May 2013 | Motorcycles

HONDA CB350 CUSTOM: ‘THE BRAT’

07:26 |

1972 Honda CB350

Most custom motorcycles have an interesting story behind them, but the tale behind this 1972 Honda CB350 is more interesting than most. I’m not being entirely impartial here, though—this bike was inspired by the often-heated comments on Bike EXIF. ‘The Brat’ was built by reader Rex Havoc and his friend Brad, who run a small custom workshop in Perth, Australia, called Garage Project Motorcycles. “I would send messages to Brad telling him to check out the latest bike on your site,” says Rex, “and then we would laugh at some of the comments. One day I’d had enough. So in the heat of the moment, I replied to someone and said, ‘show us your build or GTFO’. He emailed me and suggested I do the same, in equally colorful language.” So Rex bought a CB350 for $1,600 from eBay and got started.

1972 Honda CB350

Whenever he and Brad had to choose a part, a color or make a design decision, “We would ask ourselves ‘what would the commentators say on Bike EXIF?’.” Which explains the pipe wrap, the vintage-style Firestone tires, drum brakes and minimal suspension travel. Not to mention the velocity stacks, the straight-through exhaust, the flat seat with no bum stop, the asymmetrical tank paint and the “silly speedo design”.

1972 Honda CB350

On a more serious note, this CB350 suits its purpose very well. It’s designed for cruising around the roads of Perth, which are mostly flat, straight and well-surfaced. It’ll be ridden just a few times a month in good weather, and it doesn’t need a battery because it’s easy to kick start.

At the All Japanese Motorcycle Show in Perth, ‘The Brat’ picked up second place. I guess that’s proof that not everyone will hate this bike. Do you?

Images by Scott G Trenorden. Head over to our Facebook page for an image gallery with more shots.

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HONDA CL400 BY URBAN RIDER

23:07 |

Honda CL400

It’s not often we get to show a custom that has been built with practicality in mind. But this Honda CL400 has been tweaked for London streets, offering easy commuting with a strong dash of style. The man behind the project is Will Starritt of the motorcycle gear shop Urban Rider: “We wanted to create a very narrow bike ideal for filtering. Something light and maneuverable but also able to take a pillion. And with practical lights and tyres.”

The Honda CL400 is easy to come by in England, and it’s a good starting point. It’s a simple design with an air-cooled 387cc single, and cheap to maintain. The stock CL400 has a low dry weight of 140 kg (308 lbs), but Urban Rider has taken this down even further to about 122 kg (270 lbs). To put that into perspective, this road-legal CL400 is less than half the weight of a Harley Sportster 883.

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DUCATI 900SS BY WALT SIEGL

09:01 |

Ducati 900SS

Every few months I receive word of a new bike from the New Hampshire workshop ofWalt Siegl. And it’s always a treat to behold—like this custom Ducati 900SS, nicknamed the ‘Riviera Ducati’. Walt’s been working night and day on it for four months now, and it’s a beauty. Power comes from a torquey 900SS air-cooled V-twin, upgraded from 904 to 944 cc with a big bore kit (and given a further boost with a carburetor upgrade to 39 mm flat slides). Walt is an old-school craftsman of many abilities, so he also built the frame—using .065″ chromoly steel—and the carbon/kevlar fuel tank, which is influenced by early NCR Ducati bikes.

Ducati 900SS

Other unique parts include the stainless steel exhaust system and the rearsets, which are fashioned from 7075 aluminum alloy. Up front are Triumph forks, chosen for their increased offset compared to Ducati/Showa items. They’re re-valved and fitted with new springs to counteract the lighter weight of the bike. The swingarm is an aluminum Ducati item adapted to suit an Öhlins twin-shock setup, and the wheels are Brembo-made Marchesinis from a Ducati 999. (The rear hub and cush drive have been modified to align the final drive.) The instrument is a simple but classy combined speedometer and tachometer from Motogadget.

The result is compact and muscular, with a dash of retro superbike aesthetics and café racer styling. Does a Ducati 900SS get any better than this?

