A Ducati Panigale 899 with a 1950s sci-fi vibe, a super-stylish Honda CB900 Bol D’Or from Australia, a look at the new Bullit Hero 50 scrambler, and a Tote Gote for sale. Which one would you put in your garage?
Honda CB900 Bol D’Or by Rogue Are we seeing a 1980s revival on the custom scene? There seems to be a discernable trend towards white wheels, white pipewrap and whitewall tires. But if it looks as good as this CB900 from Rogue Motorcycles, we’re all for it.
Rogue are based in Perth, Australia, but the shop is run by Dutch-born Marjin ‘Billy’ Kuijken and his partner Silvie. Over the past five years they’ve developed a great reputation for custom builds, and this Honda has passed through the shop not once, but twice.
Rogue originally built it as a café racer for a local client, but the donor bike was very tired and required more work than the client was prepared to tolerate. So he sold it back to Rogue, who have now fixed all the shortcomings at their own expense and use it as a shop bike.
The CB900 now has forks (and three-spoke wheels) from a 2010 Yamaha XJR1300. There’s a new wiring loom, new LED lighting all round, a modern ‘halo’-type headlight, and DNA intake filters. Biltwell supplied the grips and throttle assembly for the tracker-style bars, and the fresh coat of black paint looks ace against the Shinko whitewall tires. [More]
Ducati Panigale by Ranger Korat One of the most bizarre creations we’ve seen lately is this Panigale 899 from Thailand’s Ranger Korat. The stock fairing has been swapped out for bodywork that looks more like a post-War fighter jet than a 21st century superbike.
There are grilles and intakes galore, and a pale yellow Perspex screen to accentuate the illusion. Ranger has kept the stock tank, but fashioned a waspish new seat and tail unit and removed the fenders.
There’s a Termignoni exhaust system, and the rear wheel is sporting black disc covers to hide the modern-looking spokes.
Information about this bike is scant, but the quality of the metalwork and concept execution is first-rate: it’s straight out of a 1950s science fiction annual. Imagine seeing this machine approaching fast in your rear view mirrors … [Via]
Bullit Hero 50 The British marque Bullit is fast making a name for itself in the UK and Europe for stylish, big-value small capacity motos. They’ve just teased what could be their best model yet—a compact retro scrambler called the Hero 50 that will retail for a mere £2,200 [US$2,700].
Despite the keen price, the Hero 50 has a twin cam engine, upside down forks, monoshock rear suspension and an aluminium frame. And it looks really sharp.
Bullit bikes are designed in Belgium and built in China, but this is no mail order operation. There’s a reasonably big dealer network, and Chinese motorcycle build quality is improving all the time. (Maybe not to iPhone levels, but certainly better than it was a few years ago.)
In the UK the initial pitch for the Hero 50 is towards teenage riders who have just got their licence, but we reckon it’ll also gain fans amongst the older crowd who need a short-distance commuter bike. And the cost of admission is only a little more than a yearly Travelcard ticket on the wider London public transport network. Go figure … [Bullit Motorcycles]
Honda TMX 150 tracker by Revolt Cycles The Philippines is a huge market for motorcycles, and it’s full of bikes we never see in the west. In the 1970s, Honda launched a range called the TMX (for ‘Tricycle Model Xtreme’), a series of air-cooled singles that persisted until five years ago.
The bikes are cheap and reliable, and therefore easy fodder for local custom builders. This tracker-style 150 is one of the best we’ve seen, and comes from Revolt Cycles of Cebu.
Revolt’s client was Australian, and arranged for a brand new TMX 150 to be sent to Revolt from the local Honda dealership. After briefly toying with the idea of a café racer conversion, it was decided that a street tracker was a much better option.
Revolt painted the wheels black, installed Shinko 705 dual sport rubber, and stripped off all the plastic apart from the tank. The custom seat covers a discreet battery box, the electrics are now hooked up to an analog speedo and a compact headlight, and the engine breathes through pod filters and a custom stainless exhaust. Simple, and tight. [More]
A Tote Gote for sale We’ve got a thing for minibikes and Silodrome have a knack for ferreting out obscure examples of the type. This latest oddity is the ‘Tote Gote’ from the mid 1950s, the brainchild of an enthusiastic hunter called Ralph Bonham who wanted a go-anywhere machine to reduce the effort involved in hunting around the Utah mountains.
He came up with a simple steel frame, used tough Briggs & Stratton engines, and even developed a trailer that farmers could use to haul heavier loads.
The Tote Gote never broke any speed records, but it won a small and enthusiastic fan club—and remained in production until the 1970s.
This example has a 5¾ hp engine, is in pretty good nick, and is up for auction at Mecum with no reserve. If you’ve got a bit of land, and want something a little simpler than a Rokon Trail-Breaker, get your bid in now. [Via]