Custom Bikes

18 year old Canadian prodigy builds gyro-stabilised electric UnoMoto

May 18th, 2008

Even if the UnoMoto is effectively just Segway technology in an R1 frame with footpegs, it’s a pretty incredible achievement for its builder. I mean, how many other 18 year olds can claim to have built an electric commuter vehicle in their back yard, let alone one that is operated without any controls other than two stabilising gyroscopes?

Gulak was inspired to build this unusual vehicle after a visit to China in 2006. The thick smog and choking pollution left Ben wondering how he could contribute to a cleaner future by building an electric commuter vehicle. (more…)

West Australian company gives paraplegics the chance to ride a motorcycle again

May 15th, 2008

It’s a sad fact that if you ride motorcycles for any length of time, you’re more than likely to run into somebody who used to ride bikes but can’t any more due to catastrophic injury - often these are injuries sustained in bike crashes. I’ve known several ex-bikers who have sustained life-changing injuries through the sport, and a few common threads emerge: most have no regrets, most are getting on with life with strength and dignity, and most would desperately love to ride again one day. And not a trike, a proper, leaning-in-the-corners, motorcycle.

Whether or not they should ride again is one question - a question upon which these folks’ families would probably have a fairly firm opinion - but thanks to West Australian company Dreamfit and its founder Darren Lomman, paraplegic riders can now have a motorcycle retrofitted to allow them to re-live the freedom of the open road on two wheels.

The dreamfit retrofit addresses several different areas in which wheelchair-bound riders are compromised: (more…)

Bakker Grizzly All-Round puts big Gixxer power in an adventure package

March 18th, 2008

It might look something like a Beemer R1200GS Adventure - but it’s much nastier. Flying Dutchman Nico Bakker saw a gap in the market at the top end of the adventure tourer segment - BMW’s massive Adventure is absolutely decked-out for touring, but probably sees far more road use than off-road in the hands of most owners. So why limit that bike to 100 horsepower?

The Bakker Grizzly All-Round matches the BMW’s adventure credentials, with a comfy all-day riding position, sturdy braced frame, bash plates and massive armoured luggage - but it’s built around a GSX-R1000 engine that’s around 80 horsepower up on the Beemer’s. (more…)

Nearly half the world’s Britten V1000s reunited in NZ

March 3rd, 2008

Peter Jackson, the New Zealand-born director famous for his stunning Lord of the Rings trilogy, made his first movie on a shoestring budget. Starring his mates, and featuring a broad array of home-made special effects, props and pyrotechnics, Bad Taste still stands up as a testament to what an ingenious all-rounder can achieve through perseverance.

The same Kiwi can-do spirit underpins one of the great underdog stories in motorcycle racing history. John Britten’s dyslexia made school a struggle for him, but he emerged at the other end as an amazingly talented mechanical engineer. After building his own house (right down to casting his own taps and fittings), Britten embarked on the work that was to be his legacy: the Britten v1000 racebike. (more…)

Home-made tilting V-Max three-wheeler

February 27th, 2008

We’ve been going on a bit lately about three-wheelers, I know, and I promise I’ll give them a rest for a bit after this one, which is the first I’ve seen with any decent horsepower. Looking like a V-Max with an old-school lawnmower bolted to the front of it, it’s the latest bike from Tilting Motor Works.

The tilting three-wheeler concept has well and truly broken onto the market in the last 6 months - before that, few of us had seen anything like it. But as early as 2005, Bob Mighell from Stanford, WA, USA, was searching for a way to combine the lean-in cornering of a bike with the front-end stability and grip of a 4-wheeler. He quickly decided on the idea of a three-wheeler with tilting twin front wheels, and made a prototype out of his son’s Lego.

Two prototypes using small-capacity Hondas were built and tested, and finally, in September last year, he put together the V-Max we see today.

Mighell’s home-made front end bolts straight into the engine mounts down low. A new set of rigid fork tubes connects the steering arms to the bike’s stock steering head, and the two theels are independantly suspended from the new front end. Braking forces are fed back low into the bike’s frame, instead of at the headstock like on a normal bike, so stability under the Buell-style rim-mounted disc brakes is very good.

