ATJ Project's '83 Honda CB400 Café Racer

I'm here to tell you something that I now know beyond a shadow of a doubt. ATJ Project's main man, Adam Jasiński, is one persistent, determined son-of-a-bitch. Looking back through the records, he first contacted us in early September of 2012 with photos of a bike he'd just finished. We liked it and asked if he could get us some decent photos of. He said yes, and then spent the next five months battling with cameras, lights, SD cards and our tachyon-sized attention spans trying desperately to impress us. I swear at one point I actually forgot who he was and introduced myself to him a second time. But he soldiered on and on and on until finally, when the moon was aligned in the third house of Sagittarius and an albino dog in China barked three times, he managed to wow us with the photos you see before you. Adam, I'm here to say thanks. Thanks for persisting. And thanks for putting up with our fussiness. If you're in Poland and looking for a custom bike, I can guarantee you this is the guy that will go the extra mile. Or month, as the case may be...

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Honda GL200 Café Racer - 'Dolores'

Sometimes we receive bikes that have something more captivating than stunning looks. Something more powerful than the number of horses they output. Something more impressive than the number of hours that have been spent building the bike. They have a great story. A story that is more fundamental to the build than any other part on the bike. This is one of them, and this story starts like many others on this site, person buys rusty old donor bike for next to nothing and decides to resurrect it into a beautiful little café racer. This is where the story differs from others. This time the owner's Dad had seen the start of the project and had heard of the plans his son had for the bike, but unfortunately due to cancer, he didn't know whether he will be alive when the bike was finished. But here's the kicker, the day before his father dies he says to his son, "your bike will be amazing, and I'll see it from the sky". So this is the story of a bike built in memory of a father who unfortunately didn't get to see his sons dream of owning a custom motorcycle...

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Galaxy Customs' BMW R1200R

This will be the part where you all will be expecting me to write something witty, clever and creative to introduce this latest bike, yes? A back story, or an interesting fact about BMWs that you didn't know. Well, I've just written about half a dozen of the things and all of them seem like dancing about architecture in the face of a bike like this. I mean just look at the thing. Coolest BMW ever? We are pretty much already there. So, what are you waiting for? Read on! I'll be right here writing a proper introduction...

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Brenton Newton's Honda CT110 Bobber

Any of us that have tried to build a custom bike for ourselves will know the pleasure and the pain that it can bring. For all the cool beers at the end of a day where you just sit back and smile and the progress, there's an equal number of days where you think to yourself, ‘is this really the best used of my heard-earned?’ As the bills roll in and the unexpected speeding tickets, surprise tax bills, and other infuriating expenses mount, the chances of finishing the bike look more and more like a pipe dream. But what if you removed money from the equation almost entirely? What if you just used whatever came to hand and trusted your instincts and ingenuity over your wallet? What if? This if. Behold the coolest, cheapest and definitely the most unusual Honda CT110 we've ever had the pleasure of meeting.

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JMR Customs Honda CB450

Decisions, decisions. What colour should I make the tank? Or should the tank be bare metal? How do you coat bare metal so it doesn't rust? What tires should I choose? Should I choose the same front and back tires or should they be different? How low should it be? If I lower it, will it change the handling? What rims should I use? Should I keep the standard headlight or change it? Do I use pipewrap or not? Do I need fenders? Will the bike attract the cops? Should it be clean or ratty? Will it look weird or will it look cool? Customising a bike involves so many questions. All of them seem insurmountable, yet you somehow know that what makes a great bike is just the sum of all these tiny little decisions. Hold back on them and you'll get a bike that blends into the background like a turd at a chocolate festival. Go overboard and you'll spend your weekends ignoring the chuckles and the rolled eyeballs as you arrive at your local hang. But get it right...

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CRQ Cycles' Honda CGL125 Café Racer

Families. One of those things in life that are completely unavoidable. Like death and taxes. And Kim Kardashian. Unless you were begat from a set of robotic loins, you've probably got you own. They fight and they scream. They mock and they cry. They drink too much and they embarrass you when you bring home a new ‘friend’ to meet them. And then they go and take a photo of you with your pants down that time you all went camping when you were 12 and it was so obvious that you had pulled a muscle in your groin but they all insisted you were doing something gross with a sock and a some lip balm and then they go and show the picture to everyone you know. It wasn't me, though. It was a friend of mine. No, really. But after all the crap and the tears, they then go and do something that just transcends all the frustration and the bad blood. Like buy you a motorbike...

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Philippe Lagente's '81 Yamaha SR500 Brat

I'll let you in on a little secret. We're planning some big things for 2013 here at the ol' Maison de Tubes Flamboyants. Now I don't want to give too much away, but I think it's fair to say that this year will be our biggest and best ever. Resolutions? We've made them. Plans? We've got 'em. Bigger. Better. More. Faster. Louder. Seriously, Scott and I are like the proud parents of a kid that's just been accepted into Cambridge. Except we don't sleep in the same bed - well, not since that one time in bike camp... but I digress. So, taking all impending amazingness into consideration, we could hardly start the year on a dull note now could we? Hell no. Please raise your red plastic cups, sound your plastic bugles and pop your party, um, poppers to welcome our first bike for the new year, Philippe Lagente's spectaculaire '81 SR500 brat.

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Pipeburn's Top 10 Bikes of 2012

Ahhh, 2012... a superb year for custom bikes, yes? Scott and I have just spent a quiet evening in, sitting around the drawing room table while sampling some of this year's best vintages. We've had a few cheeky German numbers. One or two North American examples and a decent tipple of some fine Australian produce. Were we Impressed? Naturally. Looking back at our 2011 list, it's hard not to be taken with the overall rise in quality of this year's selection - one that was hand-picked by us according to your comments, Facebook likes, and with an added pinch of ‘just because’. So here's cheers to all the makers who were generous enough to bless us with their hard work, and here's another one to all of you readers for frequenting this fine establishment. The first vintage on this year's list is a cheeky little number from one of Arizona's finest makers, the very talented Del Prado brothers, which earnt a record-breaking 1.7k Facebook likes. It must be something in the New River soil.

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Merry Christmas from Pipeburn

We want to wish all our readers, builders, commentators, critics, keyboard warriors and even the spammers a Merry Christmas from everyone at Pipeburn. We would also like to give a special thanks to all our sponsors who help keep Pipeburn upright. If you are wondering who they are, check out the right hand side of this post and you will see some of the most passionate and awesome moto companies from around the world – we heart you guys.

We have some big plans for 2013, so watch this space, Pipeburn will be going in for a complete rebuild – don't worry, we won't be using vintage Firestones. Over the next few weeks we will still be posting motorcycle goodness but we are on holidays, so they may be a little less regular than normal.

Wherever you are on this planet, be sure to have a great holiday and if you're lucky enough to be able to ride in your part of the world, ride safe...

The above photograph was taken by our good friend and fellow Australian Cafe Racer member, Smelvis Broholm. Art direction, set build, styling and cat wrangling was performed by Nixie the Xmas Pixie Skobier. And the handsome talent is Rogue the cat and the bike is Smelvis's XS650 he calls Thor's Hammer – you can check more on this project here.