Bike EXIF

57,041 Followers | @bikeexif | Custom and classic motorcycles.

On The Right Track: Ellaspede’s custom kits for the SR400

Next year, the Yamaha SR400 will be celebrating its 40th birthday. It’s been in production since 1978, aside from a brief hiatus ten years ago for a fuel injection transplant and emissions upgrade.There are a few other two-wheeled dinosaurs still around, but the Yammie is reliable, can still keep …

License Plates

Factory Approved: The JvB-Moto BMW R nineT Scrambler

We love Jens vom Brauck’s work. The man behind Cologne-based JvB-Moto has a pair of the sharpest eyes in the business, and a knack for stylish yet functional design. But things on the JvB-Moto front have been eerily quiet of late.It turns out that Jens has been working on something very special …

Motorcycles

Two-Wheeled Tonka: Lanesplitter’s Yamaha TW200

For all its farm bike ways, the Yamaha TW200 sure is charming. With a utilitarian build and cartoon tires, it’s the two-wheeled, life-sized equivalent of a Tonka truck.It’s also the perfect base for this playful project—the work of Brisbane’s Lanesplitter Garage. The man behind Lanesplitter is Ben, …

Custom Bikes Of The Week: 21 May, 2017

This week, we’ve got three classic cafe racers, a Honda Dominator scrambler, and a fire-breathing Voxan. Which one would you put in your garage?Honda CB500T by The Corner Garage This Miami shop specializes in working on vintage Japanese bikes, and while they’re happy to breathe life back into old …

Mighty Mouse: The indispensable Dremel tool

This week, I want to talk about one of the most indispensable tools in my shop: the Dremel rotary tool. I love Dremels. I don’t get paid to write that—I buy all my own Dremel tools, and whether it’s the Dremel brand or not probably doesn’t matter.This rotary tool is simply a high-speed motor with a …

Power Tools

Tomoto: The Tom Dixon x Venier Moto Guzzi V7

Can a motorcycle ever be classified as a piece of art? The debate is endless, and there’s no right or wrong answer. For some, there is art to be found in the pure functionality of a race bike. For others, the pinnacle of creative skill and imagination is a build from Orange County Choppers.Many …

Janis Joplin

A Most Obnoxious Ducati: Revival’s sidecarcross ‘Odioso’

We can normally recognize a Revival Cycles build immediately. The bikes have top-level craftsmanship, perfect proportions and tasteful finishes.But this bizarre contraption had us puzzled. Sure, the hand-made bodywork and crafty engineering pointed towards Revival… but what about the three …

Obsession: Mark Johnston’s 11th BMW is this R100RT cafe

When your garage is packed with eleven BMW motorcycles spanning seven decades—and you have no car—it’s safe to say that your hobby has morphed into an obsession. So what do you do when simply collecting bikes isn’t enough? That’s easy: you start customizing them.Meet Mark Johnston—a trained …

Travel

ISDT style: A vintage vibe for a 2016 Triumph Bonneville

The air-cooled Triumph Bonneville is one of the best donor bikes you can get. They’re widely available, there’s no shortage of custom inspiration, and you can blow your budget many times over on quality aftermarket parts.But you know what can’t be learnt or bought? Good taste. It’s the difference …

Mountains

Custom Bikes Of The Week: 14 May, 2017

A Moto Guzzi with more titanium than a spaceship, a limited edition (and street legal) Ducati tracker, and a Cagiva Elefant 350 bored out to twice its capacity. It’s all about speed this week.Ducati flat tracker by Fuller Moto The American Flat Track series has already reignited a century-old feud …

Nifty Two-Fifty: Hookie Co.’s Honda CB250 cafe racer

It’s more fun to ride a small bike on the limit than a brute at half throttle. That’s the theory, anyway—and it’s hard to argue when the small bike is this good.You’re looking at Hookie Co.’s latest release: a steezy Honda CB250 cafe racer with tight proportions. The young, Dresden-based crew of …

Motorcycles

Bavarian Bobber: Titan’s extraordinary BMW R50/3

Motorcycle fashions come and go, but the bobber has been around since the 1930s. In those days, it was known to speed-hungry Harley and Indian riders as a ‘cut down’ or ‘bob job.’ Fast forward 80 years, and the appeal of the bobber is still strong: Triumph is having difficulty meeting demand for …

Motorcycles

Show Stopper: Craig Rodsmith’s turbocharged Moto Guzzi

We’ve been covering the modern custom scene for eight years now, extending feelers into nearly every country in the world, from Andorra to Vietnam. But there are a few builders who have inexplicably slipped through the net—and one of the most renowned must be Craig Rodsmith.An Australian based in …

Motorcycles

Custom Bikes Of The Week: 7 May, 2017

This week, we’ve got a trophy-winning Buell from Japan, a CR750 repli-racer from Texas, and a 1968 Vincent cafe racer from France. Plus a Royal Enfield with a home-made perimeter brake system.Honda ‘CR750’ by Limey Bikes Honda historians may remember a kit that Big Red released after notching a win …

How to choose and use angle grinders

Our resident expert mechanic Matt McLeod reveals what he looks for when buying an angle grinder.Where would we be without the grinder? It lops off subframes, removes tabs and brackets in seconds, and provides pretty showers of sparks for what seems like every short film about a bike builder.Joking …

