The motorcycle featured in these pictures is a special bike based on a 2011 Harley-Davidson Sportster Forty-Eight 1200, and is the brainchild of Mr.Winston Yeh, the creative mastermind behind Tapei-based studio Rough Crafts. The sophisticated Taiwanese design house is specialized in custom motorcycles, but its work can be appreciated in other fields as well, like furniture, graphics and street art.

However, when it comes to custom bikes, these guys just know how to create proper ‘motorcycle art’, and this awesome Sportster Bomb Runner is yet another shining example of their craftsmanship. The model is supposed to be a ’sequel’ to Rough Crafts’s own ‘Iron Guerrilla’, a successful ‘all-black’ special bike they made in 2010 out of a 2009 H-D Sportster Iron 883. As in its predecessor’s case, the ‘Bomb Runner’ is not a disruption of the design of the bike it is based upon, it is more like a menacing and dark fine-tuning of an already brilliant bike.

The tail has been lifted up a little bit thanks to a couple of longer shock-absorbers, that also make room for its original 2-into-1 exhaust system on the right side. The standard tank, front mudguard, yoke and engine casing have been replaced with beautiful new parts made by Rough Crafts itself, all of which coated in a contrasting, classy matt/shiny black paint job. The rims have been supplied by Roland Sands Design (with the mandatory Black Ops finishing) while brakes come from Performance Machine. More details about this model can be found at the official Rough Crafts website.

View the full The Bomb Runner by Rough Crafts photo gallery

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The BMW R100 RS is a nice tourer that the Bavarian manufacturer produced between 1976 and 1984. It was powered by the 70 hp variant of the reliable 980 cc air-cooled boxer engine that was equipping many models of the German maker of that period, and it almost goes without saying that any good customizer could easily turn this tourer in any sort of bike he could think of. Mr. Karles Vives from Fuel Bespoke Motorcycles knows that only too well: the Barcelona-based specialist wanted to make a proper ‘tracker’ out of it, and we think he got that just right as the bike he has come up with is a proper stunner.

This is actually the second time that Mr.Vives put his hands on a BMW R100 RS: the first time he did that he created the Fuel R100 ‘Scram’, a nice scrambler that surely looked the part, but this time around the man really outdid himself with the amazing Fuel R100 “Tracker”: he got rid of all the useless bits to make it as light as possible and added a few elements that are typical of the ‘tracker’ style, and the result is simply astounding. The rear section have been completely re-designed as the frame got shortened and fitted with new parts specifically made for this model by English specialist VonZeti Cafe Racers Seats. The tank was lifted from a BMW R90/6 and modified to make it even slimmer, while large handlebars from Tommaselli and a round-shaped head-light complete the look of the model, which also boasts fretworked plates on the sides.

As for the engine, the original unit did not undergo any revolutionaty change: two K&N filters were added before the 40mm Bing carburettors, while the original exhaust system has been been modified to make it shorter and fitted with two cone-shaped mufflers that look pretty loose, in a good way. The suspension has been refined while the original rims now wear Dunlop K70 Vintage tyres. The electric system is placed in the battery compartment, where a more compact gel accumulator leaves enough room for the whole wiring. A masterpiece in its own right.

via | Fuel Bespoke Motorcycles

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If you are wondering what to do with an old Motobecane Mobilette 41V, here’s a nice idea for you. Motobecane is a French manufacturer founded in 1923 that changed its name into MBK in 1984, and the Mobylette is a moped that has been produced (in several different version) from 1949 to 1997. This one in particular, a ‘41V’, was produced in the 80s and was lying into some forgotten barn before the nice guys from FrenchMonkeys put their hands on it and turned it into this lightweight chopper motorcycle.

The new model has been dubbed Tobec 41C Hood Ride: ‘Tobec’ is the French word for ‘moped’, 41C is a reference to the original model it derives from (where C stands for ‘Chopper’), and ‘Hood Ride’ is an expression coming from the custom lingo that would mean an old bike that has been ‘lowered’ and uses a “rusty” paint job.

