Last month, I shared a Qujos Trailmaster that had been converted to diesel power. Today, we’ve got a bike you’ve heard of. In 2015, the seller swapped out the motor of this Honda Rebel with a 740cc Kubota diesel powerplant.
Yamaha Promotional Custom – 1972 Yamaha XS650
Last time I featured a custom Yamaha by Greg Hageman, it was a XSR700 inspired by the XT500. This time around, it’s a XS650 that was created as a partner to another XSR700. Yamaha’s slogan for their line of retro bikes is “Faster Sons” – the idea is that the modern bikes are faster sons than the classics. In this …
Unexpected Custom – 1967 Honda CB450
Forgive me. I know that you will probably hate this, but I couldn’t stop staring at it and I figured I had to share it with you because of that. “This” started as a ’67 Black Bomber and it’s been customized with the suspension (and a few other parts) from a 2012 Honda CBR. On paper, that’s a wonderful combination. …
Build By A British MX Champ – X-Axis’ Custom 1984 Honda CBX750
Billy MacKenzie first made a name for himself in the motorcycling world competing in various MX events before eventually going on to claim back-to-back MX1 British Championship titles in 2007 and 2008. The Edinburgh-born rider also represented the UK in the Motocross of Nations before MacKenzie announced he’d be hanging up his race leathers to focus on building custom motorcycles.
Sabre-Toothed Two-Wheeler – 1959 Harley-Davidson Sportster Custom
Built around a 1959 Harley-Davidson Sporster, this Saber (or Sabre) Tooth Tiger project was one of three builds created in a series (alongside a Bengal Tiger and a Dragon). Interestingly, the (in this case literal) bodywork on the Harley is all made of wood.
Apogee “Raffale” SuperBobber — 2009 Ducati 1098R Custom
Ducati places enormous importance on the aesthetics of its machines, leading to the marque delivering some of the most gorgeous production two-wheelers available. For this reason, stripping down and customizing what’s already an objectively good-looking bike can be a bit of a controversial (if not sacrilegious) move. However this hasn’t gotten in the way of Gustavo Pena of Apogee Motorworks …
Gelande Strasse Cafe – OCRC’s 2011 BMW R1200GS Custom
BMW’s R1200GS is a wonderfully competent adventure mount, though beyond bolstering its off-road and/or touring capabilities, the GS doesn’t much lend itself to customization. Still, that didn’t stop London’s Original Cafe Racer Co. from stripping down the popular dual-sport and giving it the cafe treatment.
1980 Honda CX500/CX650 Custom
Every year, retired master tech Kevin Murphy takes decent examples of Honda’s CX platform and restores them. He also takes bad examples and turns them into customs. He’s got an annual tradition of building a Honda CX custom for Daytona Bike Week, and each year a reader sends me a link when he puts up another bike for sale. This …
Pipeburn Featured in Canada – 2004 Buell XB12R Firebolt Custom
Post Listing Update: This custom Buell did not get any interest at the asking price of $12,000. Built by Sylvain Carignan, this Buell Firebolt started as a project with a broken transmission and it evolved into a cafe racer that’s dripping with carbon fiber.
2nd Annual Thud Rumble Finalist – Eastern Spirit Garage’s Ducati Scrambler Sixty2
After Ducati introduced its revamped Scrambler range in 2015, the marque kicked off the “Custom Rumble” contest, inviting noteworthy shops to demonstrate the highly modular nature of the Scrambler range. After a successful inaugural year, Ducati opted to keep the contest going, and it was during Custom Rumble’s second and most recent year that this one-off Ducati Scrambler Sixty2 was …
Diesel Powered Home Build – Qujos TrailMaster 200
The builder/seller of this of this unexpected custom sums it up as “Chinese love, Japanese torque, American ingenuity”. It’s a Chinese-made Qujos (QJ) Trail Master frame housing a Kubota Z482 diesel motor. Oh, and there’s a turbo on it, too!
2 Stroke Titan – 1975 Suzuki T500 Cafe Racer
Post Sale Update: This T500 sold for $12,100 after 36 bids on Bring a Trailer. 11-1-18 Update: Over a year later, this custom Titan is back up for sale! Now it’s up on Bring a Trailer where bidding is currently at $3,995. Where will it end…? Post Listing Update: The $2k discount was not enough to find a buyer, as …
“Triple Trouble” – 1980 Yamaha XS850 Restomod
Built by Brick House Builds (a one man shop run by BJ English), this custom XS850 was built to be a ‘cafe racer with some muscle to it’.
R9T Cafe Kit Prototype – JVB Moto’s “Two” BMW R nineT Racer
About a year ago, Germany’s JVB Moto unveiled a beautiful one-off BMW R nineT build exhibiting a collection of bolt-on kit parts. This was the Cologne-based shop’s first collaboration with BMW Motorrad, and the Bavarian brand’s first officially commissioned R9T Scrambler build. Fast forward to Spring of 2018 and JVB debuted yet another R nineT build, this time setting its …
Ducati-Inspired Super Single – 1997 NWS 350 Supermono
Post Listing Update: This custom Ducati did not get any interest at the opening bid of $12,000. Produced exclusively for the “Sound of Singles” series, the Ducati Supermono is one of the marque’s most iconic and sought after models. Built from ‘93-‘95, only 67 examples of this instant classic left the factory in Bologna, making them wildly rare finds. Because …