The post The Mastodont – BMW R1100GS by Moto Adonis appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

Gentlemen, may we have your votes please?
In 2021 the BikeBrewers team got invited by the Café Racer Club Bulgaria to act as judges for the 2nd edition of the Caféracerfest in Kyustendil – Bulgaria. We didn’t know what to expect, since this was the first time we were asked to perform this serious duty, and all we had seen so far were (lovely) pictures of the first edition. Now, we may not know much about the Eurovision Song contest, however, we do know a thing or two about caféracers, so we grabbed our motorcycle gear and headed East.

Throwback 2021
As you may recall, we were blown away by the quality of the event, which we clearly communicated in our September 24th report. A major factor in the success of the first two editions is the undaunted organizer of the event, Ivan Mushev. That name may ring a bell, and it should; we’ve featured some of Ivan’s masterpieces under the name of his outfit Bull Moto custom. But that’s not what we are here for now.

We must have done something right as we have been invited to judge again at the 2022 edition of the Caféracerfest which is coming up on June 11th, and we couldn’t be more excited! Looking back at last year’s event did raise the question if this year’s contenders have any idea of the high level of last year’s participants? If we go by what we saw last year, we have some pretty high expectations.

…and the winner is..!
This story is about Borislav Aleksov and his dream to build the ultimate café racer. Before the Bulgarian builder got his hands on this 1992 Yamaha XV1100, he had already built a Honda CX500 café racer. Borislav was fascinated by the air-cooled Yamaha v-twin, so when one of his friends was selling his, Borislav knew that it was now or never. We’re glad he took that chance.

It’s safe to say that we have yet to see a boring Yamaha XV caféracer here at BikeBrewers. This one seems to be the latest addition to that list, keeping the standard yet again, very high. It’s hard to imagine that Borislav had a budget of a mere 7500 euro; that kind of money you’d expect a shed-built bike to cost, definitely not a show-winning unit like this.

Torches out
Borislav started with chopping the rear sub-frame, and building a new one from scratch. At the front a set of Suzuki GSX-R1000 forks were adopted, held firmly in place by a set of Aprilia RSV4 triple clamps. The forks allow for radial brake callipers to be mounted, which is exactly what the master craftsman did, courtesy of Tokico. At the rear, a Yamaha FZ6 mono-shock keeps the bike on track. The new forks brought a new dilemma; the ground clearance was now compromised. The solution: raising the engine up in the frame. That’s not an easy task, so countless hours were spent trying to get it right.

The engine didn’t go back in the frame before being completely overhauled and got covered with a fresh coat of paint. The carbs were cleaned and rebuild, so that took care of the intake side of things. On the exhaust side, a new custom-made exhaust system was build from the ground up. We really liked the lines and angles of the exhaust system, and it’s one of the key features that attracted us to this bike on the day of the event. When we asked Borislav what his intentions were when he built this bike, he said that, at first he wanted to build a classic looking café racer, but that he changed his mind half-way through the project after being inspired by some builds he saw on Facebook.

Wheels
A friend of Borislav took care of lacing the hubs to a new set of aluminium rims, which were also in black. Yes, black is the theme with this build, and we like it! Do you know what’s also black? The modified Benelli fuel tank, the epitome of café racer fuel tanks. Everything was painted in-house by Borislav himself. A custom leather seat keeps the rider firmly in place, and a Daytona Velona 80 gives all the necessary rider info whilst maintaining a contemporary look.

It is clear to see why this particular café racer took the 1st prize during the 2021 Caferacerfest.
This is what Borislav had to say about his build:
“I like the paint scheme and the general profile of the motorcycle that is the exact opposite of a chopper. The riding experience is unexplainable after 3 years of working on this project to be able to finally ride it is a dream come true. Thanks also for the Felix helmet that I received as a prize. It really enhances the look of the ride” he smiles.

Previous life
Below are some shots of the bike before Borislave opened his toolbox and the build in progress.

The post Winner 2021 Café Racer Fest Bulgaria – Yamaha XV by Borislav Aleksov appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

Lately we have been seeing a trend in the café racer scene. More and more builders are starting to look at the venerable Honda CB 750 to use as a base bike. We think that this could be the revival of the Honda café racers and we are digging it! Don’t get me wrong, we love seeing Triumphs, BMW’s and Moto Guzzi’s being chopped and rebuilt into tasty café racers and scramblers. But there is something about the shape and style of a JDM inline-four that catches our interest. After all, they did deliver super-bike performance for moped prices back in the day.

