Bike EXIF

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Bike EXIF

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

New and Noted: Motorcycle Jackets
5/31/2015 12:01:04 PM

If you’re looking for a motorcycle jacket with timeless styling, you’re spoilt for choice right now.

Long-established brands are plundering their archives for classic designs to update. And upstart makers are taking traditional styles—like quilted shooting jackets—and adapting them for motorcycle use.

Here’s our pick of the best new (or should that be old?) designs.

Pagnol M2 California-based Pagnol is riding high on the success of its beautifully constructed, vintage-styled M1 motorcycle jackets. That single piece of clothing has become a favorite with high-profile bike builders such as Walt Siegl and Alex Earle—as well as design luminaries such as Robert Egger, creative director of Specialized Bicycles.

This week, Pagnol launched its second jacket, the $625 M2, which adopts the ‘retro yet modern’ vibe seen on bikes such as the BMW R NineT, the Ducati Scrambler and Husqvarna’s 401 concepts. It’s built using tumble-aged cowhide that will look better as the years go by, and includes accordion panels for a comfortable fit and a mesh lining with inserts for the armor of your choice. The main color is black, but Pagnol is also producing a limited run of 50 M2s in a ‘dirty cream’ finish.

Get yours direct from the Pagnol website, or via selected retailers such as Union Garage NYC or Urban Rider in the UK.

Alpinestars Oscar Brass Alpinestars has a long and rich heritage that goes back to its days as a motocross boot specialist in the early 1960s. The Italian company is now capitalizing on that heritage with its retro-themed Oscar range, headlined by this very classy café racer style jacket.

The $580 Brass jacket is crafted from supple, full-grain leather finished with an ‘artisanal tanning treatment,’ and includes removable CE-certified shoulder and elbow armor. (There’s a pocket for a back protector too if you wish to add one.) The leather is perforated on the sleeves to improve ventilation, and the trims, snap buttons and rivets have that genuine vintage feel.

It’s one of those jackets that look old even when new. Choose from Black or Brown styles. [Buy]

Roland Sands Seeker This is the kind of motorcycle jacket that would look right at home on a vintage Triumph or BSA. The all-over quilting is reminiscent of English hunting attire: it’s a practical cotton/poly/nylon blend with a traditional waxed finish.

It’s a true motorcycle cut though, with rotated, pre-curved sleeves and pockets for you to add shoulder, elbow and back protectors. You also get a soft cotton plaid lining, a suede-trimmed collar, and underarm venting to keep you cool. [Buy]

Richa Memphis Unless you live in Europe, you probably haven’t heard of Richa. But the Belgian company has been operating for almost 60 years, and has a superb range of ‘vintage’ leather motorcycle jackets. Our pick is the Memphis finished in ‘Cognac,’ a rich mid-brown color.

The chassis is buffalo leather, with a quilted effect on the upper body. You get CE-approved flexible armor for the shoulder and elbows, and a removable lining for temperature control. It’s exceptional value at just £250—around US$385—and available from Urban Rider. [Buy]

Spidi Roadrunner The latest from Spidi is like a softer, modern update of a classic Schott Perfecto, complete with slanted chest pocket but minus the fussy detailing. The outer is fine Italian cowhide, 1.1mm thick, and you also get CE-certified Level 1 armor for the elbows and shoulders.

There’s a removable thermal liner and the waist is adjustable for a precise fit. The $450 Roadrunner is an appealing mix of modern Italian materials and vintage Anglo-American styling—a perfect match for bikes like the Triumph Thruxton or Moto Guzzi V7. [Buy]

 

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

Eight Ball: A Yamaha XJ400 cafe racer from Kiev
5/29/2015 12:01:35 PM

We’re used to seeing gorgeous café racers roll out of Western European workshops, but today we’re venturing a little further east. This classy Yamaha comes straight out of Kiev, Ukraine.

