Roots Revival: A custom R nineT Urban G/S from Spain
The BMW R nineT Urban G/S is a tough pill to swallow. From a styling standpoint, we totally get it; the original BMW R80G/S was iconic, and one of th...
08-02-2023 22:05
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Duke 790 or 890: With the Duke 790 Back for 2023, Which Is t
KTM made an unusual decision with its 2023 lineup. For 2023 the company brought back the Duke 790 after a two-year absence. However, the company is l...
08-02-2023 22:05
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World’s Oldest Motorcycle: Would You Ride a Direct-Dri
This sounds terrifying. The 1894 Hildebrand & Wolfmuller motorcycle that recently sold at a Bonhams auction proves that old-school motorcyclists were...
07-02-2023 21:20
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Golden Eagle Returns: Moto Morini Plans Re-launch in the U.S
In 1937 Alfonso Marini ventured off from his partner, Mario Mazzetti and the MM brand, to start his own motorcycle company. Morini had been building ...
07-02-2023 19:12
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Exclusive: CW Zon’s Mooneyes-winning Harley shovelhead
Yuichi Yoshizawa is a rare custom builder that can conquer multiple styles, while still giving each build an organic and immediately recognizable fee...
06-02-2023 22:06
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Special Report: The 30th edition of the Mooneyes show
The custom scene’s calendar is stacked with bike shows the world over?but none of them are quite like the Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show. Colloquiall...
05-02-2023 22:00
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Interview: Alec Ferguson, the Face of Indian Motorcycles
For 10 years you’ve seen his face on Indian Motorcycle posters and in commercials. But Alec Ferguson is more than just the pretty face you see on n...
04-02-2023 22:05
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Lucky Explorer: A Cagiva Elefant with a Ducati 1098 engine
Remember the Cagiva Elefant" The legendary Dakar-winning dual-sport was built while Cagiva owned Ducati, and was powered by the latter’s widely use...
03-02-2023 22:02
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Hydrogen Powered: Could Hydrogen Power Your Next Bike"
Kawasaki Motorcycles made a splash with a hydrogen-powered bike at EICMA last year, and now several custom manufacturers are stepping in to show what ...
03-02-2023 22:02
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Oldest New Bike: The TW200 Hasn’t Changed in 35 Years
I recently had the opportunity to throw a leg over a 1996 Yamaha TW200. Or was It a 2008" Or a 1988" Who cares, they?re all the same bike. For 35 yea...
03-02-2023 22:02
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Four Banger Blast: Why the New Kawasaki Ninja ZX-4RR Matters
It’s been a while since any manufacturer offered a mass-produced tiny four-cylinder sport bike. This week Kawasaki finally launched the new highly-...
03-02-2023 22:02
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8 Cool Retro Cafe Bikes That Won’t Break the Bank
CUSTOM CAFÉ BIKES get our blood pumping. But we get it: not all of us have the time and energy to devote to a full café racer build. Luckily, manufac...
02-02-2023 22:04
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What Is It: Can You Identify This Survivor"
A UNIQUE BIKE is going up for sale this week at The Grand Palais Ephemere auction in Paris. It?s a bike so unique, its builder or brand is unidentifi...
01-02-2023 22:02
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Dream Big: A BMW R18 café racer by XTR Pepo and 911 MX
Here’s a custom motorcycle matchup we never expected: the wily custom bike builder, XTR Pepo, and the monstrous BMW R18. But the results are in, an...
01-02-2023 22:02
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Request Line: A Bottpower Buell XB12 built to spec
Riding a motorcycle is about more than just getting from A to B?it’s an experience. Someone who truly understands this sentiment is David Sánchez a...
31-01-2023 22:04
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Auction Report: Missed Bargains in the Mike Wolfe Motorcycle
Mike Wolfe paired down his collection and sold several at the Mecum auction in Las Vegas. Mecum Auction
SEVERAL OF US know of Mike Wolfe from his ?Ame...
31-01-2023 22:04
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Million Dollar Harley: This Strap Tank Set a Record for Mecu
A 1908 Harley-Davidson Strap Tank, Mecum Auctions
WE LOVE CAFÉ racers, we love bobbers, and we love a killer scrambler. But we also love great classic...
31-01-2023 22:04
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Speed Read, January 29, 2023
This weekend’s edition of Speed Read starts off with four of our favorite words??Suzuki Katana? and ?AC Sanctuary.? We also profile a vintage Trium...
29-01-2023 21:59
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Foray: A Ducati-powered custom with upcycled Bimota parts
No one upcycles quite like Roland Groteclaes. Based in Belgium, he’s a multi-talented creative that splits his time between illustration, design, p...
