Svelte Savage: A skeletal Ducati 750 SS from The Netherlands

The Ducati 750 SS is criminally underrated as a candidate for customization. Sure, the oft-maligned Supersport is unlikely to win any beauty contests, and its 748 cc L-twin motor manages a barely adequate 64 hp. But it also weighs a paltry 183 kilos [403 pounds], comes with decent suspension and Brembo brakes, and has a suitably Italian trellis frame lurking beneath its podgy fairings.

It’s the iconic Ducati trellis frame that attracted Chiel Nipius to the 750 SS in the first place—that, and the fact that his friend was selling one for just the right amount of money.

Based in The Netherlands, Chiel is the creative force behind the custom shop Nius Moto, launched just two years ago. Now in his mid-20s, Chiel got his start working at Arjan van den Boom’s shop, Ironwood Custom Motorcycles. He’s been flying solo since leaving there—and so far, he’s impressed at every turn.

The idea behind this particular project was to showcase Chiel’s skillset, and to have something to take to custom bike shows, before eventually selling it and moving on to the next build. “I wanted to create a naked race bike with a bit of streetfighter spirit,” he tells us. “I bought the Ducati because I wanted to build something with a more modern vibe than the vintage Hondas I’ve done.”

Chiel adds that the 2002-model donor bike was in fairly good condition—but that didn’t stop him from binning almost all of its plastic bodywork. The deeply contoured 750 SS fuel tank managed to survive the cull, but it was liberated of its rubber tummy pad.

With no client backing the project, Chiel also had to be sensible about the budget. So big-ticket items like the Ducati’s wheels, Brembo brake calipers, Marzocchi forks, and Sachs shock were all stripped, refurbished, and refinished. There’s fresh paint on the brake calipers and dark anthracite powder coating on the wheels and rear shock spring.

Chiel also upgraded the braking system with new pads and hoses, and shod the wheels with Pirelli Diablo Corsa tires. Likewise, the engine was treated to new coatings—but no major internal upgrades. Chiel simply deleted the airbox and wedged in a pair of foam filters.

The idea here, he tells us, was to put the focus on fabrication rather than “crazy new parts.” And nowhere is that approach more apparent than on the 750’s brutally elegant exhaust system. Pie-cut stainless steel headers snake their way around the engine, before crossing one another and exiting in a pair of high-mounted aftermarket mufflers.

The cans flank a bespoke subframe, sporting a tight trellis pattern that complements the Ducati’s main frame beautifully. Skeletal in nature, it includes an integrated seat support that suspends the saddle behind the tank. “The stance is quite radical,” Chiel admits, “but it is definitely rideable.”

Between the lack of any fairings and the exposed tail section design, Chiel was left with a lot of exposed wiring on his hands. So he repackaged the wiring, and then fabricated a series of steel covers to hide everything away. Painted black, they sit just below the fuel tank, and underneath the seat pan.

The rear box also hosts a Highsider LED taillight, while the custom-made license plate bracket that extends out from underneath the seat wears Motogadget turn signals and a Koso plate light. A handmade rear wheel hugger sits lower down, bolted directly to the swingarm.

At the opposite end of the Supersport, Chiel fabricated a bracket that bolts to both yokes, designed to hold the handmade front nacelle, a Highsider LED, and Motogadget turn signals. It also serves as a neat way to keep the front cables tidy. A Daytona dash does duty behind it, with Barracuda grips adorning the OEM clip-ons.

A neat aluminum front fender adds a final handmade touch, held in place by custom bracketry. “I wanted to make a new aluminum fuel tank too,” says Chiel, “but I wasn’t ready for it yet. That will come in future projects.”

Chiel’s Ducati 750 SS café racer is finished in a simple, yet highly impactful, color scheme. The grey hue on the bodywork comes from Porsche’s catalog, while the frame is powder coated with a bronze metal-flake effect. Tidy upholstery with an automotive-inspired stitching pattern covers the seat.

A little svelte and a little savage, this Supersport is a testament to Chiel’s imagination—and his workshop chops. Now somebody please buy it, so that he can get cracking on his next hit.

