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This time Grzegorz Korczak, the man behind Unikat, got his hands on a 2021 Triumph Bonneville Bobber. I know, I know, this looks like a different kind of bobber. Truth be told, there are different definitions of what makes a bobber, a bobber. There are European and American style bobber, there are also Japanese style bobbers. Regardless of the different styling exercises, one thing that they all have in common is the fact that they appear to be minimalistic. In a way, you could look at this like this: what a café racer is to a road bike, a bobber is to a cruiser. Same rules apply: get rid of all unnecessary parts to reduce the weight, and make the bike look as simple as possible.

Coming back to Unikat’s Triumph Bonneville Bobber, which has been name “K18”, we see that a number of stylish mods have been made to the original. No doubt did the original Bobber look great, but what Unikat did here takes the stock bike to a whole other level.

The original bobber wheels have been replaced with a pair of lightweight, black Takasago Excel 17” rims with stainless steel spokes. What’s interesting about the wheels is that they have adopted the BARTubeless system; transforming them into tubeless wheels. The rims have been wrapped by a pair of sticky Pirelli Dunlop Mutant tires.

The rear fender had been completely removed, while the front fender got a nice trim job and received a distinguished Unikat 1-of1 logo, kind of like an easter-egg, waiting to be discovered. Staying at the front, we can also see that the speedo and the headlamp have both been lowered for a sportier stance. There’s a set of Motogadget bar-end indicators, which have been combined with a set of bar-end mirrors. The handlebar grips have received a nice leather wrap treatment. Womet Tech supplied the sporty clutch and brake levers. A pair of fork gaiters keep the front fork clean and mean.

Moving a bit more backwards to the fuel tank, we spot a beautifully milled, gold anodized fuel filler cap. Underneath the fuel tank, the original factory airbox has been removed and a pair of free flow air filet, curtousy of K&N have been placed to take care of the breathing. The ‘faux-carburetor’ injection covers have been treated to the 1-of-1 logo treatment too. Underneath the engine, a stainless-steel exhaust system, in combination with Unikat’s very own in-house built exhaust pipes, ensure that the combustion gases leave the engine in an effective and dramatic manner.

A lot of work has been put in cleaning up this bike by hiding as much of the wiring as possible. Part of that is the Hi-sider 3-in-1 taillight, that have built in indicators and license plate holder, and is in fact completely road-legal. The special thing about is, is that it is integrated into the single-seat. The finish of this Triumph in a gorgeous dark green color in combination with glossy black, with all the little gold-colored details really distinguishes this build from any other Bobber we have seen so far.

Builder details:
UNIKAT Motorworks
Website
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube

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Skyrocketed to top position
After the crowning of the Meteor 350 to MCN “2021 – Retro Bike of Year”, Ironwood Motorcycles, have launched “The Starship Meteor” – a custom version of the affordable urban cruiser.
Earlier this year BikeBrewers had a fun day on this bike when it was introduced. Read about our experience in this post.

Since its launch at the end of 2020, the Meteor 350 has quickly built up a cult status worldwide and won multiple awards and accolades around the world. Praised for its build quality, retro styling and refined design – and the remarkable price point for a motorcycle that offers so much more than the sum of its parts – it offers a rather remarkable blank canvas to then stamp your own personality on.

Build your own
The in-house Custom Team of Royal Enfield’s English technical centre challenged Ironwood Motorcycles and its creative director and founder Arjan van den Boom to design and build their own ideal Easy Cruiser.

Arjan van den Boom of Ironwood Motorcycles: “The Meteor meets a lot of requirements, and it was our job to spice it up a bit. As a basic package, the Meteor is hard to beat for the budget-concious rider. Ultimately, we wanted this important element of accessibility and entry into the world of motorcycling and customizing motorcycles, which the Meteor offers, retained – but of course add our unique ‘Ironwood creative touch’ to this particular build.

Hitting the streets of Amsterdam
We received a Meteor Fireball Yellow from the team at Royal Enfield and immediately rode it through the streets of Amsterdam as much as possible to get used to the feel and ergonomics of the bike before taking it apart.
Because the seating position is super comfortable and the balance refined, we wanted to preserve as much of the original Meteor DNA as possible. Motorcycles with a smaller displacement engines are too often classified as ‘entry-level engines’, which is really unfortunate. Our goal was to give the Meteor a sprinkle of the Ironwood sauce and an overall more powerful look by upgrading a number of parts, while ensuring that the Meteor’s core identity would remain intact.”

