Custom Motorcycle Builds

[DaveM]

Hot stuff: A Honda CBX 750 built by a firefighter

The annals of motorcycling history are filled with ‘tweeners’—motorcycles that improved upon outgoing models, but eventually fizzled out to make way for the next generation. Just like the Honda CBX 750 F.

The CBX 750 F was an update on the beloved (and indeed iconic) CB750, but it wasn’t nearly as popular, and wasn’t really sold in the US either. It was pretty cool in its own way though, with a ‘modern’ DOHC 16-valve motor and radical sport touring styling that, like most things from the 80s, hasn’t dated well.

There aren’t many CBX 750 customs out there, and more’s the pity. There’s a lot of potential in this 80s-era machine—and Chris Scholtka’s just shown us how to unleash it with this wild 1984-spec model.

Chris lives in a town called Cottbus, 68 miles southeast of Berlin. He’s a firefighter, but spends his down time customizing bikes as ‘Motocrew’ out of his garage at home. And with the exception of paint, he does everything himself.

“The aim was to get a modern interpretation of the original 1984 race style of the CBX 750,” Chris tells us. His concept was to match key elements of the CBX—like the weird 16F/18R wheels—with modern performance upgrades.

To achieve this, he upgraded the suspension with the forks and rear shock from a 2009 Yamaha R1. Getting the forks to fit up top wasn’t too hard—but getting them to play nice with the Honda’s 16” front wheel took some doing.

Chris had to machine the wheel to take a bigger axle, then focused on setting up the brakes.

He kept the R1’s twin brake calipers, matching them with 320 mm discs so that he could use the original R1 brake mounting points. Then he installed Brembo master cylinders and upgraded brake hoses.

The CBX 750’s sharp new bodywork was another big undertaking. Chris started with the stock fuel tank, then grafted on a tail section of his own design to form a monocoque unit. (He even took a metal-shaping course to help him nail it.)

The body sits on a modified subframe, and hinges up as one unit to provide access to the electronics and motor.

Chris built the lift system himself, complete with a gas cylinder and a custom hinge. When it’s down, it’s held in place by a latch adapted from a racecar hood, with the locking mechanism stashed under the rear of the frame.

“The inspiration was definitely the ‘Whale’ BMW R100R by Vagabund,” Chris tells us. “I love their builds and their style. I talked to the owner to see if it was OK to copy the monocoque style—he gave me the OK and was exited to see what I did with the project.”

“Another big inspiration is Hookie Co. They are based just 100 km from my home, and I visit the guys sometimes to get some spirit.”

Tucked away under the body is a fresh wiring system, based around a Motogadget Bluetooth-capable m.unit blue, complete with a keyless ignition. Up front, Chris installed Motogadget grips, a single bar end mirror and a tiny digital speedo.

The speedo and LED headlight are held in place by brackets that Chris designed and 3D printed himself. He 3D printed a set of custom intakes for the carbs, too, then modified the stock exhaust headers to take a pair of SC Project mufflers.

There are mini Kellermann LED turn signals at both ends, with the rear items doubling as taillights. And there’s a license plate holder mounted off the swing arm—so this custom is fully street legal as well.

Finished off with bold graphics (and painted logos on the tires), the Motocrew CBX 750 is a fresh take on the otherwise unloved inline four. And with the perfect stance, racy lines and modern upgrades, there’s a lot to love.

Motocrew Instagram | Images by kylefx

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[triumph david]

Interesting!

 

[DaveM]

On Sale Now: The 2020 Motorcycle Calendar

The world’s most prestigious motorcycle calendar is back. The 2020 edition of the famous Bike EXIF wall calendar showcases 13 incredible new customs, including Walt Siegl’s Ducati superbike, K-Speed’s Honda Monkey cafe racer and the custom Energica from deBolex Engineering.

The cover star is Colonel Butterscotch, ICON 1000’s Suzuki Bandit, one of the most popular motorcycles featured on Bike EXIF. We’ve also got the very best BMW airheads from Renard and Vintage Addiction, a crisp CB350 from Merlin Cycleworks, and Analog’s Honda XR650L Nicky Hayden tribute.

Adding a touch of radical engineering is Jackson Burrows’ incredible 1960 Harley-Davidson Super 10.

You can never have too much of a good thing, so this 13-month motorcycle calendar is sized at a mighty 17 x 11.3 inches.

It’s printed on 128gsm art paper with a 260gsm laminated art card cover, discreetly hole-punched. And there’s a little space for writing notes between the dates.

Each calendar is delivered shrinkwrapped with a board stiffener for protection, and is remarkable value at just $17.99/£15.99/CA$19.99.

Treat yourself now—or order for a friend. Here’s how to get yours:

US and Canada: Order direct from the publisher Octane Press.
UK and Europe: Order from Amazon UK.
Australia, New Zealand and Rest of World: Order from Calendars.com.
Trade enquiries Call Octane Press at 512.761.4555 or email [email protected] for details.

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[DaveM]

Put up your dukes! A KTM 390 custom from Ellaspede

Since its release in 2013, KTM’s 390 Duke has become a staple in the entry-level segment. It’s amassed a slew of awards but despite its plus points—a sub-330lb dry weight, modern reliability and high-end suspension—the little Duke is one of the most commonly-overlooked platforms for customization.

One of the handful of shops that have recognized the merits of the Austrian single is Australia’s Ellaspede. The Brisbane outfit has given the Duke 390 a blacked-out, off-road-oriented makeover—and provided an alternative to the newly unveiled KTM 390 Adventure.

The build started life as a low-mile 2017 390 Duke, and was commissioned by a client who already owns a one-off Honda CT110 from Ellespede. He was looking for something a little more powerful and contemporary, which would also be capable of some light trail duties.

“The intent was to make the stock 390 Duke look a little less futuristic, reduce some of the ‘forward’ angles, and create a bike that looks like it could be a factory KTM concept,” explains Ellespede’s Hughan Seary.

The team began by tearing the 390 down to the chassis, before looping off the stock subframe and replacing it with a bespoke structure that was reportedly the result of no less than 16 hours of work.

A custom ribbed, tucked and rolled saddle was fashioned for the new framework, hiding a one-off electronics tray underneath. An LED taillight, Motogadget m.blaze pin indicators, and Ellaspede’s own ‘Ninja Star’ tail tidy keep the back of the build clutter-free.

The original tank remains in play, though it’s been modified to give a cleaner, more timeless aesthetic that almost borders on an ADV vibe.

“The 2017 390 Duke got bigger tank shrouds in the factory redesign, but it was the previous model’s smaller shrouds that we ended up sourcing, modifying, and custom mounting,” Seary tells us.

The Duke’s sharp and futuristic front-end was binned and in its place is now an LED Koso unit capped off with a Dart flyscreen. The 390’s 5.2” TFT display has also been relocated to in front of the top triple, just behind said flyscreen, allowing it to blend in markedly better.

Below, the guys have crafted a one-off steel front fender that tightly hugs the tire. Changes to the cockpit include new grips, LSL bar-end mirrors, and adjustable aftermarket shorty-levers shrouded behind a set of Barkbusters.

In an effort to squeeze a bit more power out of the 373cc engine, its respiratory bits were upgraded and a low-slung SuperTrapp is now suspended from a bespoke hanger.

“A Power Commander unit was wired in to take care of the new air filter and airbox mods, plus there’s the custom exhaust which wakes up the package a little more. It was impressive before, but who doesn’t like more power and sound right?” jokes Seary.

To bolster the Duke’s off-road prowess, a beefy one-off skid-plate was whipped up and tacked to the power plant, and sliders were installed on the frame and front and rear axles.

The KTM now rides on a set of Shinko 705 tires, too. At the request of the client, a bevy of bespoke and aftermarket racks and luggage were also added to the mix.

