Classic motorcycles, custom motorcycles and cafe racers
Bob Jobs: The Bike EXIF guide to bobber motorcycles in 2024
27 April 2024 @ 11:57 am
Strip it back to the bare essentials, and make it lighter, faster and cooler. It’s a recipe for success that dates back nearly as far as the motorcycle itself, and it’s no surprise that bobber motorcycles are one of the longest-standing forms of custom bikes.
Accepted theories date the inception of the bobber back as far as the late 1920s and early 30s, when riders started stripping off standard road equipment to shed weight and stand out from the crowd. Emulating competition bikes of the day (predominantly AMA dirt track), road riders commonly stripped front fenders, exhaust silencers and other add-ons, and rear fenders were shortened drastically. In fact, the bobber
Big Bucks: Top 10 Sellers from Bonhams’ Spring Stafford Sale
26 April 2024 @ 5:03 pm
The classic motorcycle auction scene is booming, and Bonhams’ Spring Stafford Sale never fails to bring its share of headline-grabbing bikes with requisite hammer prices. April 21 concluded the 2024 event, and when the dust settled, 95% of the 365 lots were sold, for a total of £3 million [$3,743,865].
We’ve compiled the top 10 sellers from the sale here, including a host of iconic Brits and road-racing Hondas, seven of which brought six figures—or close to it anyway.
The DAB 1a: A limited edition boutique electric motorcycle from France
24 April 2024 @ 10:32 am
The rise of DAB Motors has been nothing short of meteoric. Simon Dabadie founded the boutique French motorcycle manufacturer in 2018, released the first Euro-compliant, made-to-order custom bike in 2019, and then pivoted to electric motorcycles in 2021 with a brutally minimalist prototype. Now, just three years on, that prototype is going into production as the limited edition DAB 1α.
The move comes a year after DAB’s acquisition by Peugeot Motocycles. Bringing DAB’s electric bike to market was a major fo
Supreme Seven Fifty: A brawny Honda CB750 from Germany
23 April 2024 @ 4:29 pm
Just when we think that the Honda CB750’s popularity is waning, we’re hit with another stellar custom build based on the venerable four-cylinder UJM. This time it’s the turn of Germany’s Himora Motors, who has just buttoned up this brawny Honda CB750 roadster.
Based near Jena, a city in the heavily forested state of Thuringia, Hiroma Motors is a custom motorcycle and bike apparel brand founded by Kay Riemann. A graphic and industrial designer by trade, Kay is a third-generation petrolhead who founded the company as a creative outlet. He’s joined by his father and experienced fabricator, Bernd, and a
Speed Read: A custom Harley-Davidson Pan America and more
21 April 2024 @ 5:01 pm
If you’re still sad about Harley never bringing the Bronx streetfighter to market, California’s Whiplash Speed Company has a custom Harley-Davidson Pan America that might just scratch your itch. Next, we feature a battle-ready Honda Dominator, a Yamaha Scorpio SX225 from Bali, and a 1972 Kawasaki H2-R with a racing pedigree.
Harley-Davidson Pan America by Whiplash S
Saturday special: An elegant three-wheeler with a Mazda engine
20 April 2024 @ 2:35 pm
Although Bike EXIF is dedicated to art on two wheels, our automotive interests are wide-ranging. Our publisher has an enviable car collection, our workshop editor, Dean, is a vintage snowmobile fiend, and I’ve been in love with the Morgan Super 3 ever since I test-drove it at the Malle Mile. So today we’re bending the rules, and bringing you a stunning three-wheeler that’s only really thirty percent motorcycle.
Dubbed the ‘MAC 2,’ it’s the second handmade three-wheeler from Indonesian engineer and vintage bike enthusiast, Cosmas Lili Sudrajat. Cosmas has a major crush
K-Speed strikes again with a menacing Honda Dax café racer
19 April 2024 @ 4:11 pm
When the Honda Dax was brought back into production a couple of years ago, K-Speed wasted little time getting their grubby paws on it. The Thai powerhouse’s founder, the mysterious Mr Eak, had a 50 cc Dax as a teenager—and the workshop is particularly good at customizing small Hondas. So a K-Speed-customized Dax was inevitable.
Two years on, and K-Speed is still finding interesting ways to cram massive levels of badassery into Honda’s bite-sized mini-bike. This time, they’ve turned the Dax into an uber-sassy—albeit impossibly compact—
La Dolce Vita: Cranking the Vespa GT 200 up to eleven
18 April 2024 @ 8:02 pm
We have a particular affinity for modern Vespa scooters around here. Our founding editor, Chris Hunter, used to commute on one in Sydney, I used to commute on one in Cape Town, and our good friend, Winston Yeh, bops around Taipei on his (a black one, naturally). But we wouldn’t have the first clue on how to customize a modern Vespa.
They’re cute enough as they are, begging to be lightly accessorized rather than heavily modified. It takes a lot of imagination to look past the iconic bodywork and see something radically different.
Four-cylinder Fury: A Honda Hornet café racer from France
16 April 2024 @ 8:04 pm
On paper, the late-2000s Honda CB600F Hornet is a great bike; a lively four-cylinder middleweight, widely praised for its rideability and reliability. But in the flesh, it’s hard to get excited about. Like most of Honda’s naked bikes, the steadfast Hornet lacks panache—which makes it prime material for customization.
This Honda Hornet café racer comes from Sébastien Vernaison in France—a part-time custom builder that works as Seb Kustom Motorcycle. He bought the bike a few years ago, customized it, and then decided to put it back under the knife to add even more swagger. And we’re glad he did,
Speed Read: An unapologetic Kawasaki KZ1000 from AC Sanctuary and more
14 April 2024 @ 6:45 pm
It’s been too long since AC Sanctuary graced our pages, so this week’s lead bike is an unapologetic Kawasaki KZ1000 from the Japanese masters of excess. We follow that up with a ridiculously potent Simson S51, a fresh club-style Harley-Davidson Sportster 833, and an immaculately restored BMW R80 G/S Paris Dakar.