Speed Read, July 31, 2022

We kick off this week’s compilation with a Honda Dominator from Australia, and finish it off with two electric scooters from Indonesia. Wedged in between are an obscure Japanese BMW lookalike, a two-stroke Yamaha bobber and the holy union of a Buell engine and a Voxan frame.

Honda NX650 Dominator by Gasoline Motor Co. This black beauty comes from Gasoline Motor Company in Sydney, Australia. Built for a client in Melbourne, Gasoline sourced a pair of Honda Dominators from a farm in Albury Wodonga. That’s five and a half hours from Sydney—but by the looks of it, it was a worthwhile trip.

Using the best bits of both bikes to create a good starting point, the team got to work. Up front is a set of early model Yamaha R6 forks, bolted to the frame using special parts from Cognito Moto in the US. There are also new rims, spokes and a fancy twin brake disc kit.

The engine was treated to a full rebuild, complete with an oversized piston. Painted black with the fins and RFVC lettering skimmed for contrast, it looks brand new.

Boosting the 644 cc lump is a new flat-slide FCS carb with a DNA filter. All that hot air exits from a fresh stainless steel exhaust, complete with an Arrow muffler.

The electrics got a big upgrade as well. There are LEDs all around with the new headlight mounted on custom brackets. A Motogadget control unit takes care of all the thinking, with the bike completely rewired from scratch. Kellermann indicators and tail light are barely visible.

The tank was donated by a Honda CG125, and after the fuel cap was recessed, it was finished in black with a stunning gold flake stripe. There’s a new chocolate brown leather seat, sitting atop a custom subframe.

Fans of the old big red thumper will also notice that the mono-shock is gone; Gasoline replaced it with a more traditional twin shock setup.

From farm hack to city scrambler, all of Gasoline’s hard work has paid off. It’s 1/5 on this week’s Speed Read roster, but it scores a 5/5 from me. [Gasoline Motor Co. | Images by Adrian Veale]

1965 Marusho ST 500 You’d be forgiven for thinking this is a vintage BMW, but take a closer look and you’ll see that this is not a German machine. This is a Marusho ST 500, built in 1965 in Hamamatsu, Japan.

After apprenticing to Soichiro Honda, Masashi Itō broke away from Honda and started the Marusho company. It was a relatively short-lived motorcycle manufacturer, starting in 1948 and closing in 1967. But they made a few models of note—like this horizontally-opposed, shaft drive, 500 cc touring bike.

In what looks like part Honda Dream, part BMW R50, the Marusho 500 ST is certainly a handsome machine. The tall, wide handlebars and long seat make it perfect for big days on the road with the 500 cc flat twin purring along beneath you.

The engine does bear a striking resemblance to an old BMW boxer. There isn’t much information out there about these bikes, but I can only assume that the design was based on BMW’s for good reason. The beautiful peanut-shaped rocker covers are easily removed for valve adjustments, and, in fact, it appears that not a single piece of bodywork needs to be removed to service the bike.

Burn Up Company Vintage Motorcycles in Florida is currently offering this original example for sale. Complete with the original key, toolbox and even exhaust, this would make a great addition to any classic garage or collection.

Please wait while I rush out and buy this. [More]

Yamaha Y15ZR by Nasir Morni The Yamaha Y15ZR doesn’t get a lot of attention in the West. However, elsewhere in the world, the ‘underbone’ class of motorcycles is huge. Not that the bike you’re looking at here resembles a factory Y15ZR in any way, shape or form.

This is a custom creation by Nasir Morni, from the Malaysian side of Borneo. Inspired by the stripped-down Harley-Davidson beach and board track racers of the early 1930s, Nasir made almost everything on this bobber by hand.

The frame is all-new, and is based on the classic Harley VL models. The tank was lifted from a Dyna and was originally one piece, but Nasir split it in twain and narrowed it down to look slimmer. The split tank serves two purposes: one half holds fuel, and the other houses the bike’s electronics.

Along with the split tank is another very unique feature: the brakes. Or, the lack of any visible brakes. So how does it stop?

If you look closely on the left side, you will notice an extra sprocket behind the engine, linked to a very cleverly-designed braking system that Nasir made from a small drum brake hub. Inspired by Max Hazan’s KTM build from a few years ago, the brake shoes apply braking force to the drum, which is linked to the sprocket. As much as it messes with my mind, I love it—and Nasir reports that it works very well.