“One of the requirements was a removable pannier system that not only looked the part but would allow sufficient storage for future ‘back road’ weekender camping trips. So a series of laser cut plates were designed, CAD’d and welded up to hold the RotoPax fuel and water (cells) with a soft Kriega pannier on each side. A spare rack can also be bolted over the top of the pillion seat should more storage be needed,” relays Seary.

With the Duke fully sorted, the Ellaspede tore everything down again and began prepping the KTM for paint. It was decided that the white and orange scheme would be replaced with a murdered-out livery comprised of multiple shades of black in varying finishes.

This not only included painting the frame and bodywork, but also the new subframe, the wheels, skid-plate, exhaust, electronics bay, the mono-shock, and even the orange lettering on the engine was overlaid in black.

“This KTM is now a great all-rounder that’s an absolute hoot to ride and looks the business in a compact package,” says Seary.

“If you own a 2017-onwards 390 Duke then you’ll probably notice lots of other little changes and details. If you don’t, then you probably won’t—and that’s the intent when you’re going for a ‘factory concept’ style build.”

Ellaspede | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Aj Moller

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[CarlS]

Good looking KTM.

 

[DaveM]

Hit Parade: The best EICMA Bikes of 2019

In the moto world, EICMA is the Greatest Show On Earth. Held at the gigantic Rho Fiera exhibition center in Milan, it’s spread over several pavilions—and you can easily walk several kilometers a day without seeing everything on display.

All the big guns wheel out their concepts and new launches at EICMA, along with countless range refreshes and minor updates. So we’ve sifted through all the PR bumf and picked out the bikes we reckon have a significant chance of success—or are game changers in some way.

Husqvarna Norden 901 concept After wowing previous shows with the Vitpilen and Svartpilen, Husqvarna has turned its attention to the ADV market with the twin-cylinder Norden 901.

The styling is crisp and original, and the specs suggest serious capability—starting with a 21-inch front wheel and 18-inch rear. Parent company KTM knows how to build dirt bikes, so we have high expectations for the Norden.

The key phrase in Husqvarna’s press release is “class-leading lightness.” Few specs are available, but we know that the engine is 889 cc—the same size as the newly announced KTM 890 Duke R.

There’s no word on a release date, but Husqvarna tends to put its concepts into production—and that can only be a good thing for the notoriously conservative ADV market.

Harley-Davidson Bronx prototype So we now have a name, and some specs too. Harley’s liquid-cooled streetfighter will have a 975cc ‘Revolution Max’ engine—a DOHC 60-degree V-twin with a counterbalancer. The engine is a stressed member of the frame, and it’ll pump out at least 115 hp and 70 lb.-ft of torque. We’re also told that Brembo and Michelin are working on brakes and tires.

It looks good too, poised and muscular, with little visual bloat. There are just two (very big) unknowns: weight and price. If the Bronx isn’t competitive on those fronts, it will have a hard time in the showrooms.

The good news is that Milwaukee has finally delivered the bike so many have asked for. It’ll be competition for the Kawasaki Z900 and Yamaha MT-09, and may even draw some buyers away from the Triumph Speed Triple.

Scrambler Ducati Desert X concept Over the past four years, Ducati has frequently tweaked its Scrambler recipe, adding an 1100 engine to its steady flow of new models. Everything has been firmly ‘retro’—until now.

The Desert X concept catapults the Scrambler into the modern ADV segment, with a nod in the direction of the cultish Cagiva Elefant from the 90s.

The styling comes from the creased paper school, but in this instance it works exceptionally well. The ‘X’ uses the 1,079cc air-cooled engine, has a 21-inch front wheel and two fuel tanks, and a robust luggage rack. It also sports a pair of Dakar-style round LED headlights.

There was also a Motard concept on display, but that was a painting-by-numbers exercise compared to the Desert X—which was in danger of overshadowing the new Streetfighter V4 on the Ducati stand. We’d be surprised if this doesn’t go into production next year. Asphalt & Rubber has the full rundown.

Supercharged Bimota TesiH2 In a move guaranteed to get sportbike fans fizzing at the bunghole, Kawasaki Europe has bought into Bimota. The Swiss owners still retain a majority stake by a very slim margin.

This means that future Bimotas will have Kawasaki power. The iconic Italian marque has celebrated with the launch of the frankly bonkers TesiH2, and there are no prizes for guessing what engine is used.

Bimota has spent a large part of its history since the early 1970s scrabbling to make ends meet, so Kawasaki’s involvement is A Good Thing. Rumors are already swirling about the practical aspects of the deal—with talk of a new factory, and the possible return of former chief engineer Pierluigi Marconi.

But for now, we’ll just enjoy the ridiculous excess of the TesiH2, and rejoice that Bimota finally has a measure of financial stability.

Moto Guzzi V85 TT Travel The rugged, air-cooled V85 is one of the better-looking ADV bikes on the market, and its simplicity is a refreshing change from the techno-monsters that usually dominate the sales charts.

Moto Guzzi has just released a new variant called the Travel, which amps up the retro cool factor even higher. It’ll go on sale next year, complete with big aluminum panniers, a tall windscreen, heated grips and other goodies—plus a lovely ‘Sabbia Namib’ livery.

Officine Rossopuro also came to the V85 TT party with a custom called ‘Orizzonte.’ Aiming to give the V85 a more vintage look, builder Filippo Barbacane has modified the frame, installed Bitubo suspension, and crafted new bodywork (including a headlight that harks back to the classic NTX750). New exhaust pipework is terminated with a MassMoto can, and on the righthand side a curved aluminum toolbox mirrors the shape of the muffler. Weight is an admirable 188 kilos [415 pounds] dry.

BMW Concept R18 /2 It’s interesting to note that while Milwaukee is turning its focus away from heavyweight cruisers, BMW is heading in the opposite direction. The Germans launched the S 1000 XR sportbike and a pair of F 900 roadsters, but all eyes were on the latest ‘Heritage’ concept.

The gestation of the R18 has been extraordinarily long. We’ve already had the CW Zon ‘Departed’ build and the Revival Cycles ‘Birdcage,’ and a few months ago we saw ‘Concept 1’ in the Concorso d’Eleganza show at Lake Como, Italy.

This latest machine edges closer to production with a visible airbox, regular brakes, and all the trimmings you’d expect to see on a factory machine. Images suggest that the prototype was built with the help of the Swedish outfit Unique Custom Cycles—a relationship forged in the days when Swede Ola Stenegard was handling design for BMW.

The styling suggests that BMW is pitching this one at Dyna fans with more cash (and class) than the ‘Dyna Bro’ crowd. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.

Best of the rest Also at EICMA was the Harley-Davidson Pan America ADV behemoth, with a 1,250 cc version of the engine used in the Bronx. Triumph had a quiet show with modest upgrades: a TFC version of the Bobber, an RS version of the Thruxton, and ‘Bud Ekins’ limited editions of the Bonneville T100 and T120.

Yamaha unveiled a restyled Tracer 700 with a Euro 5 engine, Suzuki launched the V-Strom 1050 (no DR Big, sorry), and Aprilia is attempting to kickstart the long-dead middleweight sportbike category with its RS 660.

KTM showed its 390 Adventure production ADV bike, Husqvarna tweaked its street bikes and showed a new 701 Enduro, and Honda revealed a CB4X sport touring concept with striking styling [above]. But like many Honda concepts, we’ll probably never see anything more of it.

The biggest surprise? No electric bikes from the big-name makers. The car industry is moving towards alternative power at a rapid pace, but so far, only Harley has dipped a toe into the turbulent waters on the moto side.

Still, there was plenty to enjoy from EICMA this year, and it suggests a European industry in rude health. Let us know if we’ve missed any winners from your scorecard.

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[DaveM]

Review: Riding the (frankly bonkers) Arch KRGT-1

I’ve just swung a leg over the most exclusive production motorcycle we’ve ever tested: the $85,000 Arch KRGT-1. It’s a made-to-order performance cruiser, with unapologetic looks to match that hefty price tag.

