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Jun 18
Love0

Harley-Davidson Prison Break Is a Fat Boy Let Loose

By General Posts

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com

The garage behind this Harley-Davidson Fat Boy conversion calls its creation “one of the elegant custom conversions.” They also call it Prison Break, despite it having nothing to do with the TV series, nor the actual act of breaking out of a prison.

The custom motorcycle is German in conception, being the work of a shop called Thunderbike. On the market customizing Harleys for the past 20 years or so, Thunderbike is one of the most active such garages outside the United States, and one we’ve become quite accustomed to as part of our Two-Wheeler Month coverage.

Generally, the shop goes out of its way to create unique interpretations of Milwaukee-made machines as a means to advertise the long list of custom parts it makes. The Prison Break is an advertising tool as well, and it was gifted with the name just to attract attention. And it succeeded, bringing the build before our eyes in a “simple and elegant” form.

Thunderbike based this build on the Fat Boy from 2018, making it a relatively recent creation. It sports the usual complement of custom parts that range from tiny elements like the license plate frame and turn signals to the more prominent wheels and the functional air ride suspension.

The wheels, which have always been the highlight of Thunderbike builds, are in this case of equal size front and rear, at 21-inches each. They’re not the most spectacular we’ve seen, yet they do seem to get the job done on this particular Fat Boy.

Mechanically, a Dr. Jekill & Mr. Hyde exhaust system, a pulley brake kit, and a fork lowering kit are all on deck to make the Prison Break look, feel and drive like an unchained Fat Boy, a tad different from what Harley usually spits out its factory doors.

The motorcycle is not for sale, but the parts used on it are. You can see them all at this link.

Jun 17
Love0

Harley-Davidson TwentyOne Pirate Craves an Outlaw’s Life

By General Posts

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com

“Treasures, women and fame: These are usually the intentions a pirate wants on land. Maybe this Fat Boy is not so far away from it…” This is how German custom motorcycle garage Thunderbike describes one of the most exciting addition to their garage, the TwentyOne Pirate.

As that short description reveals, the base for this build is the Fat Boy, one of the families of HD bikes born closer to our time. Only in this configuration it appears to be much cleaner and simpler in design, and it shows a somewhat more elegant stance.

The TwentyOne in the name is of course a reference to the bikes massive wheels. Not one, but two equally-sized 21-inch metal circles of Thunderbike make wrapped in rubber are the main connection between the motorcycle and the road.

As from where Pirate comes from, that’s probably just marketing, and a rather good one at that, as we’ve previously seen on other Thunderbike machines. The bike is named so just for kicks, because it doesn’t lack a leg (or a wheel, for that matter) and it doesn’t come with an eye patch.

It does come however with a long list of custom parts, over 40 of them in fact, some extreme and others less so. The handlebars, mirrors, turns signals, and pretty much every other small-sized hardware on the bike is new. And new or modified are some of the other, larger parts: fuel tank, fenders, swingarms, and so on (the full list of changes made can be found at this link).

Like most other Thunderbike builds, this too is a one-off, a display of what is available for purchase from Germany as aftermarket parts for Harley owners. It looks good enough though for it to be featured into some motorcycle flick, preferably ridden by some outlaw in search of money and fame.

Jun 14
Love0

Harley-Davidson Torqpedo Is a Brutal Full Package Custom

By General Posts

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com

There are few custom motorcycle garages out there that have created so many projects that they can split them into series. The Germans from Thunderbike are one of those garages, as we’ve kept telling you for the past month or so.

With so many custom motorcycles in Thunderbike’s portfolio – all either Harley-based, or built on a custom frame but powered by a Harley engine – we’ll probably keep talking about them for the rest of June, which here at autoevolution is Two-Wheeler Month.

For today we chose the Torqpedo, a Softail Breakout-based build that is part of the garage’s Racer Series, alongside the TB-R1, and it is described as being the receiver of the full package of custom parts available in Thunderbike’s portfolio.

That means most of the elements on the Torqpedo, from the toppers to the suspension, are of custom design, and were made by either Thunderbike itself, or by third party partners like Dr. Jekill & Mr. Hyde in the case of the exhaust system, or Ingo Kruse when it comes to the paint.