There are so many elements to take in it’s hard to touch on everything in so few words. Taking five months to build everything around the Y15ZR engine and radiator, the bike was displayed at Art of Speed 2022—Malaysia’s premier custom culture show.

Competing in the Invitational Bike Build Off category, Nasir and his team managed to score a prize. Can’t say it’s hard to see why. [Nasir Morni Instagram | Images by Amin H.]

Buell ‘SR1’ by RD Kustom Sometimes you set out to complete a task only for things not to go according to plan. This 1200 cc Buell-powered CNC-machined masterpiece has a story like that. What started out as a father and son project turned into a one-of-a-kind machine, being awarded Best in Show at the 2022 AMD Championship in Italy last month.

Built by Michael Messina and his son Jimmy, this is the first build from France’s RD Kustom—the ‘SR1.’ The original plan was to take a Buell S1 engine and marry it to a Voxan frame.

If Voxan isn’t familiar to you, they’re a French motorcycle manufacturer that was bought by the Monaco-based company Venturi in 2010. They only produce electric motorcycles now, but before the buyout they produced some rather interesting petrol-powered bikes. Notable features on Voxan motorcycles are their round section, twin-spar frame, and their V-twin engine that acts as a stressed member.

With all their similarities, replacing the Voxan motor with a Buell mill should be straightforward, right? It should have been, but after Jimmy was diagnosed with lung cancer, the whole plan got turned upside down. Jimmy is a mechanical engineer and an experienced racing mechanic, but due to his chemotherapy, he had to leave his job. So the weekend project became a life project.

Starting with just a 3D scan of the engine, Jimmy modeled the entire bike digitally in Solidworks. What he did next is nothing short of incredible—he CNC machined every part he needed out of aluminum, then assembled it like a Meccano set around the Voxan frame.

The front ‘block’ is where the front-end attaches, and houses the air inlet. The rear block serves as an oil tank, engine, swingarm and suspension mount. Everything, including the single-sided swingarm, triple clamps, frame tubes and the bodywork, was made from scratch.

If you like the look of this (and let’s be honest, who wouldn’t?), Michael and Jimmy have plans to do a small run of these bikes and live their own American Dream. Where do I sign up? [RD Kustom Facebook]

NIU Gova by Smoked Garage Electric motorcycles are taking off in a big way, but with prices where they are currently, I’m not likely to fork out my hard-earned just yet. Electric scooters soften the blow somewhat.

Significantly cheaper than full-fat electric motorcycles, e-scoots make a lot of sense. Even though the bodywork and design allow ample room for batteries and the electric motor, range anxiety shouldn’t be an issue. After all, if you’re looking at an electric scooter, it’s urban adventures you’ve got in mind.

The team at Smoked Garage in Indonesia feel the same way about personal electric mobility, so they’ve teamed up with NIU to produce some rather slick scoots. NIU is a Chinese company, making slick-looking scooters that are also available in Europe and North America.

Based on the NIU Gova model, Smoked has come up with two designs: one for ripping around downtown, and one for continuing adventures once the pavement ends.

The Gova ‘Adventure’ model boasts new grips, hand guards, and crash bars to protect the bike (and your limbs) from stray foliage. There are powerful LED lights all round, including some very ADV-looking fog lights up the front.

There’s also a new paint job and a brown leather seat. Knobbly tires, a new footbed and a skateboard/surfboard rack round out the adventure package.

The Gova ‘C.Racer’ is a stripped-down, street-ready affair. The matte green paint with yellow accents is particularly nice, tying in with the new piggyback shock absorber in the back. It’s a tidier package than the Adventure model, with the only protrusions being the small, bar-end mirrors.

The seat is black and modeled in the café racer style we all know and love. I’m not sure if the Pirelli Diablo Superbike slicks are a meme, but I like the look of them nonetheless.

Limited to just 100 units each, if you can see yourself slipping silently through the streets (or forest) on one of these, give Smoked a shout. [Smoked Garage]

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Radicale: A svelte Moto Guzzi V85 TT street scrambler

Moto Guzzi doesn’t make too much noise these days, but they do have some gems in their collection. One of these is the Moto Guzzi V85 TT. Sure, it’s not the most exhilarating adventure bike on the market—but it has oodles of character, and charming looks that set it apart.