Nius Moto Instagram | Images by Paul van Mondfrans Lindén

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Build, Exhibit, Race, Win: The Malle Mile Custom Build Challenge

The Malle Mile is a weekend of riotous motorcycle shenanigans, put on by our friends at Malle London. It also turns ten this year—so, to celebrate, Malle is launching the Malle Mile Custom Build Challenge.

The Malle Mile’s whole vibe is what organizers Robert Nightingale and Jonny Cazzola refer to as “inappropriate motorcycle racing.” Modern, pure-bred race bikes are frowned upon—instead, the dusty courses of the Mile are packed to the brim with vintage, rare, hand-built, and downright silly machines. It’s a ton of fun for riders and spectators alike, and well worth adding to your calendar of must-attend moto events.

Hosted at the centuries-old Grimsthorpe Castle in Lincolnshire, about 100 miles outside of London, the Mile makes use of every available inch of the 6,000-acre estate. That includes not only the sprawling lawns that host the glamping and camping areas, and the myriad dirt trails, but also the broad driveway that leads up to the main castle gate.

Here, custom motorcycles that are exhibited in the Mile’s ‘Art of Machine’ tent are pitted against each other in the ‘Art of Sprint’ race. It’s a frenetic flurry of interesting machines and one of the rare custom shows where the bikes on display leave their stands to be ridden in anger.

Custom builders that have graced the ‘Art of Machine’ with their presence in the past include BobC, 10 ’til 12, Foundry [above], deBolex, Rough Crafts, Bad Winners [below], and more. Outside of the ‘official’ exhibition, the Mile is also a great place to spot random custom motorcycles in the wild; that’s where we found Tim Cumper’s three-wheeled BMW Boxer.

This year at the Malle Mile, Malle is taking the ‘Art of Machine’ up a notch (or 10). They’ve turned it into a full-blown custom motorcycle build challenge and a concourse exhibition, with winners chosen (and prizes awarded) in various categories.

The overall winner gets the grand prize of a paid commission to customize a Royal Enfield Shotgun 650, which will travel to various shows before returning to the builder, while other prizes include a spot on The Great Malle Rally 2025 and a cash prize of £2,500. On Saturday night at the Mile, after the concourse exhibition, all entrants will be invited to race their custom machines down Grimsthorpe’s main drag.

Malle has cherry-picked an esteemed jury that includes custom builders, photographers, and media. Bike EXIF is proud to to form part of that jury, alongside the ever-dapper Paul d’Orleans from The Vintagent, deBolex Motorcycles, Ziggy Moto, Royal Enfield, and top automotive and motorcycle photographer, Amy Shore.

We won’t be attending the Malle Mile in person this year, but will instead be watching the proceedings from a distance—and featuring the bikes that are displayed right here on Bike EXIF. We’ll also be choosing a ‘Bike EXIF Community Pick’ from the finalists, which we’ll select by gauging our audience’s response to the final selection of customs, both here and on our social media channels.

The contest is open to any motorcycles that can be considered custom, handmade, rare, or classic. And, as is customary for the Malle Mile, the wilder and more inappropriate the bike is, the better.

To enter, head over to Malle London’s website and punch in your details, along with a photo of your machine (if it’s not finished yet, a work-in-progress shot or concept sketch will do). Malle will select the finalists, which will then exhibit and race their motorcycles at the Malle Mile, from the 18th to the 21st of July, 2024.

There’s just one month to go, so get wrenching!

The Malle Mile Build Challenge | Malle London | Images by Wes Reyneke

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Midnight Racer: A custom 1979 BMW R80 by Foundry Motorcycle

Elegance is a word easily ascribed to beautiful, often delicate, objects. But when you can assign it to a purposeful and muscular motorcycle, you know you’re looking at the work of a master craftsman. Tom Simpson of Foundry Motorcycle has certainly earned that accolade over the years, and this 1979 BMW R80 showcases the peak of his skill.

The path of this sublime machine, monikered ‘Midnight Racer,’ has been anything but serene though. A shop project over eight years in the making, the BMW R80 all too often found itself pushed to one side as client commissions took precedence. Then last year, with completion finally on the horizon, the build was interrupted once more.