Ukraine has been on television screens for all the wrong reasons lately, so it’s good to bring a little good news: there’s a thriving motorcycle scene, and it’s spawned this very neat café racer.

Nazar Poznyakovsky has been riding since he was fourteen, and wrenching since seventeen. Under the auspices of the Gazzz Garage name, he now repairs and customizes motorcycles.

There’s a bit of history with this 1979 Yamaha XJ400. Nazar bought it over ten years ago, repaired it and sold it, never expecting to see it again. Then it popped up on his radar again—after an accident—and was 250km away. After a long trip through snow-bound roads, Nazar squeezed the bike into the trunk of a friend’s small car and took it back home again.

Very little of the original bike remains. The frame is still there, but it’s been modified. The engine is now from a XJ600, upgraded with a XJ600 Diversion cylinder block, and ported and polished heads. It’s hooked up to a set of pod filters and a four-into-one Sebring exhaust system. Nazar repainted the engine himself, baking it in a home-made, foil-lined box.

Under the seat is a custom-made box to house the re-wired electrics—and just in front of it are covers for the filters. "A clear frame triangle and no front fender always look good," explains Nazar, "but only before the first ride in rain. I’ve had thousands of miles under showers and hundreds under snow falls, and had that in mind."

The suspension bears the hallmarks of a practical builder too. Up front is a 26mm FZ600 front fork with a modified air pressure system. It’s mated to the frame with XJ600 lower and FZ600 upper triple trees. The FZ also donated its braking system, linked via Hel braided steel hoses.

The rear shocks are fully adjustable Kawasaki Zephyr items, altered with Honda CB400 Super Four springs. They’re attached to a modified Honda XL600R swingarm.

Both wheels are 17-inch tubeless Honda XL600RM units. The front is laced to a Yamaha XV750 hub with custom spokes, while the rear retains the XL600’s drum brake. The tires are from Pirelli: a MT60 at the rear and a MT90 at the front. They’re classified as dual-sport rubber, but they’ve got excellent road manners.

The fuel tank is yet another interloper, taken from a Kawasaki KZ650. It’s been kitted with a Suzuki GS750 petcock, and a very classy fuel gauge tank cap from QSPS.

Off-the shelf parts include a 6¼-inch Bates-style headlight, Daytona turn signals and an Acewell ‘all-in-one’ digital dash. The grips are from Motomi and the fork gaitors from MotoLanna.

Nazar also hand made the front fender, footpegs, license plate bracket, chain guard, and turn signal and oil cooler mounts. The clips-ons and mirrors are his work too.

"I made many parts twice," he admits. "Once just to check their functionality, and then to be better looking."

When everything went off to the painter, Nazar suddenly realized he didn’t know what to put on the tank. So with the help from friends, he finally designed a Gazzz Garage logo. The cut-outs on the side are a reference to the bike’s name, ‘Eight Ball.’

It took Nazar a full two years to complete his XJ400, hampered by limited resources and political unrest in his country. But against all odds, he’s done a tremendous job.

What’s Ukrainian for “perseverance pays off”?

Gazzz Garage | Images by Nazar Poznyakovsky

 

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1976 Kawasaki KZ650 by Krakenhead Customs
5/29/2015 6:17:31 AM

Words by Martin Hodgson.

Son of a gun we’ll have big fun on the Bayou, only this son of a gun is the offspring of the legendary Kawasaki Z1 and the Bayou is replaced by the historic streets of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Built by Krakenhead Customs this is a daily rider that pays homage to the golden years of Kawasaki's Z bikes that along with Honda's CB series introduced the world to 4 cylinders across the frame, big disc front ends and became the inspiration for all modern sports bikes.

This son of a Z1 is a 1976 Kawasaki KZ 650 B1 that had spent its past 13 years abandoned and unloved in a Slovenian barn. Green Glory as it is known was built with the inspiration of those glory years in mind, but with enough custom touches to show the world just what Krakenhead Customs can do and key to the build, it had to remain roadworthy. The entire frame was cleaned up and a new rear hoop added to be able to mount the seat they had in mind. Slight tweaks were made to the geometry and new shock mounts fabricated before the whole thing was painted black.

