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

MOTOMORPHIC JAFM

Next Generation Concept

YAMAHA SR400 BY LUXE MOTORCYCLE

YAMAHA SR400 BY LUXE MOTORCYCLE

Luxe is one of the smaller Japanese custom builders. They’re based in a little white-painted wooden workshop at the foot of Mount Akagi, and like most of their ilk, stick to the four staple ingredients of the Eastern scene: the Yamaha SR400, SR500 and XS650, and the Kawasaki W650. But they’re not afraid to try something different once they get their hands on those bikes.

This Yamaha SR400 is owned by a Mr Su-Tarou, and it bucks the trend for dark, monochromatic styling. The paintwork has a sunkissed, retro feel—Orangina colors balanced with flashes of red on the rear brake drum, flashers, grips and … that extraordinary muffler. Mechanical mods include a tuned SR500 engine, uprated Kehin caburetion, an underseat oil tank and upgraded front brakes. Just the thing for a leisurely blast along a coast road on a warm summer’s evening.

DERBI MULHACÉN HOT BOB

DERBI MULHACÉN HOT BOB

The great Spanish names of Ossa, Bultaco, and Montesa have gone, but Derbi remains—albeit as a subsidiary of Italian giant Piaggio. Most Derbi motorcycles are sub-125 cc city bikes, but the Mulhacén 659 is an interesting crack at the burgeoning scrambler market. It’s powered by a Yamaha-designed big single, reportedly the largest engine ever fitted to a Spanish motorcycle. At the 2006 EICMA show, Derbi revealed this ‘Hot Bob’ concept: unsurprisingly, nothing came of it, but the Mulhacén is gradually making a name for itself as a respectable scrambler with a strong dash of style. The latest variant from Derbi is the “Mulhacén Café 659 Angel Nieto Limited Edition”, a tribute to a 1970s Spanish roadracing hero. It has a slightly better paintjob than Hot Bob.

YAMAHA XS650 TRACKER

YAMAHA XS650 TRACKER

The king of street tracker style in the US is Mule Motorcycles‘ Richard Pollock. Right now he’s working on a Yamaha for a customer in Vancouver, Canada—and here’s a sneak preview. The project began as a request for a frame, but soon turned into an complete bike build. According to Richard, “It has all my normal frame mods, a Shell 750 kit and cam, valve springs and 34mm Mikuni carbys. The front hub is stock XS650 Yamaha, rear is a special 36-hole Barnes. We used GSX-R forks with stock lower clamp and calipers, then made a special top clamp to accept AFAM DT bars”. The detailing is exquisite and even at this stage, the bike looks beautifully balanced. We can’t wait to see the finished product.

2009 BARBER VINTAGE FESTIVAL AUCTION

2009 BARBER VINTAGE FESTIVAL AUCTION

he annual classic motorcycle auction in Birmingham, Alabama, often throws up something interesting. In 2006, it was a 1913 Flying Merkel that sold for a staggering $130,000. This year, one of the stars is likely to be the famed 1951 Vincent Black Shadow Chopper (above) from Redneck Engineering. There’s some tempting machinery amongst the 90 lots registered so far, including a 1938 BMW R51, and three crackers from 1949: a Douglas trials bike, a Vincent HRD Rapide (Series B) and a Harley-Davidson WL Class C privateer racer. The auction is scheduled for Saturday 10 October, and if you can’t make it there in person, you can bid online. With many motorcycles being offered without a reserve, it’s a real chance to pick up a bargain. Just watch that 13% internet buyer’s premium.

TRIUMPH MECATWIN ROCKETEER

TRIUMPH MECATWIN ROCKETEER

One of our all-time favourite cafe racers is Mecatwin’s stunning Triumph 800 Racer. The French workshop specializes in Triumph and Harley customs, and has recently released the Rocketeer, a custom version of the Rocket III. The Rocket is already somewhat extreme, having a 2.3-liter inline triple, so Mecatwin has wisely left the 140 bhp engine alone. Instead, it’s cleaned up and blacked-out the visual elements, and upgraded ancillary components such as the exhaust system. It’s enough to transform the bloated cruiser into a more hardcore machine with a tiny hint of the rat bike aesthetic—less Electra Glide and more V-Rod, if you like. We’d never ride one of these in a million years, but it’s still an interesting machine to contemplate.