The entire construction of the bike’s body sets it miles apart from the original Breakout, but perhaps the biggest contribution to that distinct look are the huge wheels, with the front one from a collection called Vegas and sized at 23 inches. What’s more, a pulley brake system was fitted so that the view of the wheels is not obstructed by other elements.

With the tank and the tail designed according to the garage to “form an unmistakable racer line,” the Torqpedo is an older project of the shop, but one that like most others shows how much potential Harley motorcycles have when it comes to customization options.

You can see all the modifications made to it in the detailed photos attached in the gallery above. The full list of custom parts used can be found at this link.

Jun 12
Love1

Harley-Davidson Titanium Is a Lower and Slimmer Breakout

By General Posts

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com

German Harley-Davidson dealer/custom bike builder Thunderbike has been in the business of reimagining Milwaukee made machines for two decades now, and one of the favorite stock motorcycles it likes to tamper with is the Breakout.

Part of the Softail family that presently includes no less than 12 models, the Breakout is described by Harley itself as a “muscular modern chopper that turns stoplights into drag strips.” For Thunderbike, the stock bike is more of a canvas to be remodeled at will.

The Breakout conversion in the gallery above is called Titanium, and that name was chosen because almost all the aluminum parts fitted on the motorcycle have been polished in titanium – and there’s a long list of them, ranging from the tiny side mount license bracket to the more visible 21- and 23-inch wheels.

Some of these parts have other functions than being just visual enhancements for the custom build. The air suspension, for instance, brings the two-wheeler much closer to the ground than in stock form, while the wheels, fork and custom fuel tank significantly alters the shape of the bike compared to the original Breakout.

The engine remains the stock 114ci fitted from factory, only it breathes through a Dr. Jekill & Mr. Hyde exhaust system.

Visually, the cold look of the Titanium-polished parts is enhanced by means of a custom paint job performed by one of Thunderbike’s favorite partners in this field, Ingo Kruse. The German garage says it took just a few weeks to put together, paint job included.

The bike in this condition, which was first shown in public last year at the garage’s Jokerfest event, is listed by Thunderbie as for sale, but no mention of the price is given. Full details, as well as a way to contact the garage, can be found at this link.

Jun 09
Love2

Harley-Davidson Black Rebel Is a Full Custom Thunderbike

By General Posts

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com

As one of the largest Harley-Davidson garages on the European continent, Thunderbike has a long list of custom parts at the ready for any build that is required of them. And with 20 years of customizing Harleys behind them, the Germans are not playing around.

Usually Thunderbike builds come to the world as per customer request, but from time to time they do make a project or two just as a means to showcase that wealth of parts. The bike in the gallery above, called Black Rebel (alternatively spelled Blackrebell), has been made to fulfill the wishes of a customer.

Based on a Softail FXDR, the build has been designed as the “full Thunderbike drone.” It comes with a long list of custom parts, ranging from the license plate frame to the exhaust system that swerves toward the rear.

“The Blackrebell got the complete series of the new Thunderbike FXDR parts,” says the tuner, the most prominent of which being the front and rear fenders that cover the massive wheels.

As most other Thunderbike builds, this one rides on an air suspension system also, which depending on the swing arm can vary the bike’s ride by 100 mm with the push of a button.

The exhaust system is also of Thunderbike make, designed specifically to run with Milwaukee-Eight engines, and comes as a complete kit with header and muffler.

The host of modifications made to the FXDR make it stand out quite a lot from the usual production version of the motorcycle. We are not being told how much the final product ended up costing, but if you’re curious about an estimate you can head on to the Germans’ official website and sum up all those custom parts – there are 21 in all, each painted in such a way as to match the black motif of the two-wheeler.

Jun 04
Love0

Harley-Davidson Country Cruiser Comes with Two Rear Wheels

By General Posts

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com

The European custom motorcycle industry is not even close in terms of size and reach as that in the U.S. but that doesn’t mean there aren’t shops on the continent that strive to keep this segment populated with constant new builds. German Thunderbike is one such shop, and this here machine is its latest customized Harley.

