Identified for his elegant café racers, Dustin Kott threw the rule e book away to construct a Triumph Daytona bobber for Born Free. Different highlights this week embrace a razor-sharp BMW K1100, a retro-fabulous Suzuki GSX-R1100, and the 2025 Triumph Pace Twin 900.
Triumph Daytona 500 by Kott Bikes Dustin Kott isn’t any stranger to those pages, with an extended checklist of glad purchasers aboard his customized café racers. However when he obtained an invitation to exhibit a motorcycle on the fifteenth operating of the Born Free present, he determined to construct one thing a bit totally different from his normal fare.
After constructing a Triumph 500 café racer some time again, Dustin had some concepts churning round in his head. Utilizing one other air-cooled Triumph Daytona twin from 1969, Dustin settled on a hard-tailed, board-track-inspired bobber to showcase his lengthy checklist of expertise.
The rear finish of the 69 body was hacked off, with a hardtail from Manufacturing facility Steel Works welded on as a replacement. The girder entrance finish is totally handmade, with the highest and backside sections of the system being designed in CAD and water jet-cut from metal. There are 4 pivot factors in entrance of the steering stem, creating an ingenious parallelogram system that makes use of a shock absorber from a mountain bike.
The fantastical adjustable clip-on bars are artworks and are built-in into the girder fork. The aluminum tank and seat had been comprised of scratch and are based mostly on Kott’s signature café racer type, however shrunk right down to bobber-friendly proportions. The oil tank, suspended on impossibly skinny customized brackets, is one in all our favourite elements of the construct, as is the sprung seat.
The entrance drum brake hub is laced to copper-plated rims with stainless-steel spokes, and the rear hub comes from a Honda. The engine sports activities open filters on the carbs, and a customized exhaust that snakes its approach across the body’s downtube to exit on the rear wheel.
Transformed to right-hand shift through customized brackets and linkages, Mr. Kott actually went to city on the previous Trumpet. Lastly, chunky Shinko rubber was wrapped across the rims and all the pieces was completed in black and delightful burgundy pink.
Paired with simply the correct amount of copper and brass particulars, it’s one other beautiful construct from the uber-talented Kott Bikes. [Source]
BMW K1100 by Zuhal Quick Customized Let’s be sincere—the BMW K1100 was by no means within the operating to win any magnificence contests. That time is pushed dwelling if you google ‘BMW K1100,’ and are bombarded with a cacophony of loopy customs as an alternative of images of the manufacturing facility bike.
Abdul Halim Jamaludin of Zuhal Quick Customized clearly shares our opinion. His newest creation—a 1996 BMW K1100 café racer—proves simply how good a Ok can look.
The retro-futuristic vibes are robust with this one, however Abdul has retained gobs of BMW type. The very first thing that jumps off the web page is the customized alloy fairing that wraps across the entrance of the bike.
The manufacturing facility tank stays, however the rear finish has been utterly reworked with a customized seat astride a CNC-machined subframe. The aggressive, waspish tail matches the customized rocker arm suspension setup and rear-set pegs.
Upside-down Suzuki GSX-R600 forks sit up entrance, with CNC-machined yokes holding them in place. The carbon entrance fender is one other customized merchandise, as are its aluminum brackets.
For the dashboard, a Motogadget Motoscope Professional gauge is flanked by Motogadget switchgear and bar-end indicators.
A single offset LED headlight peeks out from the fairing to gentle the way in which dwelling, whereas a Maxxecu Mini pc manages efficiency; the wiring harness is all-new too. With the modifications, and the free-flowing four-into-one exhaust, the K1100 pumps out a decent 103 hp.
We love how the futuristic rear finish is paired with the aggressive curves of the fairing and the stable rear wheel cowl—and the way the pink and white livery makes it look quick, even when it’s standing nonetheless. [Zuhal Fast | Images by Mirza Iskandar]
Suzuki GSX-R1100 by Nigel’s Artistic Customs Nigel Weber of Nigel’s Artistic Customs was born with oil in his blood. His father and grandfather had been privateer race automobile drivers in Germany, so Nigel was launched to hurry at an early age. He constructed his first bike—a Yamaha FT50—when he was simply 13 years previous, and he’s been driving and racing ever since.
After a very disappointing weekend on his Honda 900 Bol d’Or at Spa Francorchamps, Nigel was on the hunt for a alternative race bike. Whereas he liked the old-school endurance race bike look, the Honda simply wasn’t doing it for him. One thing he might hoon round a observe with, shortly bolt street-legal equipment on, and experience across the avenue with could be ideally suited—oh, and it needed to look good.
It simply so occurred {that a} good friend had a 1989 Suzuki GSX-R1100 ready within the wings. Regardless that the venerable Slingshot is 35 years previous, it’s no slouch with 143 hp on faucet. It’s additionally the right traditional sport bike that may double as a race bike.
A set of interval GSX-R750 forks had been bolted on, with recent Ok-Tech internals to clean out the experience. The entrance fairing is inventory, however the facet cooling ducts are upgraded Fiberman models. The tailpiece is from a Yamaha FZR1000 and appears proper at dwelling on the Suzuki body.
The rear shock is one other Ok-Tech goodie, and the rear-set footpegs are from Gimbel Racing. The tires are Metzeler M7 RRs, that are authorized for classic racing in Nigel’s class.
The engine is usually inventory, save for the Ok&N filters, re-tuned carburetors, and a Satan four-into-one exhaust system. The ultimate contact is the beautiful blue, white, and gold livery. Impressed by Nigel’s father’s race bikes, it seems completely beautiful. We’re enormous suckers for traditional GSX-Rs, and Nigel is exhibiting everybody why. [Source]
2025 Triumph Pace Twin 900 When it comes to trendy retros, Triumph’s Pace Twin 900 is up there with a few of the greatest. Whereas it doesn’t have the outright energy and aura of the bigger Pace Twin 1200 (which is, in our opinion, the present pinnacle of recent retro bikes), it’s nonetheless dripping with trendy componentry and traditional type.
Triumph has simply launched specs on the up to date 2025 Pace Twin 900, and it seems rattling good. The obvious change is the brand new entrance finish. The smaller Pace Twin lastly will get an upside-down set of Marzocchi forks, bringing it into line with its market rivals.
The entrance brakes have additionally been upgraded with a single 320 mm disc and a radially-mounted Triumph four-piston caliper. Twin entrance discs would have been good, however we expect Triumph is maintaining that degree of spec for the 1200. There’s additionally a brand new aluminum swingarm, related to a pair of preload-adjustable Marzocchi piggyback shocks.
The gasoline tank, gasoline cap, and facet covers have all been redesigned. Whereas they’re nonetheless classically styled, the design is sportier in comparison with the earlier mannequin. The footpegs have been relocated for extra legroom, and the bench seat can be new.
That stated, the subframe has been narrowed (and so has the seat), giving riders a narrower stand-over. Whereas the engine sports activities an up to date clutch, alternator, and sprocket covers, the internals have been left alone. The forged aluminum wheels have been redesigned too, and at the moment are wrapped in Michelin Highway Basic tires from the manufacturing facility.
The headlight has been up to date with a brand new LED design and is bolted to the forks with new brackets. A USB-C charging port has been included within the package deal, together with a brand new LCD/TFT dashboard.
Colours on supply embrace silver, black, and a sporty white livery with blue and orange stripes. That includes a raft of visible and efficiency modifications, the up to date Pace Twin 900 seems like the perfect one but. [Triumph Motorcycles]
