Tag: motorcycle

Despite its initial lukewarm reception, the BMW R18 has become a regular fixture on the custom scene. Numerous workshops have customized the bulked-up Bavarian boxer in myriad ways—but there’s one style we haven’t seen yet. Until now, no one’s tried to turn it into a chopper.

Enter Nick Acosta and his Toronto, Canada-based shop, Augment Motorworks. When tasked with customizing a BMW R18 by BMW Motorrad Canada, Nick drew inspiration from the classic choppers of the 60s and 70s. BMW do call the R18 a ‘cruiser,’ after all.

Augment started by stripping the R18 down to the bare essentials, so that they could figure out what to keep and what to bin. In the end, the OEM fuel tank was the only piece of the bodywork left intact.

A quick visual hit came in the form of a pair of polished alloy wheels from BMW’s own aftermarket catalog. Measuring 21”

It’s all about café racers this week, with a Harley Sportster from Thailand, a Triumph Thruxton from Hong Kong and a BMW boxer from the UK. Plus, a stock standard Ducati MH900E with one mile on the clock is up for sale.

Harley-Davidson Sportster Forty-Eight by FatBoy Design and Slayer House Last week, we reported that The Motor Co. had built their last Evo Sporty. This week, two Thai design studios are reminding us that it’ll remain popular for years to come, with one of the most radical custom Sportsters we’ve seen.

The project was conceived by Chakkaphan ‘Mark’ Rungsukcharoen at FatBoy Design, who wanted a bike to display at the 2022 Bangkok Hot Rod Custom Show. Taking heavy inspiration from the Lamborghini Murcielago SV owned by his father, Mark wanted to partner with a workshop that specialized in carbon fiber. So he roped in Nattapat Janyapanich at Slayer House.

Few shops know Italian classics quite as well as Brooklyn’s Moto Borgotaro. Owner Peter Boggia has been wrenching on Italian machinery for over two decades, having cut his teeth at the Moto Guzzi Chuck House in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Peter’s custom Guzzis have graced our pages before, but Moto Borgotaro builds much more than just traverse-twin beauties. The 1979 Ducati 900 GTS café racer you see here is a prime example. It perfectly showcases Peter’s love for all things design—and his exceptionally good taste.

Two iconic designers in particular inspired Peter’s approach to this build. The first was industrial designer Dieter Rams, the godfather of the ‘good design’ principles that went on to inspire everything from the iPod to Ikea furniture. The second was American artist Donald Judd, one of the most influential minimalists to ever live.

“I decided to go with a minimalist approach,” he explains. “Thinking less about

What do a Kawasaki KZ250 engine, a car’s spare wheel and a bicycle seat have in common? You’ll find them all on this curious contraption from Valen Zhou, along with a smorgasbord of other odd bits and pieces.

Straight out the gate, Valen admits that this build isn’t particularly practical—in fact, it’s downright sketchy. But he didn’t originally intend it to be this way. The Chinese-born, Milan-based photographer and director had a very specific mash-up of styles in mind, but once he got stuck in, things didn’t quite pan out.

“The idea started many years ago, when I saw board track racing from the 1910s and 1920s,” Valen tells us. “Because I’ve always loved vintage bikes and motorcycle history, I was fascinated. But then I discovered drag racing, which made me feel the powerful charm.”

“I thought that if I could make a board tracker crossed with a drag bike,

The Harley-Davidson Street Bob is one of the most stripped-down big cruisers that The Motor Co. sells. With trimmed bodywork, little to no passenger accommodations and the tiniest speedo we’ve ever seen on a factory bike, there’s very little to remove if you’re customizing one. Which is exactly why Winston Yeh of Rough Crafts in Taiwan loves working with it.

For his latest project, Winston took a stock 2020-model Street Bob, and turned it into a sci-fi-infused custom that looks like it rolled straight out of a video game. This bold aesthetic has a lot to do with his client; the bike was built for Cooler Master, a major manufacturer of computer cases and peripherals.

They’ve been in business for 30 years, and are huge in the gaming community. Wanting a rolling showpiece to commemorate this milestone, they turned to Rough Crafts.

“For their 30th anniversary, Cooler Master asked me

We continue in our quest to bring you the most diverse Speed Read selections we can. This week includes a Honda Monkey inspired by a train, a Suzuki Freewind scrambler and a rocket-powered Harley. Staying with the Motor Co., we finish things off with sad news about the Evo Sportster.

Honda Monkey 125 by MonQey King We love seeing how creative custom builders can get with the Honda Monkey. The modern-day version of the diminutive city bike is based on the Honda Grom, and is cheap, good looking and approachable. It’s no wonder it’s so popular.

Asia is a big market for the Honda Monkey, and the workshops over there do a cracking job at customizing them. This Monkey was built by Chayakrit Kaewwongwan, A.K.A. Winny Boy, from Thailand. He runs Advance Automotive Accessories, MonQey King and a few other aftermarket motorcycle parts stores.

He’s also a big fan of

We live in a world where you can stream entire discographies of music straight to your phone, yet vinyl sales are booming. Technology might be advancing at a relentless pace, but we’re still drawn to analog things—either for their charm, or for the sake of our own nostalgia.

In this context, neo-retro motorcycles are something of an anomaly. They look vintage, but they’re loaded with features that weren’t around back then—like catalytic convertors and electronic rider aids. This BMW R18 from Kingston Custom shatters that mold.

On the surface, it looks like a gentle, albeit tasteful, visual reworking of BMW’s monster cruiser. But the real genius here, is what you can’t see—or, more accurately, what isn’t there. This R18 runs without fuel injection, traction control, electronic rider modes or ABS.

Removing all of that from a modern motorcycle is arguably far harder than changing its looks. So why did the

The results are always special when a professional custom builder sets out to create a bike for themselves. With no client brief on the table, it’s all about their own personality and proclivities. But it’s hard to pin Christian Reier’s tastes down—his latest build is a huge departure from his last, despite the fact that they were both personal projects.

Nicknamed the ‘City Surfer,’ this particular project started out as a 1969 Honda CB250K. Working from the Reier Motors workshop in the picturesque outskirts of Lamprechtshausen, Austria, Christian transformed the humble twin into a daily runner that’s part baby bagger, and part rolling art canvas.

Christian started by fine-tuning the CB250K’s stance, by way of lowering the suspension at both ends. There are still a few inches of travel, but not much more, which speaks volumes about Austria’s road maintenance regime.

Next, the subframe was cut down to make it

Modern dirt bikes are the epitome of form following function. Narrow fuel tanks are easier to grip with your knees, flat seats enable you to shift your weight around, and plastic bodywork can be replaced after a crash. It’s why they’re so formulaic in their design.

Vagabund Moto are here to inject some style into the genre. Founded by Paul Brauchart and Philipp Rabl, the Austrian outfit is part of a growing breed of custom shops that blur the lines between motorcycles, design and fashion. Their builds are modern and edgy, and are built using the latest manufacturing techniques.

If this svelte KTM leaves you with a sense of déjà vu, it’s because it closely resembles another KTM that Vagabund built earlier this year. But there’s one major difference—this one’s based on the electric-powered KTM Freeride E-XC.

“We started this project with the general idea of creating a super agile