Classic motorcycles, custom motorcycles and cafe racers
Austrian Avalanche: Our 7 Favorite Custom KTM Motorcycles
18 December 2025 @ 7:00 pm
In the competitive world of high-performance motorcycling, few manufacturers embody the spirit of "Ready to Race" quite like KTM. Founded in Mattighofen, Austria, in 1934 (though motorcycle production began in the early 1950s), the company built its reputation in the dirt. From gruelling Dakar ralli...
Fluid Dynamics: A Neo-Retro TVS RR 310 Café Racer from Indonesia
17 December 2025 @ 5:29 pm
Smoked Garage turns the TVS Apache RR 310 single-cylinder sportbike into a fluid neo-retro café racer.The TVS Apache RR 310 might be small, but it's a firecracker. Its 312 cc single-cylinder mill makes 37.5 hp and 29 Nm, and comes with a six-speed transmission, a quick-shifter, and a suite of electr...
Two Decades of Taste: Heiwa's 20th Anniversary Triumph TR6 Café Racer
16 December 2025 @ 2:39 pm
Kengo Kimura commemorates Heiwa MC's 20th year with an award-winning 1965 Triumph TR6 café racer.Even if you're a one-man army, running a custom motorcycle workshop is a team sport. Every custom builder has their go-to suppliers, friends that drop by to offer moral support, and, most importantly, cu...
One More Seat: Six Unforgettable Custom Sidecar Motorcycles
15 December 2025 @ 7:00 pm
Nothing captures the romance of early motorcycling quite like a vintage sidecar rig. There’s a certain magic to the pre-war and post-war setups—images of Harley-Davidson Panheads and Indian Chiefs rolling down a dusty road, with elegant, streamlined sidecars attached. It evokes a golden age of two-w...
Mooneyes Calling: Marc Holstein Reports from the 2025 Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show
14 December 2025 @ 5:59 pm
The Japanese custom scene has always marched to the beat of its own drum—and nowhere is this more evident than at the annual Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show. Colloquially known as the Mooneyes Show, and hosted in the Pacifico Yokohama convention hall on the first weekend in December, the HRCS is a one-...
Performance Meets Panache: 7 Customs from Roland Sands Design
13 December 2025 @ 7:00 pm
The custom motorcycle scene is a melting pot of styles and philosophies, but few names have managed to stir the pot quite as consistently and compellingly as Roland Sands Design (RSD).More than just a custom shop, RSD is the brainchild of Roland Sands, a former AMA Grand Prix National Champion racer...
46Works Turns the Fantic Caballero Scrambler 700 into a Sporty Café Racer
13 December 2025 @ 6:18 pm
46Works frontman Shiro Nakajima's latest project is a Fantic Caballero Scrambler 700, reimagined as a sleek café racer with sporty intentions.Although the roster at the annual Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show is vast, there are a handful of Japanese custom builders that you can count on to deliver the g...
Cross-Country Contenders: 5 Custom BMWs We’d Ride Coast to Coast
12 December 2025 @ 7:00 pm
There’s a reason why, when you survey a parking lot on a grand touring route, you see a disproportionate number of machines wearing the blue-and-white roundel. BMW motorcycles have earned a reputation for unshakeable reliability and endurance, cementing their status as one of the ultimate cross-coun...
Carolina Reaper: A Red-Hot Royal Enfield Guerilla 450 Flat Tracker
11 December 2025 @ 4:40 pm
Flat track mad scientist Toshiyuki ‘Cheetah’ Osawa delivers a spicy Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 flat tracker as hot as the chili pepper it's named after.Peaking at 2.2 million Scoville units, the Carolina Reaper is widely considered the world’s hottest chili pepper. But it didn't get that way on its...
Boosted Beginnings: How Kawasaki Landed the First Turbocharged Bike on Showroom Floors
10 December 2025 @ 6:00 pm
Few motorcycles capture the sheer recklessness of late-1970s performance culture quite like the Kawasaki Z1-R Turbo. Born at a moment when horsepower wars were escalating faster than brakes, handling and emissions laws could keep up, the Z1-R TC arrived through a uniquely American workaround. Concei...