The Japanese custom scene sets rather than follows trends. Japan’s top builders each have a unique and instantly recognizable style, and the machines they produce are usually hard to pigeonhole. This 1970 Harley-Davidson FLH Shovelhead from Hideya Togashi of Hide Motorcycle (that’s ‘Hee-day’) illustrates my point beautifully. Togashi-san’s client simply asked him to build a…
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A rare Harley shovelhead Liberator spotted in France, a punchy Suzuki ‘DR Big’ from Brazil, an enormous Honda CB1300 roaming Bangkok, and a very sharp Royal Enfield Continental GT650 built by the editor of a Korean motorcycle magazine.
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Like many accomplished customizers, Martin Becker has lived an eventful life. For almost twenty years he’s been building bikes in the beautiful ancient city of Heidelberg—and petrol has been coursing through his veins since he got his first moped at the age of 13. At 16, he started an apprenticeship as a motorbike mechanic, but…
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We’ve never run a feature on a bike from South Korea before. The local custom scene is tiny, and builders are heavily restricted on the modifications they can make—with a legal system similar to the German TÜV. Frame mods are totally out, and it’s not even possible to register a new bike with a carburetor.…
Read more »Japanese custom motorcycle culture can seem like a closed shop to Westerners. Granted, there’s the annual Mooneyes show, and a few builders…
Read more »Most custom motorcycle builders are pretty handy in other areas of life and work. The ability to set up a lathe or…
Read more »We have an ongoing fascination with the Japanese custom scene. But it’s not only the skills and design chops that keep us…
Read more »James Roper-Caldbeck is one of our favorite Harley builders. Mostly because his creations are a million miles away from the metalflake baggers…
Read more »It’s hard to describe the Japanese style of custom building. But it’s easy to spot: the bikes usually have a timeless and…
Read more »Harley-Davidson styling has always been deliberately behind the times. Even in the 70s, the shovelheads had more of an early 60s vibe.…
Read more »Most custom motorcycles fit within a particular genre. And that genre will have its own conventions, as well as its fans and…
Read more »Named after a South American cactus known for its hallucinogenic properties, “Achuma” is part old Harley and part motocrosser, a Shovelhead-powered streetfighter…
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