The Most Incredible Custom Motorbike of 2017 It’s been a huge year for custom motorcycles, but also one of significant change. The scrambler aesthetic is now neck-and-neck with the ‘café racer’ style. Pipe wrap is out and performance is back, with custom sport bikes edging into the scene.The manufacturers are reading the tea leaves too. Yamaha has enlisted the cream of the world’s builders for its impressive Yard Built and Faster Sons programs. Triumph put the custom scene (and its journalists) center stage at the launch of the new Bonneville range in London. And the retro-style Ducati Scrambler has become the fastest-selling Ducati of all time. Ducati 848 by Apogee Motoworks There are formulas at work in the custom world: sticking to a ‘look’ guarantees acceptance and a sale. But some builders happily ignore the rulebook, and LA-based Gustavo Pena of Apogee Motoworks is one. ‘Le Caffage’ is a Ducati 848 given an extreme makeover, and hinting at both the past and the future. The bodywork is hand-made, the mechanicals have been tweaked with NCR parts, and the stance is predatory. If there’s any custom motorcycle capable of stopping the traffic on Rodeo Drive, this is it.
Ton-Up Garage’s Muxima Most custom motorcycles are destined for short trips around town on sunny days. But this Honda FMX650 spends its time roaming around a village in Angola. It comes from Portugal’s Ton-Up Garage, and breaks with tradition by avoiding the popular NX650 ‘Dominator’ and in favor of its lesser-known supermotard relative. The mods are designed to maintain reliability; hence the side-mounted K&N filter on a custom intake. The typically immaculate Ton-Up paint and engine finishing is the icing on this particularly delicious cake. Holographic Hammer’s Ducati Scrambler Sylvain Berneron cut his teeth as a designer for BMW Motorrad, but the first build from his new workshop was a collaboration with Ducati and the magazine Moto Heroes. Berneron and his brother Florent have shifted the Scrambler away from its dual-purpose role and created a clean, road-biased café racer. The emphasis is on performance: 43mm USD Showa forks, 17-inch carbon racing wheels, a Beringer 4D brake system and a Werkes USA muffler. At 40lbs lighter than stock, this machine should be even more fun to ride than the regular Scrambler.
Huge Moto Café Fighter Kit If you’re a fan of sportbike performance and dynamics, but hate the plastic look of Japanese machines, Bill Webb has the answer for you. His first build narrowly failed to make the Top 10 last year, so we’re pleased to see him hit the charts with this Honda CBR1000RR kit. It’s a fine example of industrial design; the package includes the bikini fairing, tail unit, mounts to relocate the ignition and speedometer, new levers and a headlight assembly. Fingers crossed this goes into production soon. Author’s Bio Felicia Rush in this article looks at some of the most incredible custom motorbike in 2017. She explored some of the makers of these bikes and how custom bullets and custom motorcycle imagesare stamped on their bikes.