Ural 650 - DoZer Garage

I many ways, creating a custom bike is not dissimilar to having kids. You put all your time, effort, and money into them. You pay too much attention to them. But mostly you just lay awake at night worrying if they'll turn out OK. And then you meet the parents that give their kids names like ‘Jazzy’ and ‘Zealand,’ pull them out of school and dress them up in day-glo pantaloons. Similarly, some bike builders don't start with plans to build a safe gun metal grey Yamaha SR400, but instead pick the weirdest bike possible and then decide to paint it sludge brown. Doomed to fail, you'd assume. But you'd be assuming wrong. Meet the latest offspring from Kiev's DoZer Garage, their inexplicably cool Ural 650 bobber.

DoZer's past builds show their love of the classic American chopper look, replete with the obligatory RSD add-ons and the jumping-castle-wide rear rubber. But this bike marks a definite shift in their sensibilities to something much more subtle and contemporary in its outlook. And you'll be hearing no complaints from us. To go from such an ‘OC’ style to be able to stand tall against the likes of a CRD or Wrenchmonkee has us impressed no end.

Also the beautiful use of copper plating across the bike. Now, we're the first to admit that the popular ‘copper highlights’ look is a damn hard one to pull off. Too often it can be overdone to the point where it becomes less about class and more about, well, brass. But not here. The complementary chocolate tank and admirable restraint means that the copper dominates nowhere but simply sits back in the mix, happy to play a superb second fiddle to the bike's more dominant black and brown splashes. Masterful.

 The brown beast is propelled forward by a standard Ural 650 lump with an upgraded electronic ignition set-up, C63 carbs (although we're assuming they're not of the AMG variety), and a DoZer-made exhaust. Meanwhile, the frame, tank, headlight gearbox and forks are all Ural or Dnepr units; the latter being another Ukranian motorbike stablemate of the Ural brand. 

The lads topped off the build with some Posh handles, VN-800 pegs, a bespoke DoZer seat, a Gas brake light and the increasingly popular Shinko ‘Super Classic’ rubber option - a choice that seems to be rapidly gaining ground on the omnipresent Firestones of late. But whatever the constituent parts, I'm sure you'll agree that this is one cool Ural. Enjoy.

Spotted on Return of the Café Racers

from PIPEBURN