Home Run: A beastly Buell hardtail from a first-time builder

The brutal minimalism of land-speed bikes is downright magnetic. So it doesn’t surprise us that that’s where Corban Gallagher found inspiration for his latest custom build. Correction: his first custom build.

It’s true—while Corban has dabbled with modifying motorcycles and cars in the past, this is the first time he’s pieced together a whole custom motorcycle. And what a debut effort it is. Powered by an S1 White Lightning engine, this low and lean Buell hardtail dragster is pixel-perfect.

“I’m a nuclear chemist,” Corban explains, “and spend about 70 to 80 hours a week in my shop, building nuclear devices for everything from oil and space exploration to military and various research uses. I have a lot of downtime in between certain lab processes, so I take on different things to keep me busy during that time—like learning guitar or building air cannons.”

“A friend of mine turned me on to the Handbuilt Show, and I made it my goal to build a bike in nine months for this year’s event. So I bought a bike lift and parked next to my desk, and would work on it any free moment I had.”

The donor bike for Corban’s ambitious project was a 1998 Buell S1 White Lightning—but all that remains of the classic Buell are its front forks and Sportster-derived engine. Corban scrapped the rest, then went on the hunt for a fabricator that could produce a rigid frame in the style he was after.

“I’ve always been fascinated by the photo of Rollie Free setting the land speed record on his Vincent,” says Corban. “I wanted to create a low, long bike that mimicked the lines of those old salt flat racers. Big Al at Bitter End Choppers really came through with the perfect frame for the line I was looking for.”

The Buell S1 White Lightning was originally a hopped-up version of the S1 Lightning. Corban managed to get his hands on one with Buell’s ‘Thunderstorm’ spec; an engine package with upgraded heads, a better cam, a lighter flywheel, and higher compression pistons. Advertised numbers back in 1998 were 101 hp and 129 Nm of torque.

The engine was a decent runner, despite looking “like it just got dragged out of a swamp.” Corban rebuilt the heads, replaced the worn-out clutch, and installed a DynaTek 2000i programmable ignition. Other upgrades include a fresh CV40 carb, a TC Bros air cleaner, and a two-into-one stainless steel exhaust system from Cone Engineering.

Corban repainted the motor too, then dressed it with finned covers from EMD in France. The finned theme continues further back, where a matching oil tank from Lowbrow Customs is tucked neatly into the frame’s rear triangle. Perched just above it is a stylish leather seat from Alex Leathercraft in Germany.

It’s a tidy setup, but there’s a lot going on. The seat sits on a small shock, which attaches to a bracket that Corban designed to interface perfectly with the oil tank. The seat’s upper bracket is his handiwork too, and features an integrated mount for the bike’s discreet LED taillight.

Getting the bodywork right proved to be a tedious process. Corban started by ordering a custom-made aluminum fairing from Omega Racer in Thailand. But by the time it had arrived, he’d changed his mind about the direction he wanted to take the design in.

“I impulse buy vintage and new gas tanks,” he explains, “so I tried out maybe 10 different tanks to get the line I wanted. Ultimately, I landed on a 1.6-gallon gas tank from Lowbrow Customs. But once I decided on the fuel tank, the Omega Racer fairing didn’t flow correctly.”

In the end, Corban ended up shelving the Omega part and ordering a cheap plastic nose fairing off eBay. Corban trimmed it down until it looked right, then retrofitted the headlight that had come with the Omega fairing. Everything’s bolted to custom-made brackets, with the primary fairing stay’s attachment point doubling up as a mounting point for the new speedo bracket.

Tucked behind the fairing are clip-ons that Corban built by turning down some round aluminum stock and matching it to generic aftermarket clamps. The vintage-style controls are Moto Iron parts, and the grips come from Biltwell Inc. Take a closer look at the foot controls, and you’ll spot some Sato Racing components too.

At the opposite end of Corban’s Buell hardtail sits a repurposed Honda Shadow fender, mounted on handmade struts with invisible fasteners. The Buell forks and brakes made the cut, albeit with custom rotors and pads. The wheels are brand spanking new.

