Based in the heart of Moscow, Russia, Copper Chopper founder Alexey Sorokin has been on a tear, demonstrating mechanical finesse that has quickly captured the attention of the global custom scene. We recently featured the ‘Cor Ferro,’ Copper Chopper’s polished Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650, and fol...
Richard ‘Mule’ Pollock has been in the business a long time, and if you’re a Bike EXIF regular, you’ve undoubtedly seen his work. Richard started out the way we all do, modifying his own bikes at home, but 1994 marked the start of his professional bike-building career when a friend asked him to modi...
It is no secret that we have a bit of a soft spot for trackers here at Bike EXIF. We’ve already cataloged some of our favorite Yamaha trackers in the past, but the well of inspiration is seemingly bottomless. The Yamaha brand, with its legendary Speed Block heritage and a lineage of stout engines li...
In the sun-drenched coastal city of Valencia, Spain, the custom motorcycle scene moves with a distinct, high-octane energy. This is a city that lives and breathes racing, and at its heart lies Bolt Motor Company. Under the guidance of Adrián Campos, Bolt has spent years establishing a reputation for...
Customizing a motorcycle is, at its heart, a personal endeavor. But when your dream builder is half a world away in Taipei, and you’re sitting in Los Angeles, that personal endeavor quickly morphs into a logistical nightmare of shipping containers, customs declarations, and the labyrinthine headache...
I’ve always had a soft spot for the machines built by James Roper-Caldbeck. Back in 2009, when Bike EXIF was only a few months old and still a casual side project, we started featuring Jamesville bikes—which were a breath of fresh air compared to the blinged-out choppers that still dominated the wes...
Moscow, Russia, is a city defined by its stark contrasts: a sprawling metropolis where centuries-old Orthodox cathedrals sit in the shadow of Soviet-era brutalism and gleaming glass-fronted skyscrapers. It is a place of immense history and, increasingly, a thriving hub for high-end custom motorcycle...
Defining the vision for a custom motorcycle project isn’t as easy as it sounds. You might think you have something unique penned in your mind, but when it comes time to bring that vision to life, you might find you’ve painted yourself into a corner. Aditya Deshmukh doesn’t seem to have that problem....
When Yamaha launched the XSR900 in 2016, it wasn't just another retro bike; it was a Trojan Horse. Beneath the 1970s-inspired fuel tank covers and round headlight sat the heart of a hooligan: the 847cc (and later 890cc) CP3 inline-triple. This 'Crossplane Concept' engine is widely regarded as one of...
The custom motorcycle scene is a fickle beast. One month, we’re drowning in Bluetooth brakes and half-baked café racers; the next, the stars align, and our inbox is a goldmine of engineering marvels. May 2025 was undoubtedly the latter. From Tokyo’s quiet backstreets to the industrial heart of Portu...
We’re not precious about which motorcycles shouldn't be customized. But we still feel a pang of sadness when a classic is butchered—and smile big when it's done right.Most people wouldn't fiddle with a Ducati 996, but VR Customs aren't most people. They've tackled two already, and turned 'em into a ...
Montreal is a city of dualities. It is a place where European charm meets North American industrial grit, and where the sacred architecture of the ‘City of a Hundred Steeples’ often provides a backdrop for more rebellious pursuits. This past weekend, the Théâtre Paradoxe, a former church converted i...
Moscow is a city of superlatives, a sprawling, historic metropolis where architectural grandeur meets the relentless pace of modern Russian life. It’s a place that demands a certain level of intensity to survive, let alone create. In this high-pressure environment, Alexey Sorokin operates Copper Cho...
In the mid-2010s, Yamaha did something radical: they made motorcycling affordable, accessible, and, most importantly, fun again. The catalyst was the MT-07 (known as the FZ-07 in North America). While the spec sheet described a modest 689 cc parallel twin, the reality was a masterpiece of torque and...
If you are a regular reader of Bike EXIF, Winston Yeh’s name requires absolutely no introduction. As Taipei's premier custom builder operating under his world-renowned Rough Crafts banner, Winston has achieved the near-impossible: maintaining a remarkably high annual build volume without ever diluti...