But do Arch owners Keanu Reeves and Gard Hollinger actually know what they’re doing—or is this just a vanity project for a Hollywood star? And how much bike do you get for Tesla Model X money? I flew from Cape Town to LA to find out.

Along with a select few other media outlets, Bike EXIF was invited to Arch’s hometown of Los Angeles to ride the KRGT-1, visit the company’s headquarters, and pick the brains of Reeves and Hollinger.

The KRGT-1 concept came from Reeves himself: he wanted an American-made cruiser that would actually handle. So he commissioned Hollinger, an experienced custom bike builder, to customize his 2005 Harley-Davidson Dyna. By the time Hollinger was done, the motor was the only original part left.

Reeves loved the result. And after some initial resistance, Hollinger agreed to use it as a prototype for a production model. Arch Motorcycle and the KRGT-1 were born.

Reeves is the antithesis of the typical Hollywood type. He’s humble, passionate and deeply knowledgeable, and his investment in Arch goes way beyond just dollars. He’s also the company’s primary road tester, racking up more miles on development bikes than anyone else in Arch.

Hollinger and senior Arch staffer Ryan Boyd told me that every time Reeves takes a bike out, he comes back with a list of changes—often unrelated to the aspect of the bike he’s supposed to be testing.

Reeves’ uncanny ability to ‘feel out’ a bike, and provide usable feedback, is one of the things that persuaded Hollinger to pull the trigger on Arch. Hollinger himself talks about their projects in a steady, considered manner—giving away just how experienced he is, and how obsessive he is over every little detail.

Development at Arch is ongoing and never-ending. This new version of the KRGT-1 was born out of the constant drive to improve, and the need to meet Euro4 emissions standards. It’s hard to tell the old and new models apart at a quick glance, but it’s a huge step forward. There are over twenty major changes, with a total of 150 newly designed parts.

Each KRGT-1 is assembled like a giant Meccano set, by Arch’s ten-plus staff. It starts with a high backbone frame, which looks incomplete until you bolt on the CNC-machined aluminum subframe and tail structure. The fuel tank is also aluminum, and acts as a stressed member of the frame.

The new swingarm is a distinguishing feature; a curvaceous aluminum unit that’s visually bigger than before, but weighs five pounds less. It mounts directly to the rear shock with no additional linkages—a deliberate move to have fewer moving parts.

The shock itself is a custom unit from Öhlins, who also supplied the front forks. High-end parts tailored specifically to Arch’s needs are a recurring theme throughout the KRGT-1: the wheels are five-spoke carbon units from BST, but with hubs specific to the bike. And the brakes are a combo of ISR calipers, Bosch ABS electronics, and Magura master cylinders and controls.

Power’s handled via a proprietary six-speed transmission with a special high torque main shaft, and a hydraulic clutch. The final drive is via a chain.

The motor is a specially designed 124 ci 45-degree V-twin from S&S Cycle, and it’s both EPA- and CARB-certified. (That’s a two-liter engine, for those of you on the metric system.) But instead of breathing through a big fat filter that sticks out on the side, it sucks air through a proprietary downdraught system.

Air ducts in the headlight surround channel air down to the area between the two halves of the fuel tank, and into a K&N filter housing. Everything is specific to the KRGT-1: the filter, its housing, and even the rubber boot connecting it to the intake.

The exhaust is a combination of hand-built headers, and a muffler made in-house from parts supplied by Yoshimura. It’s a great system that adds sport bike style and gives off a forceful bark.

There’s no doubt that the KRGT-1’s aesthetic is seriously polarizing (we can’t even agree on it here at Bike EXIF), but I’m into it. There’s an undeniable flow from front to back, and nothing feels out of place. It’s also one of the cleanest production bikes out there, with not a single unsightly wire or tube, and is way less bulky than it looks in photos.

Since the KRGT-1 is usually made-to-order with a 90-day turnaround, Arch only had three next-gen bikes on test—in red, blue and grey, with varying parts finishes showing off the range of customization. If bright colors aren’t your thing, just order yours in black.

The bike I rode most of the test bore the initials ‘KRYK-1’ on the muffler, a reference to the International Klein Blue color that Reeves picked for the paint. The dash is from Motogadget, and the switches are made by Domino specifically for Arch.

They work well, but they’re plastic—and on a motorcycle laden with so much gorgeous metal, I think there’s potential for something special here. I can’t fault the rest of the parts spec though, which also features a lot of Rizoma trim. The headlight’s pretty neat too—it’s an LED unit from JW Speaker, with adaptive cornering lighting built in.

There are carbon fiber fenders at both ends too, and optional heat shields on different points along the exhaust headers. (The front heat shield bolts neatly to the motor, as an example of how well put together everything is.)

Every last finish is top grade—from the paint and anodizing to the seat upholstery. Even the mandatory license plate bracket, mounted off the swingarm, is borderline art.

Touring Arch’s Los Angeles manufacturing facility was a rare treat, and the sheer scale of the operation blew my mind. It takes about 1,200 pounds of aluminum billet to produce the machined parts for one motorcycle—but 90 % of that ends up as recyclable shavings.

Take the split fuel tank, for example. It’s made of sections that go through multiple phases of CNC machining, before they’re ready to be welded shut with insanely good-looking welds. All of that takes 40 hours, per tank.

All these parts have tooling marks that have been designed to create a feeling of motion across all surfaces. What’s more, when you strip the parts down, you’ll notice special cavities and cutouts all over—either for mounting other components into, or for channeling wiring.

The HQ is not open to the public, except when you’ve made an appointment to order your own KRGT-1. The order process starts with a consultation, so that Arch can tailor each bike to not only their client’s taste, but their body too. (No two KRGT-1s will ever leave the factory the same way.)

For ergonomics, the footpeg position can be varied via custom mounting plates and adjustable pegs, the seat can be set deeper or further back, and the bars can be adjusted too. There’s also a fair amount of freedom around liveries and the anodized and raw finishes.

There’s no option for mid-mount pegs though. I originally questioned the idea of a long wheelbase, fat rear tire and forward controls on a performance motorcycle. So I asked Reeves and Hollinger [above] if that was a deliberate move to maintain an element of cruiser DNA in the KRGT-1, and they confirmed it.

The truth is, this was never meant to be a sports naked—only a performance cruiser. A combination of the things Reeves liked about the cruisers he was riding before he approached Hollinger, but with performance turned up to eleven.

Riding the KRGT-1
To put that performance to the test, we rode from our hotel in sleepy Pasadena towards the endlessly meandering roads of the Angeles Crest Highway. Was I nervous riding an $85,000 motorcycle, of which only three prototypes currently exist? Little bit.

Hitting the starter button quickly reminded me that the KRGT-1 is a pure American muscle bike. That 124 ci V-twin is nothing short of monstrous, with ample bark and bite. And as you’d expect from a mill this size, it shakes. And it gets pretty hot, too. But Arch make no apologies for this—it’s all part and parcel of this type of bike, really.

That ethos is pushed further with the use of a traditional cable throttle. There’s no ride-by-wire, no traction control and no rider aids beyond ABS…which gives the KRGT-1 a refreshingly visceral nature.

The KRGT-1 weighs in at 538 lbs [244 kg] dry—over 100 lbs less than the new Harley-Davidson Low Rider S, and in the same ballpark as BMW’s R1250 GS. It’s a big bike, but not a total lump.

The weight, and the heat and shimmy from the motor, make it a bit of a handful from stop light to stop light in traffic. But the second I hit the open road, I whacked the throttle wide open, tucked into the deep seat and felt the KRGT-1 come into its own.

I found Arch’s six-speed transmission pretty stiff at first, and hard to get into neutral too. But then I rode the other bike on hand that day, and it was far more compliant. I discovered that the hydraulic clutch simply needed to be bled. It’s understandable—the bike I was riding was Reeves’ personal test mule; a prototype build with over 3,000 miles on it already.