You may remember the name Jeremy Duchampt from some time ago. The Frenchman is responsible for two Ducati’s and a Yamaha TR-1 that we featured here on BikeBrewers not so long ago. When we received a message from the main man behind Jerem Motorcycles that he had built a Honda CB 750 Rothmans café racer, we got warm and fuzzy feelings in our bellies; we knew it had to be good! Oh boy were we in for a treat. This Honda is so elegant, the proportions are so well-balanced, it looks like the CB is doing 100 mph at stand still!

The foundation of this project is a Honda CB 750 F2, as it is officially called. A model which was produced by Honda from 1992 all the way up to 2007(!). Honda’s R&D department must have been very pleased with this, no doubt. On paper, the CB 750 produced around 75 hp and 65 Nm of torque, with a claimed weight of around 210 kg. No mind boggling specs, but there is more to it. The Seven Fifty stands out in it’s a simplicity, reliability, and overall reputation of being bulletproof.

What Jeremy did to this bike is extraordinary. The list of modifications is long, so here’s a brief summary.

• Custom front fender
• Modified subframe
• Custom café racer leather and Alcantara seat with stitching (Irina: Point saddler 34)
• Custom made cowl with integrated LED taillight (FFPro Design)
• LED bar-end indicators
• Bar-end mirrors
• LED vintage-style, round yellow headlight with custom brackets
• Keyless ignition (KAIROS RFID)
• Vintage speedo (FIVEACES)
• Laser-cut top triple clamp yoke (USVracing)
• Clip-ons with brown handlebar grips
• BREMBO brake master cylinder and levers
• Powder coated rims
• Modified rear shock absorber
• Air box removed to with DNA pod filters
• Blacked out engine, frame and swingarm
• Custom 4-in-1 exhaust
• Carb tuning
• Custom painting Rothmans Style (FFPro Design)

The way this café racer turned out is mesmerising. Growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, cigarette companies often sponsored race teams, one of which was Honda. Who remembers the NSR250, NSR500 or RC30? This Rothmans inspired design brings back memories of those days, where small displacement, high revving engines dominated the tracks and the streets. It’s not a secret that we would love to get our hands on this Honda. For now, we have to do with the pictures.

Builder details:
Jerem Motorcycles
Instagram
Facebook

The post Rothmans inspired Honda CB 750 Café Racer by JeremMotorcycles appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

The Flying Brick
We’ve been noticing a strong trend in the past year or so, a revival if you will, of café racers that are built around BMW K-series motorcycles, a.k.a. the flying brick There is a reason for that. They can be sourced cheaply to begin with, since they were sold by the bundles from 1982 till 1996 (K75 and K100). They also have a reputation of being bulletproof. And to be honest, they weren’t really good-looking bikes to begin with, so a little make-over can improve the aesthetic appeal. We have to say that it isn’t the easiest bike to turn into a smashing café racer, still there are quite a few builders out there that manage to amaze us.

Classic meets Modern
This 1985 BMW K100RT turned Café Racer is a fine specimen of what is possible with the right vision and skills. This bike was rebuilt from the ground up, which meant that no bolt was left unturned. The frame was chopped and coated with a fresh layer of paint. On the newly built subframe sits a custom leather seat with a classic café racer hump. Marcel created a see-through frame by getting rid of any excess wiring and moving the battery lower into the frame. Kellerman Bullet indicators also serve a tail- and brake-lights, they fit the bike nicely. A custom license plate bracket was also made to keep the BMW road-legal.

Technology
Moving to the front and we spot a Motogadget speedo (Motoscope Pro). However, when we look more closely, we see that Motogadget has provided a lot more than just the speedo such as the front indicators, handlebar grips, switches, and even the controller for all the electrics (m.unit blue). It goes without saying that all the wiring is new too. At the front we have a large round LED headlight with a matt black finish. The bar-end mirrors are a nice touch and add some flair to this BMW.