There’s no MP3-style tilt lock yet, although Bob’s working on the idea, and he’s planning conversion kits for Harley and Goldwing donor bikes. A very nifty bit of home craftwork from a guy who makes a living refurbishing surgical operating room equipment.

There’s a slightly tedious 4-minute video of the Tilting Motorworks V-MAX available that doesn’t do much for Mighell’s cred as a rider, but shows he knows how to pick a pumpin’ workout soundtrack. Photos are from TheKneeslider.

Streetfightering the streetfighter: MV Bestiale to go into production

February 14th, 2008

The stock MV Agusta Brutale 910 is a very pretty thing indeed, every detail has been designed with love and care to be as attractive as it is functional. But there’s something a little prissy about it; it demands to be polished and adored more than ridden, which is possibly why French designer Yacouba Galle decided to reinvent the 910 as a balls-out streetfighter with serious head-kicking attitude to match the bike’s ferocious performance.

His creation, the Bestiale, is dripping with aggressive styling cues from the streetfighter scene; a wickedly angled R6-inspired tailpiece, super-stubby exhaust and a snub-nosed diode headlight unit. The tank bodywork jags down, matching the angle of the cylinders and the tailpiece, and the sides meet underneath in a bellypan/radiator shroud.

If it looks a bit like a Superduke, that’s not surprising. Jacouba spent a lot of time with KTM’s groundbreaking brawler while he was shooting the promo video I’ve been going on about lately. (more…)

Excalibur custom drops jaws around Europe and USA

February 11th, 2008

This is probably the most labour-intensive custom motorcycle I’ve ever seen. Argentina’s Daniel Echeverria has poured more then 2200 hours into transforming his 1979 Kawasaki 1000 LTD into a motorcycle worthy of King Arthur.

The detail is unbelieveable; custom parts have been scavenged from celtic antiques or hand-designed and cast in bronze. The handlebars are twisted swords, the tank and rear guard are draped in chain mail, and the headlight is a dragon’s head with powerful globes for eyes and a remote-controlled fire-breathing mouth. Even the footboards and brake calipers are works of art - Echeverria has spared no effort or expense in Excalibur’s creation, and he’s built and assembled every tiny detail himself. Click to zoom in on the pics, the thumbnails don’t do it justice.

More including videos after the jump. (more…)

CBR900 dirtbike wins Le Touquet Holeshot

February 5th, 2008

Just a quick update on the enduro-modified CBR900 we mentioned a few days ago… Turns out that for the high speeds and deep sands of the first part of the race, this is a great configuration. Screaming along at up to 230kmh, the bike blitzed the rest of the field to win the 7.5km holeshot at the Le Touquet Enduro beach race on the weekend. Nice one lads!

Via Bikes in the Fast Lane. 

If Elvis was a biker… The Snakeskin R1

January 31st, 2008

To be fair, the Yamaha R1 has always been known to attract a certain type of person, so maybe we should have seen this one coming… Yes, what’s not chromed is covered in snakeskin. Normally this kind of thing would have me pointing my finger straight at Texas, but we actually ran across this in Paris where they’re supposed to have taste.

KMP would appear to be responsible for this rolling tragedy, but I’ll forgive them because they also built my favourite GSX-R streetfighter, which is at least three times as badass as this one is try-hard.

More eye-bleeding pics after the jump. 

(more…)

No surrender: France’s CBR900 enduro racer

January 31st, 2008

Vast numbers of early CBR900 Fireblades, bought and crashed by riders who weren’t prepared for the bikes’ then-revolutionary power-to-weight figures, have become fodder for backyard custom stunters and streetfighters - so you’ll probably recognise this frame and tank.

There’s nothing common about this effort though - Frenchman Eric Duminy, of MotoLand Amiens, has thrown out everything but the motor and frame and built not only a dirtbike, but an enduro racer. Good lord.  (more…)