JUSTIN’S RD350

Take a look around this page, this website, in fact any custom motorcycle website for that matter, and you’ll see that two strokes crop up less frequently than Ducati MotoGP victories.  But Idaho based Justin might be about to change all that by showing us the light with this absolutely drop dead gorgeous RD350.

So what made Justin buck the trend and go down the two stroke route?  Quite simply it was the smell and the power. If you’ve ever ridden an RD, you’ll know what he means. Once you’ve experienced hitting that power band and hurtling off towards the horizon in an intoxicating blue haze, you never forget it. Keen to relive the experience himself, Justin put an ad in the local classifieds, and in 2 weeks he had himself a donor bike. Right from the off Justin had a vision of how he wanted the finished bike to look – the perfect blend of modern world and 1975. This is how he went about it.

Justin’s brother happened to have a front end from a 2006 RM85 lying around.  Cutting 5 inches off the springs and adding 13 ¾” Hagon shocks to the rear, achieved the exact cafe racer stance he was looking for. The stock RD steering stem was fitted into the RM85 triple and tapered roller bearings were added to improve the steering. A front disc brake replaced the standard drum, and the Excel 1.85×18′s were laced with custom stainless steel spokes, and wrapped with delicious looking Pirelli MT90′s.  Despite limited fabrication experience and equipment, Justin was able to design and make the seat, tail section (with integrated taillight), side panels and fork guards by himself.  All the unnecessary tabs were cut off, and the frame and other parts were sent off for black powder coating.  The frame area under the seat was kept open by doing away with the oil tank and switching the bike to pre-mix. A modern reg/rec was wired in, and with a couple of small mods to the frame he was able to hide a small 4cell Ballistic battery under the fuel tank.

The engine had very low miles on it and checked out almost perfect. So all Justin did was clean it up ready for a coat of paint and install a new set of rings. He added the pod filters and DG pipes to help her breath and help improve the soundtrack. The rear sets were custom made by Nick Pastore at VintageSmoke.com, and Justin added a custom rear brake stay arm and rear motor mounts specifically to match.  The decision was made to stay with the original orange and black Yamaha paint scheme in order to keep the vintage look. Right decision.  It looks insanely good.

The build took Justin a year from start to finish, working in his spare time and saving money for all the parts as he went.  He is rightly chuffed with how it turned out and as an FYI, points out that ‘this thing is freaking FAST!’  Even in standard form, a 1975 RD350 flies.  And despite the low clip ons, he says he still has a hard time keeping the front wheel on the ground- what a shame.  This bike has really got us excited here in the Shed.  We’re all riding 4 strokes, but this bike has shown us what we’re missing out on.  The super light, super intoxicating sound, smell and acceleration, of a two stroke.  This could be the start of something.

See Justin’s previous build here on the Bike Shed.

Hey, That’s A Tall Looking Porsche

The aircooled Volkswagen Beetle just might be the perfect car to get started with the automotive hobby. They can be found on the cheap, aftermarket parts are plentiful, and perhaps most importantly, it’s hard to think of car that’s easier to work on. Depending on your taste, you can build a factory-style resto, a slammed cruiser or a wicked-quick drag machine. While you don’t see too many old VWs built for circuit racing, they actually have plenty of potential in that department as well. Case in point, this neat little Bug we came across at Gatebil.

The car was built by Norway’s Baard A. Christiansen, who originally picked up the ’73 1303 S back in 1997. At the time the car lacked a motor, but in the years since he’s built the Volkswagen up into a formidable little track weapon. A baby Porsche 911 if you will.

Sitting out back is a 1,914cc flat-four with twin Dellorto carbs and other high performance goodies which help the car generate 118hp at the rear wheels. This might not sound like a lot of power at first, but when you factor in the Beetle’s light weight it becomes a potent combination. There’s also an LSD, adjustable suspension and disc brakes with 15-inch Porsche Teledial wheels.