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DUCATI 750 SUPER SPORT

20:39 |

Ducati 750 Super Sport

There’s nothing like a barn find to get the motorcycling juices flowing, and this Ducati 750 Super Sport is one of the best. The bike was discovered in Belgium in 2009, after sitting in a shed for 15 years. It’s now been resurrected by Harné Heuvelman of the Dutch specialist Back To Classics, and it’s as close to vintage perfection as you can get.

Even better, it’s one of the first 750 Super Sports built in 1976. Production started with frame number 912, and this is 918. Fixed to the frame was a small copper plate with the emblem of Saint Christopher, the patron saint of travelers. “This suggests the bike was delivered to a southern European catholic nation,” says Heuvelman. “Maybe Italy, where it was probably blessed by the local priest.”

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1979 HONDA CB500 BY ANVIL

21:21 |

1979 Honda CB500

Anvil Motociclette is the kind of shop that is catching the attention of younger riders in mainland Europe. Their designs are raw and uncompromising, and guaranteed to stop the traffic. This 1979 Honda CB500 custom is typical: It’s low and rakish, stripped to the basics and ready for action.

Anvil is run by San Marco Filios and Alessandro Phonz Fontanesi, both in their early 30s and living in Milan. They’ve both been passionate riders since childhood, starting on motocross bikes. Today they focus on road bikes, and as you’d expect from a workshop based in Italy’s design capital, their creations have a strong dash of style.

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YAMAHA XS400 TRACKER

06:08 |

Yamaha XS400

It’s usually Yamaha’s XS650 that gets the custom treatment, so it’s nice to see a smaller capacity XS get a workover. This tracker-style machine has a Yamaha XS400 motor squeezed into an XS250 frame, and it was built over a couple of years by Drew Scialpi-Sullivan, from rainy Manchester, England. He modified the frame to fit a Harley XR750 tail section, and designed a tank that would conceal a BMW brake master cylinder—to keep the Renthal bars looking as clean as possible. The engine has been freshened up with a light porting job, and fitted with NOS carbs and a custom fabricated exhaust. The clutch window is home-made and an XJ1300 blue spot caliper and TZR 125R disc help with the braking duties. “The graphics are inspired by a pseudo 60s Japanese-stroke-Godzilla post war type thing,” says Drew. “Hence the drab green and bright orange and white.” (Which would also explain Drew’s choice of light switch, which comes from a 1941 WW2 bomber.) The bike looks sharp and unusual at the same time: “I get stopped by bikers asking what it is,” says Drew, “because any pretence towards its past has been obliterated!”

PS: Bike EXIF is now on Pinterest. We’re showcasing the best motorcycle images and links from around the net, as well as our own greatest hits. Check out our boards here.

Yamaha XS400

Yamaha XS400

Yamaha XS400

Yamaha XS400

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INTERVIEW: HUGO WILSON

19:42 |

Hugo Wilson

Hugo Wilson is the editor of Classic Bike, the world’s biggest selling classic motorcycle magazine. He lives in the north east of England, rather than London, as you might expect, and presides over a well-written and beautifully designed monthly. When not exercising his formidable editorial skills, Wilson rides a Moto Morini 3½—another clue that this is a man of excellent taste.

What was the first motorcycle you bought with your own money? A 1970 Cotton Cavalier trials bike. It cost £125 that I’d earnt working on a farm during school holidays. I was thirteen years old and it scared me witless. ‘TUP 92K’ where are you now?

What do you think is the most beautiful production motorcycle ever built? This is too hard. Just one bike? The Ducati TT2 or BSA Catalina scrambler (below). Or a Norton Commando 750 Roadster, or …

BSA Catalina

What motorcycle do you despise? It’s harsh, but let’s gratuitously ridicule the Yamaha XZ550, surely one of the ugliest bikes ever made.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
The pint that follows the finish of the Beamish (below) or the Arbuthnot trial. Or sitting in the sunshine on the bank at Barregarrow or the Gooseneck, watching racing on the Isle of Man.

Beamish trial

Electric motorcycles: Yes or No? Definitely. I’ve never ridden one, but the prospect of an engine that delivers peak torque from zero rpm is intriguing.

What is your favorite journey? North.

