It’s that time of year again! And once again, it’s been a year we’re glad to see the back of. The pandemic didn’t seem to put a dent in the custom scene, though: for every larger workshop experiencing a slowdown, there seemed to be an amateur builder taking up the tools. This list is a purely data-driven exposé of the most popular bikes of 2021. It’s calculated via our website stats, with a focus on page views and social engagement—which went through the roof this year. Healthy global interest in the custom scene sent our Facebook reach rocketing by 89%
There are a few motorcycles in Ducati's back catalog that would ruffle feathers if they were customized. Depending on how much of a purist you are, the 998 might just be one of them. It was the last model to carry the iconic 916's aesthetic, but was powered by Ducati's new, and much improved, Testastretta motor—making it kind of special. Johhny Nguyen isn't too fussed though. He's a relatively young custom builder with a sharp eye and penchant for urban style, and isn't afraid to buck tradition. He once built a Ducati 900 SS to match his BMX , and
It's all about Honda this week, with a Gundam-inspired limited edition Monkey from Thailand, a murdered-out Dommie from Sweden, and a crisp XR650 supermotard from Italy. The outlier is a modern BMW GS sidecar rig that could transport two in comfort from one end of a continent to another. Honda Dominator by Gorm Taube The evergreen Dommie is a brilliant bike for modification: it’s tough, has excellent parts support, and is relatively cheap and easy to find. This stealthy custom is one of the best we’ve seen, and comes from Gorm Taube—a designer who lives in Gothenburg and works for
Love the all-terrain, military look of this SV650 built by @eakkspeed for Suzuki Thailand. Now in our latest Bikes Of The Week. Hit the link in our bio, or visit...
Any custom shop that builds its own frames gets our immediate respect. Granted, you need a certain degree of mechanical aptitude to strip down and tune up an engine, or install completely new suspension. But fabricating a new frame is a whole different ball game. This angular and curiously appealing light motorcycle comes from Belgians Yves Noël and Wouter Bollen, who have been running Rook motorcycles since 2013. The guys describe ‘ROOKie’ as a “minimalistic urban scrambler with an eighties BMX influence.” Rook are based in an old gunpowder factory near Brussels, which is probably worth a story in itself.
It's hard to deny the allure of a rally motorcycle. Every inch of it is built to perform, and every part on it serves a specific function. Add it all up, and it's a total vibe; the very definition of form following function. It's little wonder then, that many modern adventure bikes take styling cues from purpose-built rally machines. And why the aftermarket is loaded with parts to convert dirt bikes into rally bikes—either to actually race them, or to simply make them more suitable for dual-sport use. This custom 1989 Honda NX650 Dominator, from Holger Breur at HB-Custom in
The Swiss maestros at VTR Customs deliver the first custom BMW R1300GS that we've seen, while Radical Speedshop builds a bespoke Moto Guzzi café racer like no other. We also look at a tidy Yamaha XT500 restomod and a stunning 1949 Triumph Speed Twin bobber. BMW R1300GS by VTR Customs When BMW announced its new flagship adventure motorcycle, the BMW R1300GS, we knew it was only a matter of time before we saw it customized. Thanks to Switzerland's VTR Customs, we didn't have to wait too long. Big adventure-style bikes with go-fast bits are all the rage right now. Machines
It’s always the hardest article to write, but also the most fascinating to research. Our annual roundup of the most popular customs on Bike EXIF reveals the dominant trends in the scene as well as the builders who have their fingers on the pulse. This year, outside of the top two builds, the competition was tighter than ever before. Some builds that dominated site traffic barely registered a blip on social media; other bikes that went haywire in our social channels simply didn’t translate to solid web traffic. As always, this Top 10 is driven by data alone, rather than
You know the drill. Once we've processed the data and published our ranked list of the year's best custom motorcycles, I throw it out the window and pick my personal favorites. And it's never easy. 2022 has been a good year for the custom scene. My short list started with 42 motorcycles, all of them winners in their own right. In the interest of fairness, I then eliminated any bikes that already made our ranked list, and whittled the selection down. The result is an eclectic list of customs that all stand out for their creativity, ingenuity and overall radness.
