SHANNON’S XT200

Shannon Snow manages the engine department of a small race car manufacturer in Denver, Colorado, so it’s fair to say he should have the skills to put together any kind of machine he wants, so it’s great to see that he stretched himself into creating something very different from the usual run-of-the-mill custom. The bike was put together for Deus ex Machina Build-off last year in Venice Beach, so Shannon knew he was going to have to build something that would really stand out, and he didn’t let himself down..

The donor started out as an 80′s dirtbike monoshock frame, sourced for free from Craiglist, which came with an unknown model Bultaco gas tank. The search began for a motor and a $300 XT200 soon turned up, which Shannon started-up and test rode by running it up the street and back again, before pulling the motor out for his project build, …but it wasn’t a straight fit. “I had to hack, weld and shoehorn the XT motor into the 2 stroke frame. I modified the rear swing arm and frame to accept an R6 shock that I paid $20 for years ago. I cut about a foot off the front forks and springs. Not having a lathe to re thread the tube, I drilled and tapped the caps for pipe plugs and then welded the caps to the fork tubes.”

“I added mountain bike shocks as helper springs to stiffen the front end, which gave my bike its iconic face. The light is a PIAA fog light that came off a previous bike I had owned. The handle bars are mini apes I had stripped from a project CB550, and then flipped them”. As well as mixing and matching parts from outside the usual motorcycle parts catalog, Shannon also used whatever he could find, and when it came to labour he even got his family involved.“The seat foam came from a Kawasaki 440Ltd that I had in high school. My mother in law did the upholstery. I made the tail from a stainless steel bowl from Walmart. The ignition module and regulator are housed inside. I did it all in my garage for under $600.”

The colour scheme happened by accident. “The paint is spray paint, not quite as nice as I would have liked but just ran out if time! I planned on a gunmetal base coat, but the stripes were originally going to be a metallic bronze, but when I put painter’s tape on to mock up the stripe widths, I liked the color of the green & blue tapes so I went with it…”

So, how do we describe this machine? The front end has a vintage board-tracker vibe, while the mono-shock and knobbly tyres suggest an 80′s street tracker, but the seat is pure cafe racer… Maybe we’d better ask Shannon? “I would describe the bike as a brat-tracker-café racer, it’s fun to ride, even though the ergonomics are a bit extreme, definitely not a long haul cruiser but fun to buzz around on.  I’m happy with how it turned out with the time and budget afforded the project. ”

And how did it go down in the Deus ex Machina build-off? The bike was placed 2nd at the event, and 8th in the world. Not bad for a project that Shannon doesn’t even consider to be properly finished yet, as he’s already planning a re-spray with proper automotive paint.

Ok Shannon, what next? “My next project is a GL1100, streetfighter/café racer, I have a pile of parts and am working on the drawings. The plan is to graft a late model single sided swingarm and a custom front suspension and fuel inject it.” We look forward to seeing it on The Bike Shed. Thanks for sharing, and best of luck.

Corb #2 BIELSA

Corb #2 BIELSA from SEÑORA on Vimeo.

BUNCH OF FIVE’S INDIAN RABBIT

Martin Gomez from Argentina is a 3rd generation biker so it was no surprise to his family and friends that he set up on his own, building bikes. Bunch of Five Garage has completed its first project, a 1981 Kawasaki GPZ550. Well, a box anyway, with GPZ550 written on it, Martin hoped that the rusted, grubby and grease encrusted metallic skeleton presented to him was in fact Kawasaki’s venerable half-litre four banger.

Inspired by dirt and street trackers, Martin stripped, cleaned and rebuilt the contents of the box, powder coating and painting in black as he went. All nuts and bolts have been replaced rather than scrubbing up the old ones, up-close the attention to detail and finish is really rather good, especially for build no.1.

Stripped and rebuilt carbs suck through K&N style filters and wide-bored two-into-one megaphones improve the Kawasaki’s theme tune. As there are no instruments or dash, a mission control switchboard on the left side takes care of the electrics with battery cut-off, ignition toggle switch and a push button start. If you’re devoid of the theatre of kickstarting it’s good to have a pre-launch sequence, rather than a hum drum press-and-go.

We presume Corpses From Hell featured somewhere in the inspiration for the tank, which was painted by a local tattoo artist onto bare steel before a few coats of lacquer. Nice artwork which makes the boxy shape blend neatly into the rest of the bike.

With Brat and Tracker seats getting ever thinner Martin has opted for the non haemorrhoid inducing option with some foam under a stitched brown vinyl, note the nice dimpled detail at the rear (of the seat, not Martin). It looks comfy enough to take him to Tierra del Fuego and back without a doctors visit. New shockers were fitted just to be sure.

Up front, bars with a relaxed, classic tracker geometry were fitted, with trick, adjustable levers and gummy grips. It all adds up to a clean look and ultimately, a very usable machine.

Martin is very pleased with how his first effort, The Indian Rabbit, has turned out and is already underway with the next Kawasaki, a 1976 KZ750 twin. The custom scene is growing rapidly in Argentina and customers plentiful, if Bunch of Five Garage carries on like this we’re sure they will be back in The Bike Shed before too long.

See more from Bunch of Fives on their Facebook Page.

KAWASAKI W800 CUSTOMS BY DI FERRO

By Wesley Reyneke | Rather Be Riding

We’ve waxed lyrical about Kawasaki’s W800 before, and how great it is as a custom platform. It’s simple, reliable and looks good straight off the showroom floor, with a gorgeous engine. For these reasons, Italian shop Di Ferro Motorcycles have selected it for their latest project—spinning it three different ways.

Moto Di Ferro was established in 2010 by Marco Lugato, a former motorcycle racer who’s work we’ve featured in the past. Marco’s been building bikes since 2004 and decided it was time to put a team together—opening a workshop near the heart of Venice’s industrial area. After a few bespoke builds the focus shifted to creating a limited run of ‘production customs’ based on the W800, shortening the brand’s name to simply ‘Di Ferro’.

The Di Ferro W800 is available in three different guises—Bobber (above and top), Tracker (below) and Scrambler (bottom). Each model can be ordered as is, or personalized further by changing various components. All three are distinctly raw in nature—stripped back to just aluminum and leather with their own unique, hand-crafted tank and seat combinations. The Tracker features a CNC milled tail unit, while distressed brown leather was chosen for the Scrambler’s seat.

Hand built wheel sets account for each bike’s unique stance—the Tracker and Scrambler roll on 18” rims at both ends and the Bobber on 16”. The W800′s traditional 19” / 18” pairing is available as an option on the Bobber. Both the Bobber and Scrambler’s front wheels are also wider than stock—Di Ferro fabricated wider triple trees to accommodate the change. Suspension duties on the Scrambler and Tracker are taken care of by Öhlins rear shocks and front cartridges with adjustable preload.

The two-into-one exhaust systems are all completely hand made—with the exception of the Bobber’s Supertrapp muffler. The bikes all share the same air filters and custom side covers, while the remainder of the parts—such as the fenders, handlebars, clocks and lights—are tailored to each one’s unique style. German specialists LSL have also supplied a few choice bits.

Di Ferro will be producing limited numbers of their W800 models—less than 100 a year—and are looking to add other marques to their range in the future. With ‘made in Italy’ flair and practical upgrades (the Scrambler weighs a mere 183kg), I’m sure they’ll have no problem filling up their order book.

Scrambler and Bobber photos by Giuliano Berarducci. Tracker photos by Andrea Vailetti.