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...
