter linkage.

As for the throwback 90s livery, that was something that happened by accident. “When I dropped the frame off at powder coat I asked for it to be royal blue,” Cheyne explains. “When I went to pick it up I saw it had been done in purple instead.”

“Rather than get them to re-coat it, I decided to base the rest of the paint and graphics theme around the purple frame.”

The number boards and rear fender wear 1992 Suzuki RM125 vinyls, cut and shaped to match. Cheyne did the tank graphics himself, pulling colors from the frame and RM stickers. The “SPKS” motif is for the name of his workshop: SPKS Lab.

Weighing in at around 90 kilos [198 lbs] now, and looking slightly sketchy and super fly all at once, Cheyne’s TS185 probably won’t appeal to everyone. And he’s totally fine with that.

“I wanted to build this bike one hundred percent for myself. If other people like it too, that’s cool—but if they don’t, that’s cool too.”

SPKS Lab Instagram | Images by Jordan Leist

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[DaveM]

WKND Warrior: A Honda CG125 scrambler from Portugal

There’s a tipping point where a hobby turns into a career, and Sérgio Almeida is sitting on it. Based in Portugal, he started WKND Customs while holding down a full time job as a designer—hence the name. But thanks to an influx of orders, he now he splits his daytime hours between bikes and freelance art direction work.

It’s easy to see why. This 1998 Honda CG125 scrambler is only his third build, but it’s so tastefully executed that you’d swear he’s been doing it for years.

It took some elbow grease to get it looking this good though, partly because the donor bike was a total wreck. “The client bought the bike very cheap, and brought it to me dismantled in the trunk of his car,” Sérgio tells us.

“After putting it together I noticed that it was not straight. And given the bent bars, broken levers and scratches on one side, it likely had a crash in its previous life.”

The first job on the list was to sort out the front end, so Sérgio scalped the forks, front hub and disc brake from another bike and tried to make them fit. But once he’d fabricated a custom stem to fit them, he realized the damage to the frame was far worse than he initially thought.

So he hit pause, sourced a secondhand CG125 frame, and rebooted the project.

The ‘new’ forks were lowered internally, and their fender mounts were shaved off. Then Sérgio hand-rolled and welded up a pair of custom fork covers to bulk them up. They’re wider than the OEM units too, which left room to lace up a pair of 18” rims with slightly chunkier rubber.

Out back, he added two inches to the swingarm, and installed a pair of aftermarket shocks. The work included building new connections for the rear drum brake too.

Sérgio’s projects always start out as renders that his clients can sign off on. Here, the design called for a Honda CB200 fuel tank—so it was off to the classifieds to get one. He usually prefers only buying vintage tanks with original paint on for obvious reasons, but decided to roll the dice on a repainted tank that popped up nearby.

It turned out to be a dud, with layers of rattle-can paint hiding rust and dings, so it had to be sandblasted, repaired and re-lined. Sérgio fabricated new mounts and installed a CB125 petcock, then turned his attention to the subframe.

“Funnily enough, I had just bought a tube bender,” he tells us, “but to match the square look of the tank I decided to make an angular rear loop instead.” Tucked underneath is a welded-in battery tray, and there’s a small LED taillight mounted out back, embedded in a handmade housing. The license plate sits on a custom-made rear hugger.

Next, Sérgio shaped a small seat hump. It’s a tidy design; there’s a tiny back pad to interface neatly with the seat, but the hump’s removable too, revealing the pillion seat underneath.

“I don’t have much experience with metal shaping,” he admits, “but I always throw myself into these challenges when I make the digital render, without any idea of how I’m going to make it happen later!”

Another challenge was the side panels. “I’m not a big fan of a huge empty section under the seat, so I always try to think of cool solutions, instead of simply hiding things away.” Here, the solution was a mix of aluminum rods and panels, creating a form that mimics flat track number boards.

The rest of the Honda is wrapped up with a slew of tasteful touches. The cockpit features new bars, Biltwell grips and custom-built micro switch assemblies. Sérgio even developed his own electronics controller with help from a tech-savvy friend; a part he plans to sell later on.