“I did splurge for a set of Dymag MotoGP wheels,” Corban admits. “Whatever else I needed, I would fabricate myself. I try my best to repurpose as much as I can—for example, I found that many of the capsules I normally use to encapsulate radioactive material make for great spacers and various brackets, which saved me a lot of added machining.”

“This was also my first time painting a bike and I had to do it in an active machine shop, so it was challenging to keep the paint free of airborne debris. I was shooting for the ‘AMF Harley years’ look, with a bit of old school Montreal Expos thrown in.”

The bad news is that Corban doesn’t know quite how fast his Buell hardtail is. Since he finished it just in time for the show and didn’t want to risk damaging it, the initial shakedown was gentle. But the good news is that now that Corban has popped his custom bike build cherry, he’s already busy with the next project.

“I was so stoked from this, that I started a new build for next year’s Handbuilt Show the minute I got home. The show is held in Austin at the same time the MotoGP is being run at the Circuit of the Americas, so I want to build something that was in the spirit of both events. It’s a poor man’s GP bike, with a 1997 Sportster frame, a 1996 motor that I’ve rebuilt with tons of mods, a custom mono-shock swingarm with hacked-up suspension parts from a Ducati SS, Buell XB wheels and forks, a 1950s style Norton Manx tank, and full race fairings from a 1970s Triumph Trident.”

Yes, we’ve seen a teaser. And yes, it’s as wild as it sounds.

Corban Gallagher Instagram | Images by, and with special thanks to, Myke Toman

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Modineer is “All-In” on Actify APM for Launching OEM Supply Programs

Detroit, MI and Niles, MI – August 29, 2023 – Actify, the leading provider of visualization and program management solutions for the automotive supply chain, today announced that Modineer, a stamping and fabrication component supplier, has standardized its program management launch process using the Actify Automotive Program Management (APM) suite. By standardizing operations across its manufacturing plants, Modineer is implementing a consistent, repeatable, and scalable program launch methodology that provides clarity and confidence to both internal stakeholders and OEM customers.

Modineer operates in a make-to-program environment where it engineers and delivers components to exact customer specifications. The company has enhanced and expanded its fabrication capabilities through a series of acquisitions and capital investment. Its Vice President of IT, Mike Lewandowski, was brought in with the purpose of unifying processes and deploying best-in-class systems across the entire company.

Lewandowski identified the possibility of using Actify APM to standardize the critical and complex development and launch process that transforms a customer’s design into a production part or assembly.  He enlisted a team to conduct an extensive proof of concept to evaluate Actify’s ability to replace the existing launch processes with a single system that combines program and project planning, deliverable monitoring, change management, and reporting. After testing its effectiveness at running dozens of programs, the Modineer team voted to expand Actify APM implementation to 100% of its programs across all its plants.

“We are all-in on Actify APM,” said Lewandowski. “By adopting Actify we now have a company-wide program launch process that enables benchmarking and ongoing improvement. We can easily see where programs and projects stand with respect to launch outcomes, plus we know where issues are arising and what we need to do to address them. Our customers are more confident in our ability to meet launch milestones and our teams know exactly what they need to do and when. We have replaced legacy approaches and fragmented systems with a single source for program information that is far simpler and more productive to use by team members across the company.”

“Modineer is more than our customer,” said David Opsahl, CEO at Actify, “they are a partner who has given us the practitioner feedback and insight that’s essential to any new software solution. Modineer is on our Customer Advisory Board and has been instrumental in creating a breakthrough solution for the automotive supplier community.”

For more information on Actify APM, please visit https://actify.com/solutions/automotive-program-management/. 

About Modineer

Modineer Company efficiently delivers the best in premium industrial metal components and products to the automotive, military, truck/trailer, and industrial markets. Headquartered in Niles, Michigan, Modineer’s 1500+ employees produce more than 37 million components annually across Michigan, Indiana, Missouri, Pennsylvania and its newest plant in Juarez, Mexico. Modineer brings expertise and capabilities across a wide range of fabrication methods to meet customers’ unique component requirements. Through its focus on “shaping metal component innovation” and personalized service, Modineer has become a trusted supplier to leading OEMs including Ford, GM, and Volvo. For more information, please visit www.modineer.com.