Tom was informed the rent on his den of over 12 years, was to increase by thirty percent overnight. With new digs to source, multiple project motorcycles, and an entire workshop’s worth of equipment to relocate, it’s fair to say that Midnight Racer has triumphed against adversity.

The actual genesis of the build stretches back even further, to when Tom offered the tank from a Moto Guzzi 1100 Sport to the frame of an ongoing airhead project. That machine would go on to become the Foundry ‘Silver Racer,’ a machine to which Midnight Racer owes significant lineage. But the ideas and lines sparked by the sight of that Italian tank sat atop the Bavarian frame persisted, and Tom needed another crack at it.

“Not to upset the purists, but the donor bike was immaculate,” Tom tells us, as he casts his mind back to the beginning of the project. He also assures us that all the stock bits he removed went to good homes; a mammoth task in itself, considering how little of the standard machine remains.

The first part that Tom set about, was that distinctly Jetsons-like exhaust. “I had an idea to make the exit look like a Jet turbine from the 1950s,” he explains. “And that’s the trouble with a shop project—once I’ve thought of doing something a certain way, I can’t not do it!”

With the lines of the exhaust coming together, Tom returned to the Moto Guzzi fuel tank. Substantial reshaping was required to navigate the R80 frame, but plenty of space was also realized to accommodate and hide away all the electrical necessities.

With the significantly shallower side profile of the tank revealing far more of the boxer engine, Tom wanted to celebrate the motor by keeping the wiring as clean as possible. The reg/rec was relocated to the spine of the frame, while Dyna mini coils were hidden in the timing chest cover, from which four vents were milled out to help regulate heat. The result is an almost impossibly minimalist cabling configuration.

The unsightly rubber airbox that normally sits toward the back of the BMW R80 engine was also discarded. The top cover was then extended four inches to meet the Weber DCOE twin-choke carb, which sits proudly at the culmination of Tom’s custom intakes.

At the extremities of the engine, those gloriously Art Deco rocker covers were created by welding additional plates to the existing covers, before the flowing geometric lines were machined in. Smooth, top-hat-shaped pins lock down the covers in place of the standard nuts. A luxurious coat of bronze Cerakote covers the entire power unit.

Moving outward, Tom shortened and polished the forks, before calling Rich Chanter at Wheels in Motion to lace 19” Morad rims to the freshly painted hubs. At the rear, Tom tips his hat to one of his favorite builds, the Lucky Cat Sprint Beemer, as the inspiration for the hub’s machined-out triangles—the brake shoes and polished springs peeking between the breaks in the midnight blue. (That hue, present throughout the machine, has become something of a Foundry signature, finding its way onto multiple builds in recent years.)

The cast headlight is all Tom’s handiwork. As his shop name suggests, Tom previously worked as a blacksmith, and forging his own parts is an ever-present aspect of his builds. But having run out of scrap to smelt, Tom needed a new source. Now, when he visits his preferred suspension partner, Quantum Suspension, he leaves with the contents of their aluminum scrap bin, along with his springs of choice.

The fat, clean yokes were made to Tom’s design, perfectly complementing the fork-mounted remote reservoirs for the Hel Performance braking upgrades. While at it, Tom converted the rear brake to cable over rod actuation, rebuilt the gearbox, and converted the clutch to hydraulic (a task he casually describes as “good fun”).

The Tarozzi adjustable clip-ons and foot controls are amongst Tom’s favorite off-the-shelf parts, which he then, predictably, modifies further. The rearsets mount into eccentric adjusters within the frame, allowing for a 360-degree rotation of positions. At a lofty 6’4”, Tom appreciates more than most the aches of an ill-fitting machine, and prefers to provide a rider triangle that’s tailorable to all body types.

Nestled between and behind those footrests you will notice more avant-garde design. The finned battery box was inspired by the underbody diffusers of high-performance race cars, translated with Foundry’s signature style.