There’s a Bates-style headlight out front, and an off-the-shelf speedo just above it. New aluminum rider and pillion pegs were fitted too, along with matching trim on the gear shifter, brake pedal and kickstarter. Sérgio had to fabricate a new side stand too, because the original was damaged in the suspected crash.

Then there’s the work that went on under the hood: a full tear down and thorough service, a carb rebuild and a full complement of new seals and gaskets. Every last piece of hardware was either replaced by a stainless steel item, or restored and then zinc plated or chromed.

Finishing off the CG125 is a subtle Nardo Grey paint job, with a few tasty gold highlights. There’s fresh paint on the engine too, and most of the parts have been powder coated in satin black. Alcantara on the seat adds even more class.

It’s stellar work from a builder who, by the looks of things, is only just getting started. Sérgio tells us he currently has four more builds in his queue, so who knows—maybe he’ll be doing this full time soon.

WKND Customs Facebook | Instagram | Images by Joel Araújo

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[DaveM]

Electric Motorcycles: The state we’re in

We’re beyond debating whether or not the future of personal transportation is electric. Government bans on internal combustion engines are no longer decades-away concepts; they’re right around the corner. Harley-Davidson spun off its electric future into an entirely separate company, BMW recently released a slew of intriguing concepts, Husqvarna is teasing a number of battery-powered vehicles, and Triumph and Kawasaki both have concepts in the pipeline.

It’s a watershed moment for the electric motorcycle industry, and, by extension, the motorcycle industry at large. And it’s a moment worth taking a snapshot of—so we rounded up a handful of experts in this space, and hurled a few basic questions their way.

Our panel includes Dave Mucci, one of the most gifted industrial designers and custom motorcycle builders we know, and who is now senior designer at Zero. It also includes ex-Alta designer turned senior industrial designer at LiveWire, John McInnis, who has a sharp eye and an ever-fresh perspective.

There’s also Hugo Eccles, the U.S.-based half of Untitled Motorcycles, who is a design professor and an industry consultant with a number of tasty projects under his belt and in the works. Joining them are Matthew Waddick, who just launched his own electric motorcycle company, Switch, and Cake founder and CEO, Stefan Ytterborn.

Currently, what are the biggest hurdles to the growth of the electric motorcycle market?

Stefan Ytterborn: The main hurdles are related to a general lack of maturity. From a user perspective, changing the attitude from the current motorcycling market and its attributes, developed through decades, is a tough one. With the love for the smell of gasoline, noise, and relative complexity, accepting something that’s pretty much the opposite doesn’t come easy.

It’s also important to underline that they are two completely different animals; trying to replicate and copy the character of a gasoline bike is not the way. Optimizing a two-wheeled motorized electric vehicle in conjunction with its constitution—the result is a unique and different riding experience. Society and lawmaking is a different story, being far behind the rapid development; in some countries and states, you can’t even register an electric motorcycle.

John McInnis: The most obvious hurdle is the cultural aspect, which is largely due to age demographics and what you grew up with, and I think that will exist until the last generation to use gasoline is gone. This is merely anecdotal, but I personally know a far greater number of people that are older than I am that are resistant to EV adoption than younger folks. However, having witnessed it firsthand, it is pretty entertaining watching someone’s mindset shift in real time as they demo an electric motorcycle for the first time.

The other huge hurdle is range. It’s scary thinking about where you’re going to get your next charge-up from if you can’t refill down the street. I will say, having made the shift myself, it does take some getting used to. I have absolutely forgotten to plug my bike in and ended up in a bad spot in the morning.

But level-three DC fast-charging is also making electric motorcycling far more accessible than it was even just five years ago. I’ve done 136 miles on a LiveWire, DC fast-charged back up to 80 percent in 35 minutes, and rode another 80 miles. No, it won’t make it to Sturgis, but for most of the riding I do, that’s pretty dang good. Imagine what we’ll be able to do in another five years.

Matthew Waddick: The costs of electric motorcycles are too high, and the electric motorcycle market—and the motorcycle market in general—is significantly smaller than widely perceived. There are many obstacles and barriers to entry, including the high costs of production, a lack of understanding about getting a bike to market, design development and product issues, plus supply chain, sourcing, and manufacturing issues. That all makes it hard to produce a bike for a reasonable price.