Clear vision
Continuing: “We had a very clear visual identity what we wanted to develop. This was largely inspired by our love for all things Star Wars! We decided to blacken many of the parts so that the fantastic “Meteor Rain” paint from Royal Kustom Works on the tank would really stand out from the rest. The black fork protectors, the black supercross handlebars, custom fenders, the fat thick rubbers from Continental and the piggyback shock absorbers from YSS compliment what we consider to be a very exciting look
The CNC manufactured saddle support, our signature floating bobber saddle, further adds to the true custom look of the motorcycle. The diamond pattern on the saddle is all hand finished by our good friend Marcel Miller of Miller Kustom Upholstery.

The Biltwell grips, Motogadget turn signals in the front and the Kellermann 1000DF taillights, combined with the custom piping that breathes through an Akrapovic muffler, result in a beautiful little Urban Cruiser that exceeds expectation.
Each time you start this air-cooled one cylinder engine, a nice growl comes out of the racing exhaust and you feel like hitting the road.

Mission accomplished!”

Royal Enfield’s view
Adrian Sellers, Head of Royal Enfield’s Custom Programme, reacts: “Ironwood’s creative minds have followed the assignment we gave them more than perfectly and we are very happy with the end result. Importantly, the core identity of the Meteor 350 – a motorcycle we know provides a fantastic basic platform for creative expression – has been retained and embraced.

This project reinforces how important accessibility is for us as a brand, and how much can be achieved with a little imagination. All credit to Arjan and the Ironwood team – this is the first custom build we have done with the Meteor, and it marks an important and exciting milestone for this 350 engine platform”

The Ironwood Custom Meteor 350 will be on display at the EICMA 2021 in Milan at the end of November.

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Tough as Nails

A different kind of Bobber
Being a tinkerer, Nick has had his fair share of wrenching. In the past he had restored a Triumph T140 Bonneville, which he considers to be his first “real” motorcycle. Some of his fondest memories are of that Bonneville. Fast forward to the present, and we can see that all of the hard work has paid off. We present to you, the Gentleman’s Rat bike. The idea was initially to build a Moto Guzzi Bobber. There aren’t that many Guzzi Bobber’s riding around, especially with a hard-tail. But having seen the “Peter F.” bike by Mandello Cycles in Bremervörde, Nick got some inspiration for his own build.

BOOM!
The Gentleman’s Rat first started its life as a 1982 Moto Guzzi 1000SP. A completely different machine than what we see here today. Some interesting and cool features on this Moto Guzzi are for instance the fuel tank, that originally left the factory on a CZ, and was left with the original patina-rust on it for authenticity. Or the tubeless wheels and oversize Brembo brakes, that came off a Moto Guzzi California EV1100. The most notable piece of equipment on this Guzzi has to be the Girder fork. Nick told us that it wasn’t an easy job to get the fork to fit correctly, since it was originally intended for a Boom Trike. For those of you that don’t know what that is, a Boom Trike is a German built trike that uses Volkswagen and Ford engines.

More comfortable than a cafe racer
There are more interesting features on this build. The handlebar for instance, is a tall unit that, in combination with the yellow headlight, is supposed to be a nod to the 1940’s. The engine itself was kept as standard with the exception of a pair of pod air-filters. For the sake of simplicity, the original contact breaker with ignition points was maintained. A new battery box underneath the unidentifiable seat was fabricated by a fellow Guzzista. If that went by too quickly, the seat was bought off the internet and came off an unknown motorcycle. Looks comfy though! All other electrics are housed in that box as well. The subframe of the Guzzi was cut, bent, and welded to align with the new struts, turning the 1000SP into a hard-tail. Nick did mention to us that the Guzzi rides more comfortable than his Moto Guzzi Le Mans 3 Café Racer. To finish the look off, the exhaust headers received a wrapping treatment, while the mufflers were replaced with a pair of open pipe exhausts, making this one loud bobber.

Never-ending project
According to the goldsmith from Emmen, the Netherlands, this project is a never-ending story and he intends to keep it that way. At the moment of writing, he has already changed out the handlebar and fuel tank to try a new look. We have to admit that this Guzzi looks exceptionally beautiful, in its own unique and raw way. It is hard to believe that this bike is a genuine shed-built bike. We would love to see more of this kind of builds if it was up to us!