About Actify

For 15+ years, Actify has been helping manufacturers to visualize and interact with design and engineering information. We’ve led the industry by creating easy-to-use tools that are affordable and improve quality and productivity. Now, Actify is applying everything we have learned to meet the unique needs of automotive program teams. Actify serves a global base of more than 2,000 companies of whom approximately 85% are suppliers to the auto industry. Actify is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan with sales and support in 45 countries through its offices in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany, and a global network of partners. For more information, please visit www.actify.com.

The post Modineer is “All-In” on Actify APM for Launching OEM Supply Programs  appeared first on Automotorblog: Daily news on cars and motorcycles.

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Road Tested: The Hello Cousteau Bell Race Star DLX Flex helmet

Most modern motorcycle helmet graphics are grim—which is why I almost always gravitate towards solid helmet colors. But when I heard that my favorite helmet designer, Hello Cousteau, had created a graphic for the new Bell Race Star DLX Flex, I couldn’t resist.

If you love motorcycles and spend enough time on social media, you’ve probably seen Hello Cousteau’s work. He’s a self-proclaimed “bored interior designer” with a love for classic automobile and motorcycle racing, that started designing helmet graphics and uploading them to Instagram. His account went gangbusters overnight and soon drew the attention of mainline helmet manufacturers—like Bell.

The American helmet brand recently commissioned Hello Cousteau to create graphics for two of their helmets—one of which was the Bell Race Star DLX Flex. Pitched as a race-bred helmet for everyday use, the Race Star DLX Flex boasts a 3K carbon shell, Bell’s proprietary ‘Flex’ liner, and a photochromic shield. It comes in a variety of colors and designs, but none look quite as good as the stunning ‘Hello Cousteau Algae’ graphic featured here.

Inspiration for the graphic came from the Portuguese designer’s coastal surroundings. The light blue hue represents the ocean, and the organic shapes that wrap around the shell echo the seaweed that’s often strewn across his local beach. It’s miles more tasteful than the neon-slathered offerings that dominate the market.

Yes, the design would arguably be better without a gigantic Bell logo on each side. But given the brand’s racing heritage, and the fact that Hello Cousteau has done a good job of weaving them into the design, I can live with it. The paint job itself feels high quality, with sections of matte paint dancing around bits of clear-coated carbon fiber.

So it looks good, but what’s it like to ride in? I put some miles into a brand new Bell Race Star DLX Flex Hello Cousteau Algae, courtesy of Bell Powersports USA, to find out.

Construction and layout With a 3K carbon fiber outer shell, the new Bell Race Star DLX Flex is a claimed 10% lighter than its predecessor. Bell lists a weight of approximately 1,540 grams for a medium-sized helmet; my XL test unit weighed in at a respectable 1,627 grams. The Race Star DLX Flex uses five different shell sizes, and six different EPS liner sizes, across its size range.

The helmet’s silhouette speaks to its intended usage. The overall vibe is racy, with subtle contours running along the sides and a sharp spoiler at the back, but not overly so. It’s a neutral enough shape that I don’t feel odd riding my Triumph Bonneville in it.

The ‘Flex’ in the Race Star’s lengthy moniker refers to its inner impact liner. The triple-layer system uses a different density material for each layer, effectively optimizing impact absorption at low-, mid-, and high-speed crashes. Between that and the outer shell, the Race Star DLX Flex conforms to the DOT and Snell standards in the US, and the ECE22.06 standard in Europe.

Comfort and fit Sitting between the ‘Flex’ liner and your head is an anti-microbial liner that looks and feels premium. I haven’t ridden on a hot enough day to fully test its moisture-wicking properties, but it has performed well in moderate temperatures so far. And the whole thing is removable and washable too.

The Race Star DLX Flex comes pre-fitted with a removable neck roll, a chin curtain, and a nose guard to help prevent fogging. It fastens via a tried-and-tested double D-ring strap, with titanium D-rings for extra street cred, and a magnet for securing the end of the strap. The magnet is far more user-friendly than the typical press stud arrangement, and I wish more helmets came with it.