Hugo Eccles: There’s a hesitancy among some current riders who think going electric means giving something up. Range anxiety is a great example. For the majority of riders, it’s a non-issue. For the rest, improvements in things like battery technology, charging technology, energy density, and infrastructure will make it a non-issue. As more people become familiar with the technology and the different experience that electric can offer, we’ll see whole new audiences get onboard, and I think the growth will be explosive.

But there’s some onus on motorcycle manufacturers here, too. They have to resist the tendency to do what’s always been done, and show their customers what, up until now, we could only imagine. The motorcycle industry is entering one of the most consequential disruptions of transportation in history. With the first new propulsion technology in 130 years, we have an opportunity to reinvent the category, engage new audiences, and reinvigorate the industry.

Dave Mucci: The biggest hurdles are cost, range, and weight. Right now it costs OEMs in the ballpark of two to three times for an electric powertrain over an internal combustion motor. That drives the price of the vehicle up, and it’s why so many companies have struggled to turn a profit in this segment.

Do you match prices for the category and sacrifice margin, or do you build a super expensive bike and only sell a handful to the high rollers? That powertrain cost comes down to volume; the bigger the order you place with the factory, the cheaper each unit is. As more people start adopting a torque-centric lifestyle, the more affordable it will become.

The other hurdle is weight versus range; the bigger the battery, the farther you can go, but at the cost of weight. With current lithium-cell technology, the “range per pounds” just doesn’t match up with gas bikes, but that could change with solid-state battery technology. It’s still in its infancy, but cells have been developed that are half the size of current lithium cells and store 10 times the capacity.

Let’s say you have a 500-pound bike with a 200-mile range carrying a 14kW battery, and you make the switch to this new solid-state cell. That 14kW battery now weighs about 150 pounds less and is half the size, which in turn gives heaps more range. That kind of advancement could lead to motorcycles that are lighter and more powerful than we’ve ever seen.

Will electric bikes ever become mainstream?

SY: Yes, it will become one of the most frequently used vehicles for short-haul urban transportation.

DM: Yes, absolutely. Will they entirely replace gas bikes? I hope not, but I imagine that will be in the hands of future generations who grow up creating memories with electric vehicles at a young age. I’ve almost exclusively owned vintage carbureted bikes over the past 12 years of riding. My mindset was that noise and character are motorcycling, so how could an electric bike ever hope to compare? Then I got an hour on an electric bike and realized that the flaw in my mindset was thinking they were comparable—it is a completely different experience.

I had this inner identity attached to who I was when I was out on one of my gas bikes. In the gas bike world there’s a lot of emphasis put on being heard or seen, whether for safety, personal expression, or just straight up vanity. On the electric I found myself in a familiar position on a familiar shape, but now I was silent. My internal identity shifted from vintage motorcyclist to stealth operative on a mission to thrash as hard as possible without being detected. Or obnoxious.

HE: Unequivocally, yes. The climate crisis is real and humans are responsible, and we must make changes to avoid more catastrophic damage to the environment, which will adversely affect everyone’s quality of life. If we want motorcycling to continue to exist, we must abandon combustion engines. In 2030 we’ll see the end of gasoline vehicle sales in Europe, and California will stop selling gas-powered vehicles in 2025.

Is electric propulsion the future? While it’s difficult to categorically state that electric, specifically, is the future, we can categorically say that gasoline isn’t. Electric may end up being a bridge technology, but it will play a critical role. There’s a reason all motorcycle manufacturers are currently developing electric platforms—some overtly and some covertly. Nobody wants to be left behind.

MW: I think they will, but it will be driven by governments and regulations; I have a long list of bans and incentives on file. Electric bikes will be there, but until forced, they will always be city or secondary bikes.

JM: I think depending on where you live, they either are, or they’re just about to be. And when I think “mainstream,” I’m not considering that they’ll replace ICE bikes, but that we’ll just see them with similar frequency. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, so I might have some rose-colored glasses on, but I see Zero, Energica, and LiveWire motorcycles commuting on the freeway almost daily. In the sense of replacing internal combustion bikes as the more favorable option for the majority of riders for daily use, I think that will happen in our lifetime, if not the next 10 to 15 years.

What impact do you think the rise of electric vehicles will have on the custom scene?