28-01-2023 22:02
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Firecracker: Steady Garage’s custom Honda Grom 125
On paper, a 10 hp motorcycle with a seat height of 30 inches doesn’t sound particularly exciting. And yet the Honda Grom remains one of the funnest...
26-01-2023 22:03
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The K: A sharp BMW K75 café racer built for a sushi chef
BMW?s K-series is legendary, but its legend was not made on racetracks or crossing deserts. No, the large block-shaped engines, lovingly known as ‘...
24-01-2023 21:59
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Speed Read, January 22, 2023
A stunning Moto Martin restoration headlines this weekend’s round-up. It’s followed by a pair of lightly modded modern Triumph twins, a look at t...
22-01-2023 22:02
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Sportsters Forever: A custom Harley Evo Sporty from Australi
On November 18, 2022, Harley-Davidson rolled the last air-cooled Sportster ever to be built off their assembly line in York, Pennsylvania. The announ...
20-01-2023 22:03
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Mike Wolfe’s Moto Collection Isn’t for Sensible
THESE ARE NOT BIKES for sensible people. Sensible people don?t want a vintage, rusting, non-running motorcycle in their garage. Alas, we are not sensi...
20-01-2023 22:03
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Working Class Hero: A custom Honda NX650 Dominator from Buda
Many Honda Dominator customs use the same template. Swap the fuel tank for something slimmer, trim the subframe and you’re halfway there. But there...
18-01-2023 22:05
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RD Reissue: A Yamaha R3 engine powers this RD350 tribute
Any conversation about the good old days of motorcycling will eventually include the words ?they don’t build ’em like they used to.? And then som...
17-01-2023 22:06
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Speed Read, January 15, 2023
Performance and utility are the words of the week. We kick off with a 1100 cc Kawasaki endurance racer, followed by a farm-built Honda mashup, a stre...
15-01-2023 22:04
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On a roll: Two custom Ducati Monsters from deBolex’s d
It takes a healthy measure of skill and talent to successfully run a custom motorcycle workshop. But even some of the industry’s top shops frequent...
14-01-2023 22:01
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Hardly simple: The Dyna that won ‘Best Detail WorkR
What does it take to win the ‘Best Detail Work’ award at the illustrious Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show" You’ll need oodles of imagination, ingen...
12-01-2023 22:04
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Street Style: A custom BMW G310R from Buenos Aires
To describe Argentina?s capital city of Buenos Aires as busy is an understatement. The 78-square-mile city has a population of over three million peo...
10-01-2023 22:05
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Speed Read, January 8, 2023
The first Speed Read of 2023 kicks off with a handful of parallel twins. Unit Garage debuts a custom kit for Yamaha’s successful Ténéré 700 adventu...
08-01-2023 22:05
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Precious gem: A shimmering Triumph Bonneville by Tamarit
The value of a precious stone is rarely negotiable. Diamonds, rubies, and sapphires are priced based on cut, clarity, color, and carat weight. But th...
07-01-2023 22:00
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Cool as ice: A GSX-R750 Slingshot from the Netherlands
A boxed aluminum frame, round headlights, three-spoke wheels and and bold graphics; nothing epitomizes the dawn of the 90s like the 1990 Suzuki GSX-R...
04-01-2023 21:58
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Oriental Uppercut: A gnarly Honda CB1100 by Rough Crafts
Remember the Honda CB1100 TR Concept" Revealed in 2016 at EICMA, it was conceived by Honda Europe designer, Valerio Aiello, as an aggressive, flat tr...
02-01-2023 21:59
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Editor’s Choice: An alternative top 10 for 2022
You know the drill. Once we’ve processed the data and published our ranked list of the year’s best custom motorcycles, I throw it out the window ...
30-12-2022 21:59
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Meet Beijing’s young Zero Engineering motorcycle rider
Miki is 26 years old, compact in size, but rides with a confident, easy strength. Her crew blasts around Beijing on near identical Zero Engineering T...
29-12-2022 21:58
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Full out: the 2022 Chirihama Sandflats vintage beach race
Of the 800,000 miles of thoroughfare winding across the islands of Japan, there?s only one five mile stretch where you can drive a vehicle on a publi...
28-12-2022 22:01
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Chemical Reactions: Wannabe’s custom electric chopper
We tend to be afraid of what we don?t understand, shying away from things that are ‘different’ or ‘foreign.’ Even something as lovely as this...
27-12-2022 22:00
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Revealed: The top 10 custom motorcycles of 2022
The numbers have been crunched, and the results are in. And as usual, our annual roundup of the most popular custom bikes on Bike EXIF is both enligh...