And what a signature style it is. Like the finest in the game, Foundry creates an aesthetic you could attribute to their shop even if all logos were obscured from view. It’s a heady mix of mid-century and art-deco cues, mixed with a retro-futuristic vibe—and Midnight Racer wears it well.

Tom had one last hurdle to jump over before his BMW R80 finally made its debut at this year’s Bike Shed Show. He notes, with a shake of his head, how the fuel filler cap was still a solid block of material less than 24 hours before the doors were set to open. But after eight long years in the making, the final push was well worth it.

It’s yet another stunning machine from the Foundry workshop—which will be opening to the public from its new location very soon.

Foundry Motorcycle | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Thomas Kettlety

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Auto Fabrica gives the modern Honda Africa Twin classic rally style

Born from Honda’s victory in the Paris Dakar rally, The Honda Africa Twin hit the scene in 1988 with ‘modern’ features like liquid cooling, an electric starter, and disc brakes. But the current Honda CRF1100 Africa Twin bears little resemblance to its ancestor. It now boasts a 1,084 cc motor that makes triple-digit power and torque, and enough elec-trickery to make Inspector Gadget blush.

Purists have a lot to say about the complexity of modern motorcycles like the Africa Twin, but the fact is that much of that complexity makes those bikes better. “This thing rips,” Bujar Muharemi says, bluntly, of the new Africa Twin. “I was a tech grinch until I tried it… now I want one.”

Bujar and his brother, Gaz, are the founders of Auto Fabrica—a UK-based custom shop we’ve followed since their early days. The Muharemi bros have a knack for highly conceptual designs, and create machines that feel more like factory prototypes than traditional customs. Case in point, this retro-futuristic Honda CRF1100 Africa Twin, designated ‘Type 22.’

“Type 22 started as a design study on what we could do if we used mid-80s Honda Paris Dakar and enduro bikes as inspiration, but used a modern CRF1100 donor bike,” Bujar explains. “This was a very interesting challenge for us because as much as we like slick and flowy art deco design, we also like to dip over to the super exciting race bikes and cars. We are automotive designers, after all.”

Auto Fabrica’s take on the contemporary Africa Twin isn’t as much a throwback to one particular machine as it is a homage that pulls from myriad sources. There are shades of the Honda NXR-750 rally bike that pre-dated the original Africa Twin, plus details that echo the general vibe of 80s off-road competition bikes. There’s a heavy dose of futurism too, in the way that Bujar and Gaz have manipulated those styles to fit the bones of the modern donor bike.

There’s nothing left of the Africa Twin’s plastic bodywork. A classic rally-style fuel tank takes center stage, consisting of two hand-formed aluminum covers over a custom-made reservoir. The inner tank uses the OEM fuel pump and fuel level sensor, while carrying half a liter more petrol than before.

The Africa Twin’s chunky new solo saddle mimics the perches on old rally bikes, with hand-made aluminum side covers offering another nod to the original Africa Twin. The seat can be removed via the bike’s original key mechanism, with three magnets helping to hold it in place. Behind it sits a bespoke aluminum fender, neatly capturing that quintessential vintage enduro look.

Although each part is impressive enough on its own, it’s the way they harmonize with each other that floats our boat. View the bike from any angle, and each part morphs flawlessly into the next, with myriad details to draw the eye. “Big volumes in the tank and seat areas were key to the design,” Bujar adds, “but we quickly found we could really hone in on detailed cuts, such as the air out inlet and outlet on the main tank covers.”

The carbon fiber front fender and 3D-printed dual headlight nacelle are unique to this bike too, but getting everything fitted was a chore. It’s here that one major drawback of modern motorcycles became glaringly obvious—they’re hard to take apart without breaking something. Unplug the Africa Twin’s dash or headlight, and the bike is immediately bricked.

Because of this, Auto Fabrica opted to retain all of the Africa Twin’s stock wiring—and the functionality that it enables. So this bike still has traction control, ABS, switchable rider modes, cruise control, and a TFT screen with onboard navigation and Apple Car Play.