MW: It already is having a big impact, creating a whole new platform. EVs are actually more fun to build from a custom perspective—so clean—and they force builders to move away from the cut-and-weld-style builds to a more advanced approach to custom design and development.

SY: To some extent the easiness of customizing an electric motorbike versus a combustion one will probably accelerate the interest. Dynamics and customization from a functionality perspective was always deliberate in the design of our bikes—and also promoting the idea of individual add-ons.

HE: I think we’ll see interest in custom work grow as new riders are brought into motorcycling through electric, especially with younger generations who are used to on-demand products and deeply personalized experiences. While it’s my hope that manufacturers will make the most of the opportunities this new technology brings, I suspect that some will swap batteries for combustion engines and call it a day. And when they do, custom designers will be ready to meet the need for an electric motorcycle that lives up to the modern consumer’s expectations.

I also see an unprecedented opportunity for manufacturers and custom designers to work together to evolve the industry. Established motorcycle manufacturers are being challenged by disruptive start-ups. These incumbent brands, hampered by legacy or an entrenched design language, are struggling to escape their own orthodoxy and respond to the challenge of electric. Custom designers think and work outside of these constraints, which puts them in the perfect position to challenge the status quo and push the vision further.

JM: I think given what we’ve seen so far in the scene, the electric motorcycle will not hinder the creative spirit of current and future custom motorcycle builders. Part of my mission while at Alta Motors was to get out in front of this with the customs that we did—both before and after closing the company doors. I wanted to showcase the versatility of the platform, as well as break the ice by ripping one of these robots apart and making something different with it. There’s actually a bit more freedom for expression when customizing an electric motorcycle. It’s a big electric drill on wheels—go have fun with it.

DM: Hackers will be the new hot-rodders. The administration of power is done digitally, so those who know code will have immense tuning flexibility compared to gas engines. I’m really looking forward to seeing the state of the custom scene down the road, when today’s technology can be picked up at the salvage yard for a few dollars, and everyone has their own mini-manufacturing plant at home in the form of rapid prototyping machines. Mad Max and Tron are about to collide, and I’m into it.

Featured above: Electric flat tracker by Blatant Moto, Zero XP by Untitled Motorcycles, Concept-E by DAB Motors, eScrambler by Switch, PACT by Walt Siegl, E-Lisabad by Krautmotors, and JvB Moto’s custom LiveWire.

With special thanks to our panel of guests | Article originally featured in Iron & Air Magazine. Subscribe here.

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[DaveM]

REBUILT AFTER THE BEIRUT BLAST: CX650 by The Assembly Motors.

It is one of the most horrific moments ever caught on camera, the utter devastation at the Port of Beirut when an unimaginable amount of ammonium nitrate exploded and left 218 dead, 7,000 injured, 300,000 homeless and caused $15 billion in property damage. It was felt as far away as Europe, was measured in the US as a seismic event of magnitude 3.3 and remains one of the largest non-nuclear...

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[DaveM]

Speed Read, January 23, 2022

It’s all about the high end this week, with a titanium-framed beauty from CCM in the UK, a very rapid Ducati Monster from California, and an elegant Guzzi 850T from Austria. Plus a cutting-edge electric startup from Canada. Quality ain’t cheap.

CCM Heritage ‘71 Ti limited edition The world is a tough place for small motorcycle manufacturers, but CCM has endured. The English company hit its 50th anniversary last year, and to celebrate, they’ve released a ‘Heritage’ edition of their perky 600cc Spitfire single.

Just 71 examples of this edition will be built, with pricing and exact specifications yet to be formally released. But from the information we have to hand, it’s all looking very good.

The trellis frame of the CCM Heritage is crafted from lightweight, aerospace grade titanium. The eye-catching exhaust is titanium too, pieced together from 64 individually welded sections, and seven-spoke Dymag race wheels offer further weight savings.

Titanium is also used for sundries such as bolts and footpegs, but the seat pan has been machined from a solid block of billet aluminum. The solo seat is crafted from beluga leather.

There’s high-tech in the adaptive cornering LED headlight, but the rest of the componentry comes from the traditional big names of the moto industry: Öhlins, Brembo and Rizoma.

Wet weight is a mere 136 kilos—300 pounds—so the Heritage ’71 should be an absolute blast to ride. If you want to pop one in your garage, register your interest here.

