Aaron Miller’s Honda CB350

Aaron Miller’s Honda CB350

Las Vegas, the Desert City that never sleeps, where you win big or lose big. The destination of a thousand tales of excess and debauchery. As a day tripper it’s difficult to fathom that people actually come from there, a pop up mirage in a desert of open space. But they do. Aaron Jay Miller does, born and raised, and judging by the skills and passion this guy has, it can be a melting pot of creativity and purpose as well as decadence and demise.Aaron is an artist and fabricator that builds props and sets for Theatre and Television, he currently works in the Vegas prop and fabrication shop of the legendary Cirque Du Soleil. If you have ever had the pleasure of seeing one of this troupe’s death defying, wondrous shows, you will know that precision, beauty and execution are essential in every aspect of their world. Luckily for us, Aaron has now begun to turn his craftsman hands to creating motorcycles. With the skill-set he has picked-up through his profession, it was inevitable that when he decided to create a motorcycle with the tools he had in his garage, something very special would emerge.The starting point was a 72′ Honda cb350 found on craigslist in Utah. Aaron teamed up with buddy Phil, and they took on the trip to collect the bike and it’s re-assembly together, dividing the workload to conquer the build. Aaron approached bike building from the same perspective he uses to create custom art pieces, viewing the bike as art on wheels. With the end goal of a brat style scrambler they set to work. Buy the ticket, take the ridePhil began stripping down the bike, removing superfluous parts and cleaning out the carb, whilst Aaron set to work on the tank. After repairing a dent, stripping the paint and polishing it up Aaron decided the bare metal finish on the tank was just too cool to hide with paintwork. This decision infused the rest of the build, “the idea came up to build a bunch of custom parts out of steel for the bike and just do a brushed steel look for the whole bike.” The first of these steel fabrications were new fork shroud headlight brackets to replace the old tired chrome versions. These, of course, do not simply grip the original fibreglass headlight, Aaron made a new stepped, steel headlight shell and fitted a contrasting black peak to the lamp dropping a hint of steampunk into the brat look. Next up were the trick handlebars that were fabricated to incorporate a hidden mounting system that utilise the riser bolt holes. The cockpit is completed with a crescent steel moon dashboard incorporating simple clocks and warning lights. Chunky foot pegs were then turned and wrapped with skateboard deck tape to keep boots/Vans from the desert floorThe stance of the bike was altered by dropping the forks 1.5 inches through the trees to generate a more parallel profile, emphasised by the matching sizes of the front and rear Kenda trials tires that frequently draw curious questions. Aaron further carved and cleaned the looks by lopping-off the rear framework and rebuilding it with 1 inch tubing to his desired proportions. Then life began to get in the way, (I guess Vegas can be a distracting town) “I got tied up with other projects and the bike sat for a bit, then I saw a flyer for the deus bike build off in LA and decided to finish it up and bring it to the event.” Work kicked on again in earnest.Aaron built all new battery and electrical mounts then covered them with an aluminum seat pan. Next Aaron mined his group of talented friends and hired Cirque du Soleil colleague, Antonio, from the prop and puppet department to construct the leatherwork for the seat to his own specifications. Predictably Antonio’s work and craftsmanship yielded stunning results as well. (The seat has just enough room for a showgirl on the back, but with no pegs she would have to wrap those legs around you for the blast up the strip… Sorry, I deviate….) With only a day left before the Deus build off, Aaron fabricated a steel tail light and a natty license plate holder before hitting the road to L.A. at midnight. Awesome.Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Karachimotoindex/550653718338128

Redmax Harley XR1200 Tracker

Redmax Harley XR1200 Tracker.

