2015 Ducati Scrambler

Looks awesome... and only 375 pounds. Check it out at Road & Track... they've got a series of posts about it.

Deus Ex Machina Yamaha 400 Thumper Scrambler Kit

Deus Ex Machina Yamaha 400 Kit

The crew at Deus has put together a kit for customizing the Yamaha SR400. It's got that vintage XT500 scrambler vibe; think of it as kind of a tribute to that popular classic. They call it a "custom meant to be customized." Put your own spin on it, make it more streettracker than scrambler, for example.

More on the SR400 here.

Here's another builder's take on the XT500 at the Pipeburn blog, this one an actual customized version of the original, from Mark Apland of Thumper Stuff in Monroe, WA.

Bratstyle Bikes

Bratstyle Yamaha SR400 Streettracker

I've been looking at "bratstyle" bikes from Japan this week. Seems to be a very popular concept in Nippon, and is catching on in some quarters here in the US. I can't really define the style, except to say that it seems to be a kind of mashup of bobber, cafe racer, and streetracker based on low-cost bikes, for example, the Yamaha SR400 and the Honda CB350.

Google around for bratstyle and you'll find a lot of cool bikes that are low-cost, everyday riders... Bratstyle.com is a good place to start, and check out  this post at the Bikers Cafe Blog.

BikeCraft on the New Generation of Custom Motorcycle Builders

Cafe Racer Dreams Ossa

If you are wondering what is happening in the world of custom bike building now, I highly recommend an informative and thoughtful article in the new, first edition BikeCraft magazine, titled "The State We're In." This lengthy piece features interviews with outstanding members of the new generation of bike builders from shops around the world. Of course the article is also embellished with a dozen great shots of their bikes. I'd recommend hustling down to your local newstand to pick up a copy for just this one article alone.

The folks at BikeCraft see that we are at the end of the era of "billet and bling," which is being replaced by a new aesthetic that favors a simple, clean look for low-cost, daily riders. What I find very cool is all the creative work that is in many cases being done with the most unlikely bikes, such as the Kawasaki WS650 or the Yamaha XS750... we're going way outside the old parameters of the world of Harley-Davidson V-twin based customs:

Wrenchmonkees Honda CB750 Cafe Racer

"Over the past five years, a new wave of custom builders has come through, swapping glitz and glamor for matte powdercoat, dark paint and slick retro graphics. Custom frames and raked-out forks are notable by their absence. These guys are rebuilding Japanese and European bikes from the '80s and '90s, and turning them into stripped-back fun machines."

We've blogged here already about some of the featured builders, such as Shaw Speed & Custom and Spirit of the Seventies, both of the UK, and Classified Moto and Falcon Motorcycles, both in the US.   

At the end of the article, author Chris Hunter conveniently gives a list of websites for all of the builders interviewed, plus a few more, under the heading, "Leaders of the Pack: New-Gen Bike Shops." For your convenience, I've included all of those links below.

Deus Kawi WS650 Streettracker

Cafe Racer Dreams, Spain
Hammarhead Industries, Philadelphia
Blitz Motorcycles, France
Classified Moto, Richmond, VA
Deus Customs, Australia, Bali, & Venice Beach, CA
Wrench Monkees, Copenhagen
Officine Rossopuro, Italy
Roland Sands Design, SoCal
Spirit of the Seventies, UK
Shaw Speed & Custom, UK
Falcon Motorcycles, SoCal

Metisse Limited Edition Steve McQueen Desert Sled

Rickman-Metisse Steve McQueen Scrambler

The Rickman brothers at Metisse Motorcycles are taking orders on a limited edition run of 300 Triumph desert sleds that they claim are faithful reproductions of the original that they built to Steve McQueen's specs years ago, right down to the custom footpegs, the 35mm Cerianis with 7" of travel, the Triumph front hub, BSA rear hub, and the BSA fork yokes.

The engines are period-correct reconditioned 650cc twins with single Amal carb.

Awhile back we posted about the new Triumph Steve McQueen T100... well, this bike is the truly fitting tribute to the late, great McQueen.  

If you are interested, go here to fill in your contact information and Metisse sales will contact you. 

      

Baja Iron Sportster Scramblers

Baja Iron Sportster Scrambler

Here's a something you don't see every day: A Sportster refashioned to be equally at home in the dirt and on the street... A Sportster Scrambler from Baja Iron in San Clemente, CA.

The Baja Iron Scrambler is the brainchild of Gary Streuter, a motorcycle enthusiast with years of desert, motorcross, hillclimbing, Super Motard, and street riding under his belt. Gary wanted a versatile bike, a multipurpose  "Adventure Bike", that was equally at home on a fire road or freeway, with big V-twin sound and power. So, he created this Sportster Scrambler and formed Baja Iron to do conversions for Sportster owners, and ultimately to bring conversion kits to market for the do-it-yourselfers. 

Another Example of the Breed

For a base price of $7,995, Baja Iron will take your 1986 to 2006 Sporty and convert it to a scrambler with long-travel inverted dirt forks, heavy-duty twin rear shocks, DOT on/offroad knobbies, a chain drive, and a set of dual-sport pipes tucked up high.

If you have a hankering to go adventuring on your Sportster, check out Baja Iron's terms here.

(The gorgeous green and yellow Sporty scrambler you see here is not a Baja Iron bike, but we liked it so much we just had to post the pic. See some more pics of it at the Derestricted design blog here.)