Ducati Monster 1200 S by Roland Sands The Monster has been customized in every shape and form since it rolled into showrooms in 1993, from mild to wild. This new custom from Roland Sands Design in California is visually on the mild side, but it’ll be a wild ride.

The bike is a 2019 1200 S, which means it has 150 hp, fully adjustable 48 mm Öhlins forks and a top-of-the-line Brembo brake system. That’d be enough for most folks, but not RSD’s client.

“The owner didn’t want to lose any of the stock bike’s function, but wanted to upgrade parts, lose a little weight and do a bit of a classic rewind with a standard round headlight conversion and tracker inspired tail,” say RSD. “Call it a classic canyon-carver custom.”

RSD replaced the stock subframe with a handbuilt chromoly steel trellis and new aluminum tail section. The fuel tank was adjusted to align correctly, a new custom seat from Saddlemen was installed, and the electronics are repositioned to show off the Öhlins monoshock.

At the front, a Royal Enfield GT650 fender adds a retro touch, below a round Ducati Sport Classic headlight and RSD turn signals. The forks are now anodized black, upgraded with a GP Suspension cartridge kit, and mounted using a CNC Racing billet triple clamp.

The cockpit now sports ProTaper bars, Renthal grips, ASV folding levers and titanium fluid reservoirs from AEM Factory. Spoked 17” Kineo wheels are wrapped in Dunlop Sportmax Q4 tires, and there’s a Superlite 520 chain conversion with a billet quick-change sprocket carrier.

To boost performance a little, RSD commissioned Zard to fabricate a custom titanium 2-1-2 exhaust system and ship it over from Italy. The ECU was reflashed by Boulder Motorsports, and a dry clutch conversion adds the signature Ducati rattle.

The anodizing throughout the bike is particularly trick. RSD stripped off all the factory red anodizing, then re-dipped the parts (and some custom ones too) in a bath of gold. Then Chris Wood at Air Trix added 100% gold leaf to the frame, and the bodywork was finished in a low-key battleship grey.

It’s just the right side of ‘bling’—we think. [More]

Moto Guzzi 850T by Horizontal Moto Mandello-built bikes from the 1970s have an enduring style that has never waned over the decades. In Europe, there’s a veritable cottage industry focused on classic Guzzi café racers because even the most plastic-laden bikes end up looking good once they’re stripped back to the essentials.

This very clean machine is based on the 1972 850T and comes from Austrian Paul Führmann, who runs Horizontal Moto in Vienna. Paul focused first on the sweet-handling Tonti chassis, cleaning it up and detabbing it before trimming down the subframe and refinishing all the tubing in a glossy black.

The stunning aluminum fuel tank comes from the UK-based specialists Tab Classics, and right behind is a gorgeous new seat unit from the Austrian artisans at Ledernardo.

The 844cc V-twin got a full overhaul too, plus extra power via new Dell’Orto PHF36 carbs and a custom-built exhaust from MASS. Electronic ignition smooths out the delivery, and there’s a useful weight reduction of around twenty kilos—down to 190 kg.

Horizontal Moto have finished off the 850T with new fork internals and a Spiegler/Brembo front brake setup—so it’s the looks that are classic, not the riding experience. We’d put this one in the EXIF garage any day. [Via]

The Damon HyperFighter Yesterday, we dissected the state of the electric motorcycle market in our panel discussion with moto industry heavyweights. Today, we happened across a vision of the future—and very enticing it is, too.

Damon is a Canadian startup with an impressive roster of employees, including the former head tech guy at Alta. The company has not only developed a 200 hp electric powertrain, but also a collision warning system and adjustable ergonomics. The idea is to make motorcycles both safer and smarter.

The Hypersport Pro prototype was revealed last year; an interesting if slightly bland-looking showcase for Damon’s tech innovations. The company has now released details of the unfaired HyperFighter shown here, which comes with a $35,000 MSRP.

It uses a monocoque chassis that holds not only the batteries, but also the motor and electronics. The specs are impressive, with the launch ‘Colossus’ edition boasting 200 hp, a range of over 140 miles, and a claimed top speed of 170 mph.