Mounted to those new shock points are a set of longer chrome shocks that give the bike a far more aggressive stance. Further bringing the Z closer to terra firma are the lowered front shocks that were then treated to polished legs. Needing a rear fender to remain roadworthy but not wanting to lose that under seat space that shows off the raised rear, Luka and the team made the decision to create a fender that rides close to the tire just like the front end. Custom brackets hold it all in place and modifications were cleverly made to ensure it never fouls the tyre even on the hardest of bumps.

All the vital engine parts have been overhauled or renewed to bring the 650 back to its former glory. The baby Z was a quick bit of kit back in the 70's, capable of 12 second quarter miles that left almost every other middleweight bike well and truly in its dust. Adding a few more ponies are the fitment of the stunning Marving 4-1 exhaust and K&N filters. The whole engine was thoroughly cleaned and detailed, while the side covers are heavily polished. Further cleaning up the look of the Z is the under seat box that holds all the wiring and other miscellaneous objects that would otherwise clutter the clean lines of the bike. The standard braking was fairly capable in its day but giving the rider extra confidence are master cylinder and levers that come from a Suzuki GSXR 1000.

Having polished the fork legs and the side covers it was hard not to go further, so the same treatment was given to the triple trees, wheels, switch blocks and clip ons. While further individualising comes in the way of engraved Krakenhead logos that have been neatly carved into the levers and the tank cap. Beautifully offsetting all the polished metal is the one off leather seat that is both stylish and comfortable enough for daily duties.

All Krakenhead builds now and into the future receive one signature item, the "Kraken" headlamp, taken from the NSU Supermax they are then modified to fit the application before receiving a Royal Enfield speedo and idiot lights for functionality. But it's hard to look at this build for any length of time and not be truly impressed by the paint work. Just like the rest of the build it pays homage to the golden days of Z bikes but with a Krakenhead twist. Green Glory had to follow the Z1 green paint scheme so the tank and rear fender were first coated in the classic Kawasaki green but with a candy effect. The Z fading grey belt is perfectly replicated on the tank and the white pin striping is all done by hand. While the rear fender has its sides left in brush metal, finished in clear coat to protect it from the elements.

With the KZ650 build a huge success Krakenhead customs have already started work on a radical overhaul of a KZ 1000 and Honda GL 1000 and if Green Glory is anything to go by the streets of Ljubljana are set for a wild ride!

 

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

Old Iron: A vintage-style Harley Sportster custom
5/28/2015 12:01:45 PM

Most custom bikes are easy to label: scrambler, café racer, streetfighter and so on. Others are impossible to categorize, but immediately grab the eye.

This is one of the tricky ones. It’s not traditional Bike EXIF fare, but we love it. It’s a Harley-Davidson Sportster custom from the German workshop Altes Eisen—which means ‘Old Iron.’

“Old iron is what we build, and prefer,” says co-founder Dirk. “Our bikes are far away from the modern generation—no fuel injection, engine remapping or ABS.” Like many of the best builders, they strive for simplicity and would rather hammer metal than mold plastic.

And they’re good at it. This 1987 Harley Sportster, nicknamed El Cochino (‘filthy pig’), has been shot by top German photographer Ben Grna for the cover of the influential German magazine Custombike.

“It’s a conscious mixture of different styles,” says Dirk. “A little bit bobber, a little bit café racer. It’s a rustic looking but rideable bike.”

The raw sheet metal has been phosphated and clear-varnished to preserve the old-fashioned, handcrafted look.

It’s fun to play spot-the-part: the air cleaner is a modified Lambretta horn cover, and the points cover is a vintage ‘peephole’ door viewer. The front brake drum is engraved by hand (and chisel).

The effect is old. It’s a cornucopia of brass, copper and rivets, giving the impression of a bike built a hundred years ago—without descending into steampunk territory.