Size-wise, the Race Star DLX Flex runs true to Bell’s size chart. Comfort-wise, it feels both snug and plush, with one major caveat; it doesn’t love my big ears, making it a chore to put on. It rubs them like crazy going on, and once it’s on I need to shuffle it around a bit before it sits comfortably around them.

It’s also tighter than most helmets against my cheeks. There’s a lot to unpack here—for starters, it is a helmet descended from racing, so a tight fit is to be expected. Secondly, there are no noticeable hotspots anywhere else.

Then there’s the fact that the cheek pads are swappable. Held in place by magnets, they’re easy enough to pop out (a boon for first responders), and Bell sells them in no less than eight different thicknesses, so that you can fine-tune your helmet’s fit.

Bell also claims that the padding can break in by up to 20% over time, so there’s a good chance that the Race Star DLX Flex will become kinder to my ears and cheeks over time. If it doesn’t, I might try a thinner set of cheek pads; there’s only one size thinner than the ones it came with though, so I’m not sure how much of a difference it’ll make.

Snug-ness aside, the cheek pads are soft enough to allow space for glasses. And if you pop them out, you’ll discover tidy recesses to accommodate speakers, complete with foam disc covers and hook and loop patches to secure them.

Ventilation and noise Bell has loaded the Race Star DLX Flex with an array of vents, located at the chin, forehead, top of the head, and back. They can all be opened and closed via simple latches that are easy enough to get to with gloves on. And they’re effective too—I’ve yet to overheat in this helmet, and I’ve yet to have it fog up on me.

At highway speeds, the Bell Race Star DLX Flex isn’t the quietest helmet on my shelf (that accolade belongs to the Shoei NXR2). But it is one of the quieter helmets I own and more than adequate for most riding conditions. It’s also notably aerodynamic; I prefer riding naked bikes, and the Race Star DLX Flex cuts through open air with negligible buffeting.

Visibility While the ‘Flex’ in the Race Star’s title refers to its liner, the ‘DLX’ refers to its ‘deluxe’ trim—namely, its premium ‘ProTint’ photochromic shield. In layman’s terms, the shield adjusts its tint according to how much UV light hits it, going from clear in low light conditions to fully tinted in sunlight. If, like me, you love tinted shields, but don’t love how terrible they are at night, this setup is a no-brainer.

It works well on the Race Star DLX Flex, adjusting seamlessly and creating an adequate amount of shade at its darkest. The shield is wide and tall too, with an excellent field of vision and no noticeable distortion. And it’s not prone to fogging—even though it doesn’t use the ubiquitous Pinlock system.

I have to credit Bell for one of the best hinge systems on the market too. Instead of clicking through incremental positions from open to closed, the shield swoops down from fully open to fully closed in one smooth motion. It’s another detail born from track racing, where a partially open shield is less than useful.

At the hinges, you’ll also spot a pair of discreet push buttons. Press those and slide the shield forward, and it pops off with zero protest. Reverse the process, and it slides back in place just as easily. It’s hands-down the best shield-swapping Remechanisms I’ve ever used.

I have a love-hate relationship with the Race Star DLX Flex’s shield-locking mechanism though. Sitting front and center, it uses a generous tab that needs an extremely positive hand to click closed or open. It creates a superior seal—but it’s deafening when it slams shut and takes more effort to open than I’d like.

Verdict At $919.95 for the Hello Cousteau Algae version at Revzilla (or $819.95, if you take it in plain black), the Bell Race Star DLX Flex’s style and performance come at a premium. But it’s easy to see where all that money went. The helmet is well-built, packed with ride-focused features, and comes with primo upgrades—like its photochromic shield and a padded Bell helmet bag in the brand’s signature red. It looks incredible too.

The only thing I can fault it on is comfort, and that’s honestly just down to the cheek pads. Everyone’s head is different though—so results may vary. My advice, as always, would be to try before you buy, or buy from an online retailer with a solid returns policy.

