Osvaldo Coutinho and Alexandre Santos from it roCkS!bikes are currently on the road from Portugal to London for #BikeShedLondon2015 with a pair of awesome show bikes to display.
Their original CB750 based CS_01 Gravedigger proved such a hit that the guys have started to produce limited number runs of both the Classic and Modern editions, just 5 of each are available on a pre-order basis. The two you see here are already spoken for and ready for their new owners to collect.
The hand shaped, single piece tank and seat units are common across both versions and prove the breadth of the guy’s skills and craftsmanship. Both bikes here are Classics, one grey and one blue, painted in-house.
A proper cow gave the shirt from its back to provide the seat with a decadent covering. Vinyl might be more practical but it just doesn’t feel the same.
One advantage of producing small runs of the same bike is that the design of certain components can be refined, honed and replicated perfectly every time. The 70s style stainless 4-into-4 exhausts are hand made in batches and linished to a lovely satin sheen. A quartet of K&Ns keep the bugs out and the engine on song.
Front to back, anything requiring refurbishing has been renewed and upgraded where possible. Brake lines are by Hell Performance and braided, the #7 bike shown here benefits from wavy discs too.
Aluminium has been used liberally on both bikes in a bid to reduce the heft of the CB, which didn’t exactly roll of the production line particularly svelte. Clip-ons, foot pegs, mudguards and the CNC’d speedo bracket play their part in the ferrous dieting.
Bike #28 runs a set of custom 17″ spoked wheels but owner of #7 wanted to go the extra mile and requested fitment of Kieno’s lovely tubeless hoops.
Obviously the work carried out to this pair of Gravediggers extends well beyond the brief descriptions here, but with the 10,000 people about to descend on Tobacco Docks for Bike Shed London 2015 we’ll leave you with these photographs and suggest a visit to the new it roCkS!bikes website or keep an eye on their Facebook page.
Photos by Rui Bandeira Fotografia
via The Bike Shed
