Winning Tracker, MotoBuilds Pilipinas 2024: “Bart” by Garage Esquinita… While the major manufacturers have largely transitioned to liquid-cooling and EFI on their large displacement bikes, they’ve continued to produce smaller, simpler air-cooled machines for […]
Tag: Brats
Dream Rider: Yamaha XS650 Brat Tracker
“Karbu” from Le Cent Vingt Cinq… At one time, few motorcycles could compete with the British twins for power, performance, and style. The 650 parallel-twins from BSA, Norton, Triumph, and others were just the ticket […]
Hinckley Howler: Triumph Trident Bobber
Triumph T300 “Tri-Bird” from Chris Forward… The early Hinckley Triumphs of the 1990s are quickly becoming modern classics. These “T300” machines brought the great British marque back from the shadows and spearheaded the brand’s many […]
Changeling: Honda Hornet 600 “Retro Racer”
Custom Hornet 600 by Seb Kustom Motorcycle… Introduced in 1998, the Honda CB600F Hornet was a naked sports bike that featured a 599cc liquid-cooled inline four from the CBR600F3 sports bike — a machine that […]
Baby Buffalo: Kawasaki Meguro 650 Scrambler
Meguro 650 Scrambler from Rocket Fantasy Garage… Founded in 1937, Meguro was one of the first Japanese motorcycle manufacturers, a “prestige brand” that supplied police and military motorbikes to the government and raced alongside Honda. […]
Urban Fox: Triumph T120 Roadster
130 Fox: T120 Bonneville from Tamarit Motorcycles… In late 2015, Triumph introduced their new liquid-cooled lineup, including the 1200cc T120 Bonneville. While some purists may scoff at the radiator, the big Bonnie has been continually […]
Baby Burgundy: Clive Coombe’s Honda CB550
Write-off to Head-turner: Clive Coombe’s 1978 CB550F2… The Honda CB550F was part of Honda’s Super Sport range, featuring a lighter four-into-one exhaust, flatter handlebars, and a different fuel tank than the K model. Though the […]
Ascot Reborn: Honda FT500 by AMP Motorcycles
Father/son workshop AMP Motorcycles rebuilds an 80s thumper… In 1982, Honda introduced the FT500 Ascot, a single-cylinder four-stroke named after the storied Ascot flat track (RIP) just outside Los Angeles: “Located between the posh Hollywood […]
Lightweight Bob: Yamaha XS400 Bobber by DOTi
By the mid 1970s, the Big Four Japanese motorcycle manufacturers had already seen the end looming for the two-stroke street bike. Emissions laws, noise regulations, and a new emphasis on fuel economy were ringing the […]
Bavarian Blackout: BMW R80 by Burn Up Company
BUC It: Burn Up Company’s burly BMW, built for sidecar adventures… In the mid-1980s, BMW replaced the twin-shock rear suspension on their airhead models with a monolever (single-shock) system, whose asymmetric design was meant to […]