Classic motorcycles, everyone I know likes them, and wants one. If you read blogs like Pipeburn and Bike Exif, it’s hard not to get caught up in the romance of cafe racers, bobbers, board trackers, flat trackers, and all the other sub-categories that I don’t have enough time to Google. With second-hand retro Japanese bikes available for more than affordable prices, and many online outlets selling the must-have accessories, it seems the perfect time for outsiders to step into this world. But what if your knowledge of bikes isn’t terribly strong? Could you give it a shot anyway? Well, Rick did, and the result certainly has me inspired…
Tag: motorcycle
Custom CNC-built bike
So, I heard you like CNC machined parts? Check out the astonishing amount of work being poured into this 1-off bike by Shaun Wainford, the man behind SW Engineering. Having a CAD/CNC setup in your home would deinitely come in handy for hobbies like ours, and Shaun definitely makes full use of the tools on offer.
Thanks to Matt for submitting.
Turbo KTM 950 Supermoto
For most people, a 950cc motorbike would be more than adequate in the power stakes, but ‘adequate’ isn’t a term commonly used in the vocabulary of a modifier, is it? Why settle for adequate when you have the means to slap a turbo on the side of your KTM and produce a one-off boost-fed supermotard? Come and see how a former race mechanic works his magic on his own personal machine with some very neat and OEM looking fabrication. Thanks to Jake for submitting.
Did you know this is the 10th bike build featured on Build-Threads.com? Click here to see the others.
Honda CB350 “The Brat”
Not only does Rex Havoc have an insanely cool name, he also makes up one half of the bike building duo Garage Project Motorcycles. Just yesterday he sent me a link to a bike they call “The Brat”, which was completed a in a few short months at the beginning of the year. An accidental eBay bid saw a standard CB350 fall into their possession, so the only ethical thing to do is strip it down and build it back up to be 1000% cooler than it ever could have dreamed, right? Every time I see a stunning classic-styled bike like this, it fuels the fire inside me that burns for one of these two-wheeled pieces of art. One day…
Click here for more bike builds.
’65 Harley Ironhead Cafe masterpiece
I can’t beleive it’s been almost 4 months since the last bike build. Well let’s get back on two wheels again, shall we, and take a look at an incredibly detailed cafe racer build based on a 1965 Harley Ironhead. Yep, you heard right, a Harley Davidson built in cafe racer styling, affectionately titled “War Crimes”. Just take one look at those bespoke fabricated motor mounts in the first image below – which took over 40 hrs of work alone to create – and you’ll get a feel for how this build takes shape. Read on…
VTR1000 Streetfighter
It’s been a couple of months since the last bike build, so I’ve dug this Honda VTR1000 out of the submissions list. While streetfighter bikes aren’t really my 2-wheeled style of choice, (I’m more of a cafe racer or bobber man myself, which doesn’t really count for much since I don’t even ride) there’s no denying the amount of work invested into this build, nor the impact of the finished product. The completed bike was also very popular amongst it’s peers, winning the 2009 Streetfighter Buildoff hosted by CustomFighters.com.
Thanks to Mike for submitting via email.
1969 Triumph 650 Black Adder
Dan from Angry Monkey Motorcycles is back with another Triumph build after completing the gorgeous Low Tide Larry bike that I featured previously. I haven’t put many motorcycles up on the site, but I’m always on the look out for good candidates.
This new bike is named Black Adder, and isn’t far off completion, so hit the build thread after the jump to see how the project evolves.
Street Ray Rotary Trike
Here’s a vehicle type I’ve never featured before, a trike! Greg & Jeff from RX8club.com emailed me this crazy creation a while ago, definitely something worth checking out especially when you consider it’s going to be rotary powered and supercharged. Greg is actually involved in the build and is responsible for the slick prototype drawings. A scratch-built creation, thinking completely out of the square, this isn’t something you’ll come across every day.
Leroy Thompson Salt Flat Racer
Thanks to Oli from Supermade (one of the OG buddies of Build Threads) for posting up this sweet bike on his blog the other day. Once I saw it, I jumped straight on my email to ask him if he had any more info about it. This would have to be one of the best bikes I’ve ever seen, according to my own personal taste of course. I’m not a fan of glitzy choppers with stretched out frames that make you look like you need to lie flat on your face to ride them.
Built by Leroy Thompson Choppers for the 2009 AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building, I was disappointed to hear that it only achieved 24th place. Never mind though, it doesn’t dampen the fact that it’s a revelation to me in regards to style and appearance. It makes me want to build a car using a similar approach. So many ideas, not enough time or money. You can read more about it on the AMD blog by clicking here.
This bike is pure quality, it’s modern yet oldschool at the same time, and I love all of the details, like the tall Halibrand style wheels, the lack of a steamroller rear tyre, how the bright red frame contrasts against the neutral colours of the rest of the bike, the yellow spark leads, the stickers on the stubby rear fender, and the overall stance of the bike…did I mention I like this bike? I have to thank Oli again, not only for posting the pic in the first place, but for going out of his way to find more information on the bike when I asked him about it. Make sure you check out his blog, it’s full of no-nonsense automotive goodness, especially if you’re a VW fan, do it!
Click here for more pics of this beast (no build pics unfortunately).
Blade Rod – CBR900 RR
The other day, on my daily blog/forum browsing, I was reading NoriYaro when I noticed Alexi mentioned a bike project that I had read about years ago. That bike was the Blade Rod, a custom 1998 Honda CBR900RR built by Mark Boxer, one of the people behind the new drift & stunt DVD Phat Sliggity.