Yamaha “XV1050” Virago from Purpose Built Moto… There are certain donor bikes that turn up again and again in the custom world, and the Yamaha Virago (XV) is one such platform. Many years ago, builders […]
Tag: Cafe Racers
Barnfind Racer: Honda CG125 Café Racer
Belgian-Built Café Racer from Bruthaus Classics… Joris Vander Borght is a man with no shortage of passion. The Belgian artist and motorcycle builder rode his first motorcycle at the age of 12, when his […]
40th Anniversary Edition: 2023 Yamaha RZ350!
What if Yamaha and Bimota teamed up to build a 40th anniversary RZ350? That’s the question San Francisco-based engineer and road racer Julian Farnam asked himself. Of course, that would entail combining the legendary liquid-cooled, […]
The Dark Horse: Yamaha XS650 Custom
Yasashii Garage’s Yamaha XS650 Custom Roadster… According to the Merriam Webster definition, a dark horse is “a usually little known contender (such as a racehorse) that makes an unexpectedly good showing.” You could make a […]
Carbon & Alloy: BMW HP2 Sport Custom
“Midnight Dancer” from Cherry’s Company… Introduced in 2008, the BMW HP2 Sport was quite the machine, a modern German sportbike whose 1170cc flat-twin (Boxer) engine made 128 hp — the most powerful Boxer engine ever […]
Alternate Reality: Kawasaki-Meguro KZ79SP Raven
CROWS Performance injects Meguro soul into the KZ1000… Founded in the Shinagawa Ward of Tokyo in 1924, Meguro was a prestige brand that supplied Japanese military and police motorcycles, coming to be known as the […]
Sense of Speed: Royal Enfield GT650 “Kai”
AN-BU Motors builds a Custom World street racer… As a young man, Koichi Fujita of AN-BU Custom Motors was a driver in the Formula Race/FJ1600 and F4 series held at Suzuka Circuit, where he won […]
Lightweight Giant-Killer: Yamaha R5 350 Café Racer
Crane Moto’s 295-lb two-stroke giant-killer… In 1970, Yamaha introduced the R5 350, featuring a steel duplex cradle frame derived from the company’s Grand Prix chassis and a 36-hp two-stroke parallel-twin engine — features that made […]
Light to Black: “Lucenera” Ducati Monster 600 Special
LUCENERA: A tribute to the “Shape” of Light… Luca Pozzato is the headman of GP Design, a Turin-based workshop known for creating turning motorcycles into jewels of contemporary design. His recent Ducati 1260 Diavel “Mu” […]
Perfect Balance: Honda CB1100 Custom
Modern Classic Masterpiece from Wedge Motorcycle… In 2009, forty years after the introduction of the CB750 Four, Honda introduced the CB1100 as a spiritual successor to that iconic machine. The 1100 had many hallmarks of […]
