The Rusi Mojo, aka the “Ducatiny,” is a 110cc bike that resembles the Ducati Monster. Popular in the Philippines, this minibike has 12-inch wheels and a top speed of ~56mph — Honda Grom territory.
Enter Iron Macchina Customs, who have built 31 bikes since opening their doors in Santa Rosa, Laguna, Philippines, in 2016. A client wanted a unique bike for her daily grind, and she was interested in steampunk and cafe racers.
Given their limited resources in the Philippines, the crew at Iron Macchina Customs fabricated nearly everything from scratch…including the frame itself, the swing arm, one-piece galbanum body with integrated fuel tank, rear sets. In fact, the only components not built from scratch were the forks and engine itself.
This 110cc cafe racer was christened “Belleza Negra” — or Black Beauty — quite the fitting name. Below, we interview the builder for the full story.
“Belleza Negra” Cafe Racer: Builder Interview
• Please tell us a bit about yourself, your history with motorcycles, and your workshop.
I’m Paul Anthony Symon Cantos owner /designer and head builder of Iron Macchina Customs Philippines. I’ve been an enthusiast and a rider since I was 13 yrs old. I love cruiser/chopper and classic bikes in particular and I also love cars. I like “destroying stuff and putting it back together kind of person” since I was young. I like making my bikes and cars unique in my own way. Back then, parts are pretty hard to get since we only have limited resources here in the Philippines, and everything must be fabricated from scratch.
But now, classics are being brought back and it’s a good opportunity to put up a custom shop since everyone is getting interested. Sharing our passion with others is the idea. So then I bought a brand new donor bike and made one tracker bike at home to use as a demo bike. And I was really surprised that a lot of people liked my work when I posted it on a custom motorcycle group on Facebook. Getting few ideas and doing some research, Iron Macchina Customs was born. Sept 2. 2016 was the day we opened our shop in Sta. Rosa City Laguna, Philippines. Now we’ve already came out with 31 quality bikes from 2016-2017.
• What’s the make, model, and year of the bike?
RUSI “MOJO” 2017 MODEL
• Why was this bike built?
It’s actually a client’s bike. And she wants to have something unique for her everyday grind. She prefers to have a small displacement considering the traffic here in the Philippines. But she doesn’t want the typical looking bike and prefers a café racer. So we suggested to do something different that no one ever seen before here in the Philippines.
• What was the design concept and what influenced the build?
Concept was based from pure imagination. Haha I normally do my conceptualization by stripping off the bike and take photos of it; put it into my computer and play around with the design. I saw the angle of the engine and used it as my lines. Also I normally look around the area to look for something relevant and use it as a concept. For this particular bike, it’s a Co2 tank.
• What custom work was done to the bike?
Everything actually. We fabricated everything except for the engine and front suspension. Chassis was built using high tensile tubular steel, powder coated for protection and durability. Rolled out galbanum body with integrated tank for a one piece look body, painted it with gloss jet black with ghost matte black lining.
Custom swing arm to fit bigger tire, front headlight cowl, custom seat, retro fitted wire rims, custom rear tail end light / cowl, custom CNC rear set and few aftermarket parts.
• How would you classify this bike?
I would say it’s a combination of steampunk / café racer. Both concept was put to together in one bike and this how it came out.
• Was there anything done during this build that you are particularly proud of?
Well it’s more of the concept that were really proud of. And how everything went fluid during the build. It’s actually hard putting your imagination into reality so were really proud that we’ve finished this bike beautifully.
Follow the Builder
- Facebook : Iron Macchina Customs
- Instagram : @ironmacchinaph
- Email : [email protected]
….in montana we say……..”anybody can restore a motocycle….it takes a real man to cut one up!”…….
Love it, haha!
Any feedback on the LTO registrations of these kind of modified motorcycles?