Filippo Barbacane of the Italian workshop Officine Rossopuro is a fan, citing the V85 TT’s no frills design as its biggest drawcard. “It’s a motorcycle dedicated to touring, but without the pursuit of extreme technology and the growing need for horsepower that enthusiasts seem to have,” he says. “I am increasingly convinced that the most important characteristics of a versatile bike are lightness, drivability and simplicity.”

But as much as Filippo loves the stock V85 TT, he’s been itching to customize one for a long time. So by the time a client handed him a fresh donor to build a lightweight, go-anywhere scrambler with, he already had a head full of ideas. Luckily that was the full extent of the brief, leaving Filippo free to execute his vision.

“The first thing I did was to completely strip it of all its parts,” he explains, “discovering a frame that is really light, small, and almost made-to-order for building the sort of bike I had in mind.”

Despite the V85 TT’s throwback appeal, it is still a modern motorcycle. So Filippo’s first major challenge was navigating its complex wiring, so that he could perform seemingly simple tasks—like swapping out the lighting. Once he’d done his homework, he figured out a way to ‘trick’ the Moto Guzzi’s OEM control unit.

Once that box was ticked, Filippo could install a full complement of LED lights, including a Koso headlight, slim turn signals, and an embedded taillight. The headlight’s mounted on aftermarket brackets, and wrapped in an aluminum nacelle. Tucked behind it is the OEM dash, which Filippo describes as “functional and light.”

Next, Filippo redressed the Moto Guzzi in custom-made bodywork. He started by building a polystyrene model of the design, then shaped each part by hand out of aluminum. Unlike most modern dual-sports, there’s no plastic here.

The array of new parts includes a svelte, sculpted fuel tank, and an abbreviated rear cowl that caps off the end of the frame. The tank looks small, but it’s been built to tuck into the frame, maximizing capacity. Other changes include a high-mounted front fender, and sharp new side panels.

Being a fan of the stock frame’s appearance, Filippo opted not to hack it up too much. He simply shortened and tweaked the subframe’s rails, and machined a pair of heel plates to cover the passenger peg mounts. Mounted just in front of those are adjustable aluminum foot pegs.

This V85 TT has been designed for alone time, so Filippo added a synthetic leather seat for one, with a little extra wiggle room for comfort.

Officine Rossopuro’s client plans to use the Moto Guzzi more for everyday riding than touring, so Filippo tweaked the ergonomics too. The new bars and risers sit lower than before, making for a more aggressive rider triangle. LSL mirrors keep things tidy and practical at the same time.

Filippo also fabricated a burly bash plate for off-road excursions. Out back is a swingarm-mounted license plate holder, keeping the bike road legal without cluttering up the tail section.

Final upgrades include new fork cartridges and a new rear shock, all from Bitubo. Filippo kept the 19F/17R spoked wheels and stock Brembo brakes, but threw a pair of Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR tires in the mix. The custom exhaust system comes from MASS, a frequent Rossopuro collaborator.

The V85 TT’s new livery is a more radicale riff on Moto Guzzi’s centenary color scheme from last year, with a little red thrown in for good measure. It works so well, that Filippo didn’t need to re-coat any of the bike’s hard parts to make everything harmonize.

The real trick here is how effectively Filippo has reimagined the Guzzi, and its intended use. “It’s an expression of the total change of mind from the original V85 TT,” he says, “moving from a touring bike, to an agile bike designed for versatile everyday use.”

And, as most good customs do, it makes a strong case for the factory to release a similar machine. Agree?

Officine Rossopuro | Facebook | Instagram

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Blurred Lines: Turning a humble 200 into a street tracker

Flat trackers make for a compelling argument as practical, everyday street bikes. They’re lightweight with comfortable ergonomics, but don’t tower seven feet off the ground like dirt bikes. So it’s a mystery why more manufacturers don’t make factory-issue street trackers.

Someone else keen on the flat track style is Irwann Cheng, of the Malaysian custom bike outfit FNG Works. He’s just worked his magic on a customer’s bone stock MLE XTM 200; a Chinese-made supermotard sold in Malaysia.

The project was a well-timed one. With the world slowly shutting down a few years ago, Irwann was forced to take on motorcycle work that he didn’t particularly love. Sure, it paid the bills—but it was smothering his creative flame.

Luckily, a customer approached FNG Works for a flat track-style bike. It was just the right project to rekindle Irwan’s love for customization—especially since the customer gave him full creative control.

