Just For Kicks: Macco Motors’ XS400

By Wesley Reyneke | Rather Be Riding

Most custom builders don’t enjoy messing with electrics: they’ll install a lithium-ion battery to save weight and leave it at that. More adventurous workshops might rip out the fuses and install a control box like the Motogadget m-Unit.

Jose and Tito of Macco Motors have just gone one step further. To satisfy a client’s rather odd request, they’ve removed the entire electric start system from their latest build. To fire up this XS400, you need good old-fashioned muscle.

“Hans wanted a café racer based on the three-cylinder Yamaha XS750,” explains Jose, “but he was having a tough time finding a suitable donor. A lot of classic bikes didn’t make it to Spain in the glory years.”

The Macco lads settled on a 1978-spec XS400 A2A in good condition, and fitted a XS750 fuel tank. Then came Hans’ unusual request. “He wanted us to replace and relocate the battery,” says Jose, “and a few days later asked us to remove the starting system electrics—leaving only the kick start. He wondered if it was possible, and we said yes.”

Macco called in a friend to help: ex-MotoGP mechanic Sergio Pitencel, who worked with Carlos Checa and Roberto Puig in the Honda team in the ’90s. “He’s a wise man from whom we learnt a lot.”

The battery was removed and the circuit converted from DC to AC. Two control modules were then made up: one for the starter system and another one for the lights, which are powered by a small 8Ah Lithium-ion battery from Ballistic.

An adjustable voltage regulator also had to be made up, and the coils were replaced with smaller items taken from a jet-ski. (That’s not even the full list of mods, but the rest will only be of interest to electricians.)

After clearing the electrical obstacles, the rest of the build was pretty straightforward.

Spoked wheels were on the brief. So the standard 18-inch mags were ditched, replaced by SR250 rims—19 inches at the front and 18 at the rear. After fabricating a new front axle, Macco installed classic Hagon shocks and fitted Metzeler Lasertec rubber.

The tuned engine now breathes through a pair of K&N filters and shorty mufflers. There’s a chopped subframe and a very neat fiberglass tail section with a license plate support.

The finishing touches are typically classy. Inverted Tarozzi semi-elevated clip-ons are wrapped in brown leather grips to match the seat—a detail that’s repeated on the kick-start lever and gear shifter. Hooked into the new electric circuit are a new analogue speedo and tacho, mini turn signals and a 6.5-inch headlight.

The XS, now christened “Dark Bullet”, was then finished in a typically Macco fashion: matte black and raw steel, punctuated by gold pinstripes. Everything has been refinished, including the engine, wheels and frame, and it’s right on the button.

Except there’s no button. You just have to use your leg.

Macco Motors | Facebook | Instagram | Photos by Sergio Ibarra from Semimate.

Go Fast, Turn Left: The RSD Ameri-Tracker

Flat track is where it’s at. It’s a shot of adrenaline for both fans and racers, and the ‘go fast, turn left’ bikes look terrific.

It’s also one of the few codes where Harley is still competitive. The XR-750 ruled the roost in the 70s, and today it’s the weapon of choice for stars like Brad ‘The Bullet’ Baker.

The thought of turning an XR-750 flat tracker into a street machine is tempting. And the stripped-down style is becoming real popular with custom builders. But a genuine XR-750 will set you back between $20,000 and $60,000, and in most States you can’t make the bike road-legal. Unless you weld in part of a Sportster frame—the bit with the VIN plate attached.

The solution is to inject a modern Sportster with dash of flat track style. You’ll get a bike that idles properly and doesn’t need a push-start. So Roland Sands has done exactly that with his new Ameri-Tracker build. It’s based on a 2008-spec Nightster—with a 1200cc engine pumping out a useful 80 pound-feet of torque.

“This machine is vintage Flat Track workhorse meets modern race-inspired detailing,” says Roland. “We’re showing how you can create a highly functional, dirty version of the Sportster—to use on both the street and your local hooligan short track event.”

