I’ve always been in two minds about the custom motorcycles built by Fred Krugger but this time round although the styling my not be may favorite the concept is certainly a good one. The motorcycle you see pictured above is titled the Veon and it won Krugger first prize at the 2010 AMD World Championship of custom bike building.
First appearances at custom motorcycles events are often one of the most important factors which is why you may be looking at this bike and thinking, ” WTF?”. Although the Veon is a beautiful looking motorcycle that Krugger says was influenced by Cafe Racer styling, it isn’t as dramatic looking as you would expect, but the reason for Veon’s AMD first place title goes much deeper than it’s aesthetic appeal.
The Harley Davidson, V-Rod powered Veon is somewhat of a transformer. Krugger’s motorcycle gives it’s rider an option for the type of riding they would like to do. With the flick of a switch the Veon can transform from a cruiser in to a Cafe Racer.
The Veon does this using a fully custom built chassis that can dramatically change the bikes seat height, rake, trail, wheel base and ground clearance using a fully motorised adjustment system. To watch it in action is similar to watching a hard top convertible open and close it’s roof. The whole process takes seconds to complete and can be done with the rider atop the motorcycle, and as I said all you need to do is flick a switch. The Veon features 2 sets of foot controls (which is one of my only gripes about the design), forwardsitting cruiser pegs and rear set stance pegs for more aggressive Cafe Racer style riding.
| Cruiser | Racer | |
| Seat Height | 23.8 inches | 30.5 inches |
| Rake | 30 degrees | 23 degrees |
| Trail | 4.7 inches | 3.1 inches |
| Wheel Base | 63.4 inches | 60.4 inches |
| Ground Clearance | 6.7 inches | 9.3 inches |
Krugger plans to release a shot run of similar motorcycles which will be sold under his Krugger motorcycles brand in the near future. Is it a fad or could this be an advancement in motorcycling design that will become a common feature?