There is a distinct, mechanical poetry in the way a Boxer engine hangs in a custom chassis, the massive cylinders jutting out like a pair of clenched, aluminum fists. In 2021, that physical presence was the canvas for some of the most radical, boundary-pushing custom motorcycles the world had ever s...
After a while, a lot of custom designs tend to blend into a homogenous soup: variations on a standard recipe, slightly tweaked by the individual chefs.A handful of top builders specialize in less mainstream flavors though. One of them is Calum Pryce-Tidd of the south London workshop deBolex Engineer...
In the industrial landscape of Tilburg, the Netherlands, Mark van Veggel is quietly redefining what a garage build actually means. A mechanical polymath with a background in electronic design and fabrication, Mark grew up in the slipstream of his father and grandfather. These two men taught him that...
When I close my eyes and envision a chopper, the mental reel usually defaults to a specific brand of Americana. I see the Harley-Davidson Panhead, a Shovelhead, or even a Sportster. To some, the metric Chopper world is a secondary thought, even with the long-standing popularity of Triumph Pre-Units,...
When the Indian Scout first rolled out in 1920, it didn't just move people—it started a revolution. Designed by Charles B. Franklin, the original Scout was a marvel of low-slung agility and reliability. Fast forward nearly a century, and under the stewardship of Polaris, the modern Scout has returne...
What do a Harley Sportster, a war-issue Triumph and a trio of Royal Enfields have in common? Seemingly not much, but something about each of these bikes stuck out to our readers, making them our most-viewed custom motorcycles of the month, and we would never argue with y’all. Obviously, it...
In the world of custom motorcycles, we are often seduced by the gravitational pull of the big shows. Events like The One Moto, Handbuilt, or the Bike Shed shows dominate our feeds with high-production value and museum-quality lighting. But while those shows represent the pinnacle of the craft, the r...
There is a specific kind of magic found in the Mojave Desert near Ridgecrest, California, every April. It’s not just the vast, unforgiving landscape or the shimmering heat haze; it’s the sound of hundreds of engines shattering the silence for the Biltwell 100. It is an annual, grassroots, 100-mile d...
In the world of custom motorcycles, May 2024 was a month defined by extreme engineering. We saw builders moving away from simple aesthetic swaps and leaning into complex mechanical transformations. From the rural workshops of Northern Germany to the high-tech garages of Jakarta and Moscow, the commo...
Kengo Kimura is one of the world’s most versatile bike builders. He can create high-end customs that win ‘Best In Show’ prizes at Mooneyes.He can also build wild concepts for the likes of BMW. And then he can take a humble commuter bike and make it look like a million dollars.This elegant little scr...
Regular readers will remember Mecabuell’s XB12R that caught our eye a few weeks back. Now, Hugo, the man behind the curtain, is back with a project that reaches further into the brand’s history, breathing new life into the iconic tube-frame era.Based in Saint-Martin-de-Valgalgues, just a stone...
Honda’s transverse-twin has always lived on the fringes. Launched in 1978, the CX500 paired a liquid-cooled V-twin with shaft drive and a reputation for durability that bordered on agricultural. It was never conventionally pretty, never especially fast, but the 80-degree mill had serious novelty and...
We were kicking it after hours this week and returned to a conversation that comes up every year around this time—the Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE (obviously). As per usual, I repeated my closing argument that it’s, without a doubt, the motorcycle I would buy across all segments if someone el...
The year 2020 was a tumultuous one for the world, but for the custom motorcycle scene, it was a year of focused, high-caliber craftsmanship. While the global pandemic slowed the pace of life, it gave builders the solitude they needed to refine their art.In this Flashback Friday special, we count dow...
We’re suckers for classic Moto Guzzi café racers. But we like it even more when someone messes up the recipe a little. As with this sleek and quirky 1000 SP from France—which mixes conventional and unorthodox styling cues to great effect.It comes from Samuel Aguiar, a multi-talented chap who designs...
If you see a Honda NX650 Dominator on Bike EXIF, there is a statistically significant chance that it originated in a specific workshop in Husum, Germany. Holger Breuer, the man behind HB Custom, has effectively become the global patron saint of the Dominator.While other builders flirt with different...