24-12-2022 21:55
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SuperScram: Crooked’s Royal Enfield Scram supermoto
While many motorcycle brands are still struggling to meet manufacturing demands, Royal Enfield is flourishing. Not only have they been consistently r...
23-12-2022 22:05
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Country Cub: A DIY Honda CT125 kit from K-Speed
It’s just a couple of days to Christmas?and if you still don’t know what to get yourself, maybe a kit to transform your Honda CT125 is the answer...
22-12-2022 21:57
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Here comes trouble: A Triumph TR6 with a Matchless frame
Kids are impressionable, especially when motorcycles are involved. That magical combination of sound, smell and danger has a way of imprinting itself...
21-12-2022 21:56
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Distilled boxer: A BMW R nineT café racer by Deus
Dieter Rams said that good design ?involves as little design as possible.? Colin Chapman said ?simplify, then add lightness.? Both principles are at ...
19-12-2022 21:58
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Speed Read, December 18, 2022
A couple of fraternal Triumph twins from Istanbul kick off this week?s batch of customs, followed by an e-bike built for the vertical thrills of the ...
18-12-2022 21:59
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Go fast, look fly: Analog’s Ducati 1000 DS race bike
The online classifieds of the world are littered with basket cases that may or may not make good donors for custom motorcycle projects. But how often...
16-12-2022 22:01
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Super commuter: A custom Yamaha SR150 from Taiwan
If you live outside of Taiwan, you’re probably not familiar with the Yamaha SR150. It was exclusively made and sold locally, and eventually discont...
14-12-2022 22:01
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Dream-E: Converting a 1967 Honda CA160 to electric
What’s the hardest part of converting a classic motorcycle to electric" You might think it’s sourcing an appropriate drivetrain, or wedging it in...
13-12-2022 22:04
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Speed Read, December 11, 2022
Two thumpers lead the charge this week; a KTM 640 Duke from Spain and a Suzuki DR650 from Australia. We also take a look at the limited edition MV Ag...
11-12-2022 21:58
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Work of fiction: A custom-built TriBSA with an origin story
It?s not uncommon for a custom build to have a few stories behind it. Sometimes a donor bike has a unique history, or maybe its parts are pulled from...
09-12-2022 21:58
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Evo ain’t dead: A Harley Sportster chopper from China
It?s barely been a month since Harley-Davidson announced they were ending the Evolution-powered Sportster line, but great custom examples continue to...
08-12-2022 21:57
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El Boxeador: A cheeky BMW R18 chopper from Canada
Despite its initial lukewarm reception, the BMW R18 has become a regular fixture on the custom scene. Numerous workshops have customized the bulked-u...
07-12-2022 22:03
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Made in Taiwan: Twentytwo’s Yamaha SR150 café racer
Made in Taiwan and only sold locally, the Yamaha SR150 was a hit among commuters and delivery riders. But it was a bike bought for its affordability ...
06-12-2022 22:15
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Speed Read, December 4, 2022
It’s all about café racers this week, with a Harley Sportster from Thailand, a Triumph Thruxton from Hong Kong and a BMW boxer from the UK. Plus, a...
05-12-2022 22:00
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Functional design: Moto Borgotaro’s Ducati 900 GTS
Few shops know Italian classics quite as well as Brooklyn?s Moto Borgotaro. Owner Peter Boggia has been wrenching on Italian machinery for over two d...
03-12-2022 22:00
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Loco velo: A totally bonkers sprint motorcycle concept
What do a Kawasaki KZ250 engine, a car’s spare wheel and a bicycle seat have in common" You’ll find them all on this curious contraption from Val...
01-12-2022 22:01
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Game On: Rough Crafts builds a gaming-inspired Street Bob
The Harley-Davidson Street Bob is one of the most stripped-down big cruisers that The Motor Co. sells. With trimmed bodywork, little to no passenger ...
30-11-2022 22:05
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Speed Read, November 27, 2022
We continue in our quest to bring you the most diverse Speed Read selections we can. This week includes a Honda Monkey inspired by a train, a Suzuki ...
28-11-2022 22:01
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K is for Kit: A BMW K100 café racer from Munich’s fine
From the minute it hit the custom scene, the BMW K100 has been an underdog. With a brick-like motor, overly angled bodywork and a kinked subframe, it...
28-11-2022 22:01
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Lo-fi boxer: A carbureted BMW R18 from Kingston Custom
We live in a world where you can stream entire discographies of music straight to your phone, yet vinyl sales are booming. Technology might be advanc...