The frame has been modified in order to give the bike the classic ‘chopper’ look and host a Malaguti-branded engine made by Franco Morini in the 70s, with a 3-speed gearbox. The model uses Girder-type forks (which were quite fashionable in the 30s) and handlebars that are pretty reminiscent of a Boardtracker, the bikes that used to race on wooden oval tracks in the same period. Also pretty interesting is the ’spade-shaped’ saddle, which is another well-known symbol of the custom world. The resulting bike was so good that the FrenchMonkeys just had to make another one straight away, so they got ahold of a Mobylette 50 V, modified the frame, gave it a ‘Whitewall’ set of tyres and made a sort of lowride racer out of it. You can see that one in our photo gallery too.

View the full Tobec 41C Hood Ride by the FrenchMonkeys photo gallery

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Italian industrial designer Mirco Sapio has presented our colleagues from Motoblog.it with his own rendition of a pretty interesting concept bike, the SuperDuke 1200 R, based on chassis and engine of the oustanding KTM RC8. Mr.Sapio drew some inspiration from the KTM SuperDuke suries, and in fact the final outcome bears some resemblace the 2005-2006 SuperDuke 990. Actually, we detect some similarity with the current KTM 690 Duke Track racer too. The author of this cool graphic concept would like to know what people think of it, so feel free to post your comments about the SuperDuke 1200 R Concept.

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Roland Sands, former racer from California, is another one of those well-known names in the custom bikes business. Son of Performance Machine’s founders Perry & Nancy Sands (a well known supplier of custom parts such as wheels, brakes and other accessories) Roland has been a professional racer for 10 years, clinching the AMA 250 GP title in 1998. After a crash left him with no less than 32 broken bones, Mr.Sands left racing to start a new life as a designer of custom parts for Performance Machine as well as building up his own custom motorcycles. His past in the racing world surely had a big influence on Mr.Sands style, and his original creations went on earning him quite a few prestigious awards in the business. The outstanding success led to the birth of his own design company, the notorious RSD (Roland Sands Design), based in Los Alamitos, a small city in Orange County, California.

Just like his buddy Marcus Walz, lately Mr.Sands has been involved in a couple of projects that we were more than happy to warn you about, namely the Yamaha VMAX Hyper Modified series and the unbelievable Desmo Tracker (a dirt track bike powered by the terrifying Desmosedici RR’s 197 hp engine), and, in the same fashion as his German mate, he’s just come out with a new masterpiece based on the forms of his first love: Harley-Davidson. However, this is no ordinary customization as you can never take anything for granted when Mr.Sands is involved. The challenge was to take a 300 kg Softail Blackline and turn it into some sort of dirt-bike that would be totally at ease off-road, and the result is the awesome Blackline Dirt Tracker.

In order to keep the weight as low as possible, Roland got rid of all the frills and unnecessary parts, replacing many original bits with special PM and RSD components. The original fuel tank managed to survive the slashing, but it now has a classy and exclusive RSD Tracker cap and got painted according to a new matt black/shiny white color scheme (with green inserts) created by its maker and turned into reality by renowned specialist Chris Wood from AirTrix. The model uses a Nightster head-light at the front and new tail-light and plate holder from RSD. Find out more about the Blackline Dirt Tracker after the jump.

View the full Softail Blackline Dirt Tracker by Roland Sands photo gallery

Continue reading: Softail Blackline Dirt Tracker by Roland Sands

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After more than 20 years in the business, Marcus Walz has definitely become one of the most established customizers in the scene. Born and bred nearby the Hockenheim circuit and with a past in Moto Cross racing (abruptly cut off by a serious accident), Mr.Walz has since then moved on and managed to become one of the few real household names in the ‘custom community’, with a list of clients that includes the likes of Brad Pitt and Kimi Raikkonen and - especially - a consistent number of awesome masterpieces on two wheels, the most exclusive ones of which can cost you up to 100.000 €. We have recently introduced Mr.Walz’s rendition of the Yamaha V-Max created for the Hyper Modified line, but now it’s time to go back to what he’s mostly known for: drag-racing inspired V-Twin cruisers, and here is the Softail Adrenaline.

