A riotous BMW R65 scrambler from Ironwood, a Ronin 47 with pop art graphics, and a concours-level Guzzi cafe racer from Stile Italiano. It’s a treat for the eyes this week.
Ronin Motor Works #4 When the re-born Buell 1125s known as the 47 Ronin first surfaced two years ago, I dare say not a single one of us didn’t feel the hair on our neck stand to attention. So fierce, menacing and flat out awesome were both the bikes and their story, that I’m sure I’m not alone in having a go at crunching financing numbers.
Now with their production run completed, only a few of these samurai remain without a master. Of those, Number 4—Sugeno Harufusa—stands as one of two Ronins fashioned as tribute to artist Scot Lefavor, whose artwork can be found in mural form around the Denver area.
Featuring a graphic applique from Lefavor’s More Thrilling Adventures with Firearms, Sugeno Harufusa is fully equipped with all of the go-fast bits from the other Ronins—but stands alone because of its unique finish. Pricing hasn’t been set, but as you can imagine, there will be a premium over the $38,000 ask of the first batch. [More]
BMW R65 by Ironwood Custom Motorcycles When you click on the link to the IWC website for the first time, you’re greeted with the words ‘Burn rubber, not your soul!’ So it shouldn’t surprise you to read that this 1986 R65 has been christened ‘Riot Starter.’
The name makes perfect sense even in pixel form. This new arrival from Amsterdam has a lean and mean stance that rivals any Beemer build we’ve seen lately (aside from Renard’s latest, at least) and we can only imagine the anarchy that custom three-piece stainless megaphone would incite. Well trained eyes will spot that not all parts of this beast are of Bavarian descent. The tank and rear fender once called a Honda CB400 home, and the side-mounted spotlight is one of Milwaukee’s finest.
Of course, the changes made here amount to more than bolting on some refinished parts. The R65’s frame and subframe have been re-engineered for both strength and style. As have many of the bouncy bits, and even the binders too. The top yoke is a milled aluminum unit that spaces the front forks at a wider stance to accommodate TKC80 rubber, and the rear shock is a Wilbers emulsion unit. [More]
Indian Scout Sixty by MWM About two weeks ago I had the chance to throw a leg over the Indian Scout for the first time. I wasn’t expecting much from the entry-level cruiser but, having cut my moto teeth on a Sportster custom, I walked away mighty impressed. The engine pulls whenever you need it to, and the chassis is far more sporting than the forward controls suggest.
Which is exactly why I’m salivating over this supermoto-inspired Scout Sixty from Midwest Moto of Stourport-on-Severn, England. It accentuates perfectly the kind of riding the littlest Indian was engineered to handle. While it may only be powered by the smaller 999cc Sixty motor, the weight loss from that new rear subframe and boost from the one-off MWM exhaust is more than enough to exploit MWM’s other tasty changes.
New rearsets, billet yokes, Showa forks and radial mount calipers enhance the handling characteristics that most Scout owners will never try to find. Thankfully, MWM took the 90-day challenge from Indian Motorcycles UK to build us all a visual reminder.
Scrambler Ducati by Coterie West Thanks to its agile chassis, versatile powerplant and chameleon-like ability to adapt to builders’ whims, there is no shortage of hotted-up Ducati Scramblers in the custom world. But just because there are a lot of them, it doesn’t mean they’re all good.
This is one of the good ones.
Working from the spoked-wheel Scrambler Classic model, Los Angeles-based Coterie West has created ‘Stella the Scrambler’—a desert tracker conversion as dark and sinister as the night itself. Many of the aesthetic changes applied to Stella are the result of in-house fabrication and deft hands. The front number plate/headlight combo is one of those components, complete with enough lumens to shine a light through time, thanks to a Baja Designs unit. The saddle has been re-shaped with a slimmer profile and an integrated gel insert for better performance both standing and seated. The side panels hung just below that seat are custom units, too.
While we’d have saved some metal to mock up fenders to halt the mud-slinging from the chunky Pirelli Scorpion rubber, it’s really nothing a good bucket and goggles (with tear-offs) can’t solve. [More]
Moto Guzzi 850 T3 by Stile Italiano In all honesty, I could fill this space with a Wikipedia entry about cabbage cluster caterpillars and it wouldn’t matter. Shoddy writing would get a pass because this Moto Guzzi is so beautiful and so excellently executed that none of you would care what I had to say, so long as we packed in an extra photo or two.
Gianluca Tiepolo, Cristian Diana and Loris Lessio, the craftsmen at Stile Italiano, are renowned for their abilities. This former Moto Guzzi 850 T3 has been transformed into a concours-caliber cafe racer, with a vibe inspired by the Honda CR750.
Little, if anything, has been left untouched. The frame has been coaxed and massaged to work flawlessly with the new bodywork. Or should I just say bodywork? All of the slippery stuff here is a piece of race kit from the 70s, fully restored and modified to fit the Guzzi’s transverse heads. Oh, and the tank is a hand-formed alloy unit that may honestly be the prettiest I’ve ever seen. And the brakes and suspension are just too trick for words. Take some time with this one lads and lasses, there’s no need to rush. Even those pesky caterpillars take about a dozen days from hatching to destroying a cabbage.