Inside there’s a full roll cage, a set of OMP Volkswagen Motorsport seats along with VDO gauges and custom carbon fiber door panels using Porsche 964 door pulls.

Outside, you’ll find the bumpers, running boards, front spoiler and headlight rings all made out of carbon fiber too. There are also Mk4 Golf side markers and a Mk1 Golf fuel filler, and the whole body is coated in Porsche’s Midnight Blue Pearl.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about embarking on an aircooled VW build, and seeing how Baard’s project turned out only makes me want one even more now. As this circuit-tuned Beetle shows, the possibilities are endless.

Mike Garrett

OLD EMPIRE MOTORCYCLES MERLIN

Some of us a boring old farts. Fact. As the custom scene evolves some of the stalwarts and long standing bikers out there are getting boring and moany. They seem to have forgotten what it was like to be young, to be a rebel, to break the rules, do stupid things, to experiment and to be creative. Luckily not all of us are grumpy old farts who want to define (and police) some unspoken set of rules that box people in to pointless custom categories. At the forefront of the ‘Up Yours’ Generation are the rather polite, but free-thinking, Old Empire Motorcycles who build bikes the way they want to. If you don’t get it, tough shit and move on (our words, not theirs).

Their latest build is the very British “Merlin”. It’s clear that some kind of magic was involved as this bike looks like no other, yet it’s also timeless and seems somehow familiar. The base of the build is a now fairly unrecognizable W650 which has been redfined as a ‘gentleman’s cafebrat’ and was built for a customer in Amsterdam.

“After to-ing and fro-ing with emails and Skype we had a good idea on where we wanted to go within the build. It’s nice dealing with people who genuinely love our styling and trust us implicitly when designing and deciding where to go, although much was sent over using our build idea sheet it was left to us to ultimately come up with a design to take the W650 somewhere we felt it hadn’t been before.”

The first thing to sort was the stance, which was lowered at the front by using a set of Ducati USD forks. The blunt end was raised an 1’’ or so using a set of custom Hagon shocks to get a more acute angle of attack. Although the stock rims were both already 18’’ the guys installed a wider front  to accommodate the same size Coker tyres front and back for a proper brat look.

“There was a great deal of design and workshop time invested in getting that minimal rear cowling just right so the lines flow perfectly and the little led rear light sunk in just right.”

The reason we’re impressed is because builds like this are all about the details. The original tank retains its front mounts but Alec & Rafe raised the back to get the top line running from the yoke down the tank into the seat and off the rear cowling. The custom seat pan acts as the electrics box cover and handmade gussets also help keep everything flowing and in proportion. The tank has indents which have been fitted with leather scallops while the bottom of the tank has a welded in skirt hiding the ugly box section top tube.

“We managed to keep all the controls stock but with the addition of some hand dyed leather wrap and some scotching. Front lighting comes in the form of a big bates headlight and peak, and the customer asked for mini led indicators which we mounted as discreetly as possible. We also decided to work with our friends at Smiths again to make up an OEM Grey faced kph speedo which looks mighty fine integrated into the custom top yoke.”

The engine was in a real state cosmetically, so it was sent off to be blasted by MP Sodablasting, but the aluminium was so badly tarnished the crankcases had to be painted in high temp satin silver. The barrels we painted satin black before the fins were polished back to the metal. The casings were fine scotched, and the carbs were rebuilt and fitted with custom air filters. It must have been a pain to sort but the end result is very pleasing to the eye.

The exhausts were hand made from tubular bends TIG welded together before being heat wrapped, for practical rather than cosmetic reasons. A stainless guard may still be required to protect the rider’s leg. “Mini baffles take the edge of what is a fantastic sounding engine.”

