Written by Martin Hodgson

There can be a simple price to pay when you choose to roll with the pack and conform to what the current culture demands; everyone else is happy but yourself! For Victor Dikanchev obeying the rules was never going to be an option, he’d build his bike the way he wanted no matter the reaction. Living in Bulgaria where there is almost no bike scene anyway, his motorcycle would become an extension of himself. So help him bring it all together he enlisted KKKBikes and together they’ve built a brilliant 1982 Honda CB900F2 that’s quite at home dividing opinion.

Written by Martin Hodgson

In any rapidly changing environment that experiences enormous growth in a short period of time, it’s easy to lose sight of the fundamentals. A true cafe racer was never meant to be a rolling showcase of the industry’s most expensive components in a stationary automotive sculpture. So taking things back to basics, Germany’s Kaspeed craft clever customs that are riders bikes first and foremost. Simplifying and improving every area of the motorcycle until like this 1980 Honda CX500 it’s ready to put an enormous smile on its new owner’s dial.

Written by Martin Hodgson.

Tributes can take on many forms, the words offered at a funeral or a photo that lives on the wall. But there are others whose lives demand so much more, having lived the maxim, ‘Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you.’ Having walked in his older brother’s influential shadow, often just making the tea that fuelled both stories and bike builds, Alec Birkbeck knew his ultimate eulogy had to be forged in steel. With guidance from above and a desire to live up to his brother’s natural gift, it’s a stunning Yamaha TR1 just for Kevin.

Written by Martin Hodgson

When purveyors of sophistication and style for more than half a century, GQ Magazine, were looking for someone to build them a bike to match their ethos they knew exactly where to turn. They sent a brand new Thruxton R to Adam Kay of London’s Untitled Motorcycles, a man who has built a plethora of perfectly fashioned customs over the years. It’s little wonder his skills are in such high demand but having built the GQ bike on a serious deadline, Adam is back with another Triumph Thruxton R 1200 for one very lucky client, who was seeking the perfect modern cafe classic.

It seems fitting on the day over 100,000 gentlefolk take to the streets riding for mental health and prostate cancer on the annual Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, we would show our support for this legendary group based in Sydney called the Lost Motos. Lost Motos is all about breaking down the stigma of men’s mental health, with their private support group on Facebook, they have been able to create a community where each person that is part of it is able to get support, encouragement and be part of a like-minded community.

Lost Motos was born out of the need of a listening ear, an empathetic heart and a revving motorcycle to make it through some tough times. What grew from a humble motorcycle trip between a few mates is now an online support group for men. A place to be vulnerable and emotional within a supportive environment surrounded by the love of motorcycles.

Written by Tim Huber.

Unlike the Hypermotard, MH900e, Supermono, and Sport Classic, Pierre Terblanche’s design for the original Ducati Multistrada received a less-than-positive reception from the motorcycling public upon its release. Routinely included (and ranking high) on lists of the ugliest motorcycles in modern history, the first-gen Multistrada was all kinds of awkward. Between the cyclops headlight, a windscreen and fairing top that turned with the forks, and a sporty 999-esque tail that just didn’t mesh well with the trailie-vibe, the Multistrada was largely regarded as a visual mess.

Written by Tim Huber.

Literally Italian for “motorbike”, La Motocicletta is a small shop in Italy that approaches custom building from a different vantage point than most. Massimo, La Motocicletta founder and head honcho, previously spent his days working on prototypes for major manufacturers, so churning out one-off parts and ultra-clean bikes with a factory level finish is what the man is accustom to.

Written by Tim Huber.

Artists and builders tend to be extremely critical of their own work. With the benefit of hindsight, it can be hard not to go back and ponder all the things you would have done differently were you given a chance to turn back the clock and take a second crack at an earlier completed work. But after Italy’s Ludwig Motorcycles had one of its 2017 builds suffer a crash, the shop was given the opportunity to turn all those would-haves and should-haves into reality.

Written by Martin Hodgson

A modern sportbike is an amazing thing; 200+hp, ultra-advanced electronics and top of the line suspension and brakes. But apart from the packaging they’re almost all the same and lack so much of the character and charm of their older brethren. So to perfectly meld the best of both, who better to create the ultimate superbike than legendary New Hampshire based builder, Mr Walt Siegl! A race only version of his company’s WSM SBK model, it was commissioned by one very lucky man’s girlfriend, as the Christmas present, we’d all love to have.

Written by Martin Hodgson

For just over a decade, beginning in the early ’80s, the Cagiva brand was the king and dominant force in Italian motorcycling. Winning world championships, Dakar Rally’s and buying out Ducati, Husqvarna, MV Agusta and Moto Morini; but all that is over! What we do have as the company’s legacy is the beloved brands it managed to save and a hand full of models from that glorious period worthy of celebration. Based on the beautiful Ducati Pantah, the Cagiva Alazzurra is one such bike and with a band of merry men, Sydney’s Ash Kollmorgen has taken this 1986 model and made an exquisite custom cafe racer.