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The world's most exciting custom motorcycles and cafe racers.

"Le Caffage": Ducati 848 by Apogee Motorworks
6/8/2015 12:01:28 PM

There’s a definite formula when it comes to customizing motorcycles. After all, there are only so many ways you can change the look of a bike without resorting to extreme (and expensive) fabrication.

But there are a few builders who throw the rulebook out of the window, freely experimenting with new shapes and styles. In Europe, Fred Krugger and El Solitario spring to mind; in the US, Revival Cycles and Max Hazan frequently push the limits.

Gustavo Pena of Apogee Motoworks is another one of those pioneers. The LA-based cinematographer builds extraordinary Ducatis that look like nothing else on earth. This is his latest creation, “Le Caffage”—a 2009-spec Ducati 848 worthy of a starring role in Tron.

Gustavo set out to design a bike that looks futuristic, but has elements of neo-classic style too. “As if Ducati produced a bike in 2050 paying homage to a bike from 2030,” he says.

The design elements are very deliberate, dominated by an oversized gas tank with vintage café proportions. Gustavo has also modified the trellis frame to edge it closer to traditional lines, flowing into an minimalist but comfortable saddle.

The twin exhausts—handcrafted in stainless steel—mirror the voluptuous curves of the upper bodywork. But the most attention-grabbing aspect is the headlight, an aggressively lidded design that also houses the speedo and adds an air of menace to the machine.

“A normal round drum headlight from eBay would just not cut it!” says Gustavo. Guided by the volume and silhouette of the fuel tank, he’s shaped the carbon fiber headlight to accentuate the 848’s predatory stance—”Like that of a lion, a bull, or a shark.”

Gustavo also found inspiration from his Russian girlfriend: her cheekbones suggested the delicate lines and chiseled side profile of the headlight. Eagle-eyed petrolheads will spot that the LED light unit itself is lifted from a BMW i8.

The 848 engine has been heavily upgraded with NCR parts, including titanium valves, a slipper clutch, and a full set of titanium bolts and fasteners. The pistons are from Ferracci and the titanium connecting rods are from Pankl.

Rather than hide the typical superbike radiator, Gustavo has designed carbon fiber structural intakes with the help of a composite specialist from F1. They neatly blend with the 848’s immense radiator and the imposing gas tank.

South of the radiator is more carbon fiber, this time a belly pan that shrouds the oil cooler and lower part of the engine.

Then the entire front and rear suspension was disassembled. Every single aluminum part has been polished to a jewel-quality finish, and then sprayed with a 3M sealant to keep it maintenance free.

Many other parts have been powder coated and then treated to a ceramic coating on top—including the entire trellis frame, the swingarm, rear sets and the forged Marchesini racing wheels. Both wheels are shrouded with custom carbon huggers.

And the name “Le Caffage”? It’s a neologism, a made-up word alluding to the café style, and came out of a conversation between Gustavo and a French friend.

If your appetite is whetted, you’ll be glad to know that a limited run of Apogee Ducatis has just started. The donor bikes are not only the Ducati 848, but also 1098s and Streetfighters. And each will have its own distinctive characteristics.

To put a true original in your garage, drop Gustavo a line via his website.

Apogee Motorworks | Instagram

 

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Bike EXIF

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The world's most exciting custom motorcycles and cafe racers.

Hero 01: Holographic Hammer's Ducati Scrambler
6/10/2015 12:08:19 PM

If the name Sylvain Berneron isn’t familiar to you, then Holographic Hammer should be. It’s the alias under which Sylvain’s designed some of the neatest custom motorcycle concepts we’ve seen.

As an experienced automotive designer, Sylvain ensures that his designs are always executable in the metal. But not everything he pens ends up getting built. So he’s partnered with his brother, Florent, to open a full service workshop.

The new Holographic Hammer shop’s located in a forest, less than twenty miles from Paris. This slick Ducati Scrambler is their first official build.

It was commissioned by Ducati themselves, in partnership with French magazine Moto Heroes. Sylvain’s résumé speaks for itself, so the brief was completely open.

"We had a few rides on the Scrambler when we were still discussing the project," says Sylvain, "it handles really well and is very fun to ride."

