Once upon a time, customizing a sportbike meant ripping its fairings off, swapping out its handlebars, and calling it a streetfighter. But things have changed for the better. Nowadays, custom builders are taking 80s and 90s sportbikes, and amplifying their retro radness with well-judged mods and upgrades. Craftsmen like Marc Bell are leading the charge.…
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Few motorcycles can boast the cult following that the Suzuki GSX-R has. The mighty Gixxer in all of its forms has amassed legions of fans over the years. And each of those fans will tell you, with unbridled zeal, why their favorite GSX-R model rules the roost. There’s a strong case to be made for…
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Retro sportbikes have huge appeal. Despite the acres of plastic, some models have aged surprisingly well—such as the mighty Suzuki GSX-R1100. Contemporary dyno tests showed around 110 hp at the back wheel. But there was also tons of usable torque from the 1,127 cc inline-four, and the big Suzy weighed a surprisingly reasonable 222 kg…
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If the next wave of custom motorcycling is focused on retro sportbikes, we’d be okay with that. The 90s are stacked with potent four-cylinder donors, hidden under massive fairings with loud graphics. So there’s potential there—if you know how to liberate it. Named ‘Bushido’ after the ancient Samurai code of honor, this stripped-down Suzuki GSX-R1100…
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For most of the bikes we feature here, performance is relative. (There’s even the odd replica Grimeca drum brake.) There’s no true…
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