Subtle
The engine stayed mostly stock with the exception of a rebuild and some fresh paint. The exhaust got chopped and fitted with a small lightweight free-flow unit. The headers received thermal wrapping for the café racer looks. What’s interesting is to see that the footrests have been moved slightly forward to expose the beautiful rear wheel which is suspended in a single swingarm. The modified geometry makes the riding more comfortable too.

More to come…
We absolutely love the color of this bike. The deep dark blue color is so classy and fitting to this bike, we find it hard to imagine how this café racer would look like in any other color. Combined with some really tasty details, such as the custom BMW logo that can be found all over the bike, it truly is a sexy café racer. This build by BCD has the right mix between modern and classic, and it sets an example on how simplicity is often the best way to go. We can’t wait to see what the future will bring, but we are 100% convinced that it will be amazing again.

Photo credits: Nikolas Stergiadis

Builder details:
Blackout Custom Design
Website
Instagram
Facebook

The post BMW K100RT Cafe Racer by Blackout Custom Design appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

To keep things in balance we wanted someone to share his adventures based in the Southern Hemisphere. We were lucky enough to have a good friend who was back moving to Brazil a little while back.

New Zealand born and a biker in every fiber of his big frame. It is with great pride and pleasure we introduce the one and only Jonathan Rattray Clarke a.k.a. ‘Captain Kiwi’ or ‘Kiwi-Moto Menace’.
His wife being a Brazilian diplomat, they have lived all over the world. When they were about to move to Amsterdam in 2017 we connected, helped him find his feet and together we set up the Amsterdam community for the Classic Riders.

Many adventures rides later duty called and they shipped all their belongings to Brazil. Once properly settled in, Jonathan replaced the Triumph Thruxton he left behind in Amsterdam, with a spanking new Royal Enfield Interceptor.

He is currently working on that bike to customize it to his taste and will share reports on progress of this build with us.

In the meantime Summer is setting in and there is riding to be done. While we are bracing ourselves for the cold, Jonathan’s first report is a review on a cooling vest.

Enjoy.
BikeBrewers editorial team

Brazil calling
Brasília is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country’s center-western region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitschek on April 21, 1960, to serve as the new national capital. Brasília is estimated to be Brazil’s third-most populous city. As my wife is a diplomat, this is the city we now use as our home base for the time being.

Riding in the heat
I am a self-confessed moto maniac, and I love living in the tropics in the middle of the savanna and love those long rides without a pre-set goal. .

After a three-year stint in New York we moved to Amsterdam. The climate of these two cities is comparable and very different from Brazil. Yet as much as I love the warmth and the endless sunshine, the heat when riding here can take a toll on your energy levels. Riding your bike in this climate you need to stay alert. Keeping it cool is not limited to your head, but you need to take care of the rest of your body too.

Keeping it cool
So I began my search for a product to help remedy that situation. After an in-depth investigation, I finally settled on a “Fly Cooling Vest“, paid my money and anxiously waited for my order to arrive.

When Fly’s product finally landed on my doorstep I was eager to give it a proper test. Was it as good as my research had led me to believe, or was it just a piece of, you know what?

Yet after my first ride out wearing the garment, I am delighted to say riding now is like sitting in my own personal air conditioner. I found the solution to my fatigue in this excellent moto-wear item. This is undoubtedly the best $49.95 I have ever spent on motorcycle apparel!

It really is a brilliant bit of kit; all I need to do to activate its outstanding cooling properties is soak it in a bucket of water, allow the vest to absorb all up the water, and put it on to wear under my mesh riding jacket.

The Fly Cooling Vest works by process of evaporation and wicking as the hot tropical air blows through my jacket to create the most relaxing and comfortable cooling effect as I ride. It even keeps me cool just standing around and chatting with the moto bros shooting the breeze, and talking bull at a lunch stop or a photo-op on the way across the savannah.

I am now geared up and ready for my task as southern hemisphere correspondent working alongside BikeBrewers buddies around the globe. I highly recommend this product if you are living in those hotter riding zones of our wonderful planet.

Off to a great start and I look forward to sharing many motorcycle adventures with all you BikeBrewers afficionados!