MOTO GUZZI AMBASSADOR RACER

MOTO GUZZI AMBASSADOR RACER

If you’re a fan of the Euro custom scene in Japan, you might guess that this molto bella750cc V-twin is the work of Ritmo Sereno. It has that signature Ritmo ‘look’: shiny, factory-fresh authenticity mixed with clever custom detailing. But this vintage Guzzi is no trailer queen. It’s actually a fully-functioning racer, and Ritmo has been running it at Fuji Speedway in the ‘Legend of Classic’ historic racing series. (After taking off the cute little tool roll, presumably). There are more images of the Ambassador in recent posts on theblog of Ritmo’s CEO, Siroh Nakajima. And if you’re heading over that way, also check out the shots of the rare and beautiful Magni currently being prepared in Ritmo’s Tokyo workshop. That one’s going to be a beauty too.

ATOM BOMB DOCTOR WHO

ATOM BOMB DOCTOR WHO

The latest build to come out of Clay Rathburn’s workshop in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia is this lovely 1962 Triumph 6T Thunderbird. The original plan was to produce a running mockup for a customer in Connecticut, who would then tear down the bike and paint and reassemble. As the build progressed, the customer wisely decided to let Clay finish the job: “Maybe you should go ahead and paint the tins and make it an Atom Bombbike.” The dark, understated paintwork sets off the polished motor beautifully, and a casual observer would probably wonder if this is a vintage original or a tastefully recreated custom. Neat touches abound, from the perfect curve of the bars to the short fork gaiters and the deep, glossy finish on the tank. Yes, ‘Doctor Who‘ is another classy, sure-fire winner from Atom Bomb, and we can’t wait to see what Clay comes up with next

PEACE FROG INDIAN ARROW

PEACE FROG INDIAN ARROW

If you’re wondering what the famed Indian badge is doing on such a delicate, lightweight motorcycle, read on. After the Second World War, Indian changed ownership and stopped producing its traditional big motorcycles. In the US, new owners released small and somewhat under-engineered models: the Arrow, Super Scout and Warrior. In England, a company called Brockhouse rebadged Royal Enfields, and sold those as Indians. And that’s what this bike seems to be. It’s a very unusual custom from a small (they don’t yet have a website) but rather interesting shop called Peace Frog, based in Kumamoto in southern Japan. Perhaps it’s based on the Royal Enfield Crusader, which had a 248cc pushrod OHV. Peace Frog exhibited at the recent New Order show in Kobe, Japan’s premier custom event. Hopefully they can hold it together and become a fixture on the Japanese scene. Indian proved less adept at the business side of things—in 1953, the company stopped manufacturing its own motorcycles and sold repainted, badge-engineered Royal Enfields imported from Britain.

RON WOOD BMW F 800

RON WOOD BMW F 800

A couple of years ago, BMW USA took the Rotax engine from an F 800 and gave it to legendary flat track builder Ron Wood. Wood obliged by building this exquisite machine, and on its very first competitive outing, it finished in sixth place. The F 800 was the loudest bike on the track: the AMA race announcer reported that the BMW “sounded like a bear coming out of his den for the first time”. But aside from the exhaust system, the motor in this bike is mostly stock, and it even retains the electric start. Wouldn’t it be great if BMW made a road-legal version of this?

VICENTE DESIGN

VICENTE DESIGN

You may know Jean-François Vicente. He used to run a French retro custom outfit, VD Classic, that we’ve featured before. J-F has a new company now, called Vicente Design—and he’s pursuing a more eclectic style of bike building. “One day I woke up thinking twenty years of SRs and XT500s was enough,” he says. “I didn’t want to spend my life designing only ‘neo retro’ bikes.” So J-F bought this Yamaha through a classified ad in the US. It had a Kenny Roberts frame and was intended for dirt track use, but was in bad shape. So J-F rebuilt it as a 70s Yamaha TZ-style production racer, spending a lot of time on the dented and cracked frame. The tank, seat housing and front fender are made from carbon fiber. The engine was blueprinted and rebuilt to race spec, and mated to a racing gearbox located in Japan. The bike now weighs less than 115 kg—and not surprisingly, “handling is perfect”.

CUSTOM TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE

CUSTOM TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE

This 2005 Triumph Bonneville has been subtly modified with matte black paint, lowered bars, a Thruxton seat, no front fender and a complete custom fabrication for the rear fender and lighting. The Canadian owner, adman Bruce Sinclair, has also designed custom pipes that change the performance and sound of the Bonneville quite dramatically: “The problem with the new stock Bonneville is that it doesn’t sound like it used to,” says Bruce. “The new bikes seem to have a lot more table manners than the old—which is ok for some, but not for me.” Bruce calls his pipes ‘Blunts’ because they’re recycled from the original Triumph stock mufflers. “I took the straight sections from both sides of each pipe and welded them together to create a 6” mini baffle on the end of the open headers. These Blunts give the perfect tone to a Bonneville and shave 14lbs of metal off the weight.” 

