Chris Nelson – Bike Shed Unlocked

CC Racing Garage’s Ducati Scrambler 1100 “FT”

Posted on May 29, 2020May 29, 2020 by Chris Nelson

Here is the winning bike of this year’s Scrambler Ducati Custom Rumble, an online-only custom motorcycle competition for all Ducati Scrambler models. This Scrambler Ducati 1100 “FT” was built by Marco Graziani of CC Racing Garage—a Rome-based company that designs and manufactures motorcycle parts from carbon fiber and resin—and Graziani says, “My project is based on an essential point: leaving unchanged the three pillars of a Ducati Scrambler, which are to me the headlight, the taillight, and the fuel tank.” His blue-and-silver Scrambler wooed the panel of five judges—Ducati Team racer Andrea Dovizioso, Aruba.it Racing-Ducati’s Chaz Davies, Officine Rossopuro founder Filippo Barbacane, British actor Nicholas Hoult, and our very own Dutch Van Someren—and for winning the 2020 Scrambler Ducati Custom Rumble, Graziani received a Beta workbench and tool kit.

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Black Heart Custom Motorcycles’ BMW R80

Posted on May 28, 2020May 29, 2020 by Chris Nelson

Nick Corlett works under the moniker “Blackheart Custom Motorcycles” and started modifying motorcycles after he bought a 2002 Triumph Bonneville and did a mild, bolt-on customization. “This is my first proper motorbike build,” Corlett says of his 1985 BMW R80 . “I loved the idea of taking a bike, totally rebuilding it, and making it my own, and I settled on the R80 as I liked some of the other builds I’d seen, and it appeared relatively easy to work on.” Over the last two years Corlett spent much of his free time in his garage, building this Beamer and documenting his experiences and learnings on his YouTube channel, and the COVID-19 lockdown allowed Corlett the extra time needed to get his bike off the lift and on the road.

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Mark’s Kawasaki W650 “Lucille”

Posted on May 28, 2020May 29, 2020 by Chris Nelson

“Everything that wasn’t needed was taken away,” Mark Pearson says of his 2002 Kawasaki W650, “Lucille.” Pearson is a shed builder who wanted to “create the overall effect of a ’60s scrambler,” so he dispassionately stripped down the bike and selectively rebuilt it in his vision. He shortened the exhaust to run straight through, reshaped the stock fuel tank, swapped the rear shocks for piggybacks, nixed the original airbox, bolted on a pair of Biltwell handlebars with a simple single-bucket speedometer, and fit all of the electronics underneath a homemade seat. Pearson also handmade a skid plate and a front number plate, which houses a single LED day-runner headlight, and everything on the W650 is finished in satin black or midnight blue. Our favourite part of the build is its twin-leading-shoe front drum brake from a ’73 Suzuki GT750.