While dismantling the Africa Twin’s rally-style front tower, the guys discovered that the speedo and TFT screen were two separate pieces. Taking advantage of that, they relocated the narrow speedo to a custom mount behind the new headlight nacelle, then built a neat enclosure to house the TFT screen atop the fuel tank. That left them free to remove every last piece of the frame-mounted OEM fairing and mount the new headlights directly to the forks.

Auto Fabrica’s next challenge was figuring out how to swap out the stock LED lightning without upsetting the bike’s CAN bus system. “We actually dismantled and reverse-engineered the standard headlight internals,” Bujar reveals. “These were then retrofitted into LED shells and re-sealed; a huge challenge, but they work and look great.”

On top of retaining the Honda’s modern functionality, Auto Fabrica went a step further with a few tasty upgrades. FTR Suspension supplied a full set of Öhlins suspension upgrades, and the front brake calipers were swapped for a set of Brembo items. The stock airbox was left alone, but the exhaust was replaced by a full titanium system.

“The key for this sort of bike to work for us has to be its usability,” says Bujar. “There is no compromise on this, other than the seat position moving back 50 mm from stock. This was to get the styling dialed in properly—but after riding the bike we actually found it more comfortable than the stock position.”

In typical Auto Fabrica fashion, the Africa Twin wears an impossibly cool livery. Bold red graphics sit on a white foundation, accented by clever touches like the 3D-printed LED turn signals.

It’s such a clean design, that we can almost picture it as an official Honda concept bike (if only). Lucky for us, Bujar and Gaz are up to building more of these if there’s interest—which there no doubt will be.

Auto Fabrica | Facebook | Instagram

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More Muscle: A custom Ducati XDiavel S from Vietnam

Ducati dropped the dubiously-named draXter concept on us eight years ago. An audacious design based on the popular Ducati XDiavel, it took cues from drag racers, sportbikes, and muscle cars. And although it never made it to market, it did manage to inspire one Ducatista in particular.

When the owner of this 2016-model Ducati XDiavel S dropped his bike off at MFix Workshop, the draXter was foremost in his mind. He wanted the Vietnamese custom shop to imbue his XDiavel with a similar vibe—while also adding a few left-field ideas of his own.

In stock form, the Ducati XDiavel S has the heart of a superbike and the body of a cruiser. The combination of forward pegs, a scooped seat, and a 156 hp L-twin motor makes for a riotous, albeit weird, riding experience.

This build called for radical changes to the bike’s stance and ergonomics, so MFix started with the rear ride height. The OEM rear shock was traded for the Öhlins unit from a Kawasaki ZX-10R, complete with a billet aluminum preload adjustment wheel. Next, they CNC machined a swingarm linkage, with a custom titanium axle, to accommodate the longer rear shock—a challenging task, given the limited space available.

With the stance sorted, MFix turned its attention to the controls. In what is quite possibly the biggest foot peg relocation we’ve ever seen, the pegs were moved from their original forward position to alongside the rear wheel hugger. All the requisite parts—from the foot controls to their new mounting brackets—were designed and CNC-machined from scratch.

At the opposite end of the bike, MFix ditched the XDiavel’s riser bars for low-slung clip-ons and replaced the top yoke with a burly billet aluminum part. Since the Ducati’s modern electronics made it nearly impossible to swap out the OEM dashboard, MFix opted to relocate it instead. It now sits in a 3D-printed bracket, placing it closer to the rider.

Once those big ticket items were ticked off, MFix started tweaking the Ducati’s finer details. ISR clutch and brake levers were fitted to the bars, with fresh Brembo calipers gripping the brake discs. Carbon fiber air ducts from Fullsix cool the front calipers, while a CNC Racing dry clutch rattles away in true Ducati fashion.

Bits like the rear wheel center lock nut, sprocket nut, and side stand were replaced with swish CNC-machined items. MFix also threw a ton of titanium fasteners at the bike, because, as they tell us, “why not?”

The crew picked titanium for the bike’s curvy exhaust system too. The pie-cut headers snake their way ‘through’ the XDiavel, and then cross over before exiting just in front of the rear wheel.