HARLEY V-ROD RACING SIDECAR

HARLEY V-ROD RACING SIDECAR

I  didn’t realise this machine was a Harley when I first spotted it. It’s the extraordinary creation of Hog Wild Racing, regular winners at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. The custom chassis was originally built to fit a Suzuki TL1000R, but upgraded to accommodate a V-Rod engine in 2003. The stock belt has been converted to chain drive, and the motor pumps out 110bhp. The electronics and fuel injection systems are stock, but have been remapped. Wheels are custom-built 15” Keizers, with a 13” on the sidecar. The top speed is a whisker over 100mph and the bike, unbelievably, is road legal even in California. In 2006, Hog Wild entered their sidecar racer in the world’s toughest rally—the Dakar—and were leading their class when a sprocket broke, took too long to repair, and triggered disqualification.

BMW ISDT ENDURO RACER

BMW ISDT ENDURO RACER

BMW’s profile in the racing enduro market seems to be slipping of late. (Which is a pity, because the G450X offers promise, as well as BMW’s usual 24-month warranty.) But this factory-endorsed, 900 cc boxer enduro from almost thirty years ago shows what could have been. In 1980 it won the German and European enduro championships, plus the prestigious ISDT. The bike apparently sports 50 bhp and weighs just 132 kg, and inspired the cultish BMW R80 G/S (Gelände/Straße, or off-road/street) built from ’81 to ‘87. That machine married the 800 cc R80/7 engine to a strengthened R65 chassis, and was the only BMW twin to be unaffected by the launch of the K series

YAMAHA RD350 CUSTOM

YAMAHA RD350 CUSTOM

In the early 70s, the Yamaha RD350 set the motorcycling world on fire. It was light, rapid and unforgiving: in the right hands, it could comfortably see off a 750. In the wrong hands, it was a one-way ticket to the hospital. This restored and customized RD350 is the work of Seattle-based Twinline Motorcycles, and known as Project Goldhead in honor of the rare DG cylinder heads. According to shop owner Ian Halcott, the customer “walked into our shop with a basket case RD350 and about $5,000 in trick parts from Moto Carrera, [Ron] Chinoy and others, and asked us to make a cafe racer. So we took him up on it.” Twinline shaved as much weight off the already light bike as possible and focused on detail work, from cross-drilling the brake rotors, fitting stainless steel brake lines and Brembo parts, and adding skinny Bridgestone Battlax BT45 tires. “I hid the wiring under the seat pan because the Chinoy electronic ignition is huge,” says Ian. “The fender is an Airtech TZ and the tank is stock …we have not dyno’d it yet, but it’s happy to pull the wheel off the ground any time you desire. This bike is fun to ride and very thirsty!”

7 AGES HAMLET TRACKER

7 AGES HAMLET TRACKER

We don’t see many British custom motorcycles in the American style. Most builders focus on local iron such as Triumphs and Nortons. But a few take the road less travelled, and one such man is Ian Solley of 7 Ages. His Hamlet Tracker is based on a 2009 Harley-Davidson Street Bob, but with a custom 7 Ages rigid frame. That sinuous exhaust and most of the body parts are one-off custom pieces, and the engine is fed by an S&S carb. Solley describes the 7 Ages style as “Clean and simple, old school with some modern touches. Hand built frames and sheet metal, and the best operational components for looks and reliability.” Looks like he’s on the right track—and if you’re wondering about the Hamlet link, Solley’s wife is doing a Masters in Shakespeare Studies. On the tank of this bike is a quote from Scene II of Hamlet: “A King of Infinite Space”.