Product details:
Item:
Fly Racing Cooling vest (SKU #477-6023S)
Product details:
-Hyperkewl® polymer embedded fabric uses a safe and natural method to keep you cool
-Evaporative-cooling process
-Outperforms competition by keeping you more relaxed for longer due to the larger evaporative surface area
-Quick 2-minute activation
-Remains hydrated for up to 10 hours

The post Product review – Fly Racing cooling vest appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

Polish Perfection

Not an XT500
The motorcycle we are seeing in front of us is NOT a Yamaha XT500. We know, if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck… The little surprise we have here is in fact a Yamaha SR500. Technically related to the XT500, but designed with a completely different purpose. This unit is from 1982 and would be perfect for what the owner had in mind. At least, that was until he changed his mind and pulled the plug on the project. The SR500 got cold-stacked and spent 2 years in a storage before another customer decided to take over the project and commissioned the build to continue.

Legendary
In the past 5 years we have only covered a couple of builds that are based on a Yamaha XT. It is one of Yamaha’s biggest success stories and a legend. Yamaha introduced the first XT, the XT500, in 1976 with a 500cc single cylinder air-cooled engine. It was known for its tractor-like torque and power delivery. The XT also had a reputation of being absolutely bulletproof. Production halted in 1989 when the XT600 took over.

Rebuild
So how do you change an SR500 into an XT500? The answer is far simpler than you’d think. Most of the XT500 looks where achieved by cleaning up the SR frame and by adding an original XT500 fuel tank. The custom seat played a major role in achieving the desired look. To make it all work, the necessary mounting points had to be fabricated as well as adjusting the subframe to make the seat pan fit.

An original XT500 triple clamp was sourced to allow for taller suspension at the front. Original XT500 wheel and forks with progressive springs added flavor to this build. The rear wheel is an original SR500 unit, but the rear shocks aren’t. A set of fully adjustable YSS shocks which are longer than the original shocks help increase the ground clearance. While the rear end was being reworked, a chain tensioner was added to the rear swingarm.

Vintage
The bodywork was completed with a vintage replica of an ufo enduro headlight, an original XT500 front fender, and a customised rear fender fitted with a TT500 replica tail light. In the rear they attached the famous Supertrapp 3″ series dirt bike exhaust and set it up to work with the carb. To create a real vintage look, the builders looked closely to some of the original Yamaha XT color schemes, and then decided to go with the famous 1980 XT500g monochromatic white/black/brushed metal look.

Performance work
To improve the XT’s reliability and performance, the engine was rebuilt, and the carburettor was equipped with a new set of jets. The airbox was replaced with a K&N pod filter. The wiring loom was modified to keep all the cables nearly invisible. There is no battery anymore, just a condenser. It goes without saying that the SR-turned-XT is light. Very light! It is also nimble, and has a strong pull. According to Christian, the exhaust sounds pleasing to the ear in the low and mid revs and is not too loud in high revs. It is quite easy to start, once you get the idea on how to do it correctly. Its torquey engine and comfortable riding position makes it a functional enduro bike for light trails and occasional rides. This project took about 1 year to complete.

Partners who took part in this project:
Welding – Adrian Figura from Scrambler74
Photography – Bartek Zaranek Photography
Paintjob – Lukasz Okrasko

Builder details:
86 Gear Motorcycles
Website
Instagram
Facebook

The post Yamaha SR500-turned-XT Vintage Scrambler by 86 Gear Motorcycles appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

..and now for something completely different
Yeah, we know. this is not a custom build!
However, riding motorcycles brings us all sorts of experiences. So why not veer off the familiar roads and go for a new adventure every now and then?

Zero FX
‘Experience electric’ is how Zero Motorcycles entices riders to make a switch and try out their electric motorcycles.
Having ridden a number of their machines under regular road conditions I was already up to speed to the advantages of moving away from combustion engines. It goes without saying there is still quite some room for improvement, but this has more to do with battery capacity and (international) charging infrastructures.

On average you will use up to 1% per off road kilometre. A full charge will offer you around 100km of muddy bliss. On tarmac you can add another 50 kilometre, but that’s on twisty roads or under urban circumstances. Highway blazing will empty your battery much faster without the advantage of regenerating while braking.