Which ‘everyday’ modern bikes do you think will become future classics? The equivalent of the Honda CB750 or Moto Guzzi V7 Sport, if you like? I think the Tonka styled BMW R1150GS (below) is a classic, and obviously the Ducati 916 too.

BMW R1150 GS

Who are your real-life motorcycling heroes?
Those gnarly old blokes that have been doing it all their lives, who’ve got a shed full of interesting bikes and who can use a lathe. I met a guy at the Manx GP who was 80 years old and was still bump starting a Velocette KTT (below) that he’d owned for nearly 50 years. That’s really impressive.

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BMW K100 BY ROBROCK

21:42 |

BMW K100

This raw and brutal BMW K100 was built, very aptly, by a master blacksmith and metalworker. Faced with a long German winter, Marc Robrock decided to enliven his evenings and weekends and build himself a bike. “After 25 years of riding bikes, I felt I was missing something,” he says. “And life is too short to have un-customized stuff.”

Robrock started to look for a ‘nice’ bike but soon switched direction. “Why take a nice bike and rebuild it? Why not take an ugly one? So I chose the ugliest bike I know: The BMW K100.”

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ACE 675CR STREET TRIPLE SPECIAL

08:46 |

Triumph Street Triple R

London’s Ace Cafe will forever be associated with greasy rockers, old Brit iron and the post-War “Ton-Up Boys”. But this venerable institution has now put its name to a very contemporary café racer—based on the Triumph Street Triple R. A short run of ten 675CR Street Triple Specials will be built by Jack Lilley, the long established West London Triumph dealer.

The stock Street Triple R is not short of performance, so mechanical upgrades are minimal. The 12-valve motor has been fitted with heat-wrapped down pipes, Arrow end cans, and Triumph’s own Quickshifter. The highly-regarded German Triumph specialist LSL supplies adjustable rear-sets, clip-ons, grips and levers, plus mirrors and brake reservoirs. Other LSL parts include a “tail tidy”, crash protectors for the forks, swingarm, clutch and frame, and a single powerful 7” headlight.

Triumph Street Triple R

Custom graphics and paint are applied to the seat and radiator cowls, belly pan and even the lightweight five-spoke cast 17” aluminum wheels. Tires are top-spec Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa.

Triumph Street Triple R

The cost of the Ace 675CR is £12,999 (around US$20,700). That’s around £5,000 over the factory bike. But then again, it’s not cheap to upgrade a bike as good as the stock Street Triple R—and exclusivity always has a price.

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VINTAGE STYLE: THE BLACK DOUGLAS

22:04 |

Vintage style motorcycle

Take the A51 autostrada out of Milan, and half an hour later you’ll arrive in the small town of Brugarolo. It’s home to one of Italy’s more unusual bike manufacturers, the Black Douglas Motorcycle Company.

Black Douglas makes vintage-style motorcycles with a distinctly English appearance, like the Sterling shown here. It doesn’t have electronically controlled suspension or switchable riding modes, but it’s not short of charm.

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HONDA RUCKUS CUSTOM

19:41 |

Honda Ruckus

I used to think that 1970s CBs were the most heavily customized Hondas. Until I discovered the extraordinary subculture that has grown up around the Honda Ruckus. Yes, it’s a scooter and it’s got a meager 49cc. But it’s a distinctive looking machine, with wide tires, a bare bones frame and twin headlights. In Japan—and some pockets of SoCal—it inspires fervent devotion.

Over the past five years, the USA has really caught on to the Ruckus—especially in California, New York and Florida. One of the leading lights is a company called Rucksters; based in Arcadia, CA, it supplies a dizzying array of custom parts.

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TRACKMASTER BY ATOM BOMB

07:05 |

Trackmaster motorcycle

Clay Rathburn is one of those annoying ‘renaissance’ types who seem to be good at whatever they turn their hands to. First was a string of traditional Triumph hardtails—including the irresistible Velvet Underground. Then we had the RVA Overland vintage dirt bike, and a Harley Sportster 1200 that was straight out of the 70s. So it must be time for something completely different.