The beastly S&S Cycle power plant is well tuned, with masses of usable torque. Arch and S&S didn’t just grab a motor off the shelf and pop it in the KRGT-1—they spent a lot of time fine-tuning it, and it shows.

There’s 122 Nm [90 lb.-ft] at the back wheel. But rather than peak at a tangible point in the rev range, most of it is on hand, most of the time. So while I was hustling the KRGT-1 through the endless blissful corners of Angeles Crest, I seldom had to hit the gear shifter. Instead, I could just roll on and off the throttle.

Cornering with the KRGT-1 is a revelation too. Despite the rider triangle and stretched wheelbase, it’s remarkably intuitive through turns. It takes hardly any effort to pitch it over—and once it’s there, it holds the line like it’s on rails.

How did Arch get this so right? I’d say there’s a few reasons. For starters, carbon wheels and an aluminum swing arm go a long way to reduce unsprung mass, and you really feel it through corners. But it’s also the fact that the KRGT-1’s a ground-up build, with every component front to back designed to work in unison.

The entire chassis feels stiff and connected. And the suspension works well too, keeping the bike planted with no vagueness or wallowing. And with the 19F/18R wheel combo and the KRGT-1’s relative tallness, you’ve got a lot more room to lean than you have on most cruisers.

There’s a ton of modulation (and power) in the brakes too. I grabbed a handful early on and sent the nose into a sharp dive, before realizing that all the ISR units needed was a gentle tap to slow the bike down. Once I’d figured that out, I was feathering the front with a finger or two while trail braking into corners. Yip: trail braking on a cruiser.

As someone who actually digs riding cruisers, I didn’t hate the forward controls at all. I get why the KRGT-1 is setup like this, and actually like it. And I really liked the setup of the bars and seat, too, though the tank contours weren’t in the right place, and I ended up sitting a bit wide-legged.

I also found that my butt and lower back were mad at me towards the end of the ride, just from sitting in a hunched position for long. I’m a big guy though, and my regularly-sized riding partner on the day had no such issues. The two bikes we were riding had tangibly different ergonomics too, so some setup time might yield improvements.

The ride was remarkably fun, but afterwards I wondered how many of Arch’s customers simply buy into the concept of owning an exclusive boutique motorcycle—and how many actually appreciate the KRGT-1’s ride dynamics.

So I asked Arch’s client and communications manager, Jordan Mastagni. He said that most customers are avid motorcyclists who are drawn to the bike specifically due to its capabilities.

Arch also have a strong focus on the ownership experience. They’re hands-on during the ordering process, and each bike ships with an ‘owner’s box’ with a custom-made key, a special tool for adjustments, and a book detailing the unique build process. Arch once even sent a technician all the way to Australia to fix what turned out to be a minor issue.

That level of obsession and dedication is written all over the KRGT-1. From the outlandish level of build quality to the unusually good riding experience, it’s a remarkable and special motorcycle.

Sure, it still has a lot of cruiser DNA, but my gut says that will be a selling point for Arch customers.

And ultimately, it rides unlike any other cruiser out there.

Arch Motorcycle | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Alessio Barbanti and Arnaud Puig

Wes’ gear
ICON 1000 Variant Pro helmet | Harley-Davidson Trego riding shirt | ICON 1000 Nightbreed gloves | Saint Unbreakable stretch denims | ICON 1000 Varial boots

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[DaveM]

Stingray: An otherworldly addition to the Haas Museum

There’s a term that was fashionable in MotoGP racing a few years ago: ‘Aliens.’ It referred to the small group of factory riders who seemed to operate at a higher level than everyone else, with astonishing speed and ability.

The custom world has its own Aliens, and we could probably all agree on the members of that group. But it looks like we have a new entrant: the Canadian builder Jay Donovan.

Jay is no grizzled veteran of the scene (sorry, Craig Rodsmith). He’s a young British Columbian in his mid-twenties, and the man behind Baresteel Design.

He’s based in the garden city of Victoria, and despite his tender years, has a quite remarkable ability to shape metal—a trait we noticed when we featured his Yamaha XS650 a couple of years ago.

Bobby Haas, the founder of the mindboggling Haas Moto Museum in Texas, noticed this ability too. And he gave Jay a commission to build a machine for the museum, with carte blanche on the direction.

“Jay and I cloistered ourselves in his shop and refined a life-sized sketch of what would ultimately become Stingray,” Bobby tells us. “We tossed ideas back and forth all day long, and then I just handed the baton over to Jay.”

The task was formidable, and Bobby knew it. “It is enormously challenging to infuse an e-bike with the aesthetics and romance of an internal combustion cycle,” he notes. “You are deprived of most of the iconic visual elements of a classic motorcycle—carburetors, pipes and so on—and handed a bunch of battery boxes in their place.”

Jay points out that electric motorcycles basically fall into three categories: “A futuristic abstract design, or something meant to look like a vintage cafe racer, or a typical sport bike.”

He started by examining these patterns: “They’re all concepts dealing with the same issues.” And the chief issue? How to incorporate “the design irritation of the ‘brick’.”

On his Yamaha XS650, Jay explored what he calls “fundamental design elements,” but this time he decided to experiment—to disregard standard proportion and geometry. “It meant abandoning the way I usually operate,” he says. “It made the process excruciating for me mentally, but also beneficial in the end.”

The core of Stingray is an ME1507 power unit from the Wisconsin company Motenergy. It’s a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) with a continuous power output of 14.5 kW.

This compact 44-pound motor is now surrounded by chromoly steel, which Jay used to build the frame, forks, and swingarm. Virtually every component is curved on three axes, and uses as few pieces as possible. The looped downtube, for instance, is made from a single piece.

The tighter radii were created on rolling and bending machines, but the third dimension had to be bent by hand—using a torch and steel bucks specifically made for each part. The strength of the frame relies on the abstract triangulation of the curved tubes.

The motor is offset to one side, aligning the drive sprocket with the center of the bike. This allowed room on the other side for the battery management system, as well as a jackshaft located through the swingarm pivot.

The secondary shaft allowed Jay to manipulate the gearing, and decrease the rear sprocket diameter—“Something I thought would take away from the diameter and drama of the front hub.”

The rear hub is another piece designed from scratch, although Jay took inspiration from Max Hazan’s KTM boardtracker. “The rear wheel on that thing was too cool, and I loved the star lace pattern.”

Jay describes the front suspension as a “rather odd trailing-link-springer type setup,” which is supported by a FOX mountain bike shock. “I knew I needed to keep the forks as narrow as possible, to allow for steering clearance underneath the low hanging fairing.”

Jay’s designed the front hub with an internal rotor, dual Brembo calipers and two large discs: “They’re essentially wheel spacers, but act as a visual focal point for the forward leaning body … I used the discs as a pickup point for the front suspension linkage, so the entire linkage system could be contained between the fork legs.”

The wheels were custom made for this project by Stephen Hood at Vintage Rims in Australia. “They were designed to resemble the simplistic appearance of an old clincher rim,” says Jay, “but built wider—and with an edge bead designed to hold modern tires.”

The battery packs are concealed behind the sculptured aluminum. This is .080 gauge mostly, in 5052 rather than the 6000 series we usually see. “It’s a bit tougher than the usual .063 I have been using, but I thought I would have a bit more material to work with for filing and block sanding,” says Jay.

The seven battery packs are spread around the bike: three in separate boxes running down the center of the bike, and two contained in large single packs on either side. Each battery was hand assembled with the help of Chris Jones at Voltron in Australia and it’s a 100-volt system.

Each pack contains 56 individual lithium cells—four in series and 14 in parallel. “The batteries are installed in the packs so that heat can diffuse through the surface area of the sculptured shapes,” says Jay. It’s a good way to disrupt the problem of ‘brick’ aesthetics.

