If having your handy work plastered up here on the pages of Tube de Temp Rouge earned you some sort of shiny golden statuette of a stylised, airborne motorbike with a windswept pilot barely managing to hold on while his rattly steed heads for the heart of the sun, then the boys at Evolution Motorsports would be kicking back right now, feet up, staring at four of the things up there on their greasy, old spark plug infested mantle piece. Undoubtedly the initial honour of owning one will have worn off by now, and the first spate of polishing and dusting and showing it to everyone who entered the shop will have subsided, now replaced with casual comedic additions to them including a beer bottle cap as a hat, some racing numbers added with a sharpie, and even a stupendous appendage grafted onto trophy number 2 using some used pink gum. But why? Because of late they have had something else to occupy their crafty, talented minds. What have they been cutting their fingers on and greasing up their cuticles with, you ask? This is what.

Last year we featured this carbon fibre Renard Motorcycle which was lighting up the switchboard on many motorcycle sites around the world – including this one. Unfortunately, we couldn't make it to Estonia to interview the team behind the bike but fortunately someone else did. That someone was Lauri Poldre from a CAD drawing collective called Grabcad.com who was kind enough to send us his comprehensive interview. Enjoy...

Andres Uibomäe, and his business partner Kaarel Kivikangur, had a dream. A dream to build a motorcycle that would make an art gallery proud but rides like the best grand tourers out there. I (Lauri Poldre) had the chance to talk to Andres and ask him about his journey when working out this motorcycle design.

Lauri: What is your background?

Andres Uibomäe: I was educated as an industrial designer, but motorcycles have been my big passion for as long as I can remember. During my teen years, all I did was to ride and repair motorcycles. I have owned about 15 different motorcycles and modifications. I can’t even remember all my motorcycles; most of them were of Russian origin, though. Every time, it ended in the same way – rebuilding, modifying, tuning.

So the background behind Renard is passion from one side, and a designer with creative ambition but no outlet. Somebody once said that four wheels move your body but two wheels move your soul.

The first thing that came to mind when reading about Briton Bees Motorcyclettes was, "what the heck is a Motorcyclette?" Then, like they had read my mind, I found the answer on their website: "Elementary, my dear boy. Moto: from the Latin “propulsion”, cycle: “movement by wheeled means”, and ette: from the French, “small or smallish”. Giving us a small engine-propulsed two wheeled vehicle." Briton Bee are the latest in a swarm (sorry) of young builders using mopeds as donor bikes. These sweet handmade bikes are built in Asheville, NC using a mix of parts from Europe and the U.S. 

"What happens when the Island of Misfit Toys, meets Biker Build Off, and goes racing? Can a rag tag confederation of enthusiasts build a great street legal, race bike? With a limited budget and meager resources? Rather, make the attempt by applying American ingenuity, elbow grease, and enthusiasm to a humble, antiquated, British designed, Indian made workhorse? We don’t know either. We want to make a film that documents the journey and story of “The Badger”"

"The film features: Leon Stanley, who runs a great vintage and specialty bike shop in Trenton, New Jersey, called Cycle Icons. "Chumma" Janardhan of Ace Engineering, an engine building virtuoso. Art Director and jack of all trades Mark Rounds. And world renowned Motorcyclist Michael "Tex" Mawby"

"Can we build a Royal Enfield (a notoriously uncooperative and fragile vintage bike) that is street legal and registered, yet can go like hell on the track? Can it be made to hold together? Can we do it on a very limited budget and race competitively against well-funded and better pedigreed teams? Can we raise the game even higher? Forgo trailering the bike to and from the track, and ride the damn thing? Truly conjure the spirit of Post-War British motorcycling and club racing?" 

"One place where all the cafe racer clubs can get together to share information about their clubs (to promote membership and geographic awareness) and provide easy access, for everyone, to where all the “cafe racer” type events are being held around the globe? History about the 59 Club, features on old clubs from all over the world and the places they gathered, the possibilities are quite endless with the right mix of folks contributing.
A melting pot, if you will, of vintage appreciators sharing about their clubs, events and passions that most importantly gives new-comers a way to connect with the old guys bridging the gap and helping secure a right and true future for diy-real-deal-get-it-done-and-have-fun motorcycle culture."

This sweet video is the first episode in a 10 part web series for Hypebeast entitled Depth of Speed. Shot by Josh Clason who is a passionate film maker and a massive motorhead - he pretty much loves everything with wheels. Josh has owned just about every brand of car there is but has a huge soft spot for vintage BMW's. "I have a BMW 2002 and am looking for an old airhead to add to the stable" says Josh. He is currently working on cafe-ing a 1974 CB200 that is nearing completion.

This first episode is set in Salt Lake City and stars Andy Carter who is the man behind Pangea Speed. Not only is Andy building some great bikes but he has such a great philosophy about motorcycles. He pays respect to all machines, whether it be a chopper or even a sportsbike. This attitude is so refreshing and we wish more motorcyclist would adopt this frame of mind; with the plethora of challenges we all face daily, why are we so damn intent on drawing more lines in the sand?

Josh is planning to go travelling around America with his wife in search more interesting stories to film for the series. "We will be looking for stories on anything auto/motorcycle related and want to get a more in-depth look at the people that are behind these amazing bikes/cars/etc." he says. If the first episode is anything like the next nine then we can't wait to see what they discover. If you can't wait till then, you can check out some other films Josh has shot on his trusty Canon 7D here and here.

Video created by Greenfilms.

Most motorcycle shops start by building bikes for a living and then end up printing the odd tee with their logo on it to sell on the side. Not these guys. They started a clothing label that now builds bikes on the side. Uprising is label designed by two guys from Jakarta, Ariadi Poernomo and Pedi Tahir. "30 year old kids with motorcycles in our hearts," says Ariadi. "Our clothing is coming out later this year and we've always teamed up with local talented builders to make our rides; we've decided we wanted it to be part of the brand... which is why all our bikes are a collaboration. But sooner or later we are planning to have our own workshop. We do sell these bikes afterwards, so we can build more new stuff." They have many bikes on the go at the moment but their latest is this stunning 1969 honda s90 café racer.