For some, the Ruhr region of Germany is defined by its industrial grit, a landscape of coal, steel, and smoke. For Dirk Oehlerking, the mastermind behind Kingston Custom, Gelsenkirchen is a sanctuary of craftsmanship. It is a place where the down-to-earth nature of the people matches the honest, mec...
While Triumph’s official "Scrambler" models have been a mainstay of the modern classic scene since 2006, the term "scramble" is, at its heart, a verb. It describes the act of taking a road-going machine and preparing it for battle against dirt, sand, and mud. In the 1960s, this meant stripping a Bon...
In the sprawling, transcontinental metropolis of Istanbul, where the call to prayer mingles with the roar of modern transit, the custom scene is defined by a unique kind of grit. It is a city of layers, ancient history stacked atop a surging, tech-driven future. Amidst this architectural and cultura...
April 2025 was a month that reminded us why the custom motorcycle scene remains a hotbed of limitless creativity. From the workshops of Taiwan to the engineering hubs of Germany and the storied garages of England, the diversity on display was staggering. We saw the rise of the "super-kit" alongside ...
I'll admit, my knowledge of vintage Ducatis is rudimentary at best—so I always feel a little out of my depth when talking to Mike Watanabe. He and Luke Ransom run Union Motorcycle Classics out of a barn in Idaho, where they specialize in charming classics and restomods. And their knowledge runs deep...
If there’s one weekend that sets the temperature for the classic motorcycle market, it’s the Bonhams Spring Stafford Sale. It’s the annual proving ground where serious collectors, restorers and deep-pocketed enthusiasts gather to ogle at some of the finest pieces of motorcycling history and the jaw-...
In the world of custom motorcycles, there is a distinct difference between those who build for the gallery and those who build because they simply cannot help themselves. For Kyle Pereira and Suraj Thapa of Mumbai-based Garage Built Motorcycles, the latter is the only reality they know.Kyle’s educat...
The Royal Enfield Continental GT remains one of the few modern motorcycles that genuinely lends itself to customization. Its straightforward architecture, classic proportions and honest 648 cc parallel twin make it an easy canvas, but creating a masterpiece is still the work of the painter. Thi...
In the pantheon of postmodern motorcycling, Deus Ex Machina occupies a space somewhere between a workshop and a cathedral. Since roaring out of Sydney in 2006, the ‘God from the Machine’ has preached a gospel of inclusiveness and run-what-you-brung resourcefulness. They’ve customized everything from...
If the Bonneville is the heart of Triumph’s modern classic lineup, the Thruxton is undoubtedly its soul. The name itself is steeped in the grime and glory of 1960s endurance racing, specifically the Thruxton 500-mile race, where Triumph’s twin-cylinder machines first proved their mettle. By 1969, th...
For this week’s Flashback Friday, we’re hopping into the time machine and heading back to the rainy, caffeine-fueled streets of Portland, Oregon. This article originally appeared on Bike EXIF in February 2020, documenting a pivotal moment when The One Motorcycle Show moved into the cavernous, mid-ce...
Remember the Sultans of Sprint drag race series in Europe? The man behind this brilliant idea was Séb Lorentz, who runs the Lucky Cat Garage with his partner, the artist and restoration specialist Laurence Chatokhine.The drag racing is on hold for the moment, for obvious reasons, but Séb has a solid...
There is a specific kind of madness required to dedicate one’s life to a defunct American motorcycle brand in the heart of French racing country. But for Hugo, the manager of Mecabuell Garage, it isn't madness; it’s a mission. Located within the perimeter of the Alès motor racing circuit in southern...
If you’re looking for a spectacle in Las Vegas, you’ll usually find it under the neon glow of the Strip. But true magic happens in the shadows of the Mojave. Mike Rabideau, known to the custom world as ‘Majik Mike,’ has been conjuring two-wheeled illusions out of his workshop, Majik Mike’s Designs, ...
If there is one engine configuration that is the darling of the custom scene, it is the BMW air-cooled flat-twin. For over a century, the "Boxer" has been the backbone of Bavarian motorcycling, prized for its low center of gravity, ease of maintenance, and those iconic cylinders jutting out into the...