26-11-2022 21:58
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City surfer: A Honda CB250 covered in street art
The results are always special when a professional custom builder sets out to create a bike for themselves. With no client brief on the table, it’s...
25-11-2022 21:56
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Stealthy style: Vagabund’s custom KTM Freeride EX-C
Modern dirt bikes are the epitome of form following function. Narrow fuel tanks are easier to grip with your knees, flat seats enable you to shift yo...
23-11-2022 21:59
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Lean and Green: A slick Suzuki GS500 from Slovakia
Earth Motorcycles only popped up on our radar within the last two years, but the Slovakian shop has already made their presence known. With just a ha...
22-11-2022 21:57
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Speed Read, November 20, 2022
An adorable little Honda ST90 holds its ground against four liter-plus bikes this week. We’re looking at an Indian Scout Rogue from HardNine Choppe...
20-11-2022 21:57
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Hot Pursuit: A replica of the Mad Max Kawasaki KZ1000
The thought of a Mad Max-inspired motorcycle typically conjures up a very distinct image. But not every vehicle in George Miller’s dystopian film s...
19-11-2022 21:57
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Roughchild’s BMW R75/5 is a love letter to the airhead
Calling Robert Sabel a purist would be missing the point. His Los Angeles-based shop, Roughchild Motorcycles, works exclusively on BMWs, without ever...
18-11-2022 21:57
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Twinshock Twins: Two Yamaha flat trackers built to run
Alex Winkler wears many hats. By day he?s an industrial mechanic?but by night, he puts those skills to work in his home garage, restoring and rebuild...
16-11-2022 22:00
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Neon ADV: North East Custom’s Honda NX650 Dominator
If you?re looking for an adventure bike to customize, the Honda NX650 Dominator makes for a compelling argument. It will go anywhere, do anything and...
15-11-2022 21:59
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Speed Read: The biggest hits (and misses) from EICMA 2022
If you’d like a snapshot of how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the motorcycle industry, this year’s EICMA trade show is it. It’s clear that...
13-11-2022 21:59
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Enduro AF: Auto Fabrica customizes the BMW G450X
If it wasn’t for the massive logos that run the length of this creation, we wouldn’t have picked it for an Auto Fabrica build at first glance. Bu...
11-11-2022 21:59
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Modernized: OWM’s custom Harley Softail Standard
During his first decade of building custom bikes as One Way Machine, Julian von Oheimb worked exclusively on older Harley-Davidsons. Then, about a ye...
10-11-2022 21:58
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Valkyrie: A Honda CX500 café racer by NCT Motorcycles
When Honda released the CX500 in 1978, they had no idea how significant it would become in the custom world roughly four decades later. Initially rel...
09-11-2022 21:59
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Highlanders: A pair of Royal Enfield 650 scramblers
Royal Enfield is one of few OEMs with a healthy, ongoing custom motorcycle program. Sometimes they farm their projects out to the scene’s brightest...
07-11-2022 22:03
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Speed Read, November 6, 2022
We dive into this weekend’s Speed Read with a quirky Honda Super Cub from Indonesia. We also take a look at the 2023 Triumph Street Triple 765, a D...
06-11-2022 22:03
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Cold brew to go! Federal Moto?s Honda CB350 sidecar rig
We?ve all been there: you stay up drinking with your buddies into the wee hours, hatching all sorts of genius plots that never live to see the sunris...
04-11-2022 22:00
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Flying low: An electric café racer from British Columbia
In an era where everyone seems to be chasing their own tiny slice of internet fame, it’s refreshing to find someone that actively pursues anonymity...
03-11-2022 21:58
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Bobbed beyond belief: K-Speed’s Royal Enfield 650
Does the custom motorcycle workshop team at K-Speed ever sleep" Judging by the rate at which fresh and tasty customs roll off their floor, we’re gu...
01-11-2022 22:02
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Self-Made: Peter Rowland’s Honda CB450 street tracker
Most people stare at their phones when they?re bored?or turn on the TV and stare at their phones while their favorite show plays in the background. L...
31-10-2022 22:02
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Speed Read, October 30, 2022
Winston Yeh of Rough Crafts takes a quick break from building menacing Harleys to design a wild Husqvarna supermoto. We also look at KTM’s bonkers ...
30-10-2022 22:00
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Four digit score: This BMW is WalzWerk’s 1,000th custo
Turning motorcycle customization into a sustainable business is hard enough, but Marcus Walz has taken it to another level. His company, WalzWerk, ha...
28-10-2022 22:00
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Adventure Time: BAAK elevates the Triumph Scrambler 1200
Triumph makes some of the best adventure bikes out there?including one machine that, on the surface, seems like an unlikely candidate. The Triumph Sc...
