Category - Brat

EDGE OF YOUR SEAT: Yamaha XV920 Virago by 485 Designs

Written by Tim Huber. Over the last few years Yamaha’s venerable Virago has become an increasingly popular platform for customization, trumped by the likes of the CX500, CB750, and Dominator. And while it’s difficult to pin-down the first shop to treat...

NEW LEASE ON LIFE: 1979 Kawasaki KZ1000 by Motorelic

When the KZ1000 first rolled off the factory floor in 1976, it was the fastest production bike with a 1015cc inline four motor that produced a very respectable 83 horses. In recent years, these KZ’s have been in high demand and have been fetching some high...

URBAN ASSAULT VEHICLE: Buell XB9R by Ruthless Customz

We're not the first to say it, but Erik Buell is a genius and over 100,000 examples of the sports bikes wearing his name have been sold around the world. But that didn't stop the company from failing, twice, and now turning his attention to electric, it is...

LICENCE TO THRILL: Honda FT500 by Hombrese Bikes

The engineering professor who was the first to build functioning models of artificial neural networks has a quote he likes to use when explaining his work, “the simple things are the hardest”! It was a philosophy that Uwe Kostrewa of Cologne's Hombrese...

2019 Custom Built Show, Bogotá, Colombia

. I was in Colombia for twelve hours when a man yelled at me and shoved a pistol in my face. I panicked, reverted to German and cried ‘Nich schiessen!’ before he laughed, lowered the gun and ran out of the shopping centre. Security guards in Bogotá...

Throttle Roll Motorcycle Show 2019

Photography by Nick Fraser. After a two year hiatus, the Throttle Roll Motorcycle Show was back with a vengeance last weekend, as the sound of rockabilly music and motorcycles reverberated through the back streets of Waterloo, Sydney. This year, Throttle Roll...

ROUGH AND READY. Pasquale’s ‘111’ Honda CB500 Cafe Brat

Gustavo from Pasquale and his dad are fucking legends.” That's how our man Marlon described the family powerhouse that is Colombia's Pasquale Motors, and he's harder to impress than Vladimir Putin. We don't think it's an exaggeration to say that the whole...

COOL RUNNINGS. Banb Motorcycle’s ‘Zumax’ Suzuki GSX750 Inazuma Racer

Ostentatious oil coolers have been a stock-in-trade item for Japanese car customisers for decades. Lifted from racing car stylings of the 70s and 80s, the more ridiculous its placement and the route the oil lines take, the more street cred the cars seem to...

RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. Pop Bang Classics’ ‘Borg’ Honda CB450

Living next to the ocean is gorgeous, but as any surf-girted motorcycle nut will tell you, all that salty sea breeze just destroys motorcycles. It eats chrome, dulls aluminum and causes rust to flash up in weeks. So what’s the point of a polished custom if...

ON THE GAS. Tattoo Customs’ ‘Blue Velvet’ BMW R80RT Cafe Brat

Forget the disco-era 1970s or even the golden age of the Renaissance, turns out men have been wearing colourful velvet since 200 BC in China. Personally I've never got the trend; unless you're the legendary American pimp, Bishop Don 'Magic' Juan, then you're...