Even though the Ducati 900 SS is some three decades old, we still see a lot of customs based around the 90° V-twin Desmo engine. A little online digging reveals the reason: over 25,000 examples of this model rolled out of the factory in Borgo Panigale. That’s an impressive number, and around half of Ducati’s…
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It’s not unusual for car guys to transition to motorcycle customization: after all, the skills required are similar. Johnny Nguyen proves that theory—he’s worked on cars most of his life, but lately he’s been building some pretty slick bikes. Johnny operates Upcycle Motor Garage as a one-man-band out of his workshop in Anaheim, California. This…
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We don’t see many Yamaha XS1100s around these days, which is a shame—it was an absolute beast of a machine. It was often called the ‘XS 11,’ because it could run the quarter-mile in under 12 seconds, but its extended wheelbase made it more of a tourer than a sportbike. The unusually long air-cooled engine…
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If you want to earn a living in the custom business, scale is everything. Reinventing the wheel with every build will be expensive, unless you have a rock solid client base or a wealthy collector on speed dial. Most savvy builders replicate the parts they use for one-off customs, but Johnny Nguyen of Upcycle Motor…
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