Bell Helmets | With thanks to Hello Cousteau | Images by Devin Paisley and Wes Reyneke

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Meteor: A 1946 Harley-Davidson WL flat tracker from Japan

Toshiyuki ‘Cheetah’ Osawa has had a busy year. Hot on the heels of a collaboration with Indian Motorcycle and Sideburn Magazine that debuted at the Bike Shed Show, he already had another deadline looming; Born Free 14. Osawa-san was on the prestigious invited builders list for the fourth time, and wanted to bring a bike worthy of the accolade.

Even though he’s a regular on the show circuit, Cheetah’s bikes aren’t trailer queens. With a background in flat track racing, he builds custom motorcycles that are fun to ride and look good beaten up. For Born Free 14, he delivered a vintage Harley-Davidson WL flat tracker with a handmade chassis and a plethora of tasty details, dubbed ‘Meteor.’

Cheetah started with a 1946 Harley-Davidson WL engine, then went to town modifying it. The stock 740 cc displacement hasn’t changed, but the rear cylinder’s been flipped around as a nod to the iconic Harley XR750 flat tracker. There’s a H-D KR750 cam inside too, with a pair of Lectron carbs sucking air through K&N filters.

Other additions include a Norton Commando transmission and a delightfully dangerous-looking open primary. Needless to say, none of these mods were straightforward.

The chromoly frame is entirely Cheetah’s handiwork—right down to the jaw-dropping bronze-brazed joints. “This traditional British technique is not widely known in Japan,” he tells us, “so I researched, learned, and gathered all the materials and equipment I needed from England. It took me almost five years to become proficient at it.”

Cheetah built the custom girder front end using the same techniques. And since he wasn’t about to hide all that skill away under powder-coating, the frame and forks simply wear a clear coat to protect them.

Since Cheetah legitimately plans to race the vintage Harley WL, he baked some adjustability into the bike’s architecture. The bottom of the girder fork sports an eccentric wheel axle mount, offering a range of quick height and trail adjustments. Out back, a set of custom mounting plates offers six different height adjustments for the rear wheel.

As per flat track norms, the WL rolls on 19” laced wheels wrapped in Hoosier dirt track rubber. There’s just one brake; a vintage Gerling unit at the back.

Perched on top of this magnificent machine is a monocoque body, hand-shaped out of aluminum. Cheetah tasked S-Paint Works and Tomomi Shimizu at Shake Signs with the paint and pin-striping work, respectively. But the geometric patterns that have been turned into the metal are all Cheetah’s work.

The bodywork hides separate custom-made fuel and oil tanks. A pair of struts at the back serves to support the oil tank and seat arrangement, and the fuel filler cap is tucked away just behind the frame’s steering neck. A generous leather seat runs along the top of everything, designed to offer the rider oodles of maneuverability.

Cheetah’s Meteor is stacked with radical details. The sculpted handlebar risers and headlight ‘hood,’ and the engraved rear wheel mounting plates, are pure mechanical art. A dash of white on the handlebars offers some contrast, while classic Bates foot peg rubbers recall the past.

Granted, some of those details are hard to spot when the bike’s covered in dust—but Cheetah prefers it that way. “The concept of Meteor is that it’s a custom bike, but it’s also a real racing machine with a vintage motor that’s ready to race,” he says.

Rushing towards the Born Free deadline at breakneck speed, Cheetah buttoned the bike up just in time to ship it from Tokyo to California. But one thing he didn’t get around to, was a proper shakedown. “I flew over to California just three days before the show, picked up the bike, sneaked into Shinya Kimura’s workshop, and somehow was able to start the engine,” he says.

“I genuinely appreciate Shinya for letting me use his shop on such short notice, as usual. The day after the Born Free show, I took the bike to El Mirage and rode it for the first time. The tuning wasn’t perfect yet—but riding the bike that I built from scratch was very special, and nothing could replace that happiness.”

“This bike is coming back to Japan soon, so I will tune it by riding it on my local oval track to make it go faster. When it gets many scratches and chips on the bodywork from my knees and flying pebbles, and worn-out tires (but only on the left side), my Meteor will finally be complete!”