GRAND NATIONAL FIRST EDITION

GRAND NATIONAL FIRST EDITION

It’s not hard to build a flat tracker that performs well and looks good. But it’s tricky to make one that’s street legal too. SHR has shown the way with its Grand National Replica, a rip-roarin’ tribute to the Harley XR750. The spec sheet looks tempting: for starters: this motorcycle weighs 380 lbs and is running a 1200 cc, 105 hp Buell XB motor. That engine is wrapped in a custom TIG-welded 4130 cromoly frame, available in nickel, chrome or painted finishes. The other components are equally solid: the 19” wheels, controls and brakes are from Performance Machine, the bars from K&N, the muffler from Supertrappand the rear mono shock is from Penske. SHR is a Minnesota outfit run by Bill Hofmeister, a former Canadian National Champion (Expert 750 Class) with 38 years of Pro class racing under his belt. So you can assume that this Harley is pretty well sorted. It’s a limited edition of just 25, and as SHR’s ads note, “It performs better than a 401K.” What would you rather put your money towards?

SUZUKI GSX-R750 CUSTOM

SUZUKI GSX-R750 CUSTOM

We’ve had a run of retro motorcycles recently, and I’ve had a few subtle hints via email that a more modern machine would be welcome. So here’s a gixxer for you. This bike started as a brand new 2004 Suzuki GSX-R 750 that Joshua Hofhine bought new. “I had been riding old Triumphs and Suzukis for a few years, and this was my first new bike. After six months I was doing a track day at Willow Springs when the engine let go: turns out the oil pickup was clogged, and the top of the engine was dry as a bone.”

The bike was stored for a couple years and Hofhine sold off most of the stock parts. “Eventually I was left with just a frame and swingarm hanging from the rafters in my garage!” Then eighteen months ago, Hofhine picked up an engine from a friend at Yoshimura. “I decided to build a modern take on a cafe racer, because that’s always been my favorite genre.” Hofhine inherited a love of building bikes from his father, who used to restore 60s British iron. And growing up in Southern California meant he was also influenced by hot rods: evidence of this can be seen in the paintwork done by Concept Five.

The suspension on #44 is mostly stock—and so is the engine, apart from a BMC filter, a Power Commander, and the carbon fiber Termignoni muffler, chopped down to ten inches. The headlight is from a Harley V-Rod, and the race tail was made by Catalyst. That cool overflow bottle? It’s fashioned out of a spun aluminum water bottle. Hofhine Snr would approve.

CR&S DUU

The anticipation is building for next week’s EICMA motorcycle show. But Milan-based boutique manufacturer CR&S has jumped the gun. It’s released images of its new Duu superbike prototype, powered by the familiar S&S ‘X-Wedge’ V-twin motor. The 2-litre engine of the Duu (a play on ‘due’, Italian for ‘two’) might be familiar, but it’s wrapped in futuristic styling that takes several cues from the Confederate rulebook. It looks like CR&S will be offering single- and double-seat configurations, and a wide range of options for customers to tailor the Duu to their personal tastes. Given that the personalized approach has worked wonders for Harley-Davidson and Triumph, the prospects for the Duu could be bright. The only question mark will be the price: €20,000 is the equivalent of US$29,500, meaning that the Duu is even more expensive than motorcycles such as the MV Agusta F4 RR 312 1078. Still, the Duu is a striking-looking machine that will also be extremely rare. It’s due for launch in 2011, but you can see a full selection of press pictures on Rocket Garage right now.

COLE FOSTER MOON ROCKET

COLE FOSTER MOON ROCKET

Even before he turned his hand to motorcycles, Cole Foster was a big name on the custom scene. His hot rods had the cleanest, simplest styling—and impeccable detailing that few others could match. Then, fortunately for us, Cole and his Salinas Boys company turned their hands to custom motorcycles. Moon Rocket burst onto the custom scene in 2007, and was inspired by the bikes of drag racers such as Leo Payne and Boris Murray. The platform for Moon Rocket was a bobber test ‘roller’ that Cole built for Custom Chrome in 2001, a project that was left to gather dust at the back of a warehouse. Cole got that bobber back and spent three months on the new build. Despite the short timeframe, most parts are custom-made—from the frame to the controls to that raw aluminium fairing, reminiscent of vintage Honda racers. The engine is a 100ci RevTechEvo and the wheels and rear brake are Custom Chrome, with Brembo callipers.

TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE HEUER

TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE HEUER

You’re looking at a British bike painted in the colors of an American oil company, designed to promote a Swiss watch made famous by a French motor race. Yes, it’s a stretch. Triumph has always paid a lot of attention to marketing, and especially to what you might call ‘brand association’. It probably started back in 2005, when we had limited edition Bonnevilles customized by the English designer Paul Smith. Today, we have the Triumph Bonneville Heuer, which was unveiled in Paris by the English F1 driver Lewis Hamilton. The motorcycle is a one-off to mark the 40th anniversary of the Heuer Monaco watch and the 50th anniversary of the Bonneville itself. And of course, Steve McQueen makes the obligatory appearance too: he wore a Heuer Monaco in 1971′s Le Mans. 