The Harley flat tracker, as American as Twinkies, Mustangs and Mom’s apple pie. A Classic American icon. But this stunning example of the breed helms from England’s green Hampshire hills and the garages. Those images of hooked-up flat-track heroes spraying rooster tails sky high have been made metal by Steve Hillary and the Redmax crew.Having seen Steve race his classic 1977 Harley XR750 in anger in the brilliant UK Dirt Track series we can attest he is a complete authority on the species and the perfect man to create this beast. His shop stocks a vast selection of flat track and parts as well as offering the full bespoke build option, creating an array of different machines. This bike, cultivated from a cumbersome Harley 1200 Sportster for lucky customer Gordon, is a fine example of the stunning work Redmax produce.Steve takes up the story; “We’ve sold plenty of these Redmax C&J rep frames for Sportsters, but not done any builds with one, so when Gordon wanted one built and had a donor 1200 motor, we were stoked…..” So work began on the early four speed engine, which had a complete top end rebuild before it was dropped into the glorious C&J frame by way of custom engine plates. Aluminium XR tank and tail sections were fitted and various engine parts were polished and powder coated. The Anglo-American connection extended to Triumph Speed Triple yokes and forks that were shaved of their unused bracketry on the right leg. Refurbished Triumph calipers then had the lettering polished off and grip a single Speed Triple disc at the front and a Sportster disc at the back. Gordon specified a twin shock set up, so Redmax built up the box section swing arm and fitted it with adjustable Hagon shocks to maintain the old school aesthetic. Smooth Morad 18″ alloy rims were laced with heavy duty stainless spokes to Sportster hubs and shod with dirt track rubber. The sinuous high level stainless pipes were built in house, enamelled black and finished with hand-made alloy polished end caps that Glenn at Redmax made his mission to make perfect, enduring multiple headaches along the wayThe rectangular headlight was specified by Gordon, it apes the number board that would grace the race version of this bikes and has been blacked out, tying in with the pipes, Redmax inch bars, and billet yokes. Those burly tracker bars house hidden switchgear and run the wiring internally to maintain the super clean cockpit. The orange paint scheme was again the customers choice and despite eschewing the classic black Harley highlighting, sets the bike off in true Americana style. General Lee from Dukes of Hazzard springs to mind. The frame and swing arm were powder coated, and an alloy oil tank was incorporated to double the motors oil capacity. The belt drive was then ditched in favour of a chain and the bike was complete and ready for Steve to test ride“The day dawned nice and bright, letting the wet of the previous day dry away nicely. I remember warming the motor up and carefully planning a country test route whilst putting my gear on in anticipation…… the first two roads passed without incident following some eurobox out to the main road, but as soon as I hit second gear I knew something was wrong and a quick snick into third was disastrous. Obviously the gearbox was about to implode with hardly any drive in 2nd and 3rd, but a quick (hasty) flip into top proved handy as the noise disappeared and I completed my test route in top gear only, proving how well set up the motor and chassis were at least …. depressed totally I stomped back into the workshop, my only job left was to phone the customer and tell him how great it could be if only…… Anyway we all know the 4speeders are weak, and easily repaired, so that’s what we’ve done and here she is in all her glory – working as God intended a Harley Streetracker to!This is the dream Harley. Forget fully dressed Road Kings and Fat Boys, XR’s rule. Race heritage, purpose, dynamics and that Milwaukee rumble. Harley had a go at reviving a road ready XR themselves in recent time, but created a bike with so much visual and physical bulk that it lost the essence of the racer. It seems that if in fact you want the real deal, the American dream, you have to visit an Englishman in Hampshire and he will create you a masterpiece machine

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Zezen Motors ’92 CB750

Honda ’92 CB750

Zezen Motors is a small custom garage founded earlier this year by Daniel Rodriguez in a small town called Zumaia in the Basque country in northern Spain. Daniel has worked in metal all his professional life so when he decided to turn his attention to custom bike building he had plenty of useful skills to apply to his new part-time passion.Daniel decided to start with a Honda CB750, opting to go for a 1992 model rather than the usual 70s or 80s machine, with plans to build a rugged and practical tracker to suit the Basque countries hilly terrain and damp climate, “…inspired by North American trackers, but with a Japanese heart.”The newer CB750s have their age given away by the tank shape, which flows downwards at the back to meet the sidepanels, so the first thing to do was replace that with an older CB750 tank from 1975. The same bike donated the front fender, the rear is from a Sportster 883.The scrambler bars are Tomaselli while the lighting was all sourced from various internet shops, but the brackets for the lighting, speedo and rear rack were all fabricated in stainless steel by Daniel.The engine was completely rebuilt with the carbs running free-flowing, pod-style air filters, leaving just the paintwork to be sorted, which he opted to do in bold white with black hot-rod style racing stripes.As first custom builds go, this is a great start, and we look forward to seeing Daniel’s next builds as we know Zezen Motors already has a Sportster and a Honda Shadow 600 in the works. Thanks to Daniel and Iñaki for sharing with us at. See more from Zezen Motors on their Facebook page.https://www.facebook.com/pages/Karachimotoindex/550653718338128?ref=hl