Roland found the donor bike in a junkyard—wrecked but serviceable. He’s boosted power with a Vance & Hines Fuelpak FI Tuner, and freed up the breathing with an RSD Radial Air Cleaner and a Slant 2-into-2 exhaust system.

A heavy duty Barnett clutch gives a little leeway for abuse. Less conventional are the foot controls, a nod to the oval track ethos: rearsets on the left, and mid-controls on the right.

The biggest upgrade is the suspension, with Suzuki GSX-R forks up front and Progressive Suspension 970 Series shocks out back. Custom-built triples have shifted the geometry closer to flat tracker standards for better handling response.

The 19-inch wheels are Sands’ own drop-dead gorgeous Del Mar designs, in ‘Machine Ops’ finish. To boost braking power, the RSD crew have installed Performance Machine calipers and hooked them up to Spiegler lines. The rubber is Dunlop DT3, a classic flat track race compound.

Sands is famed for his design eye, and Ameri-Tracker is beautifully balanced. The tank is a modified version of RSD’s Softail Vintage Tank, but everything else is hand-made—from the side plates to the slimline seat and the kicked-up tail.

It’s putting the ‘Sport’ back into Sportster. And the kind of Harley we’d like to ride.

Roland Sands Design | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Adam Fedderly

Ready to race: Sacha Lakic’s CX500

By Wesley Reyneke | Rather Be Riding

Who’d have thought that the humble Honda CX500 would one day join the CB750 and SR500 as a staple of custom builders? The poor man’s Guzzi—once loved only by despatch riders—has fast become the sweetheart of the custom world.

The CX500 works best when builders manage to straighten out its awkward lines. And who better to do that than an experienced automotive, furniture and architectural designer? Cue Sacha Lakic, who runs a studio in Luxembourg and likes to add the occasional motorcycle to his portfolio.

This ’82-model CX500 was found by Sacha at George’s Garage—a shop owned by friends. It was standing in one corner of the garage, with an assortment of parts scattered on a shelf in another.

“I have always been a great fan of the motor of this machine,” he says, “a magnificent 80-degree V-twin, full of character.” From the onset, he decided to keep the bike’s overall design as sleek and minimalistic as possible in order to draw attention to the engine.

Sacha also liked the CX’s stock fuel tank. So he kept it, tilting it forward 10-degrees for a more dynamic feel. The Honda’s subframe wasn’t as fortunate though. It was replaced by a custom-made rear end that includes a mono-shock and solo seat arrangement.

The swingarm’s been reinforced, and the shock itself is an Öhlins unit lifted from a Ducati 851. It’s matched to a set of adjustable Marzocchi RAC forks up front—their beefy 50mm stanchions held in place by custom triple trees. There’s a hand-made fender mounted to it as well.

The wheelset is equally special: 17” Excel rims laced to one-off hubs. They’re kitted with Dunlop Sportmax Mutants—tyres designed for supermotard use. Braking is handled by Nissin calipers, with a Rizoma reservoir up top. The engine’s been rebuilt too, and a CBR125 radiator plumbed in.

To match this CX500’s sporty lines, clip-ons and rear-sets have been fitted—the latter adapted from a CBR1000. And the cockpit has been trimmed down with a smaller headlight, speedo and tacho.

Emphasizing the engine layout even more is a gorgeous two-into-one exhaust system: starting with y-shaped headers and terminating in a box-shaped muffler underneath the bike.

Sacha’s finished his CX500 in a simple matte black, red and aluminum livery, similar to the colors of the Voxan Black Magic he designed ten years ago. (We love how all the engine fins have been polished for a contrast effect.) The bike now tips the scales at a mere 125kg.

Less weight, sharper lines and much-improved handling sounds like a winning formula to us. Only one question remains: could Sacha Lakic please build more bikes?