There’s a compact Sevcon Gen4 motor controller mounted underneath the ‘gas tank,’ and to cool it, there are two intakes at the front of the tank. The back half of the fairing also creates intakes, which direct airflow down into the hollow underbody and out via the tail section. There are further concealed tunnels inside the body of the bike to keep air flowing around anything that heats up.

The whole machine is essentially a play between form and function, executed by a builder with tremendous skills. “I gave the most thought to the relationship between those two elements,” says Jay. “It’s a conscious experiment to refine my design abilities—so form and function each complement the other.”

The jaw-dropping looks of Stingray and its clever packaging suggest that Jay has succeeded. It also oozes quality, with immaculate surface finishing and clever detailing.

“I was trying to understand what quality really means, in a physical and personal way—and how it correlates to advancements in technology,” says Jay. “That’s not exclusive to electric vehicles by any means, but it’s why I felt so strongly about using electric power.”

Jay obviously spends as much time thinking about his bikes as he does with a dead blow hammer in hand. “There is a sensitivity and a philosophical side to Jay that I’ve rarely seen in my seven decades of life,” says Bobby. “Often when we chat, it’s not about motorcycles, but rather about life—and where the world is headed and what our role is in this industry.”

We asked Jay what his next build will be, and it’s going to be a collaboration with vintage motorcycle expert Paul Brodie. They’re building a bike around a 1919 Excelsior motor, to mark the 100th anniversary of the famous racing marque. As a project, it’s a 180-degree opposite of Stingray.

If you’re keen to see Stingray, head over to the Haas Moto Museum in Dallas. But it won’t be in the main display area just yet. “We have a space just outside my office for one motorcycle,” says Bobby. “Museum director Stacey Mayfield and I can stare at it all day long.”

“And that’s where Stingray sits.”

Baresteel Facebook | Instagram | Haas Moto Museum | Images by Grant Schwingle

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[CarlS]

Nice workmanship; but most definitely not for me.

 

[DaveM]

Super Duper Ténéré: A Yamaha XTZ 750 from Colombia

There was a subtle takeaway from this year’s EICMA show: adventure motorcycles are more popular than ever. As well as the regular slew of new model upgrades, we saw a hefty dose of nostalgia in concepts like the Husqvarna Norden 901 and Scrambler Ducati Desert X.

While modern dual-sports have become angular and over-designed, those two designs hark back to icons like the original Honda Africa Twin, Cagiva Elefant and Yamaha Ténéré. Older bikes that we love, because they remind us of simpler and more stylish times.

So here’s another, even sweeter reminder of the way adventure bikes were: a delicious 1991 Yamaha XTZ 750 Super Ténéré, from Marco Saldarriaga in Colombia. He’s played his cards right here, keeping the Ténéré’s general vibe, but with a contemporary edge and key performance tweaks.

Marco knows a little bit about adventure bikes. He’s started the grueling Dakar Rally twice and finished it once, and his company, Mastech, manufactures aftermarket dual-sport parts.

As a bonus, the Super Ténéré came to Marco with a fully overhauled motor, ticking one thing off the list. So he turned his attention to rebuilding the carbs, and installed a full exhaust system from Arrow to make it run even sweeter. And he treated it to a new wiring harness too.

Then it was time to beef up the Yamaha’s aging suspension. Marco grabbed a set of enduro-specific Öhlins RXF 48 forks, and paired them up with aftermarket triple clamps from Off-The-Road in Germany.

The clamps were actually designed for the single-cylinder Ténéré. But Marco made them fit, added a new steering stop, and modded them to accommodate the ignition and an Öhlins steering damper.

The front wheel came off the KTM 450 that Marco fielded in the 2014 edition of the Dakar Rally. And the brakes are Brembos that were scalped from a KTM 690 Enduro, and hooked up via custom-made brake hoses.

Out back, the chunky taillight’s still in play, but the rear plate beneath it has been trimmed down and kitted with slim LED turn signals.

Marco needed to nudge up the rear to match the taller front end. So he installed an Öhlins S46DR1 shock with a custom made linkage to adjust the height, with fresh bushings, retainers and needle bearings.

He kept the OEM Yamaha rear wheel, but re-laced it, and replaced the bearings and cush drive rubbers so it would run like new. Ditto for the brakes, which got a new disc, brake light switch, steel brake hoses and some sneaky custom bits.

The Super Ténéré has one of the most recognizable silhouettes in adventure bike history, so Marco didn’t mess too much with the bodywork. Instead, he retrofitted that classic rally-style fairing with an assortment of modern bits.

The conventional lights were replaced by two modern 5.75-inch 80W lamps, using custom brackets. But there’s an even slicker setup happening behind the screen.

Marco ditched the clunky stock dials, then built a new dashboard plate to host updated electronics. There’s a digital tacho there (which required a sensor conversion too), a GPS-based speedo, and a temperature gauge. Marco’s even added neutral and turn signal indicator lights.

The cockpit also got new, oversized Yamaha handlebars on new risers, modern Yamaha mirrors, and carbon fiber hand guards with integrated turn signals. Lower down you’ll find a slick carbon fiber fender from Perfect Fairings.

A bunch of one-off parts round things off nicely. Marco added a custom radiator guard, engine guard and bash plate, and a rear carrier plate with side case racks. They’re designed to interface with his company’s own hard luggage system.

If there’s still any doubt that Marco’s a man of excellent taste, this Super Tén’s livery should lay it to rest. It’s minimal and chic—a simple white affair with black and bronze accents and a hint of the classic ‘speed block’ motif. (Even the frame got a fresh coat of black.)

Marco’s XTZ 750 turned out so good, it has us in a pickle. What’s better: a modern dual-sport with retro design, or a classic dual sport with modern upgrades?

Mastech | Facebook | Instagram | Images by twentysixcolombia

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[DaveM]

Surprise: carbon expert BST reveals the $80,000 HyperTEK

There are always a few surprises at the EICMA motorcycle show. This year, one of the biggest was the launch of this radical electric bike from the carbon wheel specialists BST—otherwise known as Blackstone Tek.

BST are at the high-tech end of the wheel market, but even so, an electric motorcycle is a huge leap for the South African company. And to help them make that leap, they’ve partnered with South African-born designer Pierre Terblanche—the man behind the Ducati Supermono, the 749 and 999, the SportClassic and the Hypermotard.

Terblanche says, and this is a direct quote, “This is the best work I’ve ever done.” And that is one hell of a statement from someone who was responsible for styling many of the best Ducatis of recent years. So let’s take a closer look at the HyperTek.

The driving force behind the HyperTEK is the founder of BST, Gary Turner—who has successfully raced a SuperMono. So this probably played a role in his choice of designer.

You only get one chance to make a first impression with a motorcycle, which happens when you pull the covers off. And the styling of the HyperTEK is certainly show stopping. Agreed, beauty is in the eye of the beholder—and whilst we wouldn’t call the Terblanche creation beautiful, it is spectacular.

As befits a bike as radical as this, the details are amazing. For example, there is no dash, but rather a head-up display X1 helmet made by Crosshelmet.

Power comes from a DHX Hawk electric motor, which is good for 80 kW and a monstrous 120 Nm of instantaneous torque. The electronics allow clutch slip and wheelies—presumably at will—and you also get cruise control and a hill-hold feature. There’s a 30-minute quick charge facility and we’re told that range is around 300 kilometers.

Needless to say, given what BST do best, the HyperTEK also features dollops of carbon fiber everywhere. This keeps weight down to 205 kilos (450 pounds), an unusually low figure for an electric bike.

The monocoque frame is carbon fiber, and so are the fork tubes. The forks have an integrated structure, with the down tubes and triple clamps in one piece

It’s an extremely ambitious project, but on the other hand, BST is a company with an extremely solid reputation.

They plan to start production in around 18 months, and prospective owners (‘custodians’ in BST speak) will have to cough up $80,000 to park one of these unique rides in their garage.