From a pure riding point of view electric motorcycles have come a long way over the past years and deliver (really) a lot of unadulterated excitement right from the get go. Having tried Several Zero motorcycles on tarmac, which is their natural habitat, I was delighted to receive an invitation from Zero Motorcycles European head office for some more nature.
I had to ride 250 kilometres South, not far from the border between Belgium and France where Thierry Sarasyn, a seasoned off road expert with loads of experience in motocross and enduro riding, was waiting for me with two Zero FX bikes in off road trim.

Technical
The Zero FX is a torque monster. It looks light and cuddly when you see it, but its powerful Z-Force brushless motor has you in for a surprise. It is centrally integrated into the frame and is factory supplied with carbon fiber belt drive connected directly to the rear wheel. The heart of the beast is the Zero Z-Force electric engine. It will deliver more torque than most 1.000 cc combustion engines straight from te starting line. The ‘7.2’ decal (removed on the bike in the pictures) indicates the 7.42 kWh force that is with you at all times. The motor dishes out a whopping 106 Nm of torque from 0 rpm. The Zero FX is much like it’s street-oriented FXS brother and contains most of the features/specifications but is definitely born from a muddier pedigree and is your best bet when seeking an extremely lightweight bike for some serious trail-blazing.

For off road purposes an electric bike is very attractive as it does not require more complicated technical maintenance after a ride than just spraying it off with water.

To go for the maximum bliss during off road adventures Thierry had prepped the bikes to match the situation. The belt drive was replaced by a chain and sprockets. Belts and mud are not exactly fond of one another. The rear sprocket has an impressive size. It dominates the rear wheel and is a clear indication we were in for some serious stuff. The ‘hugger’ protecting the belt was removed too.

Also proper off road foot pegs were mounted and the handlebars were fitted with hand protectors. The front suspension was given three extra clicks extra compression damping and spring pre-load was upped two notches. The USD front suspension (Showa) is fully adjustable to fit any riders’ personal preference or the terrain to be conquered. Rear suspension pre-load was also given two notches extra. Front suspension travel is 218mm, the rear will give you 227mm.

The Italian (Pirelli Scorpion) rubber was replaced by Bridgestone AX41 tires. These offer sufficient grip in the dirt and are pleasant on the hard surface under regular road conditions. Moving from one track to another by riding on the road was a cinch and without heaps of mud hitting your face when following your lead. As can be expected the latter set will be noisier on the road. So if yo end up riding more on hard surface, the Pirelli’s are an excellent choice covering the 21″ front wheel and the 18″ rear rim.
If you go for even more serious off-road adventures, consider replacing the front fender for a decent motocross style version. For this day it was fine however. Having said that, By the end of the three-hour ride the rust had been washed away by a wave of testosteron and i found myself doing stupid stuff similar to my antics as a teen.

Complementing the high-tech structure of the Zero FX motorcycle is a blue LCD dashboard with minimalist design. The display shows the bike’s speedometer, battery level, power output, and projected recharge time as well as temperature and ride profile. That’s all you really need.

A mobile phone can also be connected to the dashboard to configure the bike’s performance and behaviour though Zero Motorcycles’ mobile app.

Off we go!
About twenty years ago I sold my last dirt bike as it became increasingly difficult to enjoy off road riding without having to spend two hours in the car to be able to ride. The Northwest of the Netherlands is not exactly densely populated with decent dirt tracks.
So climbing aboard the Zero FX with the prospect of some proper off road riding was a trip down memory lane for me. It filled me with excitement but also with some doubts on how well (or bad) I would do on two wheels in the dirt. Even more as this would be the first time on an electric motorcycle. Being the rusty off-roader I am, the pictures will not give you the professional spraying of mud you’d normally see in reports from find this to be their natural habitat unfortunately. But then again this piece is more to show that this kind of riding is availalable to all of us easily and on just the Red Bull sponsored high-flyers.

From the moment we left the tarmac and headed off on the first narrow muddy path a sense of exhilaration took over. Even though it took me about an hour to get back into the basic art of standing up and throttling through mud, sand and water, I enjoyed the experience right from the start.
An important building block for the positive encounter with riding surrounded by nature was the fact I did not have to concentrate on switching gears anymore. That is one of the great advantages of using the electric option for such an occasion. You just (carefully) twist the throttle and off you go!

