The bike is so nice, they made it more than twice!
We have seen a number of outstanding custom builds leaving the workshop of UNIKAT in Poland. And every time a new bike rolls of the workshop floor, our jaws drop in almost a cartoon-like fashion. Feast your eyes on these to gorgeous Triumph Thruxton RS’s.
Polish Powerhouse
If you have just tuned in to BikeBrewers, here’s short summary of who we are dealing with. UNIKAT is a motorcycle customizing workshop in Wrocław, Poland and is specialized mainly in café racer and scrambler style motorcycles. It was established to combine the passions for speed and visual arts. As you may find in some of our earlier posts, the founder of UNIKAT, Grzegorz Korczak, is actually a cinematographer, OSCAR nominated (you know, Hollywood!) special effects director, and visual artist whose work has been exhibited in some of Poland’s most prestigious museums. Since 2013 he’s been using his skills to create some of the most visually and aesthetically pleasing motorcycles we have ever seen.
Good start!
The base bikes for these builds are the most powerful Triumph modern classics to date. In 2020 Thruxton RS is an adrenaline factory disguised as a classic motorcycle. Each piece of the bike is of superior quality. The engine is powerful, it has great stopping power, and the suspension is top notch. The first three Thruxton RS’s delivered to Poland went straight to UNIKAT! The new respective owners wanted a personalized motorcycle; they came to the right spot.
But not good enough!
Although Triumph did an incredible job manufacturing the new Thruxton, there are still some things that could be better. This is inherent to anything that is mass produced – fact. Then there are the things that make your head itch. For instance: an excess of silver painted plasti…ahum parts. That was the first point of order for Grzegorz. The second point were the large indicators. Too bulky. Third, the massive factory fitted tail light. Good to illuminate in dark rainy weather. An eye-sore for the enthusiast. Despite these points, the most important thing that needed to be addressed was the sound; too soft for a machine with this level of riding characteristics.
Uncorking the Triumphs
Modern exhaust emission and noise standards are so strict that all factory motorcycles sound like a moped. Don’t get us wrong, we are not preaching for superloud exhausts that wake up the neighbors and make kids cry. However, part of the riding experience has always been sound for us, and these Thruxtons deserve to be heard. It is probably the only thing these three bikes have in common, that’s it.
3 Flavours
Different owners have different tastes. One owner was convinced that he wanted his bike to look aggressive and cheeky; “The motorcycle must be matte black with red accents.” The second owned wanted something rather sporty but elegant – “glossy metallic deep black combined with golden elements!” To Grzegorz’s delight, both of them also opted for the tubeless Kineo wire-spoke wheels. Fitted with a set of Heidenau sticky rain tires, that also happen to perform excellent in dry condition, and in combination with the lower rotating mass, the handling has been seriously improved. Owner number three on the other hand, wanted his motorcycle to look “as vintage as possible”. Starting with old-school tires, and finishing with a top-fairing as a nod to the classic racers of yesteryear. Golden pinstripes, leather grips and classic diamonds on the upholstery are another retro details.
Perfecting imperfections
Building these bikes took more work than meets the eye. For instance, in order to remove the entire exhaust of the RS, you have to dismantle the lower sway of the frame. Sandblasting of the each part and getting the paint job just right proved to be a tedious and time-consuming job. Not that Grzegorz complained, it’s just that there is no room for error. Especially since any imperfections will pop out in matte black. More than a few times parts have been sent back for sandblasting and painting. Details make the difference!
Bling Bling
The easiest task was probably the assembly of the fairing, which is a one piece uni. The LED indicators and brushed steel bar-end mirrors are just a few of the fine details we like on these builds. Another detail are the handcrafted leather grips with threads in the color of the upholstery, which has become something of a UNIKAT trademark. The rear of the bike looks scary thanks to two LED tail lights. They are, allegedly, the smallest tail lights in the world, and they are EU approved (DOT in the US). The black and gold RS received a gold-colored DID chain. The red RS is equipped with a Bitubo suspension set; custom made to the riders’ specs. A great piece of accessory are the quality levers, provided by Poland’s own Womettech.
All three Thruxton are full of hidden Easter-eggs; little details that you may not notice at first, but the more you look at the bikes, the more you find. UNIKAT has done an exceptional job creating these three seemingly identical Thruxton RS’s. Although they look the same, they really are individually unique in many ways.
Builder details:
UNIKAT Motorworks
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