That is a huge amount of ammo to part with for a bike which, at this stage, probably raises more questions than answers. Having said that, the HyperTEK is not a mass-produced piece, but a bespoke vehicle with a seriously futuristic bent aimed at the well heeled few.

There is a market for machines in this price range—as Confederate and MV Agusta have proved, along with a multitude of race-ready superbikes from the likes of BMW, with its HP4 Race. And even the Kawasaki Ninja H2R is $55,000.

Let’s see where this all goes……

BST HyperTek product site | Facebook | Instagram

Adapted with permission from an article by Dave Cilliers in ZA Bikers.

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[CarlS]

There are 80,000 reasons why I will not own one!

 

[DaveM]

Cheap thrills: Racing custom Coleman mini bikes with Icon

Our friends at Icon Motosports have a few screws loose—and we mean that as a compliment. The riding gear they produce is wild, but the bikes they build in their Portland workshop are even wilder.

So when Icon decided to spice up the annual dealer show of parent company Parts Unlimited, things got real weird, real quick. They decided to rally their friends in the biz, and organize a no-holds-barred custom challenge…with Coleman mini bikes. [More]

Arizona-based Coleman jumped on board with six BT200Xs: tiny air-cooled mini bikes that normally cost $799. They’re powered by a 196cc four-stroke single, weigh less than 140 pounds, and are good for a top speed of 20 mph.

The ICON Mini Bike Roundup was underway. Icon took one BT200X for themselves, then handed out the rest to Biltwell Inc, S&S Cycle, Performance Machine, The Speed Merchant and LA Choppers.

Each shop was under strict instructions to do whatever the heck they wanted, without removing anything from the frame or motor. Here’s how five of those six bikes turned out…

ICON 1000 Remember ICON 1000’s mental Suzuki Katana build, New Jack? Well, thanks to “a mixture of fan art inspiration and a vodka drink named the Ryobi,” the crew decided to build a tribute: Half Jack. And we’re so glad they did.

Half Jack’s tank and fairings look so right, because they’re real aftermarket Katana parts. The seat’s actually the stock Coleman unit, flipped front to back and re-upholstered by Range Needle Work.

ICON did some crazy suspension work too. The front end’s off a Ducati Monster (yes, really), and there’s now an actual swing arm out back, hooked up to a Nitron Racing piggyback shock. Other bits include aftermarket Grom wheels, EBC rotors, Magura controls, a Vortex sprocket and a Regina chain.

As for the paint job, that’s straight out of a rattle can. “It’s still covered in some beer from when someone took a keg and sprayed it all over the riders,” the guys tell us. “Personally, we think it adds to its charm.” [Icon 1000]

Biltwell Inc. When Biltwell got the invitation to throw down on mini bikes, they were instantly keen. So they handed their Coleman over to their “resident R&D nerd,” Westy, to prep for the festivities.

Westy’s approach was simple, yet highly effective: throw a bunch of rad parts at it. So this Coleman is now sporting new Biltwell handlebars and grips, with a second set repurposed on the bar bends for reasons unknown. Westy also added one of the company’s pillion pads up front, as what we’re guessing is a crotch-saver.

With the mods done, Biltwell hauled the Coleman over to Pete ‘HotDog’ Finlan, who laid down some pin striping and lettering to push it over the line. (How great are those Firestone logos on the tires?)

“Fast forward to race night…brand co-founder and man of too many words, Harold ‘McGoo’ McGruther, and our stateside dealer rep, Randy ‘Randingo’ Hernandez, paired up to throw elbows and cut corners, in what turned out to be a fun night at one of our favorite trade shows.” [Biltwell Inc]

S&S Cycle As high-performance experts, S&S Cycle were surely way out of their ballpark working on a Coleman mini bike. But they went bananas anyway, giving their BT200X a true ‘go fast, turn left’ vibe, inspired by the Indian flat track race team they sponsor.

The treated their pint-sized tracker to a stage one kit and torque convertor from Go Powersports, along with a high flow air cleaner. The exhaust is custom, while the bars, grips and pegs all came from Biltwell. As for the tail unit, that had been sitting on the S&S shelf for some time. So the guys welded some brackets to the frame and installed it.

“Testing consisted of an unanticipated wheelie in my driveway,” our contact at S&S tells us, “and a brief ride around the neighborhood. We’ve since put it on our test tack and smile every time we huck it into a corner.”

“Look for some snow tracker action and likely my hip popping out at some point in December.” [S&S Cycle]

Performance Machine This entry looks like the world’s smallest—and funnest—chopper. “The Coleman bikes are pretty cool out of the box,” the team tells us, “so all it took was a few key parts to make it even cooler.”

Up top are a set of Burly Brand ape hangars, matched up to some custom machining on the triple clamp to make them fit. The grips and throttle housing are from Performance Machine’s own catalog, and the throttle cable’s another Burly Brand part.

Other in-house parts include the headlight and gas cap. Saddlemen hooked the guys up with a sweet new perch, and Burly Brand supplied the pegs and one of their ‘bar bags,’ which now acts as a mini pannier.

Oh yeah, there’s a stage one kit from Go Powersports too. So this Coleman is… really quick? [More]

The Speed Merchant Team Speed Merchant were so enamored with the stock BT200X, it took them a couple of days to figure out what to do. But once they got cracking, the mini bike slowly morphed into a tiny clone of a H-D Fat Bob build they’d done a year and a half ago (right down to the paint).

Like S&S, Speed Merchant hooked up the motor with a stage one kit and torque convertor, plus a bigger sprocket at the rear. Then they made their own muffler by drilling out a piece of tubing. “It makes for a proper mini hooligan bike,” they say. “Loud and obnoxious.”

Saddlemen supplied the flat track tail section, and Speed Merchant fabricated a quick subframe to support it. There’s a mountain bike shock wedged in there to provide a little compliance.

There’s a custom gas tank up top, but it’s not in use. The team didn’t get round to hooking it up, but it looked so good, they didn’t have the heart to remove it either. As a final touch, they added roughly five to six inches of extra height to the bars, then coated them to match the frame.

“This bike is so much fun,” Speed Merchant tell us, “it’s become the transport of choice for us when we are in the pits at the races. Can’t wait for more pull-start racing!” [The Speed Merchant]

Everyone made it to Madison, WI in one piece, and rolled down to the Paradise Lounge where shenanigans ensued. Racing kicked off with a Le Mans-style start, followed by wheelie and burnout contests, keg rolling, two-up racing and slow racing.

“The whole experience was pretty amazing,” our ICON contacts report. “For most of us, mini bikes are where our moto obsession started. Coleman and our friends magically helped us to tap into our eight-year-old selves, when it was all about having fun.”

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[CarlS]

Very cool! That looks like great fun.

 

[DaveM]

Bucephalus: A Norton Commando 850 from FCR Original

The Commando is one of the all-time greats of the motorcycle industry. In Britain, its status is iconic: even people with no interest in motorcycling know of it, or know someone who used to own one.

Seventies-era Nortons can be temperamental though—troublesome to own and expensive to repair. So we’re always pleased to see one that has been rescued from the scrapheap and restored. Or even better, resto-modded with tasteful upgrades.

This gorgeous 850 Mk 3 with a hint of street tracker style comes from the premier French workshop FCR Original, which has a sterling reputation for top-drawer customs and a level of finish way beyond factory spec.

Recently, FCR were approached by a client who wanted a custom using an English motorcycle as the base.

“Our customer is very adept at extreme sports—he’s a specialist downhill bike racer,” reveals FCR’s Sébastien Guillemot. “He wanted an old motorcycle with a sleek and sporty look, but gave us no other instructions on the project. So we had carte blanche.”

By lucky chance, Sébastien had a completely dismantled Commando Mk 3 850 in his workshop in Chauvigny, a small country town in western France.

It was a 1975 model, making it one of the earliest 850s—and one of the last Commandos to be built before Norton went into receivership. The bike had an electric starter, a left side gear change and a rear disc brake.