There were two valuable tips Thierry shared with me when we headed off; put the bike in ‘Eco’ mode rather than ‘Sport’. This will give you a sufficient amount of power at any given moment and it will help you hitting ‘magnetic trees’ along the track involuntarily if you give it way too much power. So just make life easy on yourself and start up in this mode, when you are used to the bike you can take it up a notch and enjoy the next level.

The second tip was to switch of the ABS braking system. When off-roading this is not the sort of assistance you’d be looking for. Shutting down the mode was easy. A simple ‘burn out’ in the wet gras for a few seconds would send the ABS assistants away for a break.

This bike, geared toward the “adventure segment,” which is loosely defined as semi-off-road focused, is a true pleaser. It will give you instant joy on most terrain. Mostly, because it will give you maximum torque from a standstill. Even in the ECO mode it can be a serious handful in the dirt. You’ll find yourself spinning that back tire if you just open the “throttle” and go for it.

Smiles all over
With the ecstasy level rising with every mile covered there was one specific element that added to the excitement of the ride.
As we were zooming along tracks open to people walking their dog or just enjoying nature, it was stunning to encounter just friendly smiles and thumbs up. Try riding those paths on a regular noisy dirt bike. You will definitely not make a lot of friends on the way.

This was a totally opposite experience. The absence of noisy engines and unpleasant exhaust fumes made it a delightful experience for both riders and passers-by.
What a great way for all of us to share the joy and feel good about it.

After cleaning the bikes we rode back into town and I got back on my Triumph Thruxton caféracer still soaked to the bone and with water sloshing ankle-high in my boots. Nevertheless it was impossible to wipe the smile of my face during all of the 250km ride back to Amsterdam.

Special thanks to:
Zero Motorcycles
Thierry Sarasyn for his patience and putting up with me. You are awesome!
Photography: Thierry Sarasyn for Motornieuws
MKC Moto
Belstaff
Bell helmets
BIHR
Richa
Stylmartin
100 Percent

The post Zero FXperience – riding electric off road appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

Back in 2020, BikeBrewers were invited to join the first edition of the Café Racer Fest in Kyustendil, Bulgaria. Unfortunately COVID had paralyzed the world and travel restrictions caused us to miss out on that event.

We followed the happening on social media while the enthusiasm of participants, visitors and bike builders vibrated through our screens. We knew we missed out on something special! We made a promise there and then, that we would do everything to make it to the 2021 edition. As we are always true to our word, there was no reason not to make the trip this time.

To team members Ron and Adnane it felt nearly as good as going on a road trip even though two flights, three cars but no bikes were involved in getting from Amsterdam to Kyustendil.

Arriving close to midnight, the organizer of the Café Racer Fest and spiritual father of the event, Ivan Mushev of Bull Moto Custom, had kindly arranged transportation from Sofia airport to the ski resort up in the mountains about half an hour up from town up a dark and twisty country road with al sort of wildlife crossing our headlights.

Early start
In order to make the most of the day breakfast was served early and we took off to the centre of town. The empty square would soon be the stage of an extraordinary event, attracting an sizable crowd of both participants and spectators. On the plaza of this nearly 40.000 inhabitant’s rich city, volunteers were busy setting the stage for things to come.

The Café Racer Fest harbours not only custom bikes but also offers a stage for vintage motorcycles and cars from all makes and years. There was quite a collection of incredibly beautiful Pre-Perestroika MZ’s, Jawa’s and Ural sidecars. Truly as if time stood still.

Talking about time, it is funny what the years do with your sense of beauty. Bikes that were considered hideous in the 60’s and 70’s Western Europeans are now considered attractive by the same crowd. Thanks to younger demographics, discovering the fun in riding, Eastern Bloc classic icons such as the 60’s MZ have now grown from being more hideous than the word itself to ultra-cool! We bet there will be quite some young urban riders who would not mind to be spotted on one of those former ‘monstrosities’, were it not that in most large European cities, those two-strokes will never be seen spewing their distinguishable blue exhaust plumes again.

Ride out
Prior to the start of the event, a number of bikers and bike builders met at the local gas station for a ride out to the venue. Little over 150 bikers, nearly of which were modified in one way or another, joined in this brotherly gathering. The atmosphere was incredible; there is something quite special about seeing cafe racers being used for they were built.

