Classic motorcycles, custom motorcycles and cafe racers
First Look: The 2025 Krämer GP2-890 XX hypernaked track bike
4 November 2024 @ 2:51 pm
Based in Burghausen in Upper Bavaria, Krämer Motorcycles is a boutique marque with a singular focus—race bikes. Everything they create is 100 percent track-focused, jam-packed full of high-end engineering, and slathered in top-shelf components. Now they’ve applied that ethos to their first naked bike, the Krämer GP2-890 XX hypernaked.
Unveiled today at EICMA, the Krämer GP2-890 XX has much in common with the company’s GP2-890 RR track racer, but it’s more than just a GP2-890 RR without a fairing. Sporting upright ergonomics and a host of other tweaks, the GP2-890 XX is, as Krämer puts it, “built for wheel
Carving History: Clermont Boutin and His Cutting-Edge Collection
4 November 2024 @ 1:13 pm
For Clermont Boutin, the son of an old-time Canadian lumberjack, life is at its best when he’s in the backwoods with a chainsaw in his hands. “I just sort of lose myself out here,” he muses. “Being in the outdoors and operating a saw, I don’t have to think. It just comes natural.”
He recalls when he was two years old and his father was on the front porch cleaning his saw. Clermont jumped and in the process was nicked by the blade. The resulting scar is still visible today. “I like to say that that’s when I got bit by the chainsaw bug,” he says. “It’s been in my blood ever since.”
Speed Read: The new Royal Enfield Bear 650 scrambler and more
3 November 2024 @ 7:09 pm
The annual EICMA trade show is about to kick off, but some major OEMs haven’t waited to show off their latest offerings. We look at the new Royal Enfield Bear 650 scrambler and the Triumph Tiger 800 Sport. On the custom bike front, we profile two retro-fabulous racing restomods; a Suzuki GS1200SS from Japan and a Yamaha RD350 from Spain.
Road Tested: Motorcycle phone mount options from Quad Lock
2 November 2024 @ 6:27 pm
Attaching your phone to your motorcycle is risky business. Every phone mount system out there claims to be the best—but you don’t really know how secure your phone is until you’ve tried it. And then there’s the infamous iPhone camera and its propensity for failing under vibration.
Many riders I know and trust swear by Quad Lock’s products. So I was pleased as punch when the Australian company offered to send over a handful of products to test. I sent Quad Lock a list of five or six items that I thought would work, and they responded by sending a huge box of goodies for me to tear into.
Narrow Focus: A board track-inspired Harley Shovelhead from Japan
1 November 2024 @ 4:05 pm
Have you noticed how photographers often favor the right-hand side of a motorcycle? Sometimes it’s because the bike’s side stand has it leaning over to the left, making it awkward to capture a good angle. Other times, it’s because the right-hand side is simply more visually appealing than the left.
That’s not the case with this 1970s Harley Shovelhead, which features a burly open primary, a bespoke oil tank, a hand-shifter, and a handmade exhaust system—all on the left side.
V-Racer: Mark Hawwa’s Harley-Davidson V-Rod café racer
31 October 2024 @ 4:03 pm
Who would be deranged enough to commission a custom café racer with a Harley-Davidson V-Rod as a base? Only Mark ‘FKN’ Hawwa.
You may know Mark Hawwa as the founder of the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride (and Drive), the man behind the Throttle Roll custom bike show, or the owner of Sydney’s newest donut joint, Donut Garage. We know him as a total motorcycle nut with a penchant for café racers. But what we didn’t know, is that he’s always wanted to own a Harley V-Rod.
How to build a Harley Sportster street tracker, the Mule way
29 October 2024 @ 7:16 pm
Like most skilled craftsmen, Richard ‘Mule’ Pollock can turn his hand to myriad custom motorcycle build styles. But there’s one particular type of bike that sits closest to the center of his wheelhouse; the street tracker.
Mule has extensive experience building and racing flat track bikes, and he knows just how to repackage them for street use. So if you’re looking for a Harley Sportster street tracker with a nostalgic American flat track racing vibe, specced for spirited road use, he’ll
Beach Brick: The Wagon You Can’t Help but be Seen In
28 October 2024 @ 5:00 pm
This 1971 Land Rover Series IIA is a hot-for-yore millennial’s wet dream, nestled between an imagined, carefree, ‘things were just better’ past and a fantastic present where a 20-something can afford one of these fashionable Brit-boxes. It’s a revisionist history and rose-tinted present we can play along with.
This go-everywhere auto comes to us by way of the folks at Cool & Vintage of Lisbon, Portugal. It’s a simple name, and a simple idea: essentially, a used car garage — but cooler and vintagier.
Speed Read: A custom Vespa from SIP Scootershop and more
27 October 2024 @ 8:27 pm
The German scooter specialist SIP Scootershop has built a bonkers custom Vespa to celebrate three decades of business. On the other side of the world, K-Speed has turned the new Triumph Speed 400 into a svelte café racer, while a pro fabricator from down under has built a retina-searing Sportster chopper. We conclude the weekend’s proceedings with news of the 2025 KTM 1390 Super Adventure S EVO.
Big Red: A cheeky Honda Monkey with miles of retro rally style
26 October 2024 @ 4:27 pm
Ek Chalermphol’s Instagram bio lists his interests as “cars, trucks, bikes, bicycles, and taking photos.” But he neglects to mention his unwavering love for retro rally racers.
We’ve featured two of Ek’s custom motorcycles before (a BMW R nineT Urban G/S and a Honda XR600R), and both were heavily inspired by classic Dakar Rally bikes. The man has a taste for 80s and 90s off-roaders, and he knows how to capture that vibe. This time, he’s done it with an unlikely donor—a Honda Monkey.