Most overdone customs don’t interest me. They get away from the essence of a motorcycle. I stumbled across Officine Rossopuro (thanks to Bike Exif), and was struck by the simple beauty of many of its creations.
It isn’t easy to build a custom that is pure, simple and functional … without looking like a stripped-down, backyard-built abomination. Ending up with something that is “just a motorcycle”, but exudes a minimalistic elegance, appears to be almost impossible for most customizers.
Officine Rossopuro (visit their web site to see for yourself) typically starts with an air-cooled Moto Guzzi, BMW or Triumph, and customizes the ergonomics (often with dirt bike-style handlebars) to end up with something that often looks more comfortable, and even more balanced than stock. Bikes on their web site show various efforts at suspension, wheel, headlight and gas tank replacement or customization. If you have a similar taste, these bikes will be eye candy … we sure think they are.
In your comments below, provide a link to a photo of a custom motorcycle you admire.
The Guzzi’s just have so much style – I just bought a 1200 Griso 8V – any reports of engine torque induced handling issues are just absolute LIES. The Guzzi’s can form such a strong platform for customising work.
I would ride the first and last Guzzi any damn day!
These are really nice. That BMW is what I wish the R nineT would have been.
The BMW and the last Guzzi do it for me nice simple lines = perfect scramblers
most ya’ll need to learn to read
ya’ll ??????? and you think we need to learn how to read?
BTW nice website you linked to below
Billy Joels Yamaha/Vincent replica is awesome
http://www.hagemanmc.com/#
Isn’t it amazing how good a bike can look if it is not covered up with plastic and graphics? BMW’s 9T9 and some Triumph vertical twins are acknowledgement of the appeal of traditional styling. I’ll bet the mfgs could hide or disguise a lot of the plumbing and electronics for those of us who value a clean functional look.
That BMW is exactly how BMW should do their proposed Scrambler – I’ve never seen a better BMW custom job. NB, In New Zealand we get extremely high winds, and a long side stand like my bike has, simply means it gets blown over in the next storm. Why centre stands aren’t standard for every bike is a design fail. We don’t all have nice cosy garages to store our bikes and tinker with them.
The first bike is a 950 Bellagio, much improved by the alterations, but the rear fender is either the wrong dimension or wrongly positioned. Not sure how I feel about riding a bike in traffic without indicators. If you go fast enough, you don’t need indicators or mirrors…
Those look like something I’d like to ride or work on/maintain. Doesn’t look like it would be possible with TC, ABS, cruise control, Anti Wheelie, computer adjustable suspension, that seem be necessary to ride today. Sign me up as a fan.
Functionality and passion at it’s best – sign me up, too!
Looks to me like they all need a longer side stand.
For those wondering why manufacturers don’t make bikes like these, I am left scratching my head at your befuddlement. A Griso, V7, CB1100, Ducati Scrambler or any Bonneville variant do a good job of capturing the same essence to my eye. Buy one of those bikes, reduce the functionality of the fenders and subframe to make them more appealing to the eye, change the handlebars, add some gaiters and take off all the government mandated stuff like mirrors, reflectors, etc. And bam! There you go! These builds just don’t deviate very far from stock – which is a good thing in my book.
It’s “gaiters”, guys.
Yea, that’s what I was going for ( have had them on many bikes incl my current CB1100) but the i and o are right next to each other on the keyboard and there’s no way to edit here once you hit submit comment and see your fat fingers hit the wrong key.
Not impressed..
Smart metal.
Simple beauty indeed…nice job.
That first Guzzi in clear-coated Beryllium, is perfect. Just the perfect blend of classic and modern cues (gators & the twin discs up front)(the wire wheels and the sporty rubber).
You can leave the gators off my next bike, too!
pretty sure OCC has built choppers with wheelbases shorter than the Griso.
My father and his friends were doing custom old Japanese bobbers for a while and the biggest issue was that the parts they could get at reasonable prices were junk. Order a fender through a reputable vendor and you get a curved piece of rusted metal just barely thicker then the pop can you take a drink out of while opening it. The area where bikes start standing apart is when they have someone doing good quality sheet metal work, not everyone has the equipment/experience to do the sheet metal.
The other trick on the custom clean look is not having the extras that are required by other states laws. Smaller shops can do this selling one offs but if the shop wants to turn volume of a bike they have to meet the rules of most of the US this adds things not needed by those more local one off shops.
Another vote for anything Sanctuary :
http://www.ac-sanctuary.co.jp/rcm-list/gallery/cb/rcm117/
Or maybe this is closer to the featured bike :
http://il-ducatista.com/desmopro-ducati-cafe-31/
Great stuff and all rolling “art”. Absolutely loved the featured Guzzi. I have an old CB 1100 F I would love to do something like these with. Perhaps one day. Thanks for sharing.
Really like the silver Guzzi with the red bars but they need to fix the gaoters.
I guess manufacturers must have their hands tied – never seeming(or wanting)to capture this simple basic appeal – sad. Still it creates opportunities for others, we should be thankful.
Grumps
first thing first: beauty is in the eye of the beholder and you know for those “I like” scenarios the colors.
with that said, Dirck has a really good point here:
“simple and functional … without looking like a stripped-down (motorcycle)”
he accordingly adds:
“backyard-built abomination” because sometimes thats what the result looks like.
for me the scrambler look does always go into the “stripped-down” area, including the BMW above, particularly due to the empty space that creates the support for the rear shocks.
once you drool around bike exif (which btw I don’t know why it’s so slow to load) you come to notice that most of the time, it’s all about the dozens of ultra expensive CNC pieces and/or beautifully welded pipes and/or purely polished surfaces and/or perfectly painted parts.
Or maybe I’m just more inclined to the Japanese side:
http://www.motorcycledaily.com/2014/04/sanctuary-rcm-276-daeg-why-go-half-way-when-you-build-your-ultimate-ujm/
Just type (or say) “SR500” in Google images.
For some other beautiful singles (motorcycles with one cylinder…):
http://thekneeslider.com/mcdeeb-royal-enfield-specials-six-days-thruxton-clubman-brand-new-classics-from-italy/
That big lump apparently outsize Guzzi engine with the cylinders hanging out can hardly be beat for pure ‘machineness’. Its scale just screams motor cycle. It’s hard not to like the look and feel of a Guzzi based bike.
very nice.
love em.
The “Bare Essentials” to me is the essence of motorcycles.
Air cooled, carbureted, wire wheels and lack of plastic.
No copper or brass do dads.
Even the fuel injected Griso fits the bill.
Nice, very nice.