"But for us a scrambler is a bike you want to live with daily—you'll scratch it, go through mud and dirt and even fall over.”

Rather than build a dirt bike that would be too precious to abuse, the decision was made to produce something clean, road-biased and performance orientated. A café racer in the traditional sense—but loaded with modern technology.

"When I was doing my research, I noticed that a lot of the original 1962 Scramblers ended up being café racers back then," explains Sylvain. "The bike was so light that you could brake very late and turn quick."

After a week of going back and forth on ideas and sketches, the project was under way. But the brothers had some significant performance upgrades in mind, so the word was put out for potential sponsors.

Rotobox hooked the guys up with a pair of 17" carbon racing wheels, wrapped in sport rubber from Pirelli. Beringer took care of the braking duties with their 4D system. Since the Scrambler has just hit the market, Sylvain and Florent had to machine various spacers for everything to fit.

Rizoma supplied an array of bolt-on bits, including (among other things) crash bobbins, brake fluid reservoirs and rear-set foot controls. The silencer is from Werkes USA, mounted to the stock (but slightly adapted) Ducati headers.

"Some say custom is all about ‘do it yourself’ or ‘built not bought’," says Sylvain. "We focus on our strength which is designing and building one off parts and bikes—but when it comes to developing racing brakes and rims, we prefer to team up with people who have the knowledge and experience."

Cognito Moto got in on the action too, supplying a rear frame loop with an integrated LED tail light and turn signals. The guys added it to the all-new subframe that they’d fabricated, topping it off with a custom, brown leather seat.

Underneath the seat is a hand-made battery box, and the wiring’s been modified slightly. The front fender’s a one-off item, and Holographic Hammer added cutaways to the engine covers to show off the cam belts. There’s also a new side stand, designed to clear the relocated foot pegs.

Up front, the Scrambler’s been upgraded with a set of 43mm, upside-down Showa forks. To make the setup fit, the triple clamps and steering head had to be modified. The headlight and speedo have been repositioned, thanks to custom brackets, and the cockpit’s finished off with a pair of clip-ons.

"We tried to make changes that look as stock as possible," explains Sylvain. "The bike has to stay visually coherent, as if it was produced that way."

With that in mind, the final color scheme was kept tasteful and simple. The fuel tank is still the stock Scrambler unit—stripped and treated to an anti-rust coating, with matte black side panels. The frame was also stripped down, and finished with a clear epoxy.

Holographic Hammer’s Scrambler (now dubbed ‘Hero 01′) is not only immaculately finished, but it’s over 40lbs lighter. Add to that upgraded brakes and suspension, and it should be even more fun to ride than before.

And if you’d like to see it in the flesh, it’ll be making its debut this weekend at the Wheels & Waves festival in Biarritz.

Holographic Hammer | Facebook | Instagram

 

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'88 Harley Sportster – Adam's Custom Shop
6/10/2015 9:00:22 AM

Ever had one of those dreams where you feel like you really need to do something, but somehow you never manage to? Maybe it’s a place you have to be or a task you have to complete.  Whatever the case, the harder you try in the dream the more unlikely you’ll be to make any progress. And in the end you’ll wake up with an incredible sense of frustration. Got the idea? Well, now you know how we feel about this bike. It’s one we first laid eyes on in 2012 and we’ve literally spent three years trying to get our hands on it – and now it’s here. Call it lucid dreaming. Call it luck. Hell, call it divine intervention. Presenting a bike that took a biblical one thousand days to get here. It’s Adam Nestor’s 'Sporganic' Sportster Harley.

Adam first came to our attention after his 'Madame Guzzi' boardtracker graced our pages in 2010. Sporganic was built in 2012 and although we only got glimpses of the finished product, we liked what we saw. But then, due to his dislike of the peanut gallery that is anonymous social media comments (join the club) and a ton of interest from Sweden’s MCM bike magazine, he elected to keep things strictly offline. Fast forward to this month and after three years of subtle (and not-so-subtle) persuasion, he finally came around. Clearly, there is a god.