Photo Credits: Gert de Weerd

Builder details:
Nick Keen
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Long runner
The Harley-Davidson Motorcycle company is one of the world’s oldest motorcycle manufacturers. One of the company’s most successful models has got to be the Sportster, which has been produced continuously since 1957. There have been countless different Sportster models, however, all of them had a 45-degree air-cooled V-twin engine and a softail. The long production run makes the Sportster one of the most popular motorcycles out there that are being modified by owners. And why not? Aftermarket parts are sold in abundance and in a wide variety of prices. People that own a Harley Sportster really love their bike. For a very long time, it was also the most affordable Harley-Davidsons on the price list. It is the VW Beetle of motorcycles.

Minimalistic
Daniel Nyland is an Arizona based engineer that loves to work on motorcycles in his spare time. He grew up riding dirt bikes and ATVs, and this particular Harley-Davidson was his first street motorcycle. The 1991 Sportster was sourced fairly cheap, which was great because that meant money could be spent on modifying it. Daniel feels that people often talk a lot of smack about Sportster, which is a load of nonsense because they are a blast to ride. We wholeheartedly agree with him on that point.

Inspiration for this build cannot be pinpointed to one specific moment or event, but rather a combination of various ideas. Daniel likes café racers and bobbers, so some influence was drawn from those. Many hours were spent on the internet looking at bikes and trying to figure out what would look badass. Going minimalistic was on the table, and it didn’t take long before all non-essential parts were removed, and the bike was stripped down to its bare bones. The engine had to be the centerpiece and everything else had to flow from there on.

Flow
Daniel believes that there are three major aspects to a well build motorcycle: the engine, the frame, and the bodywork. Each has to flow well with itself, but they all have to work with each other as well.  The look of bare metal and seeing the grains and imperfections that are normally covered up by a traditional paint job, are what make Daniel’s heart pump faster. So, he wanted all the tins to be bare and add some hand drawn sketches to break it up as well as add some unique character to the bike. He knew he wanted the engine-case to be a semi-gloss black, with the covers and starter being raw metal grey, accompanied by a bitchin’ stainless steel 2-2 exhaust.

As with most builds, there were some challenges during the process. Assembling and disassembling the bike multiple times, making sure that everything was the way Daniel wanted it was one of those pains. All to make sure that in the end, he would realize that he should have done it differently. “When you look at the gorgeous creations from the pro builders you don’t understand the amount of foresight that goes into building a quality bike until you’re doing it yourself.”

Serious upgrades
Some of the work was done by a local shop called “Bloody Knuckle”. They helped out with some of the welding on the frame as well as creating the rear fender. Hammer Performance supplied the motor kit as well as reworking a set of 2007 heads. Everything else was done by Daniel himself.

What modifications are made and what parts were used?

• Bare Knuckle Choppers hardtail kit
• Black powder coat spoked wheels
• Custom speedo mount
• Vertical oil tank
• Blackbird fuel tank w/ integrated fuel sight
• Custom rear fender
• V-rod style headlight cowl
• Chainsikle rearsets
• 1275 kit from Hammer Perf w/ reworked 2007 heads
• HP560 cams
• CV40 performance upgrades
• RXC velocity stack
• EMD primary cover
• Custom SS exhaust w/ internal ceramic coat
• Dyna 2ki ignition w/ Dyna coils
• Trimmed cam cover
• Cognito Moto GPS Speedo
• Custom coil mount
• Antigravity battery
• Tokico front caliper conversion
• Progressive Suspension lowering springs
• Custom electrical box hidden underneath battery tray

Results
It is incredible to see that everything flows perfectly together, especially the subtle brass accents that help tie everything together.  The Sportster rides like a beast, with the Hammer Performance kit hitting hard and pulling long. It’s loud, low, and without a doubt terrorizes the quiet suburban street of Arizona. If there is one thing that Daniel learned from this experience, it is that anyone can do this. Building a motorcycle is an amazing experience and everyone’s motorcycle should be an extension of themselves. Hear, hear!

Builder details:
Daniel Nyland
Instagram

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Abundance in everything
Just recently, I had the opportunity to test ride the 2020 Indian Springfield, a classic old-school bagger. This bike is a true powerhouse with Indian’s largest production engine prior to 2020. Its thumping heart is an 1800cc V-twin engine, well endowed with lots of torque. The machine is adorned with lots of chrome and other frilly stuff.

But before talking about this custom cruiser, let’s review the heritage of this iconic American motorcycle brand. Did you know that the Indian Motorcycle Company was responsible for some of the earliest advancements in motorcycle technology and some impressive early motorcycle speed records?