Power Tools

Win an MV Agusta from GT-Moto and MotoLady

Custom motorcycles are, for the most part, a selfish pursuit. We take perfectly good motorcycles and customize them—not because we particularly need to, but simply because we want them to look prettier, ride better, or just suit our tastes more.But Sofi Tsingos (GT-Moto) and Alicia Elfving …

Motorcycles

Race Prep: Noise Cycles’ Harley XG750 Flat Tracker

Scott ‘T-Bone’ Jones has carved out a reputation as one of the scene’s top chopper builders. His portfolio is jaw-dropping, and littered with impeccable vintage Pans and Shovels.But race bikes? That’s a whole new bag for T-Bone’s shop, Noise Cycles. Looking at this stunning Harley-Davidson Street …

Motorcycles

Blueberry Bomber: Krakenhead’s mighty custom Gold Wing

Vintage Gold Wings are pretty hard to find in Europe these days—and in Slovenia, rarer than a Mormon bartender. So when news of a GL1000 ‘Wing for sale reached Rok and Luka of Ljubljana-based Krakenhead, they jumped at it. Quite rightly, they figured it would be a great base for a ‘big Kraken.’The …

Aerospace

Destination Austin: The Handbuilt Motorcycle Show

For one weekend in April, Austin, Texas is the home of motorcycling. The Grand Prix of The Americas features the fastest riders on earth, defying the laws of physics and showing off their Texas lean. But a few miles down the road, the cultural heart of two wheels beats on E 5th Street, at the …

MotoGP

Roland Sands Stretches and Slams the R nineT

Building a bike purely for show has its advantages. There’s no need to worry about whether it runs, steers and stops, and there’s no need for the usual legal accoutrements; as long as it looks pretty, you’re good.But if you’re Roland Sands, that’s hard to do. With years of experience racing and …

Motorcycles

City Slicker: deBolex gives the Buell XB9 a sharp new suit

There has always been something special about the machines built inside the deBolex workshop, a few miles south of London, England. They are sleek and minimal, with factory levels of finish hiding some very smart engineering and technical decision-making.Shop owner Calum Pryce-Tidd is one of …

Racing Cars

Ride Report: The 2017 Harley-Davidson Street Rod 750

The Street 750 had a hard time when it launched. The press found a lot to nitpick, and dyed in the wool Harley fans bemoaned its liquid cooling and smaller-than-a-Sportster engine.But you know who wasn’t complaining? The buyers. Harley-Davidson have already sold 35,000 Street 750s worldwide, and …

Big South

Time Traveller: The BMW R45 reimagined, 1930s style

In a world where everything seems to be bigger, stronger, faster, there’s a lot to be said for the style of a bygone age. Most of us can appreciate the charm of an old-fashioned chronometer or a fountain pen, and there’s still a place for a bike that can potter along country lanes at a leisurely …

Travel

Custom Bikes Of The Week: 23 April, 2017

This week, we’ve got a sublime CB, a wild Sportster and a pair of vastly different race bikes. Oh, and someone actually built an attractive Honda Shadow. Which one would you take home?Honda CB750 by John Green This retro-fabulous Honda CB750 is so on point, I’m finding it hard to believe that it …

How to choose (and use) the right wrenches

Nearly every time you’re working on your bike, there are three types of tools that you’ll need: Wrenches, screwdrivers and pliers.Let’s start with wrenches, or spanners as they’re usually called in Britain. Since your motorcycle is mostly bolted together, you’ll need different types of wrenches to …

Ride Report: The 2017 BMW R nineT Racer

For a while, rumors have been circulating about the demise of the traditional cafe racer. With scramblers and flat trackers dominating the scene, the low-and-sleek genre has been taking a back seat.But like a venerable art rock band, the cafe racer is hanging in there. Interest is still high—so …

Motorcycles

How to rework the CX500 without an angle grinder

For better or worse, some mods have become commonplace. Air boxes get removed, smaller batteries get installed, and subframes are almost always redesigned. Especially when you’re dealing with the Honda CX500.No one ever accused the CX500 of being pretty, and it’s the awkward flow of its rear end …

Motorcycles

Monster mash: Christian Klein’s wild Honda CB900

It’s getting harder and harder to categorize custom bikes. We all know a traditional cafe racer when we see one, but these days we’re just as likely to stumble across a ‘cafe’ bike with dual sport tires. Or a bobber with clip-ons and racing rubber.Some mash-ups hit the mark, and some don’t. This is …

Motorcycles

Custom Bikes Of The Week: 16 April, 2017

Three flavors of Honda this week: A race-rep from France, a new wave cafe from Kuala Lumpur, and an insane CR500 tracker from England. Plus the latest Moto Guzzi from Germany’s Kaffeemaschine and a drop-dead gorgeous BMW R80 from Spain. Olé!Honda CR500 by Thornton Hundred Motorcycles There’s just …

Motorcycles

Road tested: Motorcycle Gear

I’ve always viewed motorcycle gear as an extension of both my bike and me. I want it to blend seamlessly with what I’m riding, and lend itself to the ‘where,’ ‘how’ and ‘why’ I’m riding in the first place. I wouldn’t slide into race leathers for a trip through the backcountry, and my Aerostich …