DariztDesign's 16th Attempt - “Elang Langit”

The miracle of flight is a pretty amazing thing when you stop and think about it. Sure, your average bird makes it look incredibly simple and beautifully effortless, but when you really look into what's going on to keep it suspended up in the wide blue yonder, it's nothing short of breathtaking. Which brings us to the bike du jour, Darizt Design's ‘Elang Langit,’ or Sky Hawk. As the name indicates, the bike also manages to look both effortless and simple while hiding a plethora of beautiful details that reveal themselves like bolts from the blue to those who are keen of eye.

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1972 BSA A65 Lightning bobber

By guest writer Ian Lee.

Everyone should have a hobby. Something removed from everyday employment in order to keep one’s sanity. Today’s feature bike is a result of keeping work and play separate, of escapism of the best kind, that of custom motorcycle building. A civil engineer by trade, Aaron Rubio’s true passion is building and riding custom bikes, which he tries his hardest to be able to do at least once a week. Recent comments about a BSA and electrical wiring prompted Aaron to send pics of his 1972 BSA A65 Lightning bobber into Pipeburn, to show solidarity in not having every little aspect of your bike perfectly tucked away and looking neat. In Aaron’s own words "I do believe clean wiring has it’s place, but exposed wiring helps define the soul of a bike". True, and we love this bike for all it’s touches, exposed wiring and all. 

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Icon's Triumph Tiger 800XC - “Dromedarii”

By guest writer Ian Lee.

So you decide you are going to build a custom bike. From this starting point you have so many directions you can head in for the style of your build. Should your bike run motocross bars or clip-ons? Is it a good idea to lengthen your swingarm? Is it really a problem if you want to run both Firestones and pipewrap? All good questions if you are a run of the mill customiser. However, if you are in the same state of mind as the builders at Icon, then your ideas will stretch far beyond conventional means, to the realm of the post-apocalyptic. 

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Video: Waiting Out Winter

As a southern hemispherian, I have a strange relationship with winters. And I'm not talking about the kind we get down here. In fact, calling those ‘winter’ is akin to calling Nicki Minaj an ‘artist’. But just like any other westerners, we grew up with images of Frosty the Snowman, sleigh rides and ice skating on frozen lakes. What the picture books and stop motion Christmas specials conveniently avoid, though, is the nastier aspects of la saison d'hiver. Like the heating bills, shovelling snow, and worst of all - the fact that your bike stays put for what seems like an eternity (hello North Eastern America if you are reading this.) But is that really a negative, or is it a customiser's blessing in disguise?

Hold that thought while you watch the latest video from long-time Pipeburn contributor and good mate Andrew David Watson. It's a piece he's done with Cast & Salvage, a very cool-looking Philly bike shop. As Andrew puts it, ‘winter is in full force up here, and we still have another month or two to go, so hopefully everyone watching has a winter project to keep themselves busy with until it's riding time!’ Enjoy.

Pipeburn and Sydney Café Racers - Group Ride

Here's something we haven't done in a very long while; a good old-fashioned group ride. It's been more than a year since we did our last one with the lads from Sydney Cafe Racers, and that was a bit of a wash out. Not being ones to take such metrological insults lying down, we have decided to get together and do it all over again. And this time we're inviting you.

So what do you have to do to join the fray? If you live in Sydney and you are free this coming Sunday, the 17th of February then all you have to do is meet us at Audley car park in the Royal National Park at 9am. From there we'll cruise down south for a spot of lunch in Kangaroo Valley. Easy. All bikes types and skill levels are welcome. There will be a support vehicle, photographers and a film crew on the day. More details here. Feel free to ask questions in the comments below.

(As always, sorry to our interstate and international readers. If you start pulling your bike apart now and sending it via FedEx, you just might make it in time.)

Engineered to Slide's '08 KTM 250 Café

Here's a story that has more twists and turns than a drift racer's wet dream. You see, we first eyed this bike when it appeared on the front cover of the Australian Just Bikes Magazine all the way back in August of last year. We tried to get in touch with the owner via text message and email, but only managed to get a single reply before the trail went cold. We were was lost. Why wasn't this guy getting back to us? Frustrated, we went to the owner's website and began to read up on the bike's builder - a guy called ‘Nigel’. Then the penny drops. ‘State drift car champion,’ the site says. And V8 Supercar demonstration driver. And TopGear Live demonstration driver, drift racing car builder, and custom bike builder. Phew. Ladies and gentlemen, please meet Nigel Petrie - builder of the world's baddest KTM café, and quite possibly Australia's busiest person.

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DP Customs '95 Harley Sportster - “del Rey”

Anyone that has studied the creative process will tell you that the world's great artists eventually develop a style that is simultaneously totally original, yet uniquely and utterly their own. Think Kimura. Or Falcon. Or Lennon & McCartney. They seem to reach a point in their careers where they just manage to transcend their contemporaries and take flight. After that, their work is a good as their signature or their offspring; inherently and unmistakably theirs. Looking over the shots you see here of DP Custom's lastest creation, I'm beginning to think that they, too, have taken flight. Please welcome back the brothers Del Prado, with their 6th (!) bike to make it's Pipeburn appearance - the larger than life Harley ‘del Rey.’

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Tattoo Project's 1970 BSA Lightning

Building a custom bike can be one hell of a challenge. And we're not just talking about the skinned knuckles and cold nights with nothing but a greasy lump of metal to keep you warm. No, what we're really getting at is the more intellectual aspects of a customisation. The seemingly simple decisions you have to make about what to do with the bike that will successfully take it from ‘hate’ to ‘great’. Having done this ourselves, we are all too familiar with just how infuriating choosing a seat, picking rubber, or routing an exhaust can be. Thoughts race through your head. "Is this a cliché... is it original... will it look cool?" These things can eat you alive if you let them, but then along comes a bike that slaps you right in your navel-gazing, self-important face. Cue the latest build from Rudy Banny's Tattoo Project Custom Motorcycles. It takes no la-di-da, avanté garde approaches, yet like a simple slice of apple pie and ice cream, it totally manages to hit the spot.

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1980 Honda CX500 "Testardo"

When it comes to creative Italian bike builders, the guys at Emporio Elaborazioni Meccaniche always bring something original to the table. For their latest build, they decided against using a local bike like a Guzzi or a Ducati and chose the humble Honda CX500. "We suggested this cheap bike to work with the customers request to have a cool but inexpensive custom" says Andrea. Back in 1978 when Honda first released the Honda CX500, they used the advertising tag line “First into the Future!” to launch this motorcycle – referring to it being the first water-cooled, shaft-driven V-twin. Now 30 years into the future, these clever guys from Rome have reshaped this Honda into a street tracker the Japanese would be proud of. 

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