Custom Bikes

"This thing's gonna be a chungus!" In the northern tip of Idaho, 70-odd miles from Spokane, Washington, a magnificently silly project is underway: a colossal batpod of a motorcycle with a KTM motor, monster truck wheels, and hydraulic steering.

We haven't been paying much attention to the custom motorcycle world lately, but this jaw-dropping project demanded our attention. It's a Hayabusa engine wrapped in a spectacular titanium frame, swingarm, exhaust, subframe and bodywork.

Draped in liquid-smooth aluminum bodywork, this visually stunning custom motorcycle features a number of air scoops that wouldn't look out of place on a fighter jet, as well as a nearly fully-enclosed front wheel and some absurdly low-mount clip-ons.

There's no shortage of crazy ideas in the custom bike world, but we haven't seen one like this before. The Biancaneve, with its seat hidden under a fold-out tailpiece, is an interesting first bike from new Italian custom shop Dotto Creations.

Miami custom shop Nmoto has a bit of a thing for the art deco era, and it's now released a (very expensive) carbon bodykit that can transform a current-model BMW C 400 X scooter into a bulbous retro ride inspired by a little-known 1936 custom bike.

AMA 250GP national champion racer Roland Sands has been taking perfectly good motorcycles and engoodening them further for 20-odd years. Now, he's turned his attentions to BMW's giant boxer cruiser, giving the R18 a hardtail dragster treatment.

This supercharged, three-wheeled, ice-racing monstrosity once lived a happy, peaceful life as a Ducati Hypermotard, until Vitaliy Selyukov of Balamutti got hold of it and turned it into a mutant Trikenstein perfect for today's apocalyptic mood.

Posted here for your gratuitous drooling is the winner of Best in Show at this year's Verona Motor Bike Expo in Italy. Starting life as a BMW R1100S, this beast has been stripped to the bones and rebuilt as a celebration of shiny metal.

Straight outta Poland, this custom Yamaha Niken three-wheeler scares us a bit. A skeletal, bare-metal insect of a thing, it just needs a Terminator riding on its back to look like the ultimate post-apocalyptic bike of doom.

On the one hand, this is a custom bike, and no two will be the same. On the other, it's totally Euro IV certified and engineering homologated for road use. DAB is allowing an unprecedented degree of customization for every bike, but they'll all be road legal.

No, it hasn't been crashed into a rubbish bin. This nitrous-sucking custom is a celebration of 100 years of the Indian Scout, and it's headed to Europe, where 500cc GP legend Randy Mamola will race it in the wacky Sultans of Sprint classic and custom event.

Two wheels, a seat, a big ol' motor and the absolute bare minimum of other stuff supporting them. The Birdcage uses 134 titanium rods to create a surreal see-through lattice frame on one of the most spectacular custom BMWs we've seen to date - and the motor presents a bit of a mystery.