Mark Twain once postulated, “There is no such thing as a new idea“. This can definitely be said of the...
Honda Cafe Racer
Honda is currently the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Japan. In the 1960s they became a household name in the USA thanks to their “You meet the nicest people on a Honda” advertising campaign. By the 1980s, they produced upwards of 3 million bikes a year. The Honda CB750 has been credited with being the world’s first superbike and has become the poster child of the modern cafe racer scene.
Flat Track racing is nothing new. In fact, variations of the sport have been around since the 1920s. Typically a...
Three years ago I featured a very special build built by Steven Wilson of BC, Canada. The bike, a CB750...
The Death Machines of London (aka DMOL) never do things by halves. Their workshop has produced some of the most...
The Honda CB750 is often referred to as the original Universal Japanese Motorcycle. This is shortened to UJM, as most...
Remember the first time you swung a leg over a bike? Mathias Wiese does. At the tender age of eight,...
The decision whether to customize a pre-eighties Honda CB750 or not is becoming a tough one to make. There was...
Spain’s Dragon’s Motorcycles created a massive stir with just one build. Their debut creation, a glorious six-cylinder BMW KL1100LT trimmed...
Pour yourself a stiff drink and sit down. I’ve got news for you. This neo cafe racer by Turin’s Officine...
The late seventies Honda CB650 is commonly referred to as being a ‘standard motorcycle’. We doubt anyone would be using...
My hometown of Perth, Western Australia offers some of the best year-round riding weather on the planet. Unsurprisingly motorcycles are...
Their name may conjure up images of a suspect automotive salesman, but rest assured Crooked Motorcycles is anything but dodgy....
Scales Studio is 2 man workshop that specialises in fabrication work and high-end paint. Based in Houston, Texas their list...
Everyone needs a hobby. German-born Holger Breuer found his back in 2004 when he built his first custom motorcycle. Since...
Once upon a time, there were two brothers, Marc and Phillip. They grew up doing all the things two brothers...
Honda’s evergreen Hornet has been sold in the tens of thousands since its release in ’98. As a result, there...
No one is ever going to stand in front of a Honda NX650 Dominator and exclaim “look at the clean...
Remember that time you went to see your friend perform in ‘that show’. You went along willingly but their performance...
Former world champion racer ‘Fast’ Freddie Spencer was a force to be reckoned. Spencer’s professional racing career started in 1978...
Andy Megerle’s CB750 cafe racer project was a rollercoaster ride of challenges and setbacks. In the end, he managed to...
I love a good backstory. For many builders, it was the influence of a family member or friend that got...
Years ago I saw some pictures of a very low, very mean blue CB750 cafe racer and it was a...
As the world’s largest producer of motorcycles, it comes as no surprise that Honda cafe racer builds are commonplace here...
Having the luxury of being able to build motorcycles at your own pace isn’t something most professional workshops enjoy. For...
When Honda finally joined the new wave modern retro movement with the CB1000R Neo Sports Cafe we knew it was...
Good mates building bikes together. That’s essentially what you’ll find at Bold Motorcycles HQ, which happens to be a home...
We’ve always found video to be one of the most inspiring forms of media. Over the years we’ve seen some...
The Honda CB400 Super Four is a run of the mill naked UJM which first hit the streets back in...
It’s not often I hear of custom workshops offering 3-year warranties. However, new Bulgarian workshop Thracian bikes are doing just...
There are only a handful of automotive films that I regard as truly great. Sitting at the top of the...
In the world of modern-retro motorcycles, there’s a new player who is somewhat of a black sheep. That’s mainly due...
While ground up builds that push the boundaries of design and engineering are great, its the less ostentatious projects that...
It’s been almost a year since I featured Andy Mergerle’s Honda CB750 cafe racer project. It’s not often I publish...
Earlier this month I ventured to Indonesia with Luke from Fuel Tank. This was our 5th year attending the Kustomfest...
During the sports bike boom of the 1980s Japanese motorcycle manufacturers were in their prime. In 1982 Honda released a...
Is there such a thing as a factory built cafe racer? If you ask a purist they’ll tell you no...
From his ‘Tannermatic’ workshop in Hull, Massachusetts, Matt Tanner restores and fabricates composite parts. An average day at Tannermatic consists...
I’ve seen plenty of personal builds that have been inspired by professional ones. It’s not often they stack up to...
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”. I have no doubt Mr. Da Vinci would be repeating those words if he was...
The act of swinging a leg over a mates bike and actually riding it are two completely different experiences. This...
The 2018 Bike Shed show has been and gone. For those who were lucky enough to attend the London based...
Someone wittier than me once said “It’s more fun to ride a slow motorcycle fast than to ride a fast...
In 2015 Italian restauranteur Alessandro Dell’unto rented a small workshop space 500m from his restaurant. Why? Because when he’s not...
Once the bike was dismantled the 600cc inline four received a complete overhaul with specific attention being paid to the...
We knew that this Honda project would be a challenge for us. When we received the motorcycle it was almost completely disassembled....
Skateboarding and motorcycles go hand in hand in the United States. Many pro-skaters like Caballero ride motorcycles and some, including...
Marco, a tattooist from Toulouse France well aware of the risks when buying a secondhand motorcycle. Since his teenage years...
At first glance you may not think that the Wabi Sabi philosophy has been applied to this slick Honda CB750...