There’s a full quiver of carbon fiber stuff on this build too. Fullsix supplied a carbon fiber front fender, rear hugger, radiator cover, belly pan, and passenger seat eliminator. The radiator and oil cooler guards are from Evotech.

With a monochromatic paint job and a hit of leather on the seat, the Ducati XDiavel S was all but ready to sign off on—until the client threw a spanner in the works. “He looked at the completed bike for a while and told us ‘We need more… muscles’,” says our contact at MFix, Giang Nguyen.

“After quite a bit of head scratching and pondering, he pointed at the engine and asked, ‘Can we make it look like a V-Rod?’ Clearly he wasn’t satisfied with the skeletal look of the Ducati engine covers.”

MFix went back to the drawing board, using Photoshop to superimpose a set of Harley-Davidson V-Rod engine covers over the Ducati’s L-twin motor. The client liked the idea, and the shop spent the next four months prototyping and machining a set of custom engine covers.

“It was a meticulous process with lots of trial and error, lots of head scratching and kicking random stuff around the workshop out of frustration,” says Giang. “But in the end, we still had fun doing it.”

“The final touch on the bike was the custom V-Rod headlight from HogLights, just for the heck of it. And to drive the irony home, the owner jotted down his own writing, ‘no fake sh*t,’ on the ‘Duca-Rod’ engine covers.”

MFix Workshop on Facebook | Instagram | Images by Tony Pham

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Speed Read: A garage-built Ducati 996 café racer and more

We kick things off with a feel-good story of a botched Ducati 996 custom job, rescued by a talented garage builder. Then we look at a dazzling Yamaha SR500 flat tracker from 20-year-old Moritz Bree, a dustbin-faired Honda Dax from K-Speed, and a BMW CE 04 scooter from Deus ex Machina.

Ducati 996 by Jaron Hall Most people would balk at the idea of customizing a Ducati 996, but Utah-based garage builder Jaron Hall’s work on this 996 is nothing short of noble. That’s because when Jaron got his hands on the 996, it was in dire need of saving.

The Ducati’s previous owner had tried to turn it into a scrambler, so it came to Jaron with no fairings, a hacked subframe, and a smorgasbord of sketchy parts. Working after hours (he has a marketing day job), and taking on the entire build solo, Jaron turned the mongrel 996 into a high-class Italian café racer.

Once Jaron had undone the worst of the modifications, he set about fabricating a new tubular subframe to bolt to the OEM main frame. Then he built a fiberglass tail section to sit atop it, before using his mother’s sewing machine to upholster the seat in Alcantara. (The hexagonal stitching pattern is especially impressive when you consider that Jaron’s only prior sewing experience was a class in the eighth grade.)

The finned taillight is another custom piece, inspired by the Aston Martin Vulcan. Jaron mocked it up with cardboard, before building the final part out of plexiglass and equipping it with LEDs.

The original 996 fuel tank is still in play, but it’s been repainted and treated to a set of classic Ducati badges. Lower down, a pair of 3D-printed air scoops flank the bike’s trellis frame. The front end also features an LED headlight, clip-ons, and an interesting front fender with an art deco blade design.

Other tasty bits include a custom battery box hiding a Shorai lithium battery, an open clutch cover, and an aftermarket radiator. Jaron also tidied up the 996’s wiring, and built an exhaust system that terminates in a pair of under-seat SC-Project mufflers.

Jaron’s work on this Ducati 996 deserves two high fives—one because it’s one of the best modern Ducati café racers we’ve seen in recent years, and a second because we love a good redemption story. [Source]

Yamaha SR500 by Moritz Bree At 20, Moritz Bree is younger than the age at which most custom builders get their start, but he’s already been at it for eight years. The wunderkind’s latest build is a psychedelic Yamaha SR500 flat tracker, currently being thrashed at the annual Wheels and Waves event in Biarritz, France.

Moritz bought the donor bike from a friend three years ago; a 1980’s Yamaha SR500 with a 630 cc big-bore kit, upgraded cam, and a Mikuni carb. The bike sat in the garage until recently, when sponsorship from Dickies, Red Wing, and Kedo prompted Moritz to customize the bike for Wheels and Waves. And since there’s a lot of hooligan racing at the festival, building a zesty flat tracker was a no-brainer.

