Our stalwart reporter Gary Hallobeck has been steadily traveling this year, visiting as many custom motorbike shows as he can cram into the schedule. In Cafe Racer magazine’s August/September issue (out next week) Gary shares some of the inspiring and quite innovative custom cafe racers he’s taken in so far. “The bikes on display at this year’s big0name shows are coming from builders who are upping their game in a big way,” he writes. “They’re aware that so many newcomers are stealing the thunder of established custom shops so there’s more of everything- more radical engine mods, more detailed paint schemes and what looks like more emphasis on building fast motorcycles from unlikely donor bikes.”
To prove his point, Gary shared images of an absolutely wicked, Harley-Davidson Sportster modeled on a 1950s Norton Manx.
The scientist-builder desired an XL that looked like a 1960s Grand Prix racer and he more than succeeded with his Harley bitsa special. The engine is an XL1200cc model with a big bore kit, Buell Thunderstorm heads with domed pistons, a racing clutch and dual shotgun exhausts. Gallagher designed the custom swingarm to hold a Ducati Supersport 1000 shock and he adapted a Buell inverted fork with perimeter brakes, too. The Airtech gas tank holds both fuel and engine oil while the fairing is a replica Triumph model from the 1960s. All bodywork is fiberglass, by the way. And who can resist the Audi gray paint?
AT the annual Classic Motorcycle Day held in Mount Airy, Maryland, we were collectively blown away by the sheer audacity of Virginia bike designer Sean Skinner’s work that transformed a two-stroke Yamaha snowmobile into an oddball and entirely fun mini0bike replica. Sean of Motorelic, says the bike was created to resemble one of those cheapie, pull-start minibikes once sold through Sears Roebuck and other mail-order catalogs. He upped the game by adding some of the most unique and unexpected modifications we’ve yet seen, including an open BDL belt drive and transmission from a Harley Big Twin, wheels and forks crafted from the running gear of an old 1980s Honda ATV three-wheeler and the sort of metalflake green paint that wouldn’t look out of place on your uncle’s bass boat.
And while on the subject of wild, retro-fabulous metalflake paint, take a gander at Garrett Wilson’s Yamaha RD 400 street tracker, also seen at Handbuilt. Stripped of everything that doesn’t help this buzzy, middleweight two-stroke go faster or look impressive, the Colorado owner of DubStyle Designs even upped his game by unearthing an original set of 1970s Morris magnesium wheels, adapting them to a pair of Yamaha R6 forks.
“A big part of the reward of traveling so far to see these shows is running into bikes like these that defy categories an make you scratch your head, wondering just what else these builders are capable of. It really is amazing,” Gary said., Read more in the next issue.