Lower priced models are planned, with less ballistic performance, but you can put down a deposit of $250 right now to secure one of the first 100 Colossus bikes.

There’s a temptation to dismiss projects like this as vaporware, but Damon has already raised over $60m in funding, including a substantial CA$37.9m stake from a venture capitalist focusing on electric vehicles. We have a feeling this one could take off. [Damon Motors]

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[DaveM]

BUILDING A BITSA: Suzuki GSX 1200.

Sadly, it must be said, that most Suzuki Bandits have gone to motorcycle heaven, lost to the world forever. No, not because they’re bad, far from it, but most were chopped up and destroyed in the Streetfighter craze and sadly very few unmolested examples remain. But one very clever home builder has come up with a way to take the best of those Suzuki years and turn the final product into a timeless...

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[DaveM]

Testastretta Tracker: Alex Earle’s custom Monster S4RS

Alex Earle broke onto the custom scene emphatically ten years ago, when he designed a monocoque carbon fiber body for the iconic Ducati Monster M900. The first Earle Motors build was a stunner with 19” wheels, wide bars and oversized number boards; a street tracker before street trackers were cool.

Alex has replicated that kit a number of times since, in both fiberglass and carbon fiber variants, and even adapted it to fit Suicide Machine Co.’s mental Harley Softail. But he’s always wanted to revisit his original Ducati design, with a twist: a much bigger emphasis on performance. So he’s built another signature Earle Motors bike—only this time, it’s a track-focused brute.

Alex chose the 2007 Ducati Monster S4RS for this project, for its legendary Testastretta motor and worthy parts spec. His goal was to reimagine his original Monster street tracker as an upright, high-bar superbike.

“After building several carbureted M900’s I really wanted to step up on power,” he tells us, “and I was suspension-shamed at a few track events! I really wanted fully adjustable suspension and great brakes, and the S4RS has all of that stock.”

“I reached out to Victor at Moto Club Santa Monica to keep an eye out for a solid donor, and he found one that a customer was looking to move on to a good home. It was well loved and already had myriad performance enhancing mods. The previous owner was an airline mechanic who took meticulous care of the bike and gave her a name.”

It’s worth revisiting how Alex originally designed his monocoque Monster body. He first sculpted a 1/5 scale model of the bike, 3D scanned it, rebuilt it to scale digitally, then CNC-milled a foam master to produce the final mold. It’s a process he’s familiar with, given his extensive experience as an automotive designer.

Alex managed to adapt the M900 bodywork design to the S4RS chassis with little fuss, and with minimal changes to the frame beneath it.

The body has an integrated fuel cell, with an aviation fuel cap that’s been bonded in rather than bolted down. The entire thing can be removed in mere minutes via four bolts, a rubber pull down at the front and quick-disconnect fuel lines.

Hiding underneath everything is a carbon fiber inner fender and battery tray, with LED marker lights mounted out back. Alex deleted the airbox too, so the Ducati now inhales through a pair of K&N filters, housed in the front part of the monocoque. A slim racing pad and knee grips focus on control rather than comfort.

Up top are a set of wide ProTaper Evo handlebars, with adjustable Rizoma rear sets lower down. The cockpit also features Domino grips, Brembo RCS levers with AEM reservoirs, a track-spec starter switch from APX, and the stock dash remounted on a custom bracket.

According to Alex, the ergonomics are now spot on; “the body shape is wonderfully suited to rider movement and input on the track,” he confirms.

The Monster’s 130 hp lump is plenty powerful (especially considering the diet this bike’s been on), and with Öhlins and Brembo parts standard issue on the S4RS, Alex didn’t need to add much more. But he did anyway, in the form of twin carbon Termignoni pipes, and a pair of lust-worthy 17” carbon fiber hoops from BST.

Alex’s new Monster takes everything from his original design, and dials it up to eleven. And as you’d expect from a man with his sharp eye, it’s draped in a classy endurance racing-inspired livery. With raw, satin-finished carbon fiber on one side, and glossy Ducati red on the other, this S4RS looks potent from any angle.

It’s been a decade since Alex first penned these lines, but they still feel fresh here. And probably still will ten years from now.