Toshiyuki ‘Cheetah’ Osawa Instagram | Images by, and with sincere thanks to, Kazuo Matsumoto

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Speed Read: An Africa Twin-inspired custom Honda Cub and more

There’s something for everyone in this week’s edition of Speed Read. We’ve got a Yamaha Banshee-powered street tracker from the UK, an ISDT-inspired BMW R100GS from Italy, and an alluring 1950s Triumph Thunderbird chopper from the USA. But first, a wonderful redemption story of a stolen, recovered, and transformed Honda Cub.

Nasir Morni’s Honda ‘Africa Cub’ Based in Borneo, Malaysia, Nasir Morni knows how to make the best out of a bad situation. The custom Honda Cub you see here originally belonged to his father, who bought it way back in 1984 and commuted on it every day—until it was stolen in 2005.

As the years passed, Nasir thought they had seen the last of his dad’s Honda, until they received a call from the local police in 2020. The good news was that the bike had been recovered—the bad news was that it was recovered back in 2005 already, and had been wasting away in the police impound yard for the last 15 years. Regardless, Nasir couldn’t wait to get his hands on the Cub again.

Skip forward to 2023, and Nasir decided that the Cub needed some much-needed love and attention. And by that, we mean that he tore the bike down and threw out everything except the frame.

Heavily inspired by the Honda Africa Twin, Nasir decided to build an ‘Africa Cub.’ After the frame was disassembled, blasted, and painted, a new set of forks was bolted on, along with adjustable rear suspension. Brembo brakes were modified to fit, along with a slick rotor guard, gold wheels, and a set of chunky tires.

New ProTaper bars were fitted, with new grips and a set of off-road hand guards. The headlight is protected by some chunky bars and a mesh grille, with a small windscreen taking some of the wind load off the rider.

Custom steel frame rails were fabricated and bolted on in front of the engine (a feature that modern Super Cubs have from the factory), with a skid plate mounted underneath. The engine looks brand new, and so does the custom exhaust system and swingarm.

To finish it off, Nasir painted the bike in classic HRC red, white, and blue. Set against the gold wheels, blue vinyl seat, and custom ‘Africa Cub’ graphics, you’d think this was a Honda original. We love a good rags-to-riches tale, and we’re sure Nasir will enjoy this bike just as much as his father did. [Nasir Morni Instagram]

For sale: Yamaha Banshee-powered street tracker by Joe Banks Ah, the humble Yamaha Banshee. Or rather, the absolutely bonkers, fire-breathing, 347 cc two-stroke quad bike that is the Yamaha Banshee. Known chiefly for its Yamaha RD350-based engine, the Banshee has gone on to donate said engine to many a custom project. This lightweight street tracker is one such project.

It’s the work of Joe Banks in the UK, who built it as a Kenny Roberts tribute. And even though it wears a license plate, it’s no ordinary street bike.

Perusing the extensive build thread on ADVrider.com, It looks like this crime against modesty was heavily premeditated. The Banshee wasn’t sold in the UK, so Joe started with a box full of two-stroke goodies, courtesy of a few contacts in California. Those boxes not only contained a complete Banshee engine, but a spare RZ350 engine too.

Once he was done putting it all together, Joe had a monster 421 cc two-stroke motor in his hands. With the addition of 35 mm Keihin carbs and a custom stainless steel exhaust, he was off to a good start.

With a goal of 80 hp and 265 lbs, Joe needed a frame as radical as the powerplant he’d just built. So he took a trip to Co-Built Fabrication just outside of Oxford, UK, and found what he was looking for—a handmade, chromoly steel frame and a nickel-plated swingarm. Yamaha R6 forks, Maxton rear shocks, and a set of lightweight Marvic magnesium wheels were bolted on to make it a roller.

The new, and very yellow, bodywork came from Redmax Speed Shop. And since this is a Kenny Roberts tribute build, there are speed blocks aplenty. Final touches include a Scitsu tacho, a pair of LED projector lights, and an ISR and Beringer brake setup.

