Written by Martin Hodgson | Photography by Kenny Smith

All that glitters is certainly not gold; what was supposed to be a quality custom café racer built by a hot shot from California arrived in Australia a disappointing mess. Some carefully taken photos and a host of hidden problems meant this wasn’t discovered until the CB550 had crossed the Pacific. But Justin Holmes of Australia’s PopBang Classics came to the rescue and every time the owner asked him to up the ante, he delivered. The finished product is a supercharged 1975 Honda Hot Rod that finally has the Hollywood happy ending.

The same thing happened every year. I’d promise myself that I’d go to Australia’s Machine Show and then at the very last minute the reality of travelling three hours south of Sydney would kick me in the family jewels. With a six-hour round trip, it’d either be a seriously big day or I’d have to organise accommodation…

When you mention a Yamaha XT to any bike enthusiast a few things come to mind. Yamaha’s XT series set the bar in off-road racing for a long time, and since then they’ve been synonymous with durability, performance and reliability. So of course, I have one rolled into the garage that looks anything but…

“THIS IS NOT A SCRAMBLER!” is what I shout to myself on repeat as I hit the first few corners of the famous Great Ocean Road in Australia’s south-east. Not a car in sight, my right wrist is only just warming up. Luckily, my hands are already comfortable thanks to the bike’s heated grips…

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 it’s just going to get eaten by the sea?

It’s not often these days that we post videos, but sometimes something comes your way that just make you sit up and pay attention. For us, it was an email from Tom at Brisbane’s Purpose Built Moto. Already a Pipeburn favourite, the passion and enthusiasm we noticed…

Australia’s Purpose Built Moto have created a Signature Series to delineate their uncompromising world-class builds from their other services, often built to suit a budget or a client’s specific needs. Enter Signature Series build No. 1, head honcho Tom Gilroy’s vision of the ultimate Honda…

During our recent trip to Australia’s Broken Hill on Triumph’s Bobber, we were lucky enough to be able to work with Dean Walters, a local Melbourne photographer who seems to have quite the knack with cameras and motorcycles. We got to spend the week with him while bashing around the Aussie desert and trying not to crash bikes we didn’t own. After seeing him in action, we can say that the guy’s definitely ‘got the gift’. Watching him turn two idiots messing around in the dirt into jaw-dropping shots was a sheer pleasure to behold. So we asked him to give us his best-ever shots and a quick interview; this is what we got.

If on buying a new Triumph Bobber it wheeled itself into your house, drank all your booze, shagged your wife and set fire to your cat, people would still want to buy it. Motorcyclists are frothing over it. It’s the highest selling Triumph of recent years, and the preorders have even outstriped those for the incredible new Thruxton. But such a high demand for the Bobber means press bikes are in short supply and we only had a pair of shiny new cruisers for three days. What could we do in that time? How about we take it into the Australian outback and beat the crap out of it.

For something to be reborn first it must die, and this particular ghost who walks lived a very short life before it was resurrected in just eight tumultuous weeks. Whatever perfect product you buy, the end result is a culmination of blood, sweat and tears that the consumer is never likely to see. But prepared to let the masses get a glimpse behind the scenes Australia’s premier custom bike builder, Wenley Andrews has pulled back the curtain and revealed the alter at which he works. Making this process even more special is the collaboration that made it happen; a collective of the Australian industry’s very best. The incredible finished product was finished just hours ago. A Wenley special, this 2016 Triumph Thruxton R racer is known as the one who cannot die; the ‘Phantom’.