Earle Motors | Instagram

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[DaveM]

L’ultimo: A Ghezzi-Brian 1100 built by a Yorkshire engineer

Back in the 90s, Moto Guzzi was mostly associated with old school, rumbling v-twin engines. Ducati had stolen the sporting crown, and the Mandello factory was increasingly out of sync with the market. Production figures tumbled: highs of over 45,000 in the early seventies fell to a dismal 3,274 units in 1993.

As part of an effort to turn things around, Guzzi revealed the 1100 Sport. Still an air-cooled v-twin, it pumped out 90 hp and offered a more relaxed alternative to the Ducati 916.

These days, the 916 is a bona fide icon. But not everyone wants a backbreaking sportbike that doesn’t come alive until you hit 6,000 rpm. So the classic Guzzi has a small but devoted following, and is well served by aftermarket specialists like Ghezzi-Brian.

This 1100 Sport shows what can be done if you’ve got the motivation and the moolah. It’s owned by electronic engineer Simon Thackeray, who hails from the cathedral town of York in northern England.

Simon bought the Guzzi new in 1997, so he’s not the kind of guy who chops and changes his bikes. “By 2017, it’d done 105,000 kilometers, and I needed to change the clutch for the second time,” he tells us. “It was strip down time.”

Simon’s wife was also tiring of the Guzzi pillion, and was happy for him to buy a BMW GS to increase comfort levels.

Simon spotted the Ghezzi Brian ‘Sport Monza’ conversion kit and ordered most of the options—including a GPone aluminum swingarm. But that was only the start before his engineer’s mindset kicked in.

“When swapping out redundant parts like the subframe, petrol tank, footrest hangers and so on, I realized the weight was dropping off,” he says. “So I went to the next level and discovered titanium.”

Simon focused on saving weight, rather than increasing the horsepower. “The motor was just run in,” he explains. With help from Chris Horton, a friend with a CNC workshop, he spent three years building the bike up to the point we see it here.

It’s now 53 kilos (116 pounds) lighter than the day it left the Mandello factory—which puts kerbside weight at around the 400-pound mark.

The Ghezzi-Brian kit is extensive. You get front and rear subframes and new bodywork, including a one-piece fiberglass tank cover and seat unit, and a carbon fiber belly pan.

Less obvious upgrades are the fuel tank—with Marelli fuel pump—and final drive torque arm, both in aluminum to match the mirror-finished GPone swingarm. A modern oil cooler reduces stress on the fuel-injected 1064 cc engine, which also gets a set of bellmouth instakes. (Simon has also wired in a remapped ECU from famed Guzzi tuner Will Creedon.)

That’s pretty impressive stuff to start with, and Ghezzi-Brian kits are well regarded in the Guzzisti community. But this 1100 now operates on a whole new level: it’s got Öhlins FG324 forks, front brake disks and six-piston calipers from PFM, and Brembo RCS controls.

They’re all connected via braided lines and the rear braking is tweaked to match, with a mix of Ducati 916, PFM and ISR parts. The original WP rear monoshock has been refurbished and lengthened to correct the stance of the bike.

Clunky cockpits are one of the least charming aspects of most 90s motorcycles, so Simon has upgraded the Guzzi with Renthal clip-ons, Gilles grips and a Koso GPS speedo.

He’s also installed a Bitubo adjustable steering damper as protection against potholes on Yorkshire roads, and fenders to keep the rain and muck away. Ducati 848 owners should recognize the carbon unit at the front, and there’s a carbon hugger over the rear wheel too.

We haven’t even got to the fabrication yet. Simon supplied us with a huge list of the parts he made up, many with the help of CNC whiz Chris Horton. It’s too many items to repeat, but it seems like virtually all of the smaller components—from fasteners to mounts to spacers—have been remade in titanium, aluminum or carbon fiber.

That includes the new yokes and steering stem, the exhaust system from Charles Metcalfe of CSK, and even the fairing. Yes, it looks like the Ghezzi-Brian kit fairing, but Simon has recreated the piece in carbon fiber by taking a mold from the polyester original.

More work has gone into this Ghezzi-Brian than any other bike we can recall of late, aside from fully fabricated customs from folks like Max Hazan.

It occurred to us that Simon could probably have bought a more modern sportbike with the money he’s ploughed into this machine. But that’s not the point. He’s prepped his Guzzi for another quarter-century on the road—and there’s no other machine on the road quite like it. We have a feeling this is going to remain a one-owner bike for quite a while yet.