In 1901, Hendee hired Oscar Hedstrom to create a gas-powered bike that could pace bicycle races. Following the success and excitement around this first machine, the company opened a factory in Massachusetts and began mass-producing motorcycles. In their first year on the market, a rider on an Indian motorcycle won a race from Boston to New York. In 1903, the Indian Motorcycle Company was on its way to becoming the largest and most important motorcycle manufacturer in the world. That same year, a couple of young men in Milwaukee built the very first Harley-Davidson motorcycle, creating what would become Indian’s biggest rival.

Win on Sunday, sell on Monday
In 1906, a pair of riders used an Indian motorcycle to ride from San Francisco to New York in a record-setting 31.5 days. In the 1910’s Indian Motorcycles were re-engineered with a modern suspension system, the first electric starter on a motorcycle and a whopping 1000cc engine. All of these upgrades helped Indian motorcycles break even more both speed records and endurance records. In 1911, Indian dominated the world of racing, winning the most prestigious race of them all, the Isle of Man Senior Trophy. By the end of that year, Indian motorcycles had set no less than 121 recognized racing records.

Throughout the first part of the 1900s, Indian produced high performance models (the first Indian Scout in 1920, the Indian Chief in ‘22 and the Big Chief in 1923) and was always ahead of its time improving the engine and frames. Indian managed to solidify itself in the history of motorcycling through road racing, dirt racing and land speed attempts on the world-famous Bonneville Salt Flats throughout the 20th Century. Indian also established itself in the world of flat track, leading it to become rivals with Harley-Davidson.

Rising from the ashes
However, in 1953, due to a lack of sales and the effect of the WWII, Indian Motorcycles ceased operations. The brand name and rights changed hands a few times from 1953 until 1977. It was only in 2011 that Indian made a strong come-back when Polaris Industries purchased the brand. 2013 marked the big unveiling of the rejuvenated Indian Motorcycle. The awesome Thunder Stroke 111 V-Twin engine was introduced and a new generation of bikes was unveiled. The Indian Motorcycle has been reinvented with new models released over the last 7 years including the Indian Roadmaster, all-new Indian Scout, the flat tracker inspired FTR, the Indian Chief Dark Horse and the Springfield.

Springfield
The Indian Springfield hit the market in 2016 and its design has been carried over into the 2020 model year due to its success.
With a combination of power from the powerful ‘Thunderstroke’ 111 V-twin (119Lb-Ft @ 3,000RPM), world-class engineering and premium touring features, the Indian Springfield is built for the long haul. The valenced fender, introduced in 1940 and used through 1942, leads the way with a chrome brow and iconic, lighted war-bonnet crest. Chrome beer-can fork skirts beef up the stems, as does the headlight nacelle and whisker bar, and the latter supports a pair of passing lamps along with the front turn signals to wrap up the forward lighting. A true American icon! Much like the early American tour bikes, the Springfield pushes a large, quick-release windshield that leaves you with the similar level of protection as a true fairing but with much greater visibility forward and down. In my case, because of my height, it generated turbulence around the helmet. From what I know, a higher screen is available.

A chrome instrument panel rides on the 20.8L fuel tank with the on/off button, a round fuel gauge and large analog gauge for the speedometer. A host of indicator lights are set in the face of the speedo, and there’s a small LED screen to handle the remaining metrics and act as an interface for the Ride Modes feature. Standard features are 3 ride modes and rear cylinder deactivation. The Indian Springfield maintains rider-favourite features such as the genuine leather seats, remote-locking saddlebags and adjustable passenger floorboards. ABS, cruise control, key-less ignition and tire pressure monitoring also come standard.

Regarding the frame, a cast-aluminum skeleton holds it all together, and while that undoubtedly removes some weight, it still tips the scales at 376kg wet. It’s not at all what you’d call a ‘lightweight’ bike and not ideal for urban riding and zigzagging through rush hour traffic. It’s heavy and the deactivation / activation of the cylinder is quirky when you take off at a green light.
One area that I could see some improvement is the rear ABS. A slam on the rear brake pedal will still result in a tire lock and that is not good when you are riding in the city on a winter day. Trust me, I know what I am talking about.

Open road, here we come!
But once you set it free on open roads, you will discover an incredibly smooth and stable ride. The Springfield has stump-pulling torque way down low delivered to the back wheels by a belt drive and six-speed transmission. The seat is very comfortable and the riding position is perfectly upright. If lower speeds are all you need, the Springfield might just be the bike for you. If, like me, you like the cruiser style but also enjoy bombing through some twisties, the Springfield will do both of these quite well, better than the equivalent Harley Davidson Street Glide, in my personal opinion.

The 2020 Indian Springfield is a touring cruiser that is designed to both be modern in comfort and technology, but classic in terms of looks and feel.

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