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A motorcycle like the 1974 Ducati 750SS simply couldn’t be manufactured and sold today, and it’s a small miracle that it even passed in the 1970s. A barely homologated version of Ducati’s Desmo L-twin road racer, the 750SS was finicky, raw and probably illegal for road use in most places with its fiberglass fuel tank, Conti megaphones and unfiltered 40 mm Dell’Orto pumper carburetors. Just 401 examples were built from late 1973 into 1974, and these ‘green frame’ 750s are regarded as one of the most significant and desirable production Ducatis ever built. The story has been told time and time again, about how Paul Smart and Bruno Spaggiari accomplished a legendary 1-2 finish at the inaugural Imola 200 in 1972, catapulting

Like our readers, we’re discerning when it comes to the motorcycles we ride and the gear we use. So, by extension, we’re also selective about the products we review. Style and quality rank high, but so does usability—especially when it comes to tech accessories. Adding a gadget to your arsenal should enhance your riding experience, not hinder it. That goes as much for how easy it is to set up, as for whether it blends with the rest of your get-up or sticks out like a sore thumb. All that counts for double when you’re evaluating a Bluetooth comms system like the Cardo Packtalk Pro.

Some custom motorcycle builders are drawn to the simplicity of vintage machines, while others favor the performance and reliability of modern motorcycles. The 2005-model Harley Softail Deuce sits somewhere in the middle. Officially named the Harley-Davidson Softail FXSTD, the mid-naughties Deuce featured Harley’s new (at the time) Twin Cam V-twin engine and disc brakes, but hadn’t yet adopted fuel injection or a pesky CAN bus system. That, combined with its relatively minimalist build, made it the perfect candidate for Wojciech Aleksiejuk’s latest custom build.

The debate about what is considered art — and what is not considered art — has filled volumes, spawned entire branches of philosophy and has been the subject of more late-night drunken arguments than anyone can recall. It gets even murkier when delving into the world of technical drawing. Is a blueprint or schematic a piece of art? Should I be in awe of the wiring diagram in the back of my Clymer manual when I am trying to diagnose why one of my spark plugs isn’t firing? Yet there have been individuals throughout history whose ability to convey technical information transcends the utilitarian into the world of fine art.

The smell of two-stroke oil lingers in the air, courtesy of Roland Sands Design’s razor-sharp custom Yamaha RD400. We also profile a Triumph Bonneville T100 café racer, the new Triumph Rocket 3 Evel Knievel Limited Edition, and a collection of nine Kawasaki Z1R-TC turbos. Yamaha RD40

As the founder of Spain’s 72 Cycles Performance, and one-half of the collaborative outfit 72 HKG Performance, Antonio Rodriguez has developed an affinity for custom BMWs. So when he recently moved his operation to the US, choosing a BMW R100R café racer as his first project on fresh soil was a no-brainer. “After building more than 60 motorcycles in Spain, and due to the restrictions we have when making substantial modifications to our motorcycles, I had it in my head for a long time to move to the United States,” Antonio tells us.

In our travels profiling custom bikes worldwide, it’s a frequent occurrence that builders mention that a particular motorcycle is available, and that got us thinking about a niche to be filled. Sure, there are plenty of places to buy motorcycles, but none cater to customization. BringaTrailer tends to scoff at diversions from OE hardware, and eBay often feels like the Wild West, where anything goes and the thing you’re looking for is lost in a sea of related goods. And let’s not even touch on Facebook Marketplace… We’re fortunate enough to be hardwired into the scene, with great contacts in the industry and an eye for presentation, and recently launched the

With its casual bobber styling and easygoing twin-cylinder motor, the Royal Enfield Shotgun 650 isn’t the type of motorcycle you’d expect the unhinged crew at ICON Motosports to froth over. Nevertheless, Portland’s finest were nonplussed when Royal Enfield asked them to customize one for the annual EICMA trade show. ICON specializes in the outrageous—and nothing is quite as outrageous as turning a mild-mannered cruiser into a bonkers café racer-cum-drag bike. But getting the Shot

Following Indian Motorcycle’s total overhaul of the Scout range earlier this year, America’s first motorcycle company has just announced the return of the Indian Scout Sixty to its stable. Indian’s beginner-friendly cruiser has been out of circulation for four years, but it’s finally back. And, like the Scout, it returns with a new engine and a new tubular steel frame. If you’re not familiar with the Sixty’s backstory, it was introduced in 2015 as a more accessible version of the Scout, with a lower price tag and a smaller engine. The new Indian Scout Sixty continues that fine tradition, power

In relative terms, it wasn’t so long ago that it was somewhat rare to see motorcycles on the highways and byways of middle America. Mostly, they were quirky oil-dripping British bikes or nefarious “love ’em or hate ’em” Harley-Davidsons. The truth is, 1960s America was car crazy. Even 16-year-old kids could afford cars and gas was practically free. The tide began to turn, however, in the late ’60s when the avalanche of Japanese manufacturing technology hit America’s shores. Baby boomers had suddenly become a