Sacha Lakic Design | Facebook

Turning The Harley 883 Into A Scrambler

It looks like 2015 is going to be the Year Of The Scrambler. It’s fast becoming the dominant genre on the new wave custom scene, and manufacturers are getting into the act too.

As everyone knows, Ducati has joined Triumph in offering a factory scrambler—and Moto Guzzi has just released a kit that converts the popular V7 into a machine capable of light off-road excursions.

Milwaukee is unlikely to join the party, but that hasn’t stopped inventive custom builders from doing the dirty on Sportsters. The latest is Benjie Flipprboi of BCR, with this heavily modified 1999 Harley 883 called ‘American Scrambler.’

“For years we had an old 883 in the shop,” says Benjie, who works out of Edison, New Jersey. “It was a small, beat-up bike with a chromed-out engine and mismatched wheels. For a long time, we didn’t know what to do with it.”

Benjie considered turning the 883 into a bobber or a cafe racer. “But we build bikes to stand out and be ridden hard. So we decided to turn the old cruiser into a bike that could be ridden everywhere.” And here we have it: the ready-for-adventure ‘American Scrambler.’

The first step was to get rid of the cruiser ergonomics—the high front end and low seat. On went a set of late ‘90s Suzuki GSX1000 forks to lower the front. “We kept the Harley front hub but machined a new front axle and an adapter to accommodate the GSX’s double disc brakes,” says Benjie.

To prop up the rear, Benjie used longer shocks (and raised the mounts by an inch). Then he installed lightweight aluminum Borrani wheels with raised-center ‘dirt catcher’ rims and fitted Shinko 705 Trail Master dual-purpose tires.

Next step was to figure out the tank. Typical scrambler-style tanks wouldn’t fit, due to the shape of the Harley top-end. So Benjie fabricated a tank that follows the curve of the cylinder heads, adding a stainless steel rack and positioning a Monza gas cap off-center. Aside from a black flame graphic, the finish is bare polished aluminum finish.

“That gave us a beautiful curve to play with when building our seat,” says Benjie. “To maintain the natural flow of the lines, we got the front of the seat to follow the tail of the tank, and then curved the seat up at the rear.” To further abandon the bike’s previous life as a cruiser, the cowhide leather seat is as narrow as you can get without exposing the frame rails.

There’s a custom oil tank slotted inside the frame midsection, with a notch to hide a gel-cell battery.

The fenders and number plate are aluminum to match the gas tank, and held in place by stainless steel mounting brackets. The front skid plate is also aluminum, with ventilation slots to help cool the voltage regulator. A small mild-steel dashboard houses the stock tachometer & warning lights.

Chrome engines do not generally look attractive on scramblers—or indeed any motorcycle—so Benjie sandblasted the side covers and the top end to get a pitted matte finish. Then the internals were treated to a 1200cc piston kit and there’s a custom air filter box with stainless wire mesh covering the inlet.

The usual Sportster belt drive was ditched in favor of a chain and Benjie’s cut out the side cover of the engine, exposing the front sprocket and gold chain.

The only thing left to fit was an aftermarket headlight bucket and taillight. But nothing seemed to look right, so BCR built their own.

“We wanted to tuck the headlight bucket between the fork legs, so we designed it to be as narrow as possible. The taillight is bare aluminum and wraps around the frame end loop.”

The defining element of any scrambler is invariably the exhaust system. “We wanted to stay true to the signature scrambler style, but as always, we also wanted to give it our own unique twist. So we fabricated our own 2-into-2 exhaust using stainless steel and mounted the mufflers high, in the vein of old school scramblers.”

With adventure in his veins and his eyes on the horizon, there was one last detail that Benjie needed to add: an all-purpose road kit. So he designed a detachable leather bag that matches the cowhide leather of the seat. There’s even a protective aluminum plate to help keep the bag clean during the scrambler’s (hopefully) muddy future ventures.