Old Empire are also very picky about all their finishes. The frame and swingarm were powdercoated satin black, while all the plating was chromed before being scotched for a satin/brush final finish, and then there was the paint. “The paintwork deserves special attention and it has to be seen to be properly appreciated. Greg from Black Shuck Kustoms went about lead loading the tank where it needed it, then removing the powder coat from the relevant panel work on the frame to leave a bare metal brushed finish, and then after that it’s a bit of a mystery how he achieved the fantastic dark green smokey bare metal high gloss finish with gold pin striping, but whatever, it suits the bike down to the ground and has to be seen to be believed.”

We really like this build, and can’t wait to see it in the flesh at the BSMC III Exhibition in London this May 24th & 25th. Alec & Rafe are also very pleased with their handiwork. “This may be one of the finest builds we deem to be an OEM bike in terms of aesthetics and functionality. Bike by bike we like to think we are improving continually.”

Thanks go to Black Shuck Kustoms, MP Blasting, Audrey Upholstery, Mark Bunning and Demeanour customs. You can see more builds from Old Empire Motorcycles in the flesh  at the BSMC Event, or check them online on theirBike Shed OEM pages, or on their Website plus you can see how they work up their concepts Here.

For those of you who prefer lists to narrative, here’s the spec again.

MERLIN SPEC.

2001 KAWASAKI W650

HEAVILY MODIFED FRAME

DUCATI USD FRONT END

DUCATI BRAKE CALIPER/DISC

DUCATI TRIPLE TREES/ MODIFIED TOP YOKE

COKER 18’’ TYRES FRONT AND BACK

CUSTOM OEM LEATHER BATTERY SATCHEL

ORIGINAL CONTROL UNITS

HEAVILY MODIFIED TANK W/LEATHER PANELS

CUSTOM SEAT WITH/TRIPLE DIAMOND STITCHING

NEW LENGTHENED SHOCKS

CUSTOM TAILLIGHT

WARNING LED LIGHTS

SMITHS/OEM GREY FACED SPEEDO

DUCATI CLIP ONS

CUSTOM ELECTRICS BOX

CUSTOM WIRING LOOM

SCOTHED ALLUMINIUM RIMS/HUBS

FULLY REBUILT WHEELS WITH S/S SPOKES

PAINTED AND SCOTHED AND FULLY SERIVCED ENGINE

CUSTOM FILTERS

CUSTOM TWIN EXHAUST W/ MINI BAFFLES

BATES HEADLIGHT W/PEAK

LED INDICATORS FRONT AND BACK

BROOKS CUSTOM DYED GRIP WRAP

HONDA CX500 CUSTOM BY KUSTOM RESEARCH

The humble Honda CX500 is a motorcycle that everyone loves to hate, often referred to as the ‘Plastic Maggot’ the transverse V-Twin is widely considered one of the least attractive motorcycles ever produced by Honda. The benefit of this unpopularity is that the custom bike builders who choose the CX500 as their muse tend to be a little unusual, and their product of their work tends to have an eye-catching and unique feel to it.

The meticulously rebuilt Honda CX500 custom you see here is the work of Thomas Parrish, the owner/operator of Kustom Research. Thomas is an engineer by day and a custom bike builder by night, the CX500 began as a basket-case Craigslist buy that was destined to be his girlfriends daily rider. She was deeply unimpressed when the bike arrived in parts looking significantly worse for wear but Thomas remained undeterred and set to work on the bike in the evenings.

He took time with each element and actually designed and fabricated a wide array of parts – including the clip-ons, foot controls, headlight mount, seat and cowling, overflow tank – the rear subframe was completely removed and a new one was made to improve the look of the tail section.

When it came to the engine, Thomas opted to paint it the same colour as the other primary elements on the bike with a view to blending it in better – he felt that the bike originally looked as though someone chopped a slice off a small block Chevy and dropped it into a motorcycle frame.

The look of the completed bike is impressive, a significant amount of attention as been paid to details and this shines through. Thomas’ girlfriend reportedly loves the completed bike and the both of them ride on weekends when weather and work allows.

Visit Kustom Research here to see more of Thomas’ work.

Via SILODROME