“It is a Honda XLR250R that has been in the works for about 3 years now,” says Rad. “I have...
It’s clear looking at his work that Rad prefers a sportier aesthetic. He applies a healthy dose of café racer...
The sale came about after Flo was approached by Evy and Andy of Hermanus workshop in Bruges, Belgium. After attending...
For Marcos Vazquez of Spain’s Free Kustom Cycles the decision was made easy. After rolling an early nineties Honda CB500f...
The Honda was built by Andy Megerle, a German car enthusiast who’s had his heart set on building this Honda...
Antonio Lupiañez and Salvador Alasino of Vida Bandida motorcycles are two Argentinian Industrial Designers who devote their spare time to...
Thankfully, 3 years ago, Ivor spotted something that motivated him to revisit his forgotten project. “I came across an old...
Let’s take a closer look at them… Kawasaki Z900RS Café Kawasaki had already unveiled their stunning new Z900RS at the Tokyo...
Shortly after moving to New Braunfels, Texas we became friends with Karly Kothmann and her husband Tanner. Blake and I...
“The idea we discussed was to make a simple, beastly motorcycle,” Fre recalls. “A clean and pure machine that was all...
This project began last September. I had just sold my ‘79 Honda CB750 named ‘smooth sailing’ to a famous NFL...
One builder who perfectly blends race track styling into his road-going motorcycles it’s Pepo Rosell of XTR Pepo. However, to...
“The ’73 CB350F came to the workshop as a reasonably well-done cafe racer with a quite tidy tail section and...
“We wanted a fully customized bike with modern cafe racer styling and bulletproof reliability,” says Iñaki. “Because of that, we...
The team at Honda Indonesia have been watching the scene closely and for 2017 have launched a new initiative to...
One of Edi’s latest achievements is this 1981 Honda CB900 cafe racer. It’s one of two new builds to roll...
A surefire way to look really goddamn cool is to be seen stretched out over a long, low fuel tank,...
“We have been so consumed with customer work that we haven’t been able to build a shop bike since we...
Thankfully the F2’s engine was its saving grace. Even though the bike used a detuned version of Honda’s air-cooled inline...
Starting life as a 1989 Honda CG125, the “De Palma 05” is the latest machine to roll out of their...
Ironically, this journey began with a puncture. A nail to the rear tire a few weeks into owning my Honda...
When I started pulling this list together I was expecting to get a fairly balanced bunch of bikes. By this,...
Ten years after Honda turned the motorcycling world on its head with the release of the CB750, they decided it...
Why is it that when you really want to focus on something life throws a constant stream of distractions at...
After picking the best of the two 1966 Honda CB160s we decided that this would be a build completed entirely...
I stuck with motorcycles mainly because they take up less space than cars, and are generally cheaper. I got into...
The project and the donor bike arrived at the Kerkus workshop via Singapore. After an artist from the Lion City...
After 2 years of running his business after hours, Wido managed to turn Wimoto into his full-time career and now, 2.5...
After the success of the K0, thanks to Dick Mann’s efforts at the Daytona 200 on the Honda CR750 racebike,...
Our first build was Zeke’s “Lucky” Honda CB200 cafe racer. He tells me he’s done the ton on it, but...
“I’m a carpenter by trade and have always worked with my hands. I started riding a motorbike in March 2014...
I’ve had a rather unhealthy obsession with Honda’s CR750 for as long as I can recall. I think it stems...
Rob Chappell of Canada’s ‘Origin8or’ workshop is no stranger to customising Honda’s CB900F. A few years back he built one...
Dual Sport motorcycles have very different proportions to your average cafe racer, so Isidore set about salvaging and retro-fitting the...
Thanks to a huge increase in the popularity of the custom motorcycle scene many hobby builders have turned a passion...
“My first encounter with motorcycles goes back to when I was a child, maybe 8 or 9 years old. My...
So how did KickMoto get started? Jeff: We all met through a mutual friend and hit it off because of...
When he’s not designing race-winning catamarans, French-Canadian professor in electronics, Sylvain Carignan likes to turn his hand to custom motorcycle...
“I studied industrial design in university where I developed my own design aesthetic” explains Spencer. “During my studies I also...
Daryl Villanueva, the main man behind Bandit9 got in touch to tell us about this exclusive limited edition machine. “It’s...
Since moving to the States from Japan Kiyo has played an important part in the Californian custom scene working on...
“It all started with my toy bikes as a child. I would cut off parts with my scissors and colour...
“Lex was very specific about his wishes.” says Bran. “As the owner of an advertisement company, he had a very...
Can you imagine the horror at Moto Guzzi’s HQ when Honda unveiled their first CX500 in 1978? A Japanese manufacturer...
Bad Winners workshop owner Walid was exposed to working on motorcycles from an early age. Tinkering on bikes with an...
A few years back I met Cliff Overton, a fellow cafe racer enthusiast, and backyard builder. When Cliff completed his...
“My bike is a 1976 Honda CB750K6. I have been working on it on and off for about a year...
After deciding to open their workshop back in 2015 this was the second custom build that the Wrench Kings undertook...
For anyone who enjoys tinkering with motorcycles, there will come a day when you’ll need to invest in some real...
Much like their Honda CB550 “SL” cafe racer the CB350 has undergone a comprehensive rebuild. “Marek rebuilt the engine completely”...
“As a child my father used to race enduro and motocross professionally but had to retire early because he had...
