Most would think a radial airplane engine is best left for airplanes. Frank Ohle is not one of those people. This mad fabricator from Germany found himself in possession of a Rotec Radial R3600 airplane engine and decided the best place for it was not in the sky, but in fact on the ground, in a motorcycle.
Bulgarian firm Vilner Studio is best known for creating one-of-a-kind designs for car interiors but the tuner has also dabbled in motorcycle design. In its latest two-wheeled project, Vilner gives the 2010 Aprilia Tuono 1000 a makeover, producing what it calls the Aprilia Stingray.
The Tuono has always had a slightly insect-like quality to its design, particularly with its headlight and cowl fairing which resembles a wasp’s head. Vilner had a different kind of creature in mind, and its creation somewhat resembles a stingray with its wing flaps folding down around the Tuono’s sides.
Our European correspondent Tor Sagen was invited to test the 2012 offerings from Italy-based Headbanger Motorcycles. Headbanger offers six different models, some of which available in a couple of variants. Tor shared with us some of his first impressions of Headbanger’s 2012 range. Continue Reading »
The custom V Star 950 is the product of Chris Hagest of Low and Mean in Lake Havasu, AZ. Hagest and his team deconstructed a stock V Star 950 and using their ingenuity and creativity combined available Star accessories with components from Leo Vince exhaust, Ride Right wheels, Burley bars, Platinum air ride suspension, Radiantz LED lighting and covered the bodywork in a stunning custom paint scheme.
Yamaha is once again hosting a custom sportbike competition for both amateur and professional builders. Up for grabs are MotoGP tickets, cash, trophies and bragging rights.
For amateur builders the competition begins in the digital world by submitting your entry at yamaha-motor.com/customshowdown. Yamaha will select 150 entrants and award them with 3-day passes to either Laguna Seca or Indianapolis for the MotoGP race. The top twenty winners will be invited to display their bikes at the Custom Bike Shows being held in conjunction with two USGPs.
Victory Motorcycles is showcasing a collection of Polaris-designed prototypes and custom models in its display at the Minneapolis stop of the IMS tour, Feb. 3-5 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
The collection will feature concept models and prototypes from over the years by the Polaris Industrial Design studio. The exhibit will include the Victory CORE concept (pictured above) first unveiled at the 2009 IMS, the Victory Vision 800 concept first shown in 2006, and the Polaris Revolver sports ATV (pictured after the jump).
The infamous “American Chopper” TV juggernaut rolls on, with a two-hour special to be broadcast tonight and culminating with a live event on Tuesday evening in Las Vegas.
The interesting thing about this week’s shows is that I’m in Vegas as a guest critic of the builds, a three-team competition between Paul Teutul Senior, Paul Junior and the notorious Jesse James. Earlier today I got a chance to see the vehicles for the first time, and what a trio it is!
Check out our exclusive first looks at their builds after the jump.
Canadian riding apparel manufacturer Velocity Sportsgear has launched a new website allowing customers to custom design their own leathers online.
Visitors to VelocitySportsGear.com can order from Velocity’s existing catalog of riding apparel or choose to custom design their own jackets, pants and suits.
The customizing tool offers several design templates to start from, and then users can pick and choose the color for each particular section of the apparel. Velocity offers 15 base colors and six premium metallic colors.
When we saw pictures of this recently restored art-deco custom built back in 1936, we felt we needed to share them with you.
A 1930 KJ Henderson provides the platform for the sculpted design originally built by O. Ray Courtney, and it’s powered by an air-cooled inline four-cylinder engine. It has a sister bike built on a 1930s Indian.
Courtney’s Henderson was resurrected by its current owner, Frank Westfall from Syracuse, NY, who showed it at the Rhinebeck Grand National Meet last June. Not just a museum piece, the bike was ridden around the meet’s grounds over the weekend by its enthusiastic owner.
More photos after the jump.
Unfortunately, you will not find this motorcycle jacket in the Icon catalog, the Icon Victory Metal God Jacket was a limited edition and only 100 jackets were made, they were all actually sold out in 2 hours at a price of $1,200 each.
