What sort of custom bike can you get for $10,000 to $15,000? I get a lot of emails asking that question. They’re usually from people who want the reliability of a low-mileage bike, but with a different look. This new build from Shaw Speed & Custom in the UK is one answer: the total cost of this Sportster was just £8,500. (That’s just under US$13,500 at today’s exchange rate.) Read More
Sunday 26th February, 2012
Shaw Speed & Custom XL1200R
Friday 24th February, 2012
Wrenchmonkees BMW R100RT
Most custom motorcycles live relatively sedate lives, secured in warm garages and released at weekends. But not this one: it’s been built by the Wrenchmonkees to handle the rough roads of the Maghreb. “It started with a request from a Frenchman living in Mauritania,” says Wrenchmonkee Andreas. “Thierry wanted a simple, reliable, easy-to-maintain bike … there are very few
motorcycle workshops in West Africa.”
The solution was an old two-valve BMW: they’re robust and reliable, and you can fix most problems yourself if you have simple mechanical skills. Read More
Wednesday 22nd February, 2012
Triumph TR6 custom
I love it when a killer bike comes through from a builder I’ve never heard of. This stunning 1969 Triumph TR6 custom is the work of Raccia Motorcycles, a low-key outfit based in a century-old bottling factory just north of Los Angeles. The lines and stance are simply perfect, and if you’ve ever tried to build a custom bike, you’ll know how difficult that can be. The builder of this machine is Mike LaFountain, and his philosophy is simple: “I’m always trying to change proportions and form new lines to create a unique look, which stems from my love of vintage GP race bikes.” Read More
Tuesday 21st February, 2012
Honda Gold Wing custom
If you’ve been following us for a while, you’ll know we have a thing for “naked Gold Wings”. It’s the ultimate transformation, turning heavyweight cruisers into stripped-down, eye-catching customs. Texan Ric Becker is a master at this, and we featured his award-winning GL1000 a year ago. This is Becker’s latest bike, “Ol’ Sparky”, based on a 1983 Interstate. Read More
Monday 20th February, 2012
Montesa Cota 200
The Spanish marque Montesa is legendary in the annals of trials history, so it’s always good to see a classic Cota restored to original condition. This one is a 1982 model owned by Oliver Cooper of Sheffield, in the north of England. He bought it for a song from an auto jumble last summer; it was a non-runner, and Cooper decided it would make a fun winter project. But at first, it looked like Cooper had bitten off more than he could chew. “The colors were wrong, it didn’t run and it was very worn out,” he recalls. “But it was a complete bike.” Read More
Saturday 18th February, 2012
Motorcycle wallpaper #7
Hermann Köpf is a German photographer with a particular penchant for classic motorcycles—and an uncanny ability to capture the magic of vintage machinery. He’s just released a photobook centred around an annual motorcycle hillclimb race in Alsace, and that’s the subject of our latest wallpaper set. Here’s a selection of shots that Köpf has picked out for Bike EXIF readers—download them here in sizes up to 2560 x 1600.
PS: If the name sounds familiar to you, that’s probably because you’ve got the 2012 Bike EXIF motorcycle calendar. Köpf’s lovely Ducati is one of the bikes featured. The calendar runs right up to January 2013, but because we’re in February now, we’ve dropped the price to just $10 + shipping. Get your copy direct from the publisher here.
Thursday 16th February, 2012
Mule “Stealth” Street-Tracker
By David Edwards—Here’s the latest street-tracker from Richard Pollock at Mule Motorcycles, a 1200 Harley nicknamed “Stealth” due to its black and dark-gray color scheme. Bound for the concrete canyons of New York City, its new owner is Brooklyn avant-garde sculptor Matthew Day Jackson.
While Jackson supplied the base bike, a 2000 big-bore Sportster Sport, about the only items that remain untouched are the main frame loop and the center engine cases. Everything else has been “Mule-ized.” Wanting to mimic the aggressive look of old XLCHs, Pollock moved the shock mounts forward about six inches on the swingarm, which required that the rear subframe be totally reworked to match. Front suspension duties are handled by a jumbo Italian-made Paioli inverted fork (56mm tubes at the top clamp, 58mm at the lower). These were sold by Custom Chrome as part of a sporty H-D Big Twin “bike-in-a-box” kit that failed to find an audience. When the unsold surplus inventory was auctioned off, Pollock ended up with several sets of forks and triple-clamps. Read More
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