Every time Honda releases a modern iteration of one of their iconic pint-sized motorcycles, K-Speed pounces. The Thai workshop and parts manufacturer loves little bikes, and regularly sets the internet ablaze with their Honda Super Cub and Monkey customs. Now they've worked the magic on the new Honda Dax—and, predictably, it's another hit. That's right, the beloved Honda Dax is back (although it's yet to be released in the US, where it was originally known as the CT70). Its official title is the Honda ST125 Dax, because it's powered by the same 124 cc air-cooled single as the modern Honda
One of the last bikes Barry Sheene ever raced is about to be auctioned off by Bonhams. Plus a look at one of the stars of the recent Glemseck 101 race fest, a Yamaha SR500 that's still in the crate, and a Honda VFR inspired by Japanese anime. Ex-Barry Sheene Manx Norton 500 If you've ever wanted to own a piece of motorcycling history, this is your chance. This Manx Norton 500 race bike was built by world-renowned Manx expert Fred Walmsley. If that’s not enough to convince you, it's the last bike that Barry Sheene piloted to victory in
Federal Moto have the Midas touch. The builds coming out of their Chicago workshop are sharp-edged, compact and big hits with our readers. But sometimes, success can be a double-edged sword. After releasing ‘The Sunshine State of Mind’ SR500 in 2016, Federal were bombarded with requests for a replica build. “But there’s no fun in building the same bike twice,” says lead builder Mike Müller. “We love the support, but we also want our clients to have a one-of-a-kind bike.” So Federal generally suggest to their clients that they build another one-of-a-kind bike. “Just as thumpy, just as wheelie-enabled, and just
In Europe, the Sultans of Sprint competition produces some of the wackiest drag bikes, year on year. It's written in the rules: contestants vie for gold over an eighth-mile track, but points are also awarded for imagination and creativity. It means we end up with some very eccentric motorcycles, like this BMW-powered race bike. 'Achilles' is entered into the 'Factory' class at Sultans of Sprint, and was built as a side project by an engineer and a designer who both work on the car side of BMW. And it's completely bonkers. To kick off the project, BMW themselves donated a
We’ve found something for everyone this week in our travels around the web. We’ve got an XT600 from the Netherlands, a Honda 599 from Bulgaria, and a revitalized Vespa from Chicago. Plus a stunning BMW finished in Porsche’s classic Olive paint, from Roughchild of Los Angeles. Enjoy. Yamaha XT600 scrambler by Remco Witkamp In his youth, Dutchman Remco Witkamp built ‘cross mopeds’ and graduated to riding motocross bikes in competitions. A few years ago, he saw a photo of a scrambler and got bitten by the bug again. “I found a secondhand XT600 for sale, which is a good donor
Every few months, a vintage motorcycle comes along that literally stops me in my tracks—a machine so sculptural and beautiful, it would almost be criminal to subject it to the rigors of the open road. It happened three months ago when pre-release images of the French 'CP Project #1' Triton arrived in my inbox. And now it’s happened again with this 1974 Ducati 750 Sport. As so often happens with the internet, a few images of this bike were floating around, but without any clues to its provenance. I’m no Ducati expert, but the machine is obviously customized—and after a
It's hard to deny the allure of a rally motorcycle. Every inch of it is built to perform, and every part on it serves a specific function. Add it all up, and it's a total vibe; the very definition of form following function. It's little wonder then, that many modern adventure bikes take styling cues from purpose-built rally machines. And why the aftermarket is loaded with parts to convert dirt bikes into rally bikes—either to actually race them, or to simply make them more suitable for dual-sport use. This custom 1989 Honda NX650 Dominator, from Holger Breur at HB-Custom in
Getting into motorcycles is usually a progression: if you loved riding pushbikes as a kid, you probably wanted a motorcycle as a teenager. But we don’t often see that progression going into reverse. This petrol-powered BMX motorized bicycle is an intriguing example of a reverse, and it comes from English builder Shaun Walker—formerly of Down & Out. We had the pleasure of meeting him a few years ago: he’s a bluff, straight-talking northerner who, as they say, “knows his onions.” Shaun’s been immersed in the custom scene for almost 20 years, building a solid business as trends and fashions come
Twenty years ago, street-legal supermotos weren’t really ‘a thing.’ But in Europe, change was in the air—and the KTM Duke II was one of the catalysts. The rough-and-ready 625 cc single was huge fun on short trips, and helped set the template for future supermotos. Over the past couple of years, custom supermotos have become more common, delivered by builders who value performance as much as aesthetics. And one of those builders is Garett Wilson of Dubstyle Designs in Colorado, USA. “These Dukes have a cult following, but not many people really know them,” he says. “Google the things—they were
Pepo Rosell's work is easy to spot, and we mean that as a compliment. If it looks fast, has a killer livery and just a hint of classic endurance racing, it's most likely an XTR Pepo build. Pepo's sharp eye and deft hand come from his vast experience. He's the guy that originally founded the powerhouse custom shop, Radical Ducati. Then, after a thirteen-year stint at Radical, he went into a hiatus, before realizing that building custom motorcycles was all he wanted to do. So for the past four years, Pepo's been producing the same style of high-end customs he
It’s always good to discover a new name on the custom scene, and this week we happened across Differs—a garage from the Baltic state of Lithuania. It’s headquartered in the capital of Vilnius, a beautiful city that can trace its history back to the 13th century. There’s absolutely nothing old fashioned about Differs’ custom builds, though: they like to keep their style fresh and modern. “We prefer the present day over the past,” says founder Povilas Vaisiauskas. And this crisp, sharp-edged Honda NX650 is proof that his philosophy works. The NX650 is the first time Differs has tackled a dual
It’s always good to discover a new name on the custom scene, and this week we happened across Differs—a garage from the Baltic state of Lithuania. It’s headquartered in the capital of Vilnius, a beautiful city that can trace its history back to the 13th century. There’s absolutely nothing old fashioned about Differs’ custom builds, though: they like to keep their style fresh and modern. “We prefer the present day over the past,” says founder Povilas Vaisiauskas. And this crisp, sharp-edged Honda NX650 is proof that his philosophy works. The NX650 is the first time Differs has tackled a dual
The meaning of ‘cafe racer’ has changed over the years. Back in the 1960s, it was mostly about performance. Today, half a century later, critics will say it’s more about style. Definitions change over time, so we don’t lose much sleep over that. But if you hold fast to the original concept of a stripped down, hot-rodded bike, this is what you call a modern-day cafe racer. It’s the Radical Guzzi ‘Ristretto,’ a highly tuned Tonti-framed Guzzi. The builder is Stefan Bronold of Schwarzenfeld, a small town in Bavaria near the Czech border. The price is steep at €45,000 ($50,000),
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