Dauphine-Lamarck’s Honda 125

Honda 125

The Honda CG125 is one of the most popular and dependable bikes in the known universe, responsible for providing transport for millions of people around the world, but they don’t usually look this good. This mini street custom – based on Honda’s unstoppable workhorse–can be found cruising the suburbs of Paris and is the work of Dauphine-Lamarck.Dauphine-Lamarck specialise in small capacity 60s, 70s & 80s Hondas, providing accessible, affordable customs to those that appreciate their philosophy and approach.They love the popularity and ubiquity of the little Hondas, but what they really enjoy is making them relevant to the modern streets and to the cafe custom scene.The donor for this build is a 1998 model, complete with topbox, which was well passed it’s sell-by date According to the guys the only thing they needed to keep from the bike was “the essence”.The tank come from a 1975 CG175 and “ducktail” seat from a CB50. It looks a little like a mini CB350 scrambler.The 12v electrics have all been replaced with Takegawa components’ the CDI, lighting, speedo, etc. The power was beefed-up by transplanting a carb and header pipe from a CB750 Four, which improved the soundtrack as well as the grunt.The whole thing comes together into a very desireable little street custom – part brat, part scrambler, all understated class, amplified further by cool photos from the lens of David Marvier. If you were looking for a credible learner legal runaround that would last for ever, this would be a great contender.The 12v electrics have all been replaced with Takegawa components’ the CDI, lighting, speedo, etc. The power was beefed-up by transplanting a carb and header pipe from a CB750 Four, which improved the soundtrack as well as the grunt.

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Steel Bent Customs' CB350

Steel Bent Customs CB350

Steel Bent Customs are better known for their uncompromisingly naked, stripped-back, brat-style and cafe racer customs, with super-slim seats and empty subframes that fill the comments boxes with questions about where the batteries are hidden and how long you can ride the bike before your backside gives up. Paint schemes are usually, gloss black, matt black, or maybe dark grey.In comparison this 1973 CB350 four with a rigid rear-end and decorative patterned paint looks like a major departure, but this SBC build is still clean and simple without any frills – whoever, she didn’t start out so clean. This is how the Honda looked when Michael Mundy and the guys found her in Gibsonton, Forida.“We’ve love the rigid frame designs, and we’ve had a smaller 350 bobber build on our list.” Michael went on to tell us that while they appreciate the popularity of the cafe custom scene they also want to build bikes that will bring the same relevance and buzz to rigid bobbers.The bike was stripped and the frame was chopped at both ends, right down the frame tubes to the engine mounts. Everything else was thrown away. The new rear end was a pre-built unit made for an xs650 by Cycle One which they grafted on.The back bone needed about two inches to give us a more level look as we didn’t want the appearance of a chopper. We found new rims, new stainless steel spokes, and a front drum off a CL350″. The bike was rewired to run as kick-start only but retains a small battery to keep things running on an even voltage, and this is tucked in to the small oil tin in the subframe.“We had the frame powder coated gloss black, polished all the aluminum engine cases, and gave Mo Colors carte blanch on the paint scheme.”  And then there’s that exhaust: “The exhaust was something I was just toying around with, and really had no intention of using on the build, but after time it became something greater than I expected.”“We wrapped the stainless steel & added some small baffles to give her some back pressure & she has a incredible low growl.  The pipes clear your leg fairly well, at stops you feel the heat a bit…”But they are something we haven’t seen before and we feel if we’re not doing something different, we aren’t doing something right. We like her, and if everyone did, we wouldn’t.It’s great to see something different coming out of the Steel Bent Customs workshop, and this is certainly a bike that stands out from the crowd, building a bridge between the cafe/brat and bobber worlds.