Choices, choices
There were three contemporary categories; Modern Classics, Scrambler & Brat, and Café Racers. BikeBrewers were given the task of selecting the Top 3 in the “Café Racer” category. We were given about twenty projects to choose from and had about an hour to finalize our task.

As we always do when judging bikes, we put together a matrix awarding points on a scale of 1-10 for elements such as the ‘Wow!’ factor, originality, quality of work & amp; paint, and craftsmanship and set out separately to do our first independent judging.

You’d expect this to be easy and give clear comparable results. No such thing! We had quite a hefty discussion and with the clock ticking away it required a final walk around to re-evaluate our choices. At the ‘strike of twelve’ we managed to come up with a Top 3 we could both fully subscribe to.

And the winner is…
A 1994 Yamaha XV1100 had scored high points on both our lists and was chosen ‘Best of show’ in this year’s Café Racer category. Its owner, Borislav Alexsov, has put quite a lot of hours in building this machine and is rightfully proud of the result. 2nd place went to Vencislav Angelov with his stunning 1984 Honda CBX 750, and 3rd place went to Kaloian Ivanchev Chekelev with his very cool BMW R75 which saw daylight in 1982.

All top 3 finalists were showered with gifts from local sponsors. To top it off BikeBrewers’ came bearing gifts from our partners Felix Auto Moto and SA1NT! adding a helmet and a sought after twill trucker cap to the basket of each of the category winners!

Come rain come shine
Bulgarians have been spoiled with loads of sunshine over the past couple of months. Unfortunately, rain was predicted during the hours of the event. The start of the award ceremony for the café racer category was launched with a clap of thunder followed by a slight drizzle. That made us feel like home instantly.

Luckily the audience was not scared away that easily, and there was quite a cheer from the several hundred people on the square. According to the organizers, the total attendance during this year’s edition the audience grew with 20% to around 2.500 visitors who meandered amongst all the beauty displayed on the town square this morning.

The next edition
Writing this post just before the party organized by the Cafe Racer Club Bulgaria, we are already spoiled by the kindness of the Bulgarians we met on the way, especially by the members of the café racer community.

As much as we love attending established events in Western European countries, we are always on the lookout for new, exciting and more grass roots experiences. This scene is way bigger and vibrant than you would ever dare to imagine. Everyone we met was proud of the results of their labour and insights are shared freely among this close-knit society.

We will be back for sure and hope the organizers can look forward to an even bigger crowd in 2022. Being the only international visitors this year, we share our experience with the knowledge that this is likely to be the last time we enjoyed this exclusivity.

Given the fact that there is a very lively local scene and magnificent twisty country roads and awesome virgin off road tracks to be travelled freely, it is likely many adventurous bikers from the West will be heading East next year.

Photos by:
Georgi Georgiev Photography
Kalina Kalcheva
BikeBrewers

The post REPORT: Café Racer Fest 2021 by Café Racer Club Bulgaria appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

Build nr. 3

An unusual suspect
Well, Ivan Mushev, owner and driving force behind Bull Moto Custom is back, with his 3rd build so far. Again, with a Honda Hornet 600. And why not? Honda has been a house-hold name for café racer builders for decades. They are reliable, affordable, easy to work on, and they offer a ton of bang for bucks. The Hornet is quite special, too. The 600cc Hornet engines pack a respectable 100+ horsepower which are thunderously available around 12.000 rpm. Most of us are probably familiar with this popular bike, which can be ridden in comfort at lower speeds. However, when revving over 7.000 rpm we enter the comfort zone of this particular bike. The same engine can be found in the CBR600RR

VFR swingarm
When we take a closer look at this bike, we can see that a lot of work has been put into this build. It is not often we see a Hornet sporting a VFR single-sided swing arm. An incredibly complex and tedious job to get done right. Inspired by Ducati, Ivan made work out of this task. Many have tried, but only a few actually succeed. We have to admit that it takes the Honda to the next level!

Exposed rear
The factory subframe was made redundant and a newly built, minimalistic unit was built, exposing that beautiful VFR rear wheel. It also allowed for a custom built under seat exhaust. The end-can or muffler is a box shaped, and looks the part. The seat pan is also custom made, and has integrated brake-lights and turn signals. A brilliant way to keep the Hornet road-legal whilst looking incredible! The alcantara seat cover just looks perfect, specially made by MG Design.

