Restoring a motorcycle to its former glory is a deeply rewarding experience, but sometimes artistic liberties need to be taken. Whether it’s bringing suspension up to the modern era, correcting the OE’s wrongs or just putting your spin on things, restomod motorcycles are the backbone of the custom motorcycle scene—a stepping stone before a full custom build.
So where do we draw the line between a restomod motorcycle and full custom? There’s no clear-cut answer, but we feel that a good restomod invokes the style of the original with some enhancements built in. A nice mix of something old and something new, these motorcycles are better than they were without forgetting where they came from.
In the world of vintage Ducati restomods, few names resonate as profoundly as Toshiyuki Kozaka. Operating as Switch Stance Riding from a workshop in Amakusa—a series of small islands off the coast of Kyushu, Japan—Kozaka-san has a particular affinity for bevel-driven Ducatis. More so, he has a talent for turning them into masterpieces. Toshi’s latest…
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The vintage BMW R-series boxer remains a perennial favorite among custom motorcycle builders. But there’s a downside to its popularity; with so many custom boxers on the road, it’s hard to build one that truly stands out. This lovely 1978 BMW R100/7 from Japan’s Heiwa MC doesn’t rely on wild engineering or crazy fabrication to…
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We’ve cast our net wide this week to bring you four very different motorcycles from four different countries. Portugal offers up a Yamaha XSR700 street scrambler, Canada sends us a tasty Honda CB750 restomod, and Italy shows off the new Ducati Panigale V4 Tricolore Italia. Finally, we ogle an as-new 1991 Bimota TESI 1D 904…
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We often ruminate on the pros and cons of restoring vintage bikes rather than customizing them. Whichever path you choose, there’s another question worth considering; how do you treat patina? Must every last nut and bolt shine, or must the machine wear its history with pride? “I personally live on both sides of the restored…
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If you’re a fan of the totally bonkers King of the Banners race series, the Motor Co. has a bike for you.…
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If there’s one trend we’d love to see more of this year, it’s engineered simplicity. We’re suckers for ultra-clean custom bikes that…
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Like a connoisseur of fine wine, art, or vintage vinyl, every Ducati Monster enthusiast has an era they swear by. For Tony…
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Back in the 90s, Yamaha broke from their tradition of building Deltabox-framed sportbikes to create the TRX850. Sporting a trellis frame and…
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We’ve cast the net wide this week, with a selection of tasty motorcycles that are worlds apart. Purpose Built Moto kicks us…
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In the world of classic thumpers, the Yamaha XT500 reigns supreme. It pioneered the concept of four-stroke dual-sport bikes, won the first…
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The Yamaha TRX850 is one of our favorite motorcycling anomalies. It was built in the mid-90s, when Japanese marques tried to corner…
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Back in 1969, the Honda CB750 was considered the pinnacle of motorcycle performance. But it’s the way that the CB evolved over…
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