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I flew to L.A. this past spring to talk about a new project between actor Orlando Bloom, Deus Ex Machina’s Michael “Woolie” Woolaway, and BMW Motorrad. I’m not much for Hollywood, but I was wide-eyed about their idea. They’d take an already naked S 1000 R (a bike I’ve spent a summer on and for which I have an affinity) and make it more naked: a high-performance inline-four turned cooler, lighter, and more nimble.

Firefighter-turned-custom bike builder Chris Scholtka has a knack for building slick, and somewhat hot-rodded, café racers. This Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 café racer epitomizes his style well—but it was almost built using a very different donor bike. “It started two years ago when an old friend called me,” Chris tells us. “She had received a big birthday gift from her family—a Honda CX650—and wanted to have it customized by me. We had a plan, but sadly the bike was stolen and we had to start from zero.”

Given that the motorcycle industry has been on the ropes the last few years, one of the bravest moves a major marque can make right now is release a niche motorcycle. But that’s exactly what BMW Motorrad has just done… and we’re here for it. The brand new BMW R 12 G/S—the latest model built on BMW’s updated neo-retro R12 boxer platform—combines vintage aesthetics with a decent measure of off-road capability. It speaks to customers who sit in the middle of a very unique Venn diagram; those who want a classically styled bike, those who like going off-piste, and those willing to spend a premium f

Bolt Motor Company specializes in lithe custom creations with sharp lines and crisp finishes. Their ethos likely has to do with the fact that they share a workshop with their sister company—the Spanish Formula 3 racing team, Campos Racing. Of all the marques that pass through Bolt’s doors, we can tell they love tinkering with BMWs the most. Since opening their doors, they’ve peppered us with a steady stream of custom BMWs ranging from mild to wild. This custom BMW R100 sits squarely in the latter camp.

Earlier this week, we presented the motorcycles that dominated the competition at the burgeoning Taiwanese custom bike show, Speed and Crafts. One machine in particular stood out—a plucky Honda Dax that took on bikes twice its size while snagging a silver medal in the hotly contested Freestyle class. The bite-sized Dax needs no introduction. First released in the 70s, before being brought back three years ago as part of Honda’s modern-classic mini-bike range, its pressed steel T-frame is iconic. It’s also a prime candidate for customization.

The shelves are crowded, and every bottle vyes for your dollar with flashy labels, rustic imagery and a contrived origin story. For that reason, I always seek out the understated ones; bottles that look like they could have been in circulation when your grandpa was still on the sauce. Maybe you’ll find one of his old favorites. A project of the 2020 lockdowns, Brain Brew’s Dexter Three Wood straight bourbon is far from that, but its simple label exudes quiet confidence, and Edmund Dexter’s face on the bottle looks fit for a dollar bill. It also came highly recommended by the local liquor store owner, so color me sold.

Fo Huang has an enviable skill—the ability to take whatever he imagines and turn it into a physical object. Working as NamiXII Design from Kaohsiung City in southern Taiwan, he creates everything from furniture and sculptures to trophies. More importantly, he also builds radical 70s-style choppers. The last time we checked in with Fo, he wowed us with a wildly chopped Yamaha SR400. This time he’s back with an equally bodacious chopper on a very different foundation—a 2022-model Harley-Davidson Low Rider S.

As a photographer, I’m always looking for strange and obscure things to shoot. I’d heard about this place in Brooklyn called Jane – a shop that had custom motorcycles, specialty coffee, and apparel – and as a moto enthusiast, I had to check it out. What I found inside was one of the most interesting incarnations of a Ducati I’d ever seen. It looked like a WWII-era P-51 Mustang fighter plane on two wheels. Bright blocks of colored paint made up the bodywork while it was adorned with intricate details of gold. It was bold, brash, and sexy.

We’ve cast our net wide this week to bring you four very different motorcycles from four different countries. Portugal offers up a Yamaha XSR700 street scrambler, Canada sends us a tasty Honda CB750 restomod, and Italy shows off the new Ducati Panigale V4 Tricolore Italia. Finally, we ogle an as-new 1991 Bimota TESI 1D 904 SR from New York, USA.

The brainchild of Rough Crafts frontman Winston Yeh, the Speed and Crafts custom bike show ran for the second time earlier this month. Showcasing the best that Taiwan has to offer, the event brought together a slew of local and international judges to preside over the 47 custom motorcycles present. Supported by Shoei, Alpinestars, Harley-Davidson, Breitling Taiwan, SYM, and Madness, Speed and Crafts is as much a custom motorcycle championship as it is a bike show. As one of the leading lights of the Taiwanese custom scene, the man has a passion for elevating the culture an