Street trackers are all about stance, so this is where Irwann started. The stock front end was lowered internally by four inches, and the wheels were wrapped in new dual-sport rubber. Irwann chose to stick with the 17” wheels, as he thought that matching 19” wheels would be disproportionate—and it was a good way to keep the cost down.

The MLE’s swooping bodywork design is unusual, but there’s a particular thought process behind it. “The frame of this bike is a twin-spar type,” explains Irwann. “I have seen others make a tank that wraps around the frame to create a horizontal bone line but I decided that instead of working against the frame, I should cooperate with it.”

It’s quite refreshing to see someone work with what they’ve got, and Irwann has pulled it off superbly. Instead of making the body out of fiberglass, Irwann decided to stick to what he knows, and build it entirely from metal. The monocoque construction lifts up on gas struts to reveal the genius that lies beneath.

The speedometer, engine electronics and Dynavolt Nano Gel battery are all housed above the engine. The speedometer protrudes through the bodywork—a simple touch that makes so much sense in terms of practicality and design.

With the electronics up front, there is one glaring omission: the fuel tank. You’ll find it tucked snugly between the rails of the rear subframe. The 7.8 liter go-juice container not only looks cool underneath the tail, but having a rear tank also helps with weight distribution.

The striking bodywork needed a paint job that could keep up. Irwann decided on a red and yellow scheme—a throwback to his younger years spent watching Malaysian Cub Prix racing. We can’t stop looking at it, even if it does hurt our eyes a little.

“The ‘FNGWORKS’ and ’87’ were made to look blurry like an out-of-focus camera, because I like the effect,” says Irwann. “I like to imagine, maybe in a race, that it will make the other racers feel dizzy looking at it.”

The number is in reference to the owner’s birth year, and the Dynavolt and RK Takasago logos are a nod to Irwann’s sponsors for this build. The engine and frame were powder coated black, and the swingarm was swapped out for an aluminum unit, which Irwann polished to a shine. Eagle-eyed viewers will spot a clear float bowl on the carb—a nice touch that ties in with the paint scheme.

Back up top, the stock handlebars were swapped for a set of blacked-out flat track bars. The switchgear was whittled down to a bare minimum, as was the lighting. Motogadget mo.blaze disc bar-end turn signals run through the bars.

The LED headlight is actually a spotlight that was lifted from a car. Nestled inside the front number plate, it helps the bike look like a proper flat track racer, especially with the trimmed fork guards that Irwann had painted to match. A small LED tail light is buried into the rear of the monocoque.

With Malaysia’s mega-popular Art of Speed show on the horizon, Irwann decided to enter the bike. Then, with a mere ten days to go, he hit a road block: the bike wouldn’t start.

Irwann quickly figured out that the 200 cc MLE engine is based on the Suzuki GN125, and that the wiring is a copy of the Suzuki Thunder 125. Armed with that knowledge, he rewired the bike and brought it back to life.

“For the last ten days at the shop, with only 2 to 3 hours of sleep every day, I hustled to finish the bike,” states Irwann. “I didn’t even celebrate by birthday with my wife and son. I felt like I was on the other side of the world, even though they were only about 30 minutes away.”

The juice was certainly worth the squeeze. FNG Works bagged the International Guest Favorite Pick of the Show award, chosen by Mama Tried’s Scott Johnson, along with three other awards. If we were there, we surely would have picked it too.

FNG Works Instagram | Facebook | Images by Amin Hamid

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Vincent Black Flash: Dark brilliance from Fuller Moto

Bryan Fuller is one of those guys who can work magic on anything with wheels and tires. He’s a next-level fabricator who learned his skills with legends such as the So-Cal Speed Shop and Chip Foose, and today he’s at the top of the custom tree in the USA.

Despite his regular TV work, he still gets on the tools in his Atlanta, Georgia shop—and he aims as high as ever. This incredible Vincent has been three years in the making, and it’s one of his most exciting builds yet.

“When I first was exposed to these quirky-looking engines, I thought they were overrated,” Bryan tells us. “But after a couple of decades in the custom industry, my view of Vincents has changed. These motorcycles are masterpieces that combined engineering, art, and speed—far ahead of their time.”

The story of this build starts in 2019 when Fuller’s client Shaun Lamb bought a reproduction Vincent Series C 1000cc engine. He arranged for it to be shipped to the Fuller Moto workshop.

