HONDA CL750 SCRAMBLER

Honda’s most important motorcycles? Tough question but the Super Hawk 305 and Scrambler 305 have to be in the conversation. These were the two that put Honda on the big-bike map in the mid-1960s, each more than a match for British 500s of the day. And now the aftermarket firm Cobra USA has just paid homage to the CL77 Scrambler, with a new showbike that started life as a 2010-model Shadow RS750. Cobra’s Denny Berg is the man responsible for building the bike, which amazingly isn’t all that changed from stock. The mid-level twice-pipes are an obvious addition, as is the bench seat, but the rest is an exercise in paint and some nice detail touches

1950 HARLEY PANHEAD

KAWASAKI KZ400 CUSTOM

Alex Patrocinio edits the Barcelona-based custom culture magazine El Diablo, and this is his bike. It was a 35-year-old UJM with a seized engine when Alex found it, but his friends at the custom shop Mad Crow Garage have turned it into a very smart street tracker. A select few mods have transformed the stance of the bike, particularly a cut rear frame with repositioned shock mounts. The engine was rebuilt, and a new battery box and wiring system were installed. That tight-fitting rear fender is a 5” Triumph unit, but the tank and bars are refurbished stock items. A rich, vintage-themed paint job is the icing on the cake, courtesy of Welok Studio and the Rocket 88 Hot Rod Speed Shop. Muy bonita.

DP CUSTOMS GULF BOBBER

A couple of months ago, DP Customs’ 1979 Harley café racer was a king hit with Bike EXIF readers. So here’s the latest machine from the Arizona outfit: it’s also a ’79 ironhead, but with a totally different vibe. According to DP’s Justin Del Prado, “We started with the idea of building a low slung, stripped down bobber and wanted to incorporate some ideas from the classic Steve McQueen movie Le Mans. We really love that race era, and try to let it show through some of our bikes.” DP tore the stock ’79 apart, chopped the frame and hard-tailed the rear. (“This keeps the factory numbers vs. going with an off-the-shelf aftermarket frame.”) The bike sits 4″ lower and longer than stock. DP laced the wheels (21″ and 16″), built the exhaust, and created the paint and graphics with simplicity in mind. “We’re not into cluttered bikes with too much going on.”

KAWASAKI Z1 BY AC SANCTUARY

Japan probably has the most diverse custom motorcycle culture in the world. They like monkey bikes and mopeds and 110-cubic-inch Harleys and everything in between. And nothing is immune from the touch of the angle grinder, or the hiss of the metalflake spray gun. But there are a few companies that eschew this excess, and AC Sanctuary is one of them. Headquartered in Tokyo, it’s a chain of workshops that specializes in the retro superbikes of the 1970s