FCR started with a full engine rebuild, restoring the 44-year-old air-cooled parallel twin to immaculate condition. They used a mix of OEM parts and improved modern components, and also installed a Mikuni VM38 carb—an improvement over the twin Amal concentrics that were fitted at the factory.

After polishing the engine cases to match the shiny new internals, FCR built up a custom set of pipes. There are no end cans, but an array of decibel killers inside the end pipes tones the volume down just a little. (“We wanted to keep a raging noise for this old bike!”)

Installing the engine back into the ‘isolastic’ system of rubber mounts was the trickiest part of the build—since it’s critical to the handling quality of the Commando.

Alongside the engine are new footpegs and controls, on slimline brackets, and there are new passenger pegs too.

But the big change on this bike is the suspension. FCR have installed Ceriani GP35 racing forks and matching triple trees, and machined up new wheel hubs and axles.

The front brake disc is integrated into the hub, with black calipers supplied by the German brand ABM and installed using custom caliper supports. The brake discs are from the aftermarket specialist France Equipment; a set of 18-inch ‘H’ section valanced alloy rims shod with Dunlop K180 rubber add to the 70s tracker vibe.

The rear suspenders are new units from Shock Factory, and hooked up to a lightly modified rear frame. The rest of the frame has been cleaned up, detabbed and polished.

After new brackets and supports were welded on for the custom bodywork, the frame was given a stunning nickel-plated finish—an FCR signature trick.

The wiring loom is all-new, with an electronic ignition, a compact new starter that’s more powerful than the original, Dynatek ignition coils that provide more juice.

The stock Commando 850 is a looker, but this one takes it up to whole new level with fresh custom bodywork. The smooth aluminum tank is handmade, and there’s a custom-made under-seat battery box too.

FCR also used aluminum for the rear fender, and since these images were taken, they’ve added a matching front fender too.

FCR machined up the headlight plate in the workshop, and fitted a bright halogen light. Right behind are tracker-style bars fitted with Motone buttons, and a Motogadget Tiny gauge. Kustom Tech supplied the polished brake and clutch masters.

The saddle is covered with a deep burgundy Italian leather, and matches perfectly to the blue-candy-over-green paint—which FCR applied themselves.

“The client calls his bike Bucephalus, after the indomitable horse of Alexander the Great,” says Sébastien. It’s a great name that befits the 250 hours of work that FCR put into the Norton.

And like all good horses, this Norton rewards its rider. “It’s very agile—light and with good power. We love the flat track look, but this bike can also be used on a daily basis. It’s a motorcycle for country roads, with a touch of modernity for the city.”

FCR Original | Facebook | Instagram

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[DaveM]

Out of the blue: A Triumph Trackmaster hiding in Germany

In a world where everyone is screaming for attention, Heinz Lange is an enigma. He has no catchy workshop name, no website and absolutely zero social media presence. He’s simply a retired aficionado with a proclivity for collecting and working on classics—like the Norton Manx that’s parked in his living room.

That’s why we only found out about Heinz via a friend of a friend. And he only popped up on their radar because he’d just finished this stunning Triumph Trackmaster.

Heinz built the Triumph pretty much from scratch, at his home garage in Sprendlingen, a small winegrowing town in western Germany. His goal was to build as original a Trackmaster Triumph as possible, stripped down to just the essentials—but street legal.

“The first time I saw Trackmaster-framed Triumph motorcycles,” he tells us, “was when I was at Daytona for the AHRMA classic series. The way those guys charged their Trackmaster twins into the corners was awesome.”

“Those bikes had a specific style—not just the paint jobs and the shape of the dirt track seats and tanks, but the complete bikes fascinated me. All of them had only what was needed to ride them.”

“Years later, at a bike meeting in California, I saw a bunch of street legal Trackmasters. So I decided to build one for myself too. It had to be a Trackmaster frame, nickel-plated, short wheel base.”

Remarkably, the only second hand part Heinz started with was the motor. It’s from a 1971 Triumph T120R, picked up at a flea market in Daytona for $500. But once it was stripped, Heinz realized that only the crankcase and crankshaft were usable.

He rebuilt the engine to an eye-watering spec. It now uses full racing camshafts, aluminum barrels, and a belt drive with an alloy clutch basket. The gearbox is a five-speed unit from a T140, and there’s a three-phase generator, electronic regulator and ignition.

The carbs are Amal concentric smooth bore units, rubber mounted on the inlet stubs. And the exhaust consists of custom-built headers, terminating in a pair of Devil mufflers—chosen despite their modern looks, simply because they weigh a mere 800 grams each.

Before Heinz redid the motor, he’d already phoned Kennedy Racing in Witchita, Kansas, to custom order his Trackmaster frame and kit. Going off the engine number, frame builder Roger Attebury was able to match all the mounting points for this particular motor, making it a plug and play affair.

Getting the frame geometry right was key, since the bike was destined for street use. “It’s the geometry the dirt track racers use on the long mile,” Heinz explains, “where they have a top speed of around 160 km/h on the straights.”

It took a year and three months for the frame to arrive, but then the project started coming together. The full kit consisted of not only the frame and swing arm, but also the yokes, tank and tail unit.

Heinz completed the rolling chassis with a set of 35 mm Ceriani forks, and a pair of Hagon rear shocks. There’s a steering stabilizer too, and the wheels are 18×2.5” units at both ends, shod with Bridgestone Battlax rubber.

For the brakes, Heinz matched BMW discs to Grimeca calipers. But it was a tricky process—the fork lowers and swingarm had no mounting points for the calipers, and the wheel hubs had to be modded to accept the BMW discs. After sketching out some ideas and machining the final parts, Heinz manage to make everything fit (and look) like it belonged.

The Trackmaster frame didn’t have mounting points for things like an ignition switch, battery tray or side stand—so Heinz had to get crafty. “To put all these ordinary things onto the bike to get it street legal,” he tells us, “without damaging the style of the bike, was not easy.”

Heinz picked titanium sheet metal for the battery tray and engine breather collector—a metal he hadn’t work with before. He tackled all the drilling, cutting and bending of the titanium himself, but admits that welding it was outside of his skillset, so he outsourced that.

The paint was handled at the classic car workshop of Heinz’s friend, Norbert Prokschi. It has a classic feel to it, but it’s actually a modern color; Peugeot’s ‘China Blue.’

Unlike the race bikes it’s based on, this Triumph has lights at both ends, turn signals, and even a license plate bracket. Finishing kit includes a speedo and tach combo from a Ducati, and a carbon fiber rear inner fender.

It took Heinz two years to complete the project, with about 1,000 hours of work. We’d say it was worth it—his Triumph is a showstopper, and encapsulates the Trackmaster era perfectly. Weight is just 138 kg (305 pounds) with an engine output of 55 PS, so there’s plenty of entertainment on hand.

“The handling of the bike is totally different to my Triumph T140,” Heinz tells us. “An open country road with as many curves as possible is the right environment. And also on smaller race tracks, the Triumph handles perfectly.”

“After a ride, when I am back home and the bike is sitting in my driveway in the sun, and I see the sparkling blue metallic color…that is always a good view.”

That’s a feeling we all know, isn’t it?

Images by, and thanks to, Marc Holstein.

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[Rocky]

Nice! It looks like a bike you can actually ride and go somewhere

 

[CarlS]

I agree with Rocky.

 

[DaveM]

Inch perfect: A Ducati Hypermotard 939 from Rough Crafts

There are motorcycles that are considered so sacred, you wouldn’t dare customize them. And there are motorcycles that work so well out the box, you probably wouldn’t want to customize them, even if the opportunity presented itself.

We’d file the Ducati Hypermotard 939 in that last category. Its torquey Testastretta L-twin motor makes ample power (110 hp), it weighs just 450 pound wet, and it has dynamite handling. It looks pretty cool in stock trim too… so why bother?

Well, Taiwan-based Rough Crafts are bothered. This 2018-model Hypermotard 939 is called ‘Igneous Ripper’ and it’s simply outstanding.