BCR’s ‘American Scrambler’ is both functional and fun. Unlike most Harleys, this 883 can handle a stretch of hard-packed dirt as well as ribbons of asphalt.

And damn, doesn’t it look good? Check out the hi-res gallery on our Google+ page.

Benjie’s Cafe Racers website | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Ben Chan

Feelin’ Funny with Cleveland CycleWerks

The 1970s was the golden era of gasoline. And the fumes were strongest on the drag strip, where Funny Cars ruled supreme.

Names like “Jungle Jim” Liberman and Don “The Snake” Prudhomme are the stuff of legend. And word of those legends has travelled to unlikely places—such as the back streets of Yogyakarta, the Indonesian city famous for its temples and Javanese culture. Which is where this remarkable bike was built.

The story of ‘Flying Rooster’ starts with Scott Colosimo of Cleveland CycleWerks. From his Ohio base, Scott designs and sells low-cost, stylish bikes with a strong custom or retro vibe.

So when it came to launch the CCW brand in Southeast Asia, Scott chose Yogyakarta’s popular Kustomfest show. He gave bikes to ten of Indonesia’s best builders, and flew out Roland Sands to help with the judging.

Flying Rooster took third place, but for us it’s the standout from the competition entries. It’s a genre-busting, radical effort from local builder Rizqi Pratama of Lemb Inc, based on CCW’s 250cc Heist model.

“The builders were all given the same budget with a tight one-month timeframe,” says Scott. “And every bike had to be ridden to Kustomfest to be eligible for judging.”

“Rizqi is an artist and craftsman. Out of necessity, he ‘does it all.’ He’s one of those guys that can draw, design, weld, shape foam, lay fiberglass, pull molds, paint, stripe and dry brush.”

For his benchmark, Rizqi chose American drag cars. ‘Flying Rooster’ even has a wacky name to match: the hinged bodywork looks like a rooster in flight, with a long neck and wings folded down behind the engine. When the quick-release fiberglass body is propped up, all the mechanical components are accessible.

There’s so much custom work on the bike, it’s hard to know where to start.

The entire motor was torn down, repainted, polished and detailed to match the theme of the bike. The secondary air injection is now housed inside a hand-hammered enclosure and the carburetor has been totally reworked, to eke out every bit of performance from the air-cooled single.

A new rear-wheel-and-drum-brake combo adds to the retro feel, along with the turned and knurled pegs of the custom rearsets. Even the kickstand and gear shift linkages are hand fabricated, and the drive gearing has been changed from stock.

Rizqi has narrowed the front end, and installed new triple trees. The forks are custom too, and everything from the headlight shroud to the hubs has been chromed.

The angular exhaust system is hand-bent, and the inside has been painted to match the bodywork color.

The star of the show is the extraordinary glasswork, though. Rizqi added hard foam to the stock Heist and hand-shaped it before laying a fiberglass mold on top. The seat hides a new gas tank, lifted from a scooter.

The entire unit is structural and designed to take the rider’s weight, with aluminum bracing and fire-resistant heat shielding underneath. It’s like a slammed Triumph X75 Hurricane with the volume turned up to 11.

Flying Rooster probably won’t run a quarter mile in five seconds. But in the creativity stakes, it’s miles ahead of most customs. We have a funny feeling we’ll be hearing more about Mr Pratama in the months to come.

Cleveland CycleWerks website | Facebook page | Rizqi Pratama on Instagram

Très cool: Dinamax’s custom Yamaha TW125

By Wesley Reyneke | Rather Be Riding

Yamaha’s diminutive TW125 has become something of a cult classic in the world of custom motorcycles. It’s easy to see why: this humble farm bike exudes an honest charm that’s hard to ignore.

Dimitri Chaussinand certainly gets it. Despite owning a perfectly good Triumph Speed Triple, Dimitri (AKA Dinamax) decided to buy and customize a TW125. Simply because it’s cool.