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Hammer Kraftrad R80 Bobber

Hammer Kraftrad R80 Bobber

Our pages are full of R-Series BMWs that have been given the racer or scrambler treatment, and there are a few more exotic iterations too, but very few bobbers, like this one from Michael, AKA, Hammer Kraftrad in Germany.The bike is a 1979 R80/7, and is one one of several builds by Michael – you can see more of his work on his Blog. If I’m reading Michael’s notes correctly he tells me this one was sold to him by a pair of arms dealers, so who knows what it was used for. He did mention that it wasn’t actually registered until 1981 despite being a ’79 bike. Hmmm…Anyway, Michael’s build ethos is right up our proverbial street. With each build he strips away everything that’s not essential and focuses on revealing the bike’s lines and stance. There’s plenty to do on a bobber build like this despite appearances. Removing the subframe means finding a place to attach the rear shocks, fender and seat, plus the battery and electrics have to magically disappear. “Less is More” translates literally into “Less on show – More work in the build”.The tank is obviously not the original BMW item, nor are the shrouded shocks, rear fender, lighting, instruments, and a whole host of parts. Michael also had to fabricate all the various lugs and brackets to accommodate all the new relocated parts.The seat is made from aluminium and Michael’s wife did the upholstery. The exhaust system is a Harley 2 into 1 system, modified to fit. The battery has been tucked into a new box hidden under the swing arm and painted black. The forks have been shortened to get the bike sitting properly in it’s bobber setup, and the side-mounted reg plate holder was fabricated by Michael and neatly welded into position at the end of the left-side swinger.After the build the bike was stripped and sand-blasted, ready for new finishes, paint and powdercoat. The wheels were also re-finished and rebuilt with new spokes and bearings. The engine was treated to a strip-down, blast and rebuild, although it was in good enough condition to not need any mechanical intervention.It’s a very tidy bike, with no more and no less than a man needs to just sit on and ride. Well and truly bobbed.

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Christian's Exesor

Christian’s ExesoR

You may have seen this beautiful CB250 already but we had to have her on The Bike, and besides, we have a few extra ‘unseen’ photos of the bike, and of course our unique Bike angle on the build  – and the bike is pretty special, especially for a Shed build.The man behind all the hard labour is Austrian engineer, Christian, who has never worked on motorcycles professionally, but his skills have clearly have clearly been applied to this remarkable bike which is laden with exotic materials, one-off bespoke items and clever engineering solutions.Having rehearsed his bike-building skills on streetfighters Christian’s attention eventually turned to the cafe racer scene. He started out with a CB400 which was modified to run at Classic bike races, and then along came this 1976 CB250. It was an Ebay find in terrible condition, but at least it was cheap at just €250.Being a proper engineer Christian started with drawings. He’d wanted to build the bike for a ‘well-known coffee company” but this didn’t work out, so he needed to create an alternative brand & logo, and ExesoR was born. …I can almost smell the beans roasting now.Unlike most builds on here – especially shed builds – Christian’s goal was to use as few stock parts as possible and to manufacture as many of the replacement components himself. His second rule was to avoid silver chrome, so every metal part on the bike is either nickel plated, black chrome, galvanised or raw metal.One thing Christian is particularly proud of is the way he concealed the throttle cable inside the handlebar. While this isn’t unique, it is very clever, and it wasn’t achieved through any off-the-shelf kit. Another notable feature is the use of “Diamond-like Carbon” (DLC) coating on the fork internals, which is a new treatment you might find on modern KTMs and race-bikes.Many of the main components on the bike were created using CAD (computer-aided design) which Christian had to teach himself to use as he went. The designs were then used to create CNC parts. This clearly went very well.Along with all the clever exotic stuff there were some more familiar engineering upgrades. To compliment the coated fork internal surfaces Christian fitted Wirth springs. The rear swing arm, from a CB400, is suspended with Koni shocks. Motogadget clocks (of course) take care of instrumentation but the mount was custom made.The bike also got a stronger motor, courtesy of a CB360 bored-out to 390cc and running hot cams and open velocity stacks. A Dyna ignition maximises the spark along side a light-weight mini Lithium Ferrous Phosphate battery, and the drive-train uses a race clutch.All this work took Christian 460 hours over two and a half years to complete, and it’s real mix of ultra-modern tech and old school design aesthetics. Whether you’re a tech-loving, race-bike convert to the cafe scene or an old-school petrol head who likes things to look right, this bike has a little bit of something for everyone Custom Bike.

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