After the bike was finished it was shipped across the pond to its new home in the USA, where the current owner has enjoyed it for the last few years. If you can see yourself blasting into the sunset on this thing, we have some good news—it’s currently being auctioned off through Iconic Motorbikes.

The auction ends in two days, so you’ll have to be quick with the bids… and you’ll need to line up behind us.

BMW R100GS by SantaFox Garage Known as the “Olympics of Motorcycling”, the International Six Days Trial (ISDT) started in 1913 and is still run to this day. Now called the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE), the competition has come a long way, featuring thoroughly modern and technologically advanced machinery.

Back in 1978, most competitors were running lightweight, single-cylinder bikes—but the BMW works team showed up with air-cooled BMW boxers. With the help of engineer Laszlo Peres, a BMW 247-series airhead was modified for the competition. Not only did it weigh in at under 300 lbs, but it also went on to serve as the base for the legendary BMW R80G/S.

Carlo Santamaria of SantaFox Garage in Savona, Italy, recently came across some old photos of the ISDT BMW and was inspired enough to create his own. Starting with a 1992 BMW R100GS, Carlos first painted the frame blue to match the original bike. The front suspension was swapped out for a set of WP Suspension forks and a dirt-friendly 21” front wheel.

The factory fuel tank was replaced with something with a slimmer profile. The new tank was then modified with a cut-out for the battery, which is stored inside a leather bag—just like the original ISDT competitor. A striking German flag graphic was added to the tank, and a generous leather seat was fitted.

The fenders and headlight nacelle came from Acerbis, but Carlos had to modify the rear fender to fit the R100GS frame. The engine was mostly left stock, with the electrical bits hidden under the seat and in the ‘tank bag.’ No big dirt bike is complete without a thumping soundtrack, so an Akrapovič muffler was modified to fit.

We’re not sure we’d attempt the ISDE aboard a vintage boxer—but Carlos’ BMW sure looks the part. And in the right hands, it could probably take anything thrown its way. [Via]

Triumph 6T Thunderbird by Red Clouds Collective Triumph has used the Thunderbird name a few times over the decades, but the best Thunderbird was the original. Originally released in 1949, the Triumph 6T Thunderbird had a rigid frame, sprung seat, and a parallel twin engine. Americans wanted more power, so the Brits bored out the engine from 500 cc to 650 cc, slapped it in the frame, and sent it Stateside.

This quintessential vintage Triumph made its way into the hands of the Neefus brothers at Red Clouds Collective in Portland, Oregon. When the 1951-model 6T ‘Bird arrived, they knew they were onto a good thing. After all, it was the bike that Marlon Brando rode in The Wild One.

“The old chrome frame has a look and feel you can’t fake, so we wanted to leave that alone and keep that theme throughout the build by using period-correct parts with their natural wear,” explains Seth Neefus. “Everything is mechanically restored, from the fork seals to the engine and gearbox.”

Searching high and low through swap meets and friends’ collections for the right parts, the brothers eventually had everything they needed. A set of MCM fork shrouds and a 1930s Packard headlight were fitted, displaying just the right amount of patina. The chrome-plated Triumph frame was left how they found it, but the team added some taller bars and vintage-style tires.

No 50s-style chopper is complete without some finned Webco parts, so Red Clouds added finned exhaust clamps, rocker inspection caps, and a finned oil feed to complete the look. A Joe Hunt magneto was sourced, restored, and fitted for a robust and reliable spark.

Finally, the peanut tank and ribbed rear fender were given to Nathan Sykes to lay down an artfully distressed paint job. Adorned with prerequisite flames and pinstripes, it looks like this bike has been ridden hard for decades—which is exactly the vibe that the guys were going for. A distressed solo seat and passenger pad, courtesy of River Seat Company, finish things off in style.

Sure, Red Clouds could have turned the vintage Thunderbird into a modern, polished custom. But the shop’s primary business is making hard-wearing apparel and leather goods—the type of stuff that looks better the more you abuse it. And nothing screams hard-wearing like a period-correct 1950s Triumph chopper. [Red Clouds Collective]

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