So, let’s get this out of the way: this baby obviously doesn’t come cheap. It is priced at almost 50.000 €, but it is top notch quality we are talking about here. Then again, to get yourself a heavily modified Softail you would need to spend almost that sort of cash anyway, thereby if you like extreme custom bikes and you can spend spend spend, this might just be the right bike for you. It took three months to Marcus and his mate Michael Kroheck to come up with the ‘Adrenaline: the frame is a softail WHC that is very similar in size to the one of the Harley-Davidson Softail - meaning that it is not an extreme construction and can suit anyone, even those with are not too familiar with Marcus’s style - while the engine is a 1,650 cc RevTech Evolution with belt drive primary transmission.

Almost needless to say, the whole chassis is elegantly refined and includes upside down forks by Cipriani, and 18″ rims by Rodder fitted with a 130/60 tyre at the front and a 240/40 at the back. The whole bodywork has been designed and made by Walz, while other parts such as brakes, handlebars, handles and footpegs are built in-house too. Being this a hand-made matorcycle, it can be customized in many ways: saddles, mufflers, rims and even the fork can be modified according to the customers’ wishes, but only if they can spend spend spend. Regardless, the Adrenaline is a proper piece of art.

View the full Hardcore Cycles Adrenaline by Marcus Walz photo gallery

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Most people tend to believe that special bikes have a pretty ‘quiet life’: rarely out for a spin in the weekend, they just show up at some motorcycle event every now and then and spend most of the time collecting dust while on display in some fancy garage somewhere. Well, that’s surely not the case of the one we are going to talk about today: the Wrenchmonkees have designed and created this awesome machine to take on the not-so-comfy roads of the Maghreb region, in Morocco, and we are told it is totally up for the task. Apparently it all got started when one Mr.Thierry, from Mauritania, wrote a letter asking for a simple and yet reliable bike, that would be easy to maintain too (since they haven’t got that many workshops over there..).

It didn’t take long to the WM guys to figure out what to do, they went for the most obvious solution: an old two-valves BMW twin. Why? Because it is sturdy, reliable and suitable for the occasional off road trip. Hence they got themselves a R100RT and turned it into the awesome machine you can see in these pictures. They shortened the rear part of the frame and replaced the original rims with old-fashioned 18″ spoked wheels. Then, in order to make the bike capable of making it through the sandy hills of the desert, they added a new special fork and rear shocks courtesy of Bitubo. Engine and carburettors got completely revised and served with K&N air filters and a bigger oil cooler.

This revamped R100RT also received brand new wiring, a heavy duty Odyssey battery as well as new head- and tail-light, while the tank has been replaced with an old BMW6 one, that gives the bike a sleeker and more ‘old-school’ figure. Gaskets and bearings got replaced too, while the footpegs are from Tarozzi. What was once an heavy and majestic colossus has turned into an light, agile and functional motorcycle that is not scared of climbing the dunes of the Sahara desert. Surely this special babe ain’t your typical show-bike.

via | BikeExif

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Once again no, this is not a new Ducati Monster with a diesel engine: what we have here is a special edition of the Ducati Monster 1100 Evo created with the input coming from Italian fashion brand Diesel, which has been a sponsor for the Ducati MotoGp team for several years. Yesterday evening the Ducati Monster Diesel has been officially unveiled ‘in the metal’ for the first time on the European soil in a Diesel store in central Rome, and our friends from twin-site motoblog.it were there to seize the moment and take some pictures.