27-10-2022 21:58
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Winning Recipe: A Honda CBX 1000 café racer from France
A year after he turned his custom motorcycle building hobby into a business, Dimitri at Lys Motorcycles figured it was time to level up his portfolio...
25-10-2022 22:06
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Three in one: A BMW R100R bobber with an adaptable tail
A design can be elevated by taking elements away rather than adding them. Sometimes it?s about what’s there, and sometimes it?s about what’s not....
24-10-2022 22:01
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Speed Read, October 23, 2022
From a Cyberpunk-inspired Honda scooter, to a mind boggling Yamaha R1 café racer, we’ve got a little something for everyone this week. In other new...
23-10-2022 21:58
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Perilous Endeavor: A BMW R69 with half a car engine
Old BMW airheads have always been easy targets for customization. The motors are simple and easy to work on, the bodywork is modular, and there?s a s...
21-10-2022 22:00
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Baked to perfection: A Sportster-driven Harton café racer
Building the perfect custom bike is a lot like the science of baking. You’re combining ingredients in the correct ratios to produce something speci...
20-10-2022 21:59
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This one’s a keeper: Hombrese’s Honda XL500 flat
If you fancy yourself a romantic, consider this: have you ever built a custom motorcycle for your significant other" Uwe Kostrewa has, and it’s an ...
18-10-2022 22:02
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Ice Kool: A custom 1985 BMW K75 by Motocrew
It’s no longer uncommon to see old K-series BMWs go under the knife. But that doesn’t mean that every custom K is a home run. It remains a tricky...
17-10-2022 22:02
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Speed Read, October 16, 2022
It’s a week for boutique production bikes, as Arch Motorcycle launches the 1s and the new Norton Commando breaks cover. We’ve also got an Indian ...
16-10-2022 22:01
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Evergreen: This Moto Guzzi V9 is a spin on the iconic V8
The Roman philosopher Seneca said that ?luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.? If that’s true, then the story of this fetching M...
14-10-2022 22:02
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Trellised Treat: Gas & Oil’s custom Ducati Monste
The Ducati Monster might have been a parts bin special, but it was also a sales hit?and it’s easy to see why. Riders were enticed by its stripped d...
13-10-2022 22:02
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Unfazed: A Yamaha Fazer with vintage TZ500 style
Maarten Poodt is a creature of habit. Each winter he drags another Yamaha into his workshop, rebuilds it to his taste, and sells it to fund the next ...
12-10-2022 22:03
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Black and white: Two Honda Super Cub customs by K-Speed
The fact that you can still buy a brand new Honda Super Cub today, more than six decades after it first launched, is pretty cool. But what’s even w...
10-10-2022 22:02
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Speed Read, October 9, 2022
For your eyes only: a KTM 690 with all-aluminum bodywork, a humble Daelim commuter turned beach racer, a Ducati 1098S café racer, and a special James...
09-10-2022 22:02
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Asphalt Glider: Rough Crafts’ menacing Harley Breakout
Black. Menacing. Muscular. Three words that describe the quintessential Rough Crafts custom build. This long and lean Harley-Davidson Softail Breakou...
07-10-2022 22:02
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Pre-sling Perfection: A Suzuki GSX-R with a Bandit motor
The Suzuki GSX-R has been in production for almost 40 years, but the first-generation bike is still a banger. The round headlights, slabby bodywork a...
06-10-2022 22:00
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Style for miles: A Yamaha SR400 daily runner from Wedge
Takashi Nihira has won awards and taken commissions from major OEMs. But the man behind Tokyo’s Wedge Motorcycle also knows how to tone it down, wh...
04-10-2022 22:05
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Chef’s choice: Walt Siegl Builds The Ducati Leggero Hi
Walt Siegl has built everything from 50s era Harley panheads to modern KTM enduros. But if there?s one thing his New Hampshire-based shop is known fo...
03-10-2022 22:01
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Speed Read, October 2, 2022
deBolex Engineering’s latest work sees the Royal Enfield Interceptor turned into a stylish alpine rally support vehicle. We also look at a hopped-u...
02-10-2022 21:49
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Enchantress: Tamarit’s Baroque-style Triumph Bonnevill
Even after more than 120 custom builds, Tamarit Motorcycles isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. In their continued search for motorcycling ele...
30-09-2022 21:55
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Quarterflash: Icon’s 80s-inspired Kawasaki Z125
The mad scientists at ICON Motosports spend their days concocting motorcycle gear that runs the gamut from stealthy to totally outrageous. And when t...
29-09-2022 21:52
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