Modern inline-four muscle bikes from Japan appeal to my practical side—they’re big, comfortable, reliable and have gobs of power. My only gripe with would be that they can come across as a bit bland, visually. You can go very far, very fast, but some of them look and sound like big sewing machines. The owner…
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Some aficionados believe that the only way to design an attractive motorcycle, is to maintain a perfectly horizontal foundation line. But the German designer Hans Muth thumbed his nose at this convention, when he penned the mighty Suzuki Katana. He did believe in the importance of a good “flyline”—but on the Katana, he deliberately made…
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Growing up in the 1970s, my Fab Four were never John, Paul, George and Ringo. They were Snorky, Fleegle, Droopy and Bingo—The Banana Splits. Conceived by Hanna-Barbera, the show featured four creatures who, like prototype sports team mascots, were blokes dressed in furry outfits and firefighter helmets. They were a pop band, lived in a…
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Building a decent custom motorcycle on a slim budget is a tall order. But you know what’s even harder? Doing it with no budget at all—unless your name is Edi Buffon. Operating as Machine 1867 out of Sydney, Edi’s known for his wildly imaginative machines. This Suzuki GS650 bobber is a typical Machine 1867 build;…
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High-end custom motorcycles are often criticized for favoring form over function, but Kengo Kimura rides that line masterfully. As Heiwa Motorcycle, he’s…
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Small electric motorcycles face off against big-bore icons this week. In one corner, a custom electric commuter from Indonesia, and a golf-themed…
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If you haven’t succumbed to the charms of smaller motorcycles by now, it’s probably because you haven’t ridden one yet. That’s the…
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After the Japanese got serious about making motorcycles in the late 1960s, bikes from every country became more sophisticated, more refined, more…
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The Buenos Aires-based custom shop STG Tracker has a very specific style. The clue’s in their name—builders Marcelo Obarrio and Germán Karp…
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It’s not unusual for creative types to butt heads with their clients over design decisions. That includes custom motorcycle builders too—which is…
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Slavo Danko’s one-man custom motorcycle shop has the most appropriate name in the biz: Free Spirit Motorcycles. He marches to the beat…
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The 90s was a weird and wonderful time for graphic design. And nowhere was this more pronounced than in the motocross scene,…
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