Custom made
When we move to the mid-section of the bike, we can see that the original airbox has been removed, and a custom-made box now houses the electrical parts of the Honda, giving it a clean and industrial look. The air filters have been replaced by a single, open-flow, unit. A bit further, and we can also see that the radiator overflow has been replaced with stainless steel containers.

Stoppie time?
Moving to the front we can see a Kawasaki ZX9R front suspension, complete with ZX9R front wheel and brakes, giving the Hornet some serious braking power. The naked bike handlebar has been swapped out for a set of clip-ons, giving the rider more control. Above the clip-ons we spot a mini KOSO speedo, giving the rider nothing more than the most essential information, while keeping the front clean. The headlight is an off-the-shelve unit from LSL, finished off with a custom-made headlight grill.

There are a few fiberglass parts that have been made to fit the bike, such as the belly pan, the headlight cover and radiator covers. What make this entire build stand out it that beautiful, deep, lush, Misano red pearl color.

Make sure you like and follow our social media pages to stay up to date on the latest custom motorcycle builds!

Photo Credit:Vladislav Chanev
Model: Aleksandrina Boqnova

Builder details:

Facebook (builder)
Instagram
Email: bullmoto@abv.bg

The post Red Hornet by Bull Moto Custom appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

BOOMING business

People’s favorite
Dawid loves simple motorcycles, and frankly, so do we. No fancy computer to complicate things, no rider aids to forgive you for your mistakes. There is something elemental about such motorcycles, you either love or hate it. Now, Yamaha XJR1300’s are becoming increasingly popular with bike builders lately. And why not? They are easy to work on, powerful, reliable, and parts are available in abundance since it is one of Yamaha’s longest running models. This particular model a 20th Anniversary edition.

Too hot to handle!
Although this Yamaha looks like it just left the floor of the dealership, it is far from stock. At the front the first things that we notice are the front wheel and upside-down forks. They came from a Suzuki GSX-R 750. The rear shocks are a Yamaha original factory Öhlins, sourced from the SP-version of the XJR. A set of sticky Pirelli Phantom Sportcomp tires wrap the rims tightly, adding a bit of nostalgia and performance to the Yamaha. Another feature that is an improvement over the original bike is the brakes. They are from a GSX-R as well and they will slow the XJR down like a sledgehammer!

Modern Cafe Racer
A company called Highsider delivered the LED lights at the front and rear. The subframe received a trim and a loop to accommodate for the custom-made seat. Talking about the seat, it looks very comfortable in that soft brown Alcantara. The seat nestles nicely in a hand-made cowl, adding some flair to this modern café racer. A minimalistic speedometer replaced the old twin dials to add to the overall sleekness of the bike.

All Black
At the heart of this motorcycle is the air/oil-cooled engine. It received some TLC in the form of maintenance and a check-up. No engine modifications were done since it still has plenty of grunt. These 1300cc engines are bullet-proof. Pushing out a very healthy 106hp and 98Nm of torque, there is not much left to desire. Some fresh black paint, and an upgrade of all the nuts, bolts and screws to galvanised units, is all that the engine needed. The exhaust headers have been wrapped with thermal wrap and were finished off in black as well. Overall, the Yamaha looks very serious. An interesting fact is that Dawid built this motorcycle on his own. Not a single job was outsourced, and for that we tip our hats.

Everything in-house
It is clear that Dawid puts a lot of heart in his motorcycles, you can see that the quality really matters. The combination of upgraded suspension and tires really improve the handling of the Yamaha, especially when it gets a bit bumpy. The upgraded brakes inspire confidence, and the riding position is perfect; a bit sporty, but not too straining. The sound the Yamaha makes is the stuff that makes baby angels weep, and according to Dawid, the Yamaha always attracts a crowd. This Yamaha has been received by a new owner in Paris, so make sure to keep your eyes open if you live there. We would love to see more from build from Dawid!

Builder details:
Mission Custo Moto
Instagram
Facebook

The post “Mission Custo Moto” Yamaha XJR 1300 Café Racer appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.