Front man Winston Yeh tells us that part of the reason he got the call to fettle the Hypermotard was to change its ergonomics.

“My client really loves the Hypermotard vibe,” he tells us, “and bought a brand new 939 after a very short test ride. But a couple of weeks later, it was obvious that the 870 mm [34.2 in] seat height was too stressful for him—especially in Taipei city traffic, where there’s a lot of stop and go.”

Winston’s client wanted to keep the upright riding position, so slamming the Ducati into some sort of cafe racer would have been silly. “We still wanted the direction to reflect the Hypermotard’s natural purpose—light, nimble, and fun.”

“A street tracker came to our minds—a flat tracker-styled bike with regular street tires and brakes.”

This is far more than a minor aesthetic rework though. Winston and his team of craftsmen have loaded the Hypermotard with more top-shelf upgrades than you can shake a stick at. But their first job was to massage the tall motard’s stance into something more manageable.

Winston spent a long time fiddling in Photoshop to get the proportions right, then set about sourcing the right length front suspension. In the end, a set of Öhlins FGRT207 forks (meant for the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R/ZZR1400) turned out to be the best bet.

They were mounted up with a new top yoke from CNC Racing.

Öhlins Racing then built a custom rear shock, and the Ducati is now two inches lower at the front and one inch lower at the back.

Other chassis upgrades include a full Beringer brake set, and an Öhlins steering damper. The wheels were swapped for a pair of gorgeous carbon items from BST—the same style that the South African company recently used on their nuts HyperTEK electric bike.

Since this Hypermotard is destined to spend its life ripping asphalt, Winston kept the wheel size at 17 inches, and added Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa II tires.

When it came to the bodywork, Winston wanted a serious hit of flat track style. So he reached out to a friend: David Sánchez at BOTTPOWER in Spain. “The BOTT XR1 tail section has the perfect shape and size we liked,” he explains, “plus it’s made out of super high quality carbon fiber.”

A new subframe was fabricated to match the rear section, and Kingsman Seat built a diamond-stitched pad to sit on top.

Winston’s regular metal shaping guy, MS Pro, then whipped up a fuel tank and radiator shrouds that would flow with the tail, but also carry the signature scalloped Rough Crafts style.

Up top, the team installed a Rough Crafts gas cap, and a pair of tank badges custom-made by master fabricator 2 Abnormal Sides.

The cockpit features CNC Racing bars and Beringer controls, and the stock dash was relocated. Lower down, you’ll find AME Factory foot controls and a Cordona quickshifter.

There’s a number board-type headlight shroud in front, with a pair of Koso lights doing duty. All the turn signals are from Rizoma, with the rear units doubling up as taillights.

Winston also collaborated with CNC Racing to create two special CNC Racing x Rough Crafts parts: a hydraulic clutch slave and a brake lever guard. There’s a Ducabike clear clutch cover in play too, along with a Rizoma front sprocket cover.

Snaking around all those lustworthy parts is an equally desirable titanium exhaust system. Winston picked out a SC Project S1 muffler, then turned to Tron Racing to fabricate the headers to match.

Ameuro Motors handled final assembly on the Hypermotard. And frequent Rough Crafts collaborator, Air Runner Custom Paint, laid down the broody livery.

When Winston first told us he was customizing a Hypermotard, we weren’t sure what to expect. But ‘Igneous Ripper’ is a smash hit, and looks both menacing and fun at the same time.

Hand us the keys, and we probably wouldn’t give it back.

Rough Crafts | Facebook | Instagram | Photos by JL Photography

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[DaveM]

Deadline smashed: A Continental GT 650 built in six weeks

How much custom work can you cram into six weeks? If this stellar Royal Enfield racer is anything to go by, quite a lot—as long as you have the right team, a little luck and a whole lot of motivation.

This brand new Continental GT 650 went under the knife as an entry into Royal Enfield Australia’s ‘Busted Knuckles Build Off.’ It belongs to a chap called Ric Steele, who owns an RE dealership in Perth and wanted to enter the contest. So he called up Billy at Rogue Motorcycles down the road in Wangara, and asked him to team up.

The call covered a fairly basic brief, but the daunting six-week timeline was almost a deal-breaker. Billy opted in anyway, and Ric delivered a zero miles Continental GT that afternoon. With no time to waste, Billy got the Enfield onto his bench and tore it down right away.

Catch a quick glance, and you might think he did little more than clean it up and add a fairing—but you’d be mistaken. This one’s a true sleeper, with a slew of subtle mods that reveal themselves as you dig deeper.

For starters, it’s riding on a whole lot of Benelli TNT 1130 running gear. Ric had a written-off TNT gathering dust at the dealership, so he scalped the forks, swingarm, wheels and brakes, and handed them over to Billy.

Getting the 50 mm Marzocchi forks to fit was relatively easy. Doug at DB Customs helped out by machining up a custom top yoke (and managed to deliver in two days too, which was greatly appreciated by the time-pressured Rogue team).

But the swingarm conversion proved challenging. Both sides had to be narrowed to mount it to the Enfield frame, and new bearings had to be pressed in to work with the original axle. Then it had to be converted to a twin-shock setup, since the guys didn’t want to lose the classic vibe.

Getting the Benelli’s six-inch wide wheel to sit centered was also a mission. The guys had to modify the frame to space the front sprocket outwards and the rear sprocket inwards, and to make sure the chain cleared everything.

For the bodywork, Ric and Billy wanted an endurance-style fairing that would pull inspiration from the early 90s Honda CBR250R MC22. They called in Clive from The Hammer Works in Rockingham, who fabricated the fairing from scratch before whipping up a new tail cowl to match.

By now, the crew was four weeks in and nipping. Billy set about fabricating the myriad of pieces needed to tie the bike together.

He started with a pair of stainless steel exhaust headers, designed to trace the original headers’ lines, but with better performance in mind. The mufflers are from Cone Engineering, and reportedly sound a lot better than stock.

Billy also hand-made the new side panels, adding cut-out flutes that mimic the wings on the Royal Enfield logo. (It’s one of Ric and Billy’s favorite details on the bike.) And he built all the bracketry for the fairing and front fender, using his signature Rogue style.

Doug was roped in again, this time to hook up the new Tarozzi rear sets, and to machine some bar end caps and frame plugs. The subframe was shortened too, to match the seat length (unlike the mismatched lengths on the stock bike).

Heading into week five, the bike was stripped down for final paint. Jay at Distorted Paint and Restoration in Neerabup laid down a luscious candy teal over the frame and swing arm, while the body parts were treated to a brushed and clear coated finish.

“This color scheme has been on my to-do list for years,” says Billy. “It was a perfect opportunity to finally get it.”

While the paint was being tackled, Lorenzo at Poli Motor Trimming reshaped and recovered the OEM seat, using a teal-colored thread to match the frame. It took just a couple of days for the paint and upholstery to get done, and the guys were ready to head into the final straight.

Rogue put the bike back together in a single day, because they still needed to rush it off to Joel at Custom Bike Electrics and Restorations in Willetton. Joel had the task of wiring in a huge grocery list of aftermarket electrical parts.

It included a set of Kellermann turn signals, a Motogadget motoscope mini speedo (sunk into the top yoke) and SAAS tacho, and new switches.

Back at Rogue, it was time to handle the final details. Shane at Graphic Addiction hooked the Enfield up with all its new decals, then the crew spent the rest of that evening prepping the bike for photos.

The next day it was dragged into the studio, and the day after that it was off to Lang Park in Woolongong for the Australian Motorcycle Festival.

By gathering together a dream-team of West Australia’s top craftsmen, Ric [below left] and Billy

hit their deadline. And they delivered one hella slick Continental GT in the process.

Check out the Busted Knuckles Build Off and vote for your favorite bike here.

Rogue Motorcycles | Instagram | Images by Manny Tamayo

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