As well as the engine, Bryan received “a nice pile of parts” including a modern 12V charging system, electronic ignition, basic wiring and gauges, and an electric start. “The parts list also included a reproduction Egli frame with the oil tank built into the top tube, and a swingarm … with some mediocre shocks.”

“When the parts showed up we did a full inventory and began the mockup process,” says Bryan. “Shaun liked our ‘Misty Green’ Norton Commando from a few years ago, but the frame mockup just wasn’t quite ‘there’ for either of us.”

Bryan removed any parts that weren’t hitting the mark and began redesigning the entire foundation. To start with, the rear frame area was too wide and bulky, and not suitable for the tidy little tail section that Bryan had in mind.

So, he scrapped the tubing from the oil tank backward and fabricated new Chromoly tubing in its place. Fox shocks now suspend the rear.

Then he took Ducati’s Imola-style tank design and integrated it with a compact fairing. “This was a function of necessity; we wanted to get at least two gallons of gas capacity while keeping the large tubular oil reservoir.”

The center portions of the tank and tail started life as a five-inch-wide strip of aluminum. Bryan then water-jetted a custom die for his Pullmax [metal shaping] machine to keep the shape consistent in the front and rear.

“This is a great way to get started and keeps the design cohesive. The tail and seat came together pretty good after some tweaking and tacking.”

Next was the stainless exhaust, which uses 1¾-inch tubing rolled on a three-wheel roller to get the long swooping pieces. “The u-bends were then made on a mandrel bender and are spliced together to create the rest.”

“It’s very tight in the head area, and since the header flanges are threaded, we needed to be very careful that they didn’t get stripped. We made a special tap to chase the threads at one point.”

The windscreen is much higher tech. “The concept was to be able to look straight into the bike and see directly into the guts of the triple tree and headlight area,” says Bryan. Dallas-based 3D printer Adam Tulin took Bryan’s cardboard templates and made (as far as we know) the first printed motorcycle windscreen.

“It took a few sample prints to get things dialed in,” Bryan notes. “Adam nailed the design, and we even integrated the factory mounts of the headlights into the print—which made assembly very easy.”

Shaun requested a Smiths tachometer be put on the bike, to match the originals. Bryan didn’t have the unit in his hands until very late in the build, but a roll of 2-inch masking tape worked as a placeholder.

The birdcage bracketry uses bungs made on the lathe and a ¼-inch steel rod painstakingly bent into configuration. “There was a good deal of back and forth adjusting, untacking, retacking and making sure each hole lines up just right. This screen is about as tight as you can make it.”

The brakes and triple trees are reproduction magnesium units from Argentina, supplied by Shaun. “I was worried the raw mag finish was going to look weird with this highly polished machine,” says Bryan. “So we powder coated and then painted the side plates to have the most visible parts match.”

A trickier job was printing oval titanium intake runners and stacks. “Custom-making intake tubes can take some time, and metal finishing is always a long process,” Bryan explains. “We printed several mockups out of plastic to get the positioning just right.”

“Metal printing is an amazing technology that we are using more and more on our projects. I’ve yet to find an impurity in the stack of parts we’ve done so far.”

After a little extra finesse for the lines of the tank and fairing, Bryan sketched out the flying buttress seat cover idea with Fuller Moto staffer Cato. “We had an old leather jacket to use as the seat material. I love how the design came together—I don’t remember seeing another like it.”

The compact tail unit hides the electronics and a battery compartment, and Bryan has water-jetted a clear ‘spear’ that runs over the top and around the cylindrical taillight. It’s a neat see-through trick that adds a touch of magic in the dark.

As with all Fuller Moto projects, almost every fastener on the Vincent was swapped out with ARP stainless 12-point fasteners. (“This project was an even harder swap than usual, due to the mixture of Wentworth, Standard, and Metric thread patterns and sizes.”)

After a couple of years of on-and-off work, everything was ready for painting and polishing. “Our in-house paint shop laid out some flawless, killer black flat paint. Chastin Brand came in to help with the logos and stripes.”

Bryan says that the name ‘Black Flash’ was an easy choice: “One of the few names in the Vincent family not used, as far as I know.”

‘Black Flash’ has just finished touring the shows in the US, and she’s now ready for a real shakedown. “I’m getting chills thinking about heading down an open road, getting the throttle open, and seeing that Smiths head towards redline!” says Bryan.

And who wouldn’t? Black Flash is as close to motorcycle art as you can get—and a brilliant homage to the classic Egli cafe racers.

Fuller Moto | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Steve West

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