“The Speed Triple is for the sensation of speed,” explains the architectural draughtsman, who lives in Lyon in France’s central Rhône-Alpes region. “But the TW125 is for going into to town to buy bread—in style!”

In style, yes—and on a budget too. The 2001-model donor was picked up for a mere $1,000, and Dimitri put it together it in the parking garage of his apartment building. “The space really isn’t great for work,” he says. “The lighting is rotten and there’s no electricity, but it’s funky.”

His goal was simple: to build a no-nonsense street scrambler. “I wanted to do something neo-retro: with a classic fuel tank and a Japanese-style extended swingarm.”

A Yamaha DTMX tank fit the bill perfectly, so Dimitri sourced one and sent it off to Aeroskoal for paint. He also had the wheels and forks blacked-out for a stealthier vibe.

Out back, Dimitri bolted on a longer swingarm ordered from a Japanese supplier. He then trimmed the frame and fitted a custom-made leather seat.

Underneath the seat, the airbox was dumped for a K&N filter and the battery relocated to a new box. The exhaust was shortened, and now terminates in a mini muffler. It pokes out just below a nifty little splash guard that Dimitri fitted.

He enlisted some help from Lyon-based specialists along the way. Mondial Moto overhauled the engine, cleaned out the carbs and sorted out the wiring, while PBSC helped out on welding work.

The lights, turn signals and speedo were all ordered from Japan. And that gorgeous little tool roll hanging off the side of the bike is from the Wrenchmonkees x Sandqvist collection.

Dimitri’s TW is as quirky and loveable as they come. There are not many bikes we’d choose over a Speed Triple, but for a quick dash to the shops, this little TW125 is just parfait.

Dimitri on Instagram | And of course, Bike EXIF on Instagram

From Safari to Street: 66 Motorcycles’ XR600

By Wesley Reyneke | Rather Be Riding

Few motorcycles can tackle the Australian outback as well as a Honda XR600. This is the machine that kick-started Honda’s 18-year Baja 1000 winning streak, and the reliability and raw power of the mighty XR have made it a desert racing legend.

The 1996 model we’re looking at here was originally set up for the brutal Australasian Safari. And it was pretty tired by the time Sixty-Six Motorcycles of Perth got their hands on it.

“It’d had a hard life smashing through the outback, and was showing its age,” says Sixty-Six’s Peter Ellery. “We decided to create a thumper which had attitude, but with a clean aesthetic.”

Peter’s first port of call was finding the right fuel tank—but the frame’s awkward backbone complicated matters. Eventually the team settled on a Honda CB250 unit. “It had the right proportions and a period look—so the tunnel was modified and on she went!”

Next, they lopped off the XR600’s subframe and fabricated a new, slimmer one to complement the tank’s lines. Resting on top is a custom-made tan leather seat.

Thanks to a pair of 17” SM Pro rims, the stance of this XR600 is now more motard than desert racer. The rims are laced to Talon hubs, and wrapped in Shinko 705 rubber. The front forks have been rebuilt and lowered to suit the smaller wheels.

Sixty-Six redid all the XR’s wiring too—in the process moving the ignition to under the seat in a neat little aluminum box. They also installed and rejetted a Mikuni TM40 flat-slide carb. The new exhaust muffler is an off-the-shelf item. (According to Peter, it took a few mandrel bends to make it fit the header pipe.)

There’s a 7” headlight up front, and the turn signals, tail light, mini-switches, grips and mirrors are from Posh Japan. But the heat shields, chain guard and single-sided front fender bracket were all made in-house.

Sixty-Six opted to finish the XR600 (now dubbed “X ON”) in subtle hues. Dave Williams handled the tank, while the frame was powder-coated black and the engine painted in a black wrinkle.

It’s the perfect retirement for a bruised old racer. We reckon it’ll be just as much fun on the street as it was in the sand.

Sixty-Six Motorcycles website | Facebook | Instagram