The latest Atom Bomb bike is a classic Triumph Trackmaster, finished in the usual immaculate Atom Bomb style. “The client bought me a rolling Trackmaster frame with a bent up swingarm and clapped-out Betor forks,” says Rathburn. “And, as we discovered later, a hell of a motor in it

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MOTO GUZZI V65 BY EL SOLITARIO

20:13 |

Moto Guzzi V65

For a pursuit that is all about freedom and individuality, the world of custom motorcycles can be a strangely serious business. Are those tires good enough? It’s a hardtail, it can’t possibly handle. What, only 50 bhp pulling 200 kilos? Like audiophiles who’ve become so obsessed with hi-fi equipment that they cannot enjoy music any more, our world has its share of prescriptions and purists.

El Solitario is the antithesis of that mindset. The Galician workshop marches to the beat of its own drum, building and riding motorcycles for the sheer fun of it. It’s an approach that has made this collective of mechanics and artists one of the most controversial custom builders in the world. It’s also attracted attention from the big hitters in the moto media—from Cycle World in the USA to the Japanese magazine Moto-Navi.

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RITMO SERENO BMW R100RS

06:22 |

Ritmo Sereno

In the mid-70s, the BMW R100RS was the most radical motorcycle you could buy. It was BMW’s answer to the relentless threat of large-capacity Japanese motorcycles, and it came with a seven-part fairing—a new style of bodywork that reportedly reduced side wind deflection by 60% over the standard S model. But it looked a little ungainly, and sales were unspectacular. This custom, however, does justice to BMW’s original vision—some 35 years later. And not surprisingly, it’s from Ritmo Sereno, the Japanese resto-mod specialist.

Ritmo Sereno

Ritmo’s first objective with its ‘RSR‘ was to reduce the weight down to 190 kg—a substantial drop from BMW’s claimed dry weight of 242 kg. The modified frame is powder coated blue, along with the wheels, as a nod to the BMW HP2. The graphics reflect the colors of the glorious 1970s BMW 3.5CSL Group 5 racing cars. The engine has been ported and polished, and the 2-into-1 exhaust system, painstakingly welded, is in stainless steel. It’s hard to find any parts that have not been modified or lightened; custom work includes the controls, the instrument holders, a new battery box and tweaked Öhlins shocks. The standard RS fairing, which always looked a little heavy, has been modified for a sleeker appearance.

Ritmo Sereno

Ritmo Sereno has documented the build in detail: even if you don’t understand Japanese, the pictures here are worth a thousand words.

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T120 BONNEVILLE BY ANALOG

20:44 |

T120 Bonneville

It’s always interesting to see the bikes that well-known builders create for themselves. This Triumph T120 Bonneville is the personal ride of Tony Prust; it’s a more ‘traditional’ look than many Analog motorcycles, with a side order of steampunk too.

“El Matador” was a labor of love for Prust for two years. It’s an elegant bike, finished in clear-coated raw metal with brass highlights. The frame came from a 1968 Triumph, and is now fitted with a bolt-on hardtail from Dave Byrd. The 650 motor is a 1972 spec, and was rebuilt by Ed Zender of the Triumph specialists Morrie’s Place. It’s now powdercoated in wrinkle black.

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YAMAHA V-MAX HYPER MODIFIED

20:21 |

Yamaha V-Max motorcycle

Yamaha doesn’t go into detail on Lazareth’s modifications to the V-Max, other than revealing that it has been fitted with an LCD screen with a rear-view video link. There’s no supercharger this time—probably a wise move, given that the V-Max is a handful as it is. Changes include new air intakes and headlight, a new radiator and chin scoop and tail section, and new exhaust cans. Meanwhile, you can see Walz’ version here, and Roland Sands’ take here.

Top marks to Yamaha for showing the way, and hopefully the other Japanese makers will follow suit. It’d be wonderful to see them acknowledge the skills that custom builders have applied to their stock offerings. But I’m not holding my breath.

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CLASSIFIED HONDA

20:43 |

Some custom bike builds are completed in days. Others take weeks or months. But this new build from Classified Moto, a postmodern take on the classic Honda CB cafe racer, took well over two years. You might have seen sneak previews on the Classified Moto Facebook page, but this is an exclusive look at the studio images. They’ve been worth the wait.