HONDA CX500 CAFE RACER

HONDA CX500 CAFE RACER

Honda’s CB series of motorcycles tends to get all the attention on the custom scene. But a surprising number of CX500s are also being given a makeover, as this lovely café racer spotted on ADVrider shows. The CX500 appeared in 1978; it was designed to compete with smaller capacity Euros such as the BMW boxers and Moto Guzzi’s V50. The liquid-cooled engine looks similar to a small-block air-cooled Guzzi V-twin, and the Honda bike also used shaft rather than chain drive. The bike was popular with courier riders in Europe, and rewarded them with sweet handling—plus exceptional reliability, once a timing chain tensioner glitch was fixed under recall. As supplies of CBs and XS650s and cheap SR400/500s dwindle, the CX500’s star is on the rise. The pictured bike went up for sale on eBay last year: the tank, side plates, seat and cowl seem to have been modified and repainted. The Com-Star wheels are original, and the exhaust may even be original too, apart from the upswept rear section. If you happen to know the provenance of this bike, please drop us a line in the comments.

BIMOTA TESI 1D

BIMOTA TESI 1D

Bimota is a wild card in the motorcycling world. Since 1973, the Rimini-based company has been delivering the weirdest and wildest machines, wilfully taking the path less travelled. Not surprisingly, it’s never been the most financially stable of manufacturers, and hit the rocks in 2000. But it was resurrected in 2003 and is still going—and for that, we should be grateful. One of our favorite Bimotas is the Tesi 1D, which appeared in 1991 and attracted attention for its hub-steering system. The ‘D’ signifies Ducati: power came from the engine designed for the Ducati 851, a 93 hp fuel-injected desmodromic L-twin. Only 127 Tesi 1Ds were made, and they are now collectors’ items. The hub-steering lineage continues in the Tranformer-like Tesi 3D that you can buy today, but to our eyes, the chunky early 90s styling of the 1D still reigns supreme

YAMAHA XT600Z TÉNÉRÉ

In the late 70s, ‘dual sport’ or ‘enduro’ style bikes with long-range fuel tanks were starting to attract attention in Europe. In Japan, Yamaha took notice. In 1981, they started work on a production version of the motorcycles racing in events such as the Paris Dakar. The first Yamaha Ténéré appeared for the 1983 model year, and was promoted as a new kind of all-round touring motorcycle—a machine that was able to tackle any terrain, was simple to maintain, and was sold at an affordable price. Within ten years, 61,000 Ténérés had been sold in Europe, including over 20,000 in France. Yamaha’s excellent Design Café website has the full history of this iconic machine, along with some terrific period photography. The Ténéré shown above is the first model, which retains a certain gawky charm even today, a quarter of a century later. The front disc brake was an innovation for time, along with the long-travel rear swingarm, and the top speed was 160 kph—not bad for a 595 cc bike with only 43 bhp and 30 liters of fuel to lug around. Those yellow fork gaiters still look funky, don’t you think?

MOTO GUZZI V7 RACER

Everyone assumed that Ducati would be the star of this year’s Italian motorcycle show. Especially when MV Agusta and Aprilia offered little more than facelifts and upgrades. But yesterday, Moto Guzzi comprehensively trumped all its neighbors—stunning journalists and visitors alike. The Mandello company revealed three futuristic concepts co-created by Pierre Terblanche—ironically the designer of the Ducati Hypermotard—and then went even better with the V7 Classic Clubman Racer.

The Clubman Racer is more our kind of bike than any other launched at EICMA, and it’s a significant bike too: it’s the closest any manufacturer has come to capturing the raw, stripped back and funked-up feel of a true café racer. Best of all, it’s production-ready and it’s going on sale. The detailing looks perfect, with a traditional red frame, fork gaiters, bar-end mirrors and drilled side panels. The heat-wrap on the Arrow exhaust is aesthetically debatable, but what the hell—it roughens up the styling a little. 

The Bitubo shocks with piggyback reservoirs should tame the standard V7’s occasionally choppy rear end. And replacing the regular Metzeler Lasertec tires with Pirelli Demon Sports should improve the handling still further. Power is unchanged, and is unlikely to change given the inherent restrictions of the 750 cc small block cylinder head design.