The hand-beaten scalloped tank is based on an old moped design, hooked up with copper lines, and the seat covering is antique-style leather—neatly attached to the tail unit with snap fasteners.

The internals of the 883 EVO engine are stock, but Altes Eisen have replaced the original carburetor with an S&S Super E. The free-flowing custom pipes sit high, scrambler-fashion, but the wrapping will keep heat away from the rider’s right thigh. A SuperTrapp muffler keeps noise levels down.

Structural changes are extensive: the frame is shortened, and fitted with a beautiful springer fork from Zero Engineering. It’s a perfect match for the vintage style brass headlight surround and custom-made bars, which are fitted with an internal throttle cable.

The 16-inch wheels are Sanremo up front, Akront at the back. The blacked-out shocks are from Progressive Suspension, and there’s an SS Cycle sprocket brake on the rear wheel—an ingenious system similar to that found on go-karts.

The sprocket does double duty, acting as a disc brake rotor as well as taking drive from the chain.

At the deepest level, ‘El Cochino’ is a rolling showcase for traditional metalworking and fabrication skills. It doesn’t sit easily with conventional labels—but Altes Eisen are going their own way, and they’re on the right track.

Altes Eisen | Facebook | Images by Da Guru | Da Guru Facebook | Instagram

 

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2012 KTM 500 EXC by Cab Moto
5/28/2015 10:01:23 AM

Words by Ian Lee | Photos by Seth Beckton

When you grow up riding dirt bikes in Colorado, you get a good feel for what a decent bike is. That’s where the builder of this KTM custom started out, stirring up the dirt on the trails of the American wilderness. With a build brief based on a Roland Sands design, this 2012 KTM 500EXC has been given a full work over, while retaining the reputation this model has to be thrown around on the dirt. Built by Cab Moto for an ex motocross rider, as Casey the builder says himself ‘I have a tendency to want to turn street bikes into dirt bikes and dirt bikes into street bikes. I guess they turn out somewhere in the middle. Which is very functional for where I live’. This Austrian trailblazer definitely is the machine for taking on those dirt roads, as well as the ability to ride the tarmac to get to them.

The build began when Casey had his next door come over with a picture of the Roland Sands/Kurt Caselli KTM and a fresh 500EXC with only 20 hours on the clock. With the direction set for the way the build was to go, the practically new bike was stripped of it’s plastics and fueltank, then the factory sub frame given the heave ho. A new, softer angled sub frame was manufactured and mounted, along with new fenders and bracketry.

From there, Casey set about the task of fabricating a new fuel tank. Which turned out a little harder than he originally thought because he had never done a fuel injected bike before, due to a need for machined parts to complete the build process. Once the tank was mounted, a new battery and electrical junction box was fitted to the frame. The ubiquitous trimmer, Ginger of New Church Moto, produced the immaculate orange stitched leather cushion, sitting atop a seat pan of Casey’s own making.

In relation to performance this bike is a weapon, even in stock form. As Casey said about the build ‘I was really excited to start with something this awesome’, so performance upgrades have been kept simple. The air filter is now Uni open air intake, and the exhaust system is a Werkes setup from a Yamaha R6. Rolling stock are 18 runs laced up by Woody’s Wheel Works, running Excel rims on RAD hubs. The rubber chosen for the build is Mefo Super Explorer Rubber.

When it came to the paint job, Casey had a good idea of what he wanted, leaving the work in the hands of Wrench Face Motors. Thanks to their quality work, in the words of the builder ‘the work turned out better than I could have imagined’. An interesting touch to the build is that nothing has been changed that can’t easily be changed back to stock should the need/legalities arise.

Built on a solid platform, this KTM trail blazer is a part of an evolution of Cab Moto’s building style. From the CL360 that was featured here last on Pipeburn, you can see how the Colorado workshop is taking their builds new and exciting places. Just like you would if you owned this bike really.

 

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