Each week, we scour the internet to bring you the juiciest five motorcycles that we haven’t already featured. Today we’ve got a Yamaha SR500 street tracker from Milan, a BMW R nineT from Belgium, and a vintage Norton from Luxembourg. Plus Steve McQueen’s Husky, and a Bōsōzoku-inspired contraption from the lads at CROIG.
Yamaha SR500 by Deus Milano The crew at Deus Milano put the blame for this project squarely on Marco Belli’s shoulders. Marco’s a highly decorated flat track racer, that runs the Di Traverso flat track school in Italy. When a Deus staffer—also named Marco—took the Di Traverso course, he immediately wanted a street tracker for urban use.
And so this was built—a Yamaha SR500 with flat track chops and plenty of street style. With a quintessential flat track tail, a slick paint job and one of the nicest tracker seats we’ve seen, it sure is pretty. But Deus have treated it to a number of functional upgrades too.
The swing arm’s been upgraded to an aluminum unit from SDG, connected to a pair of Öhlins shocks. The rims are 19” Excels, wrapped in flat track rubber, and the brakes are from Discacciati. Deus have also installed a new piston, done some head work, and added a Keihin FCR carb.
CNC-machined foot pegs, new handlebars (with internal wiring), a ‘fast response’ throttle and bar-end turn signals round out the control package. The exhaust is from SC Project, and the classic motocross headlight is from UFO. This little SR is just the ticket for racing on Sunday, and commuting on Monday. [More]
1975 Norton Commando 850 There’s not much information out there on this vivid blue Norton Commando—but what we do know has us intrigued. For starters, it has something of a pedigree: it was prepped by Boxer Design for Hubert Rigal, to take part in classic hillclimb races.
Boxer Design’s name should ring a bell; they’re the guys that produce the modern day Brough Superior. And Hubert Rigal is an ex-Grand Prix and endurance racer (and one helluva collector), that helps Luxembourg-based Classic Motorbikes source rare and classic machinery.
The Norton is a handsome machine—from the elegantly stitched racer seat, to the deep glitter paint job. We also love how the twin mufflers hide away behind the left number board, and how the subframe’s discreetly been modded with a LED tail light. It’s one of very few modern touches on this vintage machine, along with an upgraded Beringer brake set.
The Commando was recently sold, which makes us sad—because we didn’t buy it. After all, it was going for a paltry EUR 25,000.
BMW R nineT by Deep Creek Cycleworks At a glance, this looks like a slightly dressed-up R nineT Racer. But it’s actually a R nineT Pure—the ‘basic’ R nineT—with a few tasty custom bits in the mix.
Kris Reniers at Deep Creek Cycleworks customized the modern boxer as part of a Belgian BMW dealership build off. Picking the Pure model over the Racer model was a logistical decision—Kris wanted a black frame, which the Pure comes with. (Picking the Racer meant taking the time to strip the bike first, just to powder coat its silver frame).
Still, Kris installed a a stock Racer fairing, along with its OEM fairing mount. But he welded the mount to the frame lower than usual, for a sleeker look. Then he shaped up a tight new tail and seat, removing the bulky aluminum sections that normally sit below the seat.
The speedo moved from the top yoke to inside the fairing, and Kris added LED internals to the headlight. This R nineT also wears LSL rear sets, Motogadget turn signals and a SC Project silencer. And that black and gold livery is just superb.
Steve McQueen’s 1968 Husqvarna Viking 360cc Steve McQueen was spotted aboard a number of off-road machines that went on to become iconic. But no image is as famous as his 1971 Sports Illustrated cover: popping a shirtless wheelie on a Husqvarna 400 Cross.
While McQueen’s move to Husqvarna‘s dirt bikes arguably helped jump start the Swedish brand’s success in the US, the 400 Cross was not McQueen’s first Husky. It was actually this 1968 Viking 360cc scrambler.
McQueen had watched future motocross world champion, Bengt Åberg, compete aboard a Viking around California in ’68. He eventually approached Åberg after a race in Santa Cruz to chat about the bike, and ended up buying it on the spot. It kick started McQueen’s relationship with the brand—and the best free marketing campaign Husqvarna could hope for.
This Viking is, in fact, that original machine. And it’s in surprisingly good nick, too, with its original motor, gear box and Bing carb still doing duty. What we wouldn’t give to hear it fire up! [More]
Kury Sauce This little slice of crazy is brought to you by Minneapolis-based CROIG and SoCal-based metal fabricator Jake Krotje. CROIG were approached by parts manufacturer Kuryakyn to build a bike to highlight their new product range. And the only brief they had, was to build a memorable bike that would get people talking.
By those standards, we’re calling it a success. Sure, it’s absolutely silly and makes zero sense whatsoever, but what use is the custom scene if we can’t enjoy a little irreverence now and again?
Kury Sauce started out as a 2009 Harley-Davidson Sportster XR1200-turned-tracker. CROIG and Jake clearly took cues from the whacky Japanese Bōsōzoku scene, but they also threw in bits of chopper, cafe racer and flat track style. “It’s essentially a celebration of the cultural and stylistic diversity found within the world of custom motorcycles,” CROIG tell us.
Best of all: this is just phase one. The guys worked round the clock to button it up for the Handbuilt Show, rolling into Austin on zero sleep, hours before the show. We can’t wait to see what they do to it next.