In the custom motorcycle world, origin stories usually follow a predictable arc: a dimly lit garage, a surplus of caffeine, and a donor bike that probably should have stayed in the scrap heap. For FCR Original, that story began in a countryside barn in western France, with a dirt floor and walls tha...
Welcome to this week’s Flashback Friday, where we take a look into the rearview mirror to revisit the machines that you, the reader, loved two years ago. April 2024 brought a diversity that stretched from the neon-soaked streets of Taipei to the rolling hills of France. We saw everything from Dax Ca...
Before Brice Hennebert started building race-inspired machines as Workhorse Speed Shop, he ran another workshop with a friend, called Kruz Company. The two Belgian builders split amicably a while ago, but there was one notable casualty in the divorce: this Triumph Speed Triple.Brice and his former p...
In the foggy, industrial heart of Hamburg, Germany, there is a workshop that operates more like a high-end watchmaker’s atelier than a grease-stained garage. This is the realm of Axel Budde and Kaffeemaschine Motorcycles.Hamburg, a city defined by its bustling port and stoic, red-brick architecture,...
In the sprawling landscape of New Delhi, the custom motorcycle scene is undergoing an evolution. It is a city of contrasts, where ancient heritage sits side by side with a surging, tech-driven future. This chaotic energy has given rise to a new wave of builders who refuse to follow Western templates...
Two-strokes, transverse Vs, subtle reworks and complete reinventions, our list of the top five custom motorcycles of March has (literally) a bit of everything. While there are no trends to trace or commonalities of any sort between the following five bike builds, one thing is not up for debate—our r...
Three distinct philosophies. Three icons of the 1970s. As Iconic Auctioneers prepares for its Shuttleworth 2026 sale, we are taking a closer look at a trio of motorcycles that defined their respective categories. From the Grand Prix pedigree of the Yamaha TZ350 and the liquid-cooled engineering of t...
The following article was originally featured in July 2025, however, the story doesn't end there. Registration is open for the 2026 Edition of the Builder’s Best Custom Motorcycle Show for this year’s BMW MOA Rally in Essex Junction, Vermont. This year’s competition remains an inclusive arena, with ...
The year was 1975, and the writing was on the wall for the Brits. Decades of industry dominance were coming to a close in the blink of an eye as multi-cylinder options from Japan proliferated. Honda had rewritten the book with the CB750, Suzuki had the 70 hp GT750 and the Kawasaki Z1 had solidified ...
Italian sculptor Giordano Loi transforms a 2008 Yamaha MT-01 into a radical street fighter with carbon fiber bodywork and far more aggressive intentions.When the Yamaha MT-01 arrived in 2005, it felt like Yamaha had built a motorcycle from two completely different design briefs. At its heart sat a m...
In the seaside city of Pescara, nestled within Italy’s rugged Abruzzo region, Filippo Barbacane has been playing a long game. When he started his craft in 1993, the Italian 'custom' scene was a ghost town, mostly restricted to mimicking American cruisers through grainy magazine photos. There was no ...
In the windswept coastal town of Husum, Germany, Holger Breuer of HB-Custom continues to cement his reputation as one of the world’s most proficient customizers for the Honda NX650 Dominator. We recently caught up with Holger to admire his Teutonic 1920s-style BMW R69S, a build that showcased his ab...
In the far east of Germany, Zwickau sits, a city where the air has smelled of two-stroke premix and industrial ambition for over a century. Known as the ‘City of Automobiles,’ it’s the birthplace of Audi and the infamous Trabant. But for those who grew up in the rural stretches of the former GDR, th...
As we crest the hill of another week and look toward the weekend's horizon, it’s time to raid the archives for our latest Flashback Friday. This week, we’re winding the clock back to March 2025, a month that saw Bike EXIF trade in high-concept futurism for a masterclass in 'Newstalgia.' From Austral...
The 2026 AOTOS Flux X26 Pro high-performance e-bike combines Class 2 legality with 100Nm torque and 2000W peak off-road performance.The e-bike space has exploded in recent years, with everything from svelte pedal-assisted commuters to snappy play bikes and full-fledged electric motos. The options ar...