With no need to crack the engine open, Moritz went straight to the chassis and bodywork. The frame was de-tabbed, and a custom subframe was fabricated and welded on with help from Loose Screw in Germany. The forks were shortened, a custom swingarm was installed at the back, and 19” Excel wheels with Hoosier flat track tires were added.

Next, Moritz built the SR500’s new fuel tank, tail section, and plexiglass number boards. Carsten Esterman engraved the boards, while Sattlerei Sam handled the upholstery. Other features include ProTaper handlebars, an SC-Project exhaust, and a handful of Kedo parts.

The inspiration for the wild paint job came straight from the 70s. “I wanted to give her a super 70s touch,” Moritz tells Bike Bound. “Like a bike from a 70s-style bedroom or living room. Lots of color. I’m a fan of that time; that style. I liked the Rolls-Royce of the Beatles, so it had to be funky.”

Christian Schaber laid down the retina-popping livery, while Moritz’s sister adorned the oil filler cap with an inlaid flower, picked from their garden. And once Moritz got to Biarritz, photographer Kati Dalek captured his SR500 in all of its technicolor glory. [Source]

Honda Dax by K-Speed Not a week goes by that K-Speed doesn’t find new and creative ways to customize Honda’s modern crop of adorable small-bore classics. But their latest custom Honda Dax is wild even by their standards.

For this project, K-Speed boss Eak wanted to dose the Honda Dax 125 with 1960s race bike style. And that meant kitting it out with a massive (relatively speaking) dustbin fairing.

The Dax isn’t exactly built for speed, so K-Speed manufactured the fairing from a lightweight composite fiber material. A lengthened swingarm does duty at the opposite end of the bike, stretching the bike out to visually balance out the front side. A wider-than-stock 12” wheel rolls at the back.

The rear wheel covers, lowered suspension, and exhaust muffler all come from K-Speed’s Diabolus line of parts, with a custom header positioning the muffler perfectly at the edge of the fairing. New handlebars wear fresh grips, switches, and bar ends. The footpegs have been relocated to the swingarm to stretch the riding position, with a Diabolus seat perched up top.

Since the Dax uses a four-speed box with a centrifugal clutch, there’s no clutch lever to contend with. So Eak devised a clever way to eliminate the scoot’s foot controls. The rear brake lever now sits on the handlebars, and the shifter has been converted to a jockey shift setup, with the shifter poking out the left side of the fairing (right next to where the speedo now sits).

As is customary for K-Speed, the Dax is swathed in satin black. The Diabolus logos on the fairing are a little bold—but since Eak designed this bike to show it off at the Bangkok Hot Rod Show, it made sense to use the real estate to his advantage. [Source]

BMW CE 04 by Deus ex Machina BMW once loaned me their flagship electric scooter, the BMW CE 04, for a week. And if I’m being honest, it was really hard to give back. Sure, its seat is harder than an ironing board and its price is eye-watering, but it’s extremely fun to ride.

It’s also a decidedly modern machine, with little that begs for customization. But Deus ex Machina Australia’s head wrench, Jeremy Tagand, still managed to add some flair to the sci-fi-looking scoot.

With no need to go overboard, Jeremy kept the mods simple and sensible. Deus’ vibe has always been motorcycles and surfing, so mounting a surfboard rack to the left-hand side was a must. An ocean-inspired wrap drives the point home, with sharp orange graphics scattered across the CE 04.

Jeremy was adamant about making sure the BMW CE 04 could get to surf spots, so he kitted it with dual sport tires. That meant removing the rear hugger and trimming down the front fender to avoid clearance issues.

Next, Jeremy reshaped the seat and specced it with a gripper cover. Vert Studio lent a hand designing and 3D-printing a rear cowl to finish off the tail. A Unit Garage pannier rack sits on the right-hand side of the bike, with plexiglass badges, Rizoma mirrors and turn signals, and Kellermann fog lights rounding out the spec sheet. [Deus ex Machina | Images by My Media Sydney]

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