"The initial idea was to build a woodie-inspired bike, so it was named the 'Project Woodie Sportster,' says Adam from his shop while enjoying the early Swedish summer. "I started off by acquiring an '88 Sporster 1200cc engine from my neighbor who runs a company called Sportster Specialist here in Rävlanda." Adam’s vision was to build a bike with organic, rounded shapes and rear shock absorber that would sit between some old-school split tanks.

"So, I started to build the front. I’d been toying with the idea of a springer setup, but I wasn’t really sure how I was going to pull it of. Would I make it from scratch, source an old unit or buy one new? Then I found myself surfing the net. I found the ideal fork design from a photo of a '40s hillclimbing bike. It was perfect. And then a bit more of a search on Germany’s Wwag.com turned up gold."

Just imagine the thought that went into that

Adam’s next job was with the cylinders. "I though the engine cases looked too new, so I sourced a set from a 2004 sportster that I then redesigned to get a rounder shape. Basically, there’s four rows of fins that have been removed to get the look I was after." The finishing touches here included an S&S carb, complete with Adam’s own jets (!) and choke controls.

The front hub was then fabbed up from scratch and the rear hoop is essentially a Triumph unit that Adam broadened to get it just right. "The saddle was a different challenge altogether. I wanted it to look like an old bicycle seat with a underside that allowed you to see the springs and frame. Once I had managed that, I made myself the leather cover and the aluminium supporting plate."

Sweden has a death penalty?

Then came a raft of smaller bespoke parts, including the bars, foot rests, front hub, headlight and tail light and even the paint. He also finished off the pants-wittingly sweet tanks, with the right one flagged for fuel and the left for oil and electricals. As a final touch, Adam revisited his original 'woodie' idea by asking his dad, a carpenter by trade, to create a set of wooden grips. The final look with the antique green, cream, leather, wood and brass touches is clearly masterful and utterly magic.

"The bike was completed in January, 2013. At the end of 2013, I was nominated for a 'Bike of the Year" award. I was blown away when I actually won. I also took home 'Best in Show' at the 2013 Custom Motor Show in Jönköping." As with many bikes of this quality, it’s since been sold to a private collector in Sweden – we can’t help but wonder if they need a test rider or two to air the collection out every now and then.

A build shot showing the twin tank and shock arrangement in detail

And in response to the peanut gallery, Adam was quick to point out that the bike was never intended to be a daily rider. "No, you can’t go on vacation through Europe on it and there’s nowhere to mount a GPS. That’s not why I built it. I built it because I wanted to create something completely original. Yes, the bike is perhaps more art than vehicle, but it’s also amazing to see in the flesh and I’m extremely happy with it how it turned out."

Adam atop Sporganic

So, one thousand days later and here you have it. We spent three years tying to get it on the site and now it’s a reality. We’d tell you that we could have spent our time doing something more productive, but we’d be lying. It’s been worth every second.

 

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Yamaha Yard Built XV950 'Playa del Rey' by Matt Black Custom
6/9/2015 7:38:03 AM

Words by Ian Lee.

I’m a sucker for a board track racer. V-twin low slung bikes, with handlebars that droop so low they make clip-ons look like ape hangers. Their styling is perpetually cool, and the inspiration for this off the chain custom. When Yamaha Europe were looking for their latest workshop to collaborate with for the next ‘Yard built’ project, they made their way to sunny San Pedro, to the Matt Black Custom workshop. Known for their ability to mix old school cool with late model reliability, this Spanish workshop is the best choice for a fresh take on Yamaha’s cruiser. Meet Matt Black’s own take on the Yamaha XV950, ‘Playa del Ray’.

Taking Yamaha’s low and lazy boulevarde cruiser, the idea was to utilise all of Matt Black’s technical team to create a ride ‘paying tribute to the board track racers of 100 years ago’. To do this, a range of  ‘one off’ parts have been manufactured, along with bolt on mods from Matt Black’s own shelves, to allow all XV950 riders to get their piece of ‘Playa’ action.

