Bike exif

There’s a marvelous history of smaller motorcycle manufacturers in France, and the tradition shows no sign of abating. Mash Motors is probably the best known outside La République, but the most interesting company right now is DAB Motors. DAB is based in the beautiful city of Bayonne, in the Basque region of southwest France. We’ve already showcased their sharp-looking LM-S scrambler, but this new electric concept is the most significant step forward yet for founder Simon Dabadie and his…

In Thailand, Honda has just issued a limited edition of 125 ‘Gundam’ Monkey bikes. For those of you who are not up to speed on Japanese popular culture, Gundam is a robot (and science fiction franchise) with an impact comparable to Star Wars in the Western world. There are two themed Monkeys to choose from, and each comes with a box of goodies including jerseys, Bluetooth speakers, and display models. And for fans that want the complete look, there’s a range of matching helmets.

Based in a country where sub-250cc bikes rule, it’s no surprise that K-Speed has a serious knack for transforming small-displacement models into mean, menacing-looking machines. Despite the Thai shop’s proclivity for pint-sized projects, K-Speed has worked with all manner of donors, including full-size models—which again, shouldn’t come as a surprise considering it completed almost five dozen builds in 2018 alone. This latest build was commissioned by Yamaha Thailand to be released in…

Kymco isn’t a big name in the West, outside of scooter circles. But it’s a different story in their home country of Taiwan, where this custom Kymco KTR 150 hails from. The KTR is one of Kymco’s more popular models there—and as you can tell, it lends itself fairly well to customization. Taiwan’s custom scene is rapidly expanding, and the shop behind this KTR 150, Twentytwo Custom, is dedicated to the cause. They’re the custom branch of Persist Motorcycle Company—a Taiwanese motorcycle culture…

The popular Wheels and Waves festival returns to sunny Biarritz next week after a two year hiatus. So it's safe to assume that some European workshops are frantically buttoning up their bikes to show off at the event—or to compete in the infamous Punks Peak hillclimb. Newcomers Wayders are ahead of the curve though. They've just completed their first custom bike, a Yamaha MT-07 café racer, with time to spare. And it's a knockout debut performance from the Belgian outfit. Wayders is a two man…

A ballistic cafe-slash-streetfighter Ducati Panigale. Very nice work from Thornton Hundred Motorcycles!

We’re the first to admit that many of the bikes we show are not particularly practical. But this is probably the most bare-bones machine we’ve ever featured—with no bodywork, a tiny tank and the most vestigial of seats. For once, roadworthiness doesn’t matter. Built by the Berlin-based workshop Berham, this skeletal machine whipped the ass of several factory-backed entries at the Glemseck 101 festival a few days ago, taking home the coveted Sprint International trophy. Just sixteen builders…

Back in the 90s, the Japanese manufacturers went through a phase of building Italian-style sportbikes. Honda had the SuperHawk, and Suzuki the TL1000S—both 90° V-twins. Yamaha, however, took the 10-valve DOHC parallel twin used in its sport tourers and came up with the TRX850. The critical reception was mixed, to say the least, but these days the TRX850 is appreciated a little more. It’s a good value secondhand buy, and with upgrades to the suspension and brakes, it’s a torquey and fun…

Ducati enters the adventure bike fray in spectacular fashion with the new DesertX. We also look at a custom Honda CT125 from Taiwan, a Honda CRF150RB from California, and a BMW Lego Technic set that'll keep you busy for hours. Ducati DesertX This is clearly the year of good-looking neo-retro adventure bikes. First it was the Husqvarna Norden 901, and then MV Agusta's 'Lucky Explorer' project. Now it's Ducati's turn, with the highly anticipated DesertX dual sport. The good news is that the…

North East Custom have never been bound to one style. We've already seen the Italian outfit build cafe racers and street trackers—but they seem to have the most fun when they're building scramblers. That's because brothers Diego and Riccardo 'Riki' Coppiello are passionate dirt bikers. When I met them at the Italian Wildays festival a few years ago, they spent more time riding the enduro course than they did manning their stand. So when they build out dirt bikes, they're designed to be…