- By Adnane BensalahPublished On: January 25, 2022
When I was 18 years old, many many years ago, I saw a Honda CB350F outside a club in Amsterdam. It looked dirty, had chrome wire spoked wheels, a little café racer seat, clubman style handle bar, no mirrors or indicators, no fenders, and a single gauge which was the tachometer. [...]
- By Adnane BensalahPublished On: August 16, 2021
Build nr. 3 Back in 2019 we reported on an incredible build: a Honda Hornet 600 that went from 0 to HERO in a record time. Built by Kyustendil (Bulgaria) based Bull Moto Custom, the neo-café racer left a lasting impression. An unusual suspect Well, Ivan Mushev, owner and driving force [...]
- By Adnane BensalahPublished On: July 23, 2021
V-Twin Back in 1981 Yamaha introduced their XV-range motorcycles, which were all based around an air-cooled V-twin engine. Their most notable model was the Virago cruiser; however, a bit more anonymous was the TR1. Sold in various displacement forms, ranging from 535cc to 1100cc, the XV-models were primarily aimed at buyers [...]
- By Ron BetistPublished On: June 29, 2021
Sailing solo After building more than 150 motorcycles for someone else over the past 15 years, Shaun Walker decided it was time for change. He was dissatisfied with the lack of ‘involvement’ het got from the company he worked for when it came to the subject of building bikes. As far [...]
- By Adnane BensalahPublished On: June 15, 2021
No introduction needed. It is time again for a Top 10 list, and this time we’ve decided to split it up into 2 instalments. Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to present to you, the totally arbitrary, BikeBrewers Top 10 Cafe Racers Hall of Fame: Part 1! 1. BMW R nineT [...]
- By Ron BetistPublished On: May 25, 2021
Not your average army green We have had a number of army men building bikes in the past. Last year we had Chris Roffey who brought us his Yamaha XJR 1300 as well as Daniel Martin and his Honda CB500T. Both servicemen are from the United Kingdom and built bikes had [...]
- By Ron BetistPublished On: May 14, 2018
A Triumph Cafe Racer Top 10 is not something you write overnight. Triumph has a long heritage when it comes to cafe racers and the brand is a well-known name since the cafe racer scene emerged in the mid-50s of last century. The early-day Bonneville’s where often used as a base [...]
- By Ron BetistPublished On: May 7, 2018
‘Bigfoot in Florida’ There are many legends that stem from this part of the United States. The presence of impenetrable swamps is a dominant factor in numerous sightings of ‘Florida swamp monsters’ such as the larger than life Big Foot. The latter must undoubtedly be quite a source of inspiration to [...]
- By Ron BetistPublished On: May 3, 2018
About a year ago I’ve featured this amazing Ducati 900ss built by the Belgium crew of Deep Creek Cycleworks. At that time they were still “all about second chances”, focussing on their passion to turn old bikes back into something rideable and desirable. But with their latest build, they’ve made an [...]
- By Ron BetistPublished On: April 30, 2018
If you like it or not; the electric motorcycle is slowly taking its place in the world. Of course, if you ask me, there is nothing better dan the smell of gasoline and oil. Or the sound when you open up the throttle which gives you pretty BRAAAP! But we can [...]
- By Ron BetistPublished On: April 9, 2018
The unstoppable Pepo Rosell, a.k.a. XTR Pepo is the most featured builder out here and just as expected, he delivered another amazing bike this month. While Pepo has a long heritage with Ducati, he’s never afraid to pick something different. This time he took a 2001 Honda Hornet and gave it the [...]
- By Ron BetistPublished On: February 19, 2018
Struck by a blue flash An active lad on Instagram, I had noticed his posts and like what he produces and how Sjoerd is marketing Motolifestyle, his small custom bike business. “Small” is actually not a very apt description of his online following. Picked up on Instagram by @caferacersofinstagram our man [...]
- By Ron BetistPublished On: January 9, 2018
Yes! You’re right! Better late than never! This is the list of the 21 best custom motorcycles of 2017! Last year we did a voting based on the stats of popular bikes that year but this time we kept things much simpler. So no hard data, voting system, social statistics, or fancy [...]
- By Ron BetistPublished On: January 2, 2018
First of all: happy new year to everybody! We’re still working on the editor’s choice with the best customs of 2017, but I already got the first build for 2018 in my mailbox from our buddy XTR Pepo. Most readers know that Pepo isn’t afraid to take a rare bike as [...]
- By Ron BetistPublished On: December 19, 2017
Today we open up a new section on BikeBrewers: book reviews. We’ve already listed some of the best motorcycle books and cafe racer books, but here we review books individually. This first review is written by our brand new contributor Ron Betist! —– This must be one of the longest book [...]
- By Ron BetistPublished On: December 1, 2017
The apple does not fall far from the tree We recently came across 29-year-old Anton Knutsson From Sweden on Instagram. This being his primary communication channel for the bikes he produces under his company name ‘Injustice Customs’. The bike that caught our attention was quite a stunner and within the hour [...]