Among the people attending the event there were Ducati’s president Gabriele Del Torchio and Diesel’s main man and founder Renzo Rosso, who has been directly involved in the design of this special Monster along with the Ducati Design Centre. The model uses a peculiar ‘Diesel Brave Green’ matt paint scheme that - in combination with the matt black finishing of steel trellis frame, exhaust system, engine covers and rims - provides the bike with a sort of ‘military feel’, and emphasizes the yellow-painted front calipers and rear shock.

The Monster Diesel comes with a few new and exclusive parts such as the passenger seat cover, the mufflers’ heat shields, the dashboard cover and the metal plate fixed on the passenger seat cover. The saddle uses Diesel denim upholstery and there are laser-engraved Diesel’s trademark Mohican logos on the aluminum air inlets of the fuel tank cover, but everything else is basically the same as the model it is based upon: 100 hp 1,078 cc L-twin 2-valve per cylinder Desmodromic engine, Marzocchi 43mm fully adjustable forks, progressive adjustable monoshock by Sachs at the rear (with preload and rebound), digital instrumentation, Ducati Safety Pack (DSP - inclusive of ABS), the latest version of the Ducati Traction Control (DTC) and Pirelli Diablo Rosso II tyres.

View the full Ducati Monster Diesel - European unveiling photo gallery

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Right before coming out with the excellent “Mastino“, the guys from Emporio Elaborazioni had turned their attention to one of the most iconic bikes of the 80s, the Yamaha XJ600. The team led by Mr.Andrea “Dopz“ managed to put their hands on a 1984 model and transformed it into this wonderful cafe racer, re-dubbed “Striscianera” (Black Stripe in Italian).

The heartbeat of this beautiful machine comes from the original Yamaha Dohc engine: a 599 cc, 4-stroke, water-cooled in-line four unit with 2 valves per cylinder and a 6-speed gearbox. The guys from Emporio Elaborazione got rid of all the useless plastic bits (so typical of that decade) and put the bike on a serious diet, which led to a weight loss of 35 kg.

Stripped of its mudguards and fairings and with the rear part of the frame gone out of the window, the bike must have looked like a white canvas for the EE boys: they welded different new parts to the frame, placed an elegant fibreglass tank on the top with a classy ERGAL (Extra Refined Grain ALuminum) gas cap on the side, simplified the electric wiring, removed the air box, added a new saddle and painted the whole thing red and black, with the ignition lock now placed on the side as well. It took them just 3 months to get the job done, and we have to say that the resulting bike really is an eye candy.

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Today’s special bike was spotted at the recent Motor Bike Expo in Verona, Italy, and is called “Meravigliosa Creatura” (”Wonderful Creature” in Italian). This motorcycle was specifically designed to impress the crowd in Verona and is based on a Ducati 749, definitely not the best looking Ducati model we have seen in recent years. Still, this Meravigliosa Creatura is simply gorgeous and - looking closely - it is not difficult to spot some revealing details about which model it actually derives from (see the line of the tank and the exposed trellis frame).

This bike has been conceived and built by the good people from South Garage Cafe - a well-grounded Italian company based in Caggiano, next to Salerno - but it is not the first 749-based project they’ve ever done. In fact, the Meravigliosa Creatura uses a lot of the solutions that were used for their previous ‘A’ Pascal’ project, which had a matt black livery with a big piece of fairing at the front. In an attempt to give it a more ‘vintage’ feel, the team led by Signor Martinez made a few changes (the most notable of which is the addition of a head light courtesy of Baites) and asked specialist Ivan Design to provide it with a Triumph Gray/Kendy Reddish Purple paint-job that includes white inserts and an awesome and ultra-classy ‘certificate of authenticity’ on the tail.

This Wonderful Creature is light, powerful, fast and beautiful. The job done by South Garage Cafe is just outstanding and perfect in every little detail: check it out for yourself in our photo gallery.

View the full Meravigliosa Creatura by South Garage Cafe photo gallery

via | South Garage Cafe

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