THE SCORPIO 225 BY DEUS EX MACHINA

Lightweight, smaller capacity motorcycles are a particular interest of mine, the chuckability and the forgiving nature of bikes like this makes them easy to love. Sure you might not take it out for long highway-centric roadtrips but if you live in a city and need to get around town, you won’t find a better bike that a rough and ready 250cc. Or 225 in this case. Close enough.

Looking more like a creation from their Bali garage this Deus/Sydney build is based on a Yamaha Scorpio 125cc, I included a picture of the original bike below for comparisons sake, as you can see, this is a totally rebuilt/bored-out/nut+bolt custom.

The Scorpio looks like the perfect “summer bike” the on-offroad capabilities of it are plain to see, those flat-tracker style tires look like the business and that high-exit exhaust means you can take it for a splash through the shallows without giving your cylinders a saltwater bath.

We don’t have word from Deus yet on pricing for the Scorpio but if you live in Australia, are flush with clams and have been looking around for a beach bike for the summer, you might want to shoot them an email.

Via Deus Customs and SILODROME

Auto Fabrica Type 3

Da Vinci said, ‘simplicity is the ultimate sophistication’, or was it Auto Fabrica?  What started life as a standard SR250, Yamaha’s desperately sad wanna be chopper from the ’80′s, has ended up as a breathtakingly simple tracker that screams look at me, and ride me in equal measure.

Work started in earnest on the frame, with an overall mission of nipping and tucking everything to try and get the lines to flow seamlessly.   To that end, a loop was welded to clean up the rear and shorten the length of the seat. This helped the proportions of the bike enormously, giving it a much better stance. The loop also gave an aesthetically pleasing shape for the seat foam to follow.

The rear fender mounting point was hidden away in pursuit of the minimalist approach.  And the tank mounting points on the rear were modified in order to get a seamless transition from tank to seat without anything ugly getting in the way.

The engine was converted to kick start only, eliminating the battery and emptying the triangle on the bike.   An obvious mod, but the guys really wanted the eye to focus on the seat and tank, and felt that adding an extra panel made the bike feel a lot heavier than it was.  This was all about stripping weight, keeping the bike minimalistic yet usable.  And besides, kicking a bike is just so much cooler than pressing a button.

The exhaust was pie cut which was the only way to get the right curve. This was one of 2 designs on the table and the guys went for it because they wanted to add ‘texture’ to the bike in an area where, according to them normally a lot of “bling occurs”.  It also works well as it echoes the pattern of the knobbly tires, and the colours of the untreated welds are similar to the bike itself.  Now that’s attention to detail.  We love the understated, but clever use of leather on this bike. Hand stitched grips out of thick brown leather add a vintage, yet classy look . And using the same approach on the gear lever and the kick start arm is, like all good ideas, blindingly obvious when someone else does it!

The guys say they wanted to keep this build incredibly simple, with colour and trim that they knew would work well from years of experience.  They also say that they love the small and agile feel of the bike, adding that it’s effortless to ride, hop on and off of, and throw around corners, apparently it really puts a smile on your face.  It’s certainly put one on ours.  This SR250 is indeed the ultimate, in ultimate sophistication.  Da Vinci would have approved, as does Da Bikeshed.

Follow Auto Fabrica’s future builds on Instagram “auto_fabrica” and Facebook “Auto Fabrica” and contact them at info@autofabrica.com

Posted by Ian@TheBikeShed

Biascagne Cicli: Italian for advanced

Two guys, a garage and the dream of the perfect bike: at Biascagne Cicli in Treviso, Italy, old and new components are combined to produce highly creative custom racing bikes...

The pictures illustrate how the bicycle-makers of Biascagne Cicli give new life to old bikes, found rusting in dusty basements. The craftsmen carefully transform these elderly warhorses into modern gentlemen's bikes of distinctive elegance - usually reduced to their bare essentials before being rebuilt, but each one retaining its individual character. Our favourite? We'd pick the vintage model named 'Oliva', with its dark green frame and cognac leather saddle: simple, timeless, nonchalant. When will spring be here? 