Guzzi is also saying that many of the Clubman Racer parts will be sold separately as accessories, so they can be retro-fitted to the regular V7 Classic—a sign that the smart accessory marketing practiced by Triumph and BMW has reached Mandello at last. It finally seems that Moto Guzzi is stepping up a gear, looking back at its illustrious heritage and forward to its future.

RON WOOD NORTON FLAT TRACK RACER

We can’t get enough of Ron Wood’s beautifully prepared flat track racers. Jamie Waters’ bike was featured in Sideburn #3; it’s one of two big-tube framed Nortons built by Wood, and it’s also one of the few Nortons to make an impact on the AMA Flat Track champs.According to Waters, the bike “won the Ascot Championship three years running in the mid-seventies, and is full of Ron Wood’s and CR Axtell’s best stuff”. (Axtell was a noted cylinder head and flow bench specialist.) Norton’s support faded away soon after, the result of business crises at home, and the 750 cc engine was simply too long in the tooth to match the Harleys and Yamahas for power.

SUZUKI NUDA

One of the stars of the 1986 Tokyo Motor Show was the Suzuki Nuda concept. The styling attracted a huge amount of attention, and unlike most 20-year-old concept studies, still looks fresh today. The Nuda was reputedly operational and rideable, propelled by the DOHC in-line four GSX-R750 engine; it had two-wheel-drive, with power transmitted via shaft drives, and the front wheel was hub-steered in the Bimota fashion. Otherwise, details about this machine are surprisingly hard to find. Does anyone have a source of information?

BMW R75/5

I love this image. And not just because I have a soft spot for old BMW airheads: it’s also a classic example of a picture telling a story. William Pruyn bought this 1972 ‘toaster’ (check the chrome-paneled tank) two years ago in San Francisco, and grabbed the shot four months ago in the Nevada desert as he rode coast-to-coast on Route 50. The 750 ccR75/5 was one of the fastest production motorcycles of its time, and the first BMW bike to be manufactured completely in Berlin. Pruyn remembers that his bike “came with a ton of paperwork, including a log from the first owner which included details like location, mileage, amount of fuel bought, mechanical notes, and ambient temperature.” The bike is mostly original except for a reproduction seat, and Pruyn has added a Dyna condenser and Hepco & Becker reproductions of the vintage Krauser cases. “When we decided to move back to NYC, I planned a trip across the US of backroads and camping,” says Pruyn. “I had Dave of Recommended Service give it his blessing—he even used a few drops of water from a milk jug he kept in the shop labeled ‘Bavarian Holy Water’—and it ran great the entire way.”

KAWASAKI GPZ 550

At the start of the 1980s, Kawasaki turned the middleweight sportsbike market on its head with the GPz550. It was fast for the day—doing the quarter mile in less than 13 seconds—and had immensely chuckable handling. It paved the way for Honda’s all-conquering 600 bikes, fading in the mid 80s due to high price and the other Japanese manufacturers rapidly catching up. Today, the GPz is an excellent proposition secondhand, and lends itself well to customization. This ’83 GPz is a terrific example; it’s owned by Jeff Pochodowicz of Seattle, who invested “two years and thousands of hours of thought” into it. The rims, tank and frame of Jeff’s bike are stock, “but everything else has been altered to be lighter, cooler and faster. It took two complete bikes and three motors to achieve the final product.” The engine has been lightly worked over with a port and polish, a cylinder hone and new rings.

LSL TRIUMPH TL-675

One of our favorite European mainland builders is LSL of Krefeld in Germany. They specialize in trick Triumph conversions, and revealed this new concept at the recent EICMA motorcycle show. LSL supports the Street Triple Cup in Germany, so the TL-675 is inspired by the company’s 126 hp racer. (A more street-oriented cam drops the power down to 115 hp, which is still about 8% more than stock.) Aside from the new fairing, LSL has fitted its own clip-ons, rearsets and adjustable levers, and installed a GSX-R750 fork in a modified triple tree. The bike weighs just 190 kg with all fluids, which should be easily handled by the Nissin brakes and Öhlins rear shock. The eye-catching paintwork is modeled after a P-51 Mustang; the bike is nicknamed Warbird, and designer Jochen Schmitz-Linkweiler reckons it will cost around €16,000 (US$24,000) when it goes on sale. Production versions will have the Kayaba 41mm upside down forks from the Street Triple R—with adjustable preload, rebound and compression damping—and engine modifications will cost extra according to spec. The standard Street Triple is hard to improve upon, but doesn’t this one look like fun?