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BMW R90/6 BY UNTITLED

23:17 |

BMW R90/6

You know you’re doing something right when you’re based in London and get a commission from a German enthusiast to build a BMW. The compliment was paid toUntitled Motorcycles and this is the result: a very classy 1975 BMW R90/6 custom.

Untitled built the machine for Antonius from Essen. And it was no easy task: the R90 would have to pass the strict German TÜV test to make it road-legal.

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BMW R90/6 BY UNTITLED MOTORCYCLES

20:04 |

BMW R90/6

You know you’re doing something right when you’re based in London and get a commission from a German enthusiast to build a BMW. The compliment was paid toUntitled Motorcycles and this is the result: a very classy 1975 BMW R90/6 custom.

Untitled built the machine for Antonius from Essen. And it was no easy task: the R90 would have to pass the strict German TÜV test to make it road-legal.

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SPEED TRIPLE 1050 DRIFT BIKE

06:41 |

Speed Triple 1050

One of the most eye-catching motorcycle videos of 2011 was a very unusual one: High Plains Drifters, a high-voltage clip that pitted a Kawasaki ZX-10R against a hot-rodded Mazda RX-7 drift car. It was the work of apparel brand Icon; the machine we have here is one of two bikes that Icon has commissioned for the sequel. It’s a 2012-model Speed Triple 1050 with a rather noticeable modification—a Roaring Toyz extended swingarm kit. (“No welds, silky smooth,” reports Icon’s freestyle rider Ernie Vigil.) The motor has been tuned by PJ’s Triumph of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and fitted with a Leo Vince GP-style carbon exhaust. Icon’s Justin Knauer has just taken the Speed Triple for a shakedown blast around the track: “I’m amazed that the extended swing arm really didn’t effect the handling in a negative way at all. It did make drifting a lot easier though.” Check out the original High Plains Drifters movie here, and keep an eye out for this machine—no doubt wreathed in smoke and laying copious amounts of rubber—in the upcoming Part 2.

Photo Credit: Eric Hamiester Photography.

Speed Triple 1050

Speed Triple 1050

Speed Triple 1050

Speed Triple 1050

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KAWASAKI KZ750 BY VALTORON

20:23 |

Kawasaki KZ750

Valdetorres del Jarama is a small village in Spain, half an hour from the center of Madrid. It’s also home to a sculptor’s foundry called Valtoron, named after the local river.

The foundry is run by two brothers with a passion for traditional metalwork. In their free time Carlos and Pablo live and breathe motorcycles, and occasionally, their two worlds collide. Over the years they’ve been quietly using their skills to create some remarkably original motorcycles, which were revealed in public for the first time at the 2012 Mulafest show in Madrid

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DUCATI SPORT1000S CUSTOM

20:23 |

Ducati Sport1000s

The Ducati SportClassic was a bike ahead of its time. Three years ago, poor sales triggered the end of a short five-year production run. But today, it’s one of the most sought-after machines for retro bike fans, and a popular platform for customization. Ergonomics be damned: the SportClassic looks good and goes fast.

This 2009 Sport1000s is owned by Lucas Worthing, and despite its stunning aesthetics, it’s no trailer queen: Worthing uses it to the max at his local track, the Buttonwillow Raceway in California.

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RADICAL DUCATI 48 SPORT

08:27 |

Ducati 48 Sport

Radical Ducati is best known for its ultra-desirable transformations of contemporary superbikes. But the Spanish company occasionally turns its hand to vintage machinery, like this beautiful little ‘Sportiva’. It’s a 1962 Ducati 48 Sport—which was known as the Falcon in the US. And despite its diminutive capacity, this two-stroke was capable of a healthy 50 mph. Radical Ducati has listed the Sportiva as a ‘show bike’, so it’s not suitable for road or track, but it’s eye candy of the highest grade. The engine is stock, sitting in a modified frame. Other upgrades are quality items: 17” aluminum Akront-Morad rims (shod with Dunlop race tires), a magnesium GP-style front brake, Betor shocks and a race solo seat. Interested? It can be in your living room or garage for just $4,000.

Ducati 48 Sport

Ducati 48 Sport

Ducati 48 Sport

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