From the front to the back, little remains of the aesthetics of the metric cruiser. The original fuel tank has been chucked and in its place is an angular unit, fashioned up by the workshop’s own Anthony Partridge, with the fuel cap supplied by Crafty B out of the States. Anthony is also responsible for some of the other trick parts on the bike. To give the switch gear function as well as form, Kurt Lohse used his technical skills to ensure the layout of the Rebufini switch sets looked good and were laid out to suit the new dropped handlebar styling.

To keep XV owners happy, a range of bolt on parts were knocked up to fit. The 21 inch rims, cushion drive rear pulley, plexiglass cam gear cover as well as a raft of extras have been fitted to the Yammie. An adaptor plate was knocked up to mount the Crime Scene air filter cover. Exhaust is stock XV950 headers, matched to a custom collector and finished with a modified MIVV Ghibli silencer.

Keeping with the old school theme to the build, the front end now sports a Rebufini springer front fork, slightly modified to suit the XV. The factory bars have been reworked, in order to gain that board tracker aesthetique. Braking power has been beefed up at the front end with a set of PM calipers, and handling at the rear has been improved by a set of Ohlins shock absorbers.

According to Shun Miyazawa of Yamaha: ‘This combination of new and old mixed together is something we saw in the work of Matt Black's previous builds As a result we knew they were the right people to take on the latest XV950 Yard Built project and the result is amazing. They've kept all the fun of the standard bike, but shown you can use it as a base to easily build something iconic with a perfect blend of vintage and modern without compromising the ride." ‘Nuff said really.

 

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Bike EXIF

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The world's most exciting custom motorcycles and cafe racers.

Très Chic: Café Racer Dreams' BMW R100
6/9/2015 12:01:20 PM

Despite the flood of BMW customs hitting the streets, certain workshops can be counted on to consistently produce good examples. Like Café Racer Dreams—who’ve shown their prowess yet again with this elegant Boxer.

CRD #58 is an 84-model BMW R100, and it was built for a regular of the Madrid-based shop who lives in Nice, France. (This is his third CRD bike, with a fourth on order.)

The brief was to produce a Boxer custom that would buck current design trends—in stylish fashion. Luckily CRD’s Pedro García and Efraon Triana are a pretty versatile team, and masters of good aesthetic judgement.

A sketch on a napkin was all it took to get the client excited and the project rolling. But early in the process, ideas started changing.

"The drawing on the napkin was based on the original R100 fuel tank," says Pedro. "But we wanted to put a smaller tank on".

The guys had a 1972 Puch Minicross tank lying around the workshop. So they tried it out and showed their client, who immediately fell in love with the shape.

Next on the agenda was the rear end, with CRD ditching the subframe in favour of a solo seat configuration. This pushed the shock mounts significantly forward, so a pair of Hagon XL shocks were fitted to compensate for the gap.

The seat itself is custom-made, and has a LED tail light built into it. The rear fender is a re-purposed R100 front fender, mounted on a hand-made brace.

Up front are the forks, front hub and brake disc from a 1994 BMW F650. The hub’s laced to a 19" rim, matched to an 18″ spoked setup at the rear. Both wheels are shod with Continental TKC80 tires.

Moving to the engine, CRD fitted a pair of K&N filters and ditched the air box. In its place is a custom aluminum battery box—which subtly completes the contour of the engine block. It also houses a Motogadget m-Unit control unit, around which the whole bike’s been rewired.

Other Motogadget components include the speedo, switches and bar-end turn signals. The bars are set of inverted Renthal Ultra Lows, fitted with Biltwell Inc. Kung-Fu grips. They’re held in place by a new set of of handlebar risers, mounted on a custom triple clamp.

CRD finished off the build with a smattering of parts from their own online store—including the headlight, reverse-cone mufflers and Tarozzi rear-sets. The ignition’s been relocated to the side of the bike, just underneath the fuel tank.

The paint job is a nod to BMW’s iconic motorsport liveries: white, with blue and red stripes and traditional roundels. The engine’s been cleaned up, and the rest of the components have been finished in black.

CRD #58 is as classy and tasteful as we’ve come to expect from Pedro and Efraon. And we’re more than a little jealous that we won’t be blasting around Nice on it.

Photos by Enrique Pacheco | Café Racer Dreams website | Facebook | Instagram

 

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