The DCC crew have added some more amazing shots of the Four Hundred that I had to share with those of you who have been living under a rock and haven't seen this bike. These shots give us a closeup look at the level of quality in the bike and the spotless finish. It is quite simply of rolling work of art...or should I say speeding?









We can all expect to see bigger and better things from Dime City Cycles in the coming months, they are fast establishing themselves as the USA's premiere Cafe Racer focused workshop. For more about this bike visit the write up we posted a few weeks back here.

In February we posted a teaser of Scott Toepfer’s short film ‘Better in the Wind’. After a year of filming a stack of road trips, 50 hours of editing, a shit load of memory cards and enough Super-8 film to safely tie up a particularly large and angry bear, the film has finally been finished. To say this has been a labor of love is an understatement. Scott funded the film by selling his ‘Better in the Wind’ book online, which literally made it possible to keep his bike on the road and keep filming. “I’ve been selling my little paperback via Blurb for the past 8 months or so, which has helped me keep my XS650 running enough to make it through the trips” says Scott. “Blown head gasket, broken mufflers, tail lights, headlights, bars, chains... that damn XS is my baby but without the support of those people who have picked up a copy of the book, I wouldn't have been able to ride/shoot and pay the bills at home”.

You won't find any special effects in the film. No Hollywood actors. No unbelievable ending. “Just a group of guys planning road trips, me trying to record it the best I could, becoming good friends in the process, and trying to get it out there on a positive note," says Scott. "There are tons of opinions on what is what, who is who, and where the motorcycle culture should go... but really at the base of the argument is that we all take the sport/recreation of riding personally (hence we all hold it to our chests), and it means something to us in a positive way... so why not try and reflect the simple joy of it. We as motorcyclists can bitch all we want, and while most of us are strangers, we're still most likely buds when crossing paths on the road". Here here.

[Scott would like to give a special thanks to Brandon Schrichten, Jason at Dime City Cycles, musician Chuck Ragan and everyone that bought his book. And we'd like to thank Scott for letting us have the honor of being the first site to show the final product. Hats off to you, sir!]

We've just received these images from Bandit9 of their next custom motorcycle build. Daryl of Bandit9 tells us that this next bike will reinvent the Chang Yiang motorcycle used as a base. With a statement like that we're really excited to see the outcome of this custom build.

There's something about these first two shots that reminds us of a Fifties Sci-fi creature!

IT CAME FROM THE DEEP!

Earlier this year the Lowbrow Customs crew made their way to Bonneville salt flats for the 2011 Speedweek. Riding their two speed trial vintage Triumphs, Tyler and Kyle managed to set multiple records during the 7 day event and are already talking about what they want to achieve at the 2012 event. Unlike last year the guys were much more prepared and have been sharing some great photos from out on the salt and they are also in the process of finalising a short film about the event. Filmed and edited by John Glover the full film will be available soon and we'll be sure to post it when it's available. For now you will have to settle with the trailer and some photos of those stunning, record breaking Triumphs.

It's funny how the world works. Two weeks ago we would have laughed if someone had told us that Chinese bikes would be featuring heavily in our upcoming posts. But here we are two weeks later and presto change-o here's our second sweet-ass Chang Jiang straight outta downtown Beijing. This one's the result of some hard work by ex-pat Thomas Koehle and his shop, 4444 Design. The more we hear about these "Changs" the more we're liking them. Cheap and reliable with a design that essentially hasn't changed since before WW2, the bike is common as smog in China and amazingly (for a Westerner, at least) you can by spares directly from the Red Army. How cool is that?

The Triumph Speed Triple rocked the motorcycling world when it came in to production in 1994. Powered by Triumph's triple series of engines and sporting hydraulic front forks, mono shock rear suspension and disc brakes front and rear, it was a true wolf in sheep's clothing. It's stripped down, naked styling and Superbike performance influenced a new generation of custom builders and pioneered the Street Fighter movement. So to see one stripped down even further and labeled as a Cafe Racer is somewhat out of the ordinary.



The 1995 T300 Speed Triple has been modified by French custom workshop Garnier Motorcycles who have managed to modernise the bikes now dated styling (see above). The very little fairing that existed on the original bike has been removed leaving only the bright orange tank, however it's now far from original. The new tail section no longer has room for the electrics or a battery with the custom exhausts fitting snuggly beneath it so the tank has been chopped and the rear third now houses them all.

I spotted one of these videos from Moreno Bravo Clásicas on Ottonero today and enjoyed it so much I thought I'd share a few of them. I love how raw they are even though they have been shot in HD. A mix of hand held, tripod and bumpy onboard footage, backed with great music and full of awesome classic motorcycle goodness.

Grab yourself a beer, load them all up and enjoy the show.

Montesa Impala Sport

Sanglas 400


1970 Laverda 750 SFC El Jarama





Last but not least a look in to their Barcelona based workshop...