Find more details at biascagne-cicli.it.

ROLAND SANDS DESIGN CUSTOM HARLEY-DAVIDSON FXLR

By Blake Conner  Photographer :  Brian Blades

from cycleworld

Most of us won’t ever be able to afford a big-name custom makeover for our ride. Which is exactly why BellHelmets and Roland Sands Design collaborated to create the Bell Star Treatment contest. Thousands of people submitted entries, all explaining why they should be the one who gets their own personal motorcycle transformed into a stunning custom by Sands and crew. Icing on the cake: a one-off painted Bell Star Carbon helmet to match the motorcycle.

Cutting to the chase, Ron Mercurio, a former Navy SEAL and current small-business owner, was chosen as the winner. He inherited a 1987 Harley-Davidson FXLR from his father, who had passed away from a brain tumor in 2012. But Mercurio, a life-long rider who has owned various bikes over the years (Kawasaki ZX-7R,Ducati 916, an H-D Heritage Special, and a Springer Softail), wasn’t a big fan of the bike’s style or stance, even though the FXLR did bring back fond memories of riding on the back with his dad as a 15-year-old.

By random chance, Mercurio noticed the link on Bell Helmet’s website (bellhelmets.com/powersports) and entered the contest. He was going through a personal rough patch, dealing not only with the passing of his father but also one of his best friends, who was killed in the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in September 2012. When the phone rang just days later, he was speechless. He had won the Bell Star Treatment, exactly the type of uplifting news he needed.

Cycle World was on hand at Roland Sands Design (rolandsands.com) the day the FXLR was delivered to the shop. Mercurio, Sands, and RSD’s Project Manager, Cameron Brewer, hammered out a few details to point the build in the right direction. At first, it appeared the build would be a purely cosmetic makeover, but, as partners in the industry got wind of the project, they quickly jumped on board to make sure the bike was transformed into something truly special.

The finished product now packs a black powdercoated Bennett’s Performance-built engine (bennettsperformanceinc.com) with 0.030-inch-over Wiseco pistons breathing through an S&S carb with RSD velocity stack and exhaling into a custom RSD 2-into-1 exhaust. Power is delivered to the 18 x 4.25-inch RSD Diesel (Black Ops) rear wheel via a Baker (bakerdrivetrain.com) direct-drive five-speed transmission and a Rivera Primo Pro Clutch (riveraprimoinc.com).

What little remains of the original bike includes the frame, which was de-tabbed, stripped, and powercoated texture black and the stock Narrow Glide fork that received a Progressive Suspension (progressivesuspension.com) spring kit. Progressive’s 440 Series shocks are fitted out back. Brakes include a Performance Machine (performancemachine.com) six-piston differential-bore caliper chomping down on a 13-inch RSD Diesel disc mounted to a 21 x 2.15-inch matching wheel up front. A PM sprocket-brake setup is used out back for final drive with a D.I.D Gold X-ring 530 chain.

Once committed to the transformation, the RSD guys left no nut or bolt unturned. The King Sporty fuel tank’s tunnel was modified for fit, while a one-off rear fender was formed on the English wheel. Chris Wood at Airtrix sprayed the matte black, red, and silver paint scheme that features gray, black, and hand-turned silver leaf scallops on the tank. The front end, controls, switches, engine, and transmission covers tap deeply into the RSD and PM catalogs, while a Dakota Digital (dakotadigital.com) speedometer eventually replaced the stock unit pictured here.

When Mercurio first laid eyes on the finished project, he was blown away. Sands interpreted his tastes perfectly, and Mercurio thoroughly enjoyed working with the master in refining the final build. Mercurio says he loves the attention the bike gets, especially when the seasoned Harley faithful recognize it as an FXLR and not as a custom Sportster. He rides the bike on a daily basis and says he’s most impressed with how well sorted it is, how it performs like a brand-new motorcycle, and how it looks like no other FXLR ever seen. As for us, we’re most impressed with how our industry stepped up to help a soldier in need.