Simon Thackeray Instagram | Images by Ian Daisley of ProBikeART

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[DaveM]

FUTURISTIC SUPERMOTO: Yamaha XSR155 by Treasure Garage.

They’re some of the most wicked fun you can have on two-wheels and produce some truly incredible racing, and yet this category of motorcycle is barely considered by the major manufacturers. In terms of price to fun ratio, the Supermoto is arguably the best thrill seeker money can buy, and yet from the factory floor there are but only a few notable models available. So when Yamaha got in touch with...

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[DaveM]

Textbook: A Harley Nightster 1200 custom from Taiwan

There’s a staggering number of aftermarket Harley-Davidson Sportster parts on the market, and nobody knows this better than Jimmy Chou. His father started a company in Taiwan back in 1983, that handles manufacturing for a number of top aftermarket brands. So Jimmy literally grew up around motorcycle parts.

Then, a couple of years ago, he had the idea to start developing some of his own designs. Inspired and motivated by the likes of Winston Yeh at Rough Crafts, Jimmy launched Fangster.

This 2009-model Harley-Davidson Sportster Nightster showcases what he and his team have been up to. It also proves just how far you can stretch the Sporty with the right mix of parts—if, like Jimmy, you know what works and what doesn’t.

Remarkably, there’s not much cutting or welding on this sharp street tracker. Instead, it’s been pieced together from off-the-shelf items, along with a host of custom parts that Fangster are looking to put into production in the future.

For starters, the Nightster’s low-slung stance is gone, thanks to a clever mix of suspension components. Fangster installed a new Rebuffini front-end, complete with adjustable inverted forks, yokes, a steering stem and a front brake. There’s a Kodlin Racing swingarm out back, hooked up to a pair of 14” Progressive 970 series piggyback shocks.

Next, a set of 18F/17R wheels were laced up and shod with Pirelli MT 60 RS tires. Fangster slapped a Rebuffini brake caliper on the back to match the front, and upgraded the system with new Galfer discs. And they converted the Harley to a chain drive.

The bodywork looks custom, but it’s actually a full ‘Ronan’ kit from Saddlemen in the US. Made from fiberglass, it includes tank covers, side panels that wrap around the oil tank, a flat track tail section and a seat pad, all designed to complement each other. Other than having to hack off the rear fender struts, it’s a total bolt-on affair.

Up top are a set of Thrashin’ Supply Co. handlebars, fitted with a Domino throttle, Magura controls and Motone switches. Lower down you’ll find rear-set foot controls from Roland Sands Design. There’s also two-into-one Vance and Hines exhaust and a Speed Merchant skid plate.

Every other part is a Fangster prototype—and the team has clearly been busy, because the list is extensive. It starts with smaller bits like the side stand, handlebar risers, bar-end mirrors, foot pegs and tiny LED turn signals. And it includes more obvious changes, like the flat track-style headlight nacelle.

Fangster produced the front and rear sprockets too, along with a machined front sprocket cover. Hiding under the hood are a handmade coil bracket, a custom engine mount and a stabilizing bracket.

The engine is dripping with custom trim—including primary, valve, pushrod and rocker box covers. There’s also a custom cam cover, featuring the weight-saving cut-down style that you’ll find on race-prepped Sporties.

Standout pieces include the Fangster air filter and gas cap, which show off a more modern design than we’re used to seeing on custom Harleys. That aesthetic carries through to parts like the matching derby and points covers.

We’re digging the fresh, modern vibe that Fangster have captured here—and their unapologetic use of orange on this build. Not does it look hella fresh for a 13-year-old Sporty, but it’s pretty much the perfect blueprint for a V-twin street tracker.

Fangster | Facebook

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[DaveM]

PIPEWRAPPED #003

Welcome to another edition of Pipewrapped, this week we check out a custom bike belonging to an F1 star, take a look at the all new Kawasaki Z650RS, get our finger ready on the remote control for a years’ worth of flat track racing and take a deep dive into the build of a Bike Shed staff member. Slaying the Socials He took out the number 6 spot in our Bike of the Year Awards for 2021...

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