When Royal Enfield launched the Hunter 350, it wasn't just releasing a motorcycle; it was providing a gateway into the brand for a younger, urban audience. Built on the 349cc J-platform, the Hunter is a punchy, agile roadster that trades the stately poise of the Classic 350 for a more responsive, st...
Once a teenage dream machine, this RD350LC returns as a nostalgic hybrid with sharper handling, a bigger engine and a classic Yamaha livery.If you had a bike in the shed and a television in the mid-1970s, there’s a good chance you were dying to get your hands on a liquid-cooled Yamaha two-stroke. Ya...
In the pantheon of motorcycling, few names carry the weight of MV Agusta. The Varese factory doesn't just build motorcycles; they build "Motorcycle Art." It’s a bold marketing claim, but one backed by a pedigree that is statistically unmatched. From 1956 to 1974, MV Agusta dominated the 500cc Grand ...
As the frost begins to retreat and the riding season beckons, we find ourselves looking back at a particularly vintage-heavy month in the archives. March 2024 was a period of high-contrast brilliance on Bike EXIF, bridging the gap between small-capacity Thai street-scramblers and meticulously engine...
Mention of a themed custom motorcycle conjures visions of bad reality TV choppers, and sends us into convulsions. But this scrambler is a theme bike with a big difference: It's so tastefully executed, we didn't realize there was a theme. Until builder Chris Tope revealed the story behind it.Chris wa...
In the world of custom motorcycles, we often talk about "career changes," but Jochen Heinrich’s transition might be the most enviable one we’ve heard yet. After four decades navigating the sterile halls of the banking sector, Jochen traded his spreadsheets for a set of spanners. It’s a return to for...
In the early 1970s, the Triumph Trident T150 was a machine caught between two worlds. With its 741cc transverse triple producing 58 bhp and a top speed north of 115 mph, it had the heart of a champion. Yet, it struggled to maintain its footing against the "Superbike" onslaught from Japan. By 1...
When Ducati first pulled the silk off the Diavel in 2010, the motorcycling world didn’t quite know where to file it. It was a 162-hp brute that combined the long wheelbase of a cruiser with the rake and trail of a superbike, wrapped in bodywork that looked like a muscular middle linebacker in a tail...
Based in Washington, D.C., Andrew Jett of Jett Design Garage operates at the intersection of fine art and engineering. Having studied design in college, Jett’s philosophy is rooted in the concept of the ‘focused experience.’ For him, a motorcycle isn't a collection of specs; it’s a creative medium u...
In the world of electronic music, Girts Ozolins is a titan. As the founder of Erica Synths, he spends his days designing modular synthesizers that are as raw and uncompromising as the industrial soundscapes of his home in Riga, Latvia. But when the soldering iron is cold, Girts translates that same ...
My father was fond of the saying, “If you want a job done right, do it yourself.” And that’s the first thought that popped into my head when I saw this sublime Kawasaki W650 desert sled from England.It comes from London-based Rick Hannah, who builds under the amusing moniker of Dirty Dick's Motos.Ri...
When BMW Motorrad unveiled the R12, the motorcycling world saw a cruiser-adjacent roadster with a massive 1,170 cc heart. But for those who remember the golden era of the Paris-Dakar, the silhouette seemed to scream for something more adventurous. The R12 G/S is BMW’s factory nod to that heritage, b...
For the crew at Mosko Moto, a motorcycle is less of a trophy and more of a passport. Based out of White Salmon, Washington, Mosko was founded on a singular, frustrated question: Why is there a chasm between the high-tech, weight-conscious gear used by mountaineers and the clunky, overbuilt luggage a...
If Harley-Davidson has a "holy grail" engine, the EL Knucklehead is undoubtedly it. Produced between 1936 and 1947, the Knucklehead— named for the distinct shape of its rocker boxes—represented a massive technological leap for the Milwaukee firm. It was Harley’s first production overhead-valve (OHV)...
In the windswept coastal town of Husum, Germany, often called the "Grey City by the Sea", the air is thick with salt and heritage. It is here that Holger Breuer of HB-Custom operates, a builder who has spent years proving he is anything but a one-trick pony. We’ve seen him tackle everything from ral...