Based on the bike maker’s Street Bob, the bike has been built to highlight what Thunderbike has to offer in terms of custom parts for Harley motorcycles. But it is also described as the perfect tool for riders to “clear your head and leave the stress of everyday life behind.”

The first things that stand out when it comes to this Street Bob are the wheels. The garage decided to fit the motorcycle with two rear wheels for symmetry and more balanced proportions: the front one is a 3-inch wide wheel that usually goes at the rear, while the rear one has been replaced with a 5.5-inch wide one. Both are wrapped in Dunlop rubber,

A long list of other custom parts made it onto the all-black build, most of them of Thunderbike-design. They range from the front and rear fenders to turn signals and exhaust – this last piece of hardware is from Dr.Jekill & Mr.Hyde.

“To give the Country Cruiser more visual highlights we have installed our covers “Drilled” on the primary, ignition and grip ends. The flat torque handlebar with our Base Rubber grips offer good grip and a relaxed seating position that is already in the bobber style,” Thunderbike says about the build.

As with most of the other project the garage is responsible for, the Country Cruiser as they call it uses the stock Harley engine. In this case, we’re talking about a 107ci Milwaukee Eight with no enhancements.

 

Jun 03
Love0

Vagabund V12 BMW R100 RT May Looks Like a Monster, But It’s Fully Street Legal

By General Posts

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com

The now defunct BMW R100 line, debuted by German bike maker BMW in 1976, went down in history as the last line of the air-cooled airheads produced by the Bavarians. While on the market, the family included a wide variety of models, and enough of them were made over the years for the breed to still be around today.

Most of the R100s now in existence are closer to the scrap yard than an actual road, however. But that’s how we see them, because custom garages have an entirely different view of the bike’s potential.

We’ve already seen what the French can do when they get their hands on such two-wheelers when we talked about builds like the Blitz Naso Nero, or the Black Ops, or the Green Beret. But how about an Austrian take on the R100?

A local shop that goes by the name Vagabund has an entirely different approach than the French when it comes to converting Bimmer bikes. Instead of tracking down parts and adapting them for whatever build they’re working on, Vagabund went the high-tech way and turned to 3D printing.

The motorcycle you see in the gallery above once was a 1994 BMW R100 RT, but careful tuning and customizing turned it into something called V12. And despite its menacing looks, the build is “100% street legal.”

Completely different than what BMW had in mind when it first made this motorcycle, the V12 features a host of 3D-made parts: the fork cover (with integrated turn signals), rear end, handlebar controls, housings for indicator lights and headlight, all have been created from scrap and to exact specifications to fit the bike.

All these elements, although quite visible, do not however stand out as much as the rear wheel, completely covered with a fiberglass reinforced plastic painted, just like the entire bike, all black.

As most other Vagabund designs, this too is a one-off, and it has already been sold. We’ll bring more such bikes under the spotlight in the coming days as part of our Two-Wheeler Month feature.

May 29
Love1

The eRockit Hybrid Is an Electric Motorcycle You Have to Pedal for Speed

By General Posts

by Elena Gorgan from https://www.autoevolution.com

Who said you have to choose between an electric bicycle and a motorcycle? A German startup is offering a solid and very fun compromise they like to call “the human hybrid:” eRockit.

The eRockit is part bicycle, part motorcycle and all fun. It’s an electric motorcycle that promises good performance and decent range but also uses the pedals found on the regular bicycle instead of throttle. To put in much simpler terms, this bike requires some leg work in order to move around: the more the faster you want to go.

Falling under the 125cc motorcycles classification, the eRockit has already been tested on the Autobahn by stunt rider Sebastian “Satu” Kopke, and he says the fun of having to do light exercise while overtaking cars is something he’s never experienced before. “I have never experienced such a mixture of physical activity similar to cycling and this incredibly good acceleration. It’s doubling the fun!” he says.

The makers are equally generous in showering this little thing with praise: “the most extraordinary electric motorcycle of today” is able to deliver an “indescribable, magical driving experience” and, at the same time, top German quality in terms of the materials used, performance and safety. It’s almost enough to make you want to go out and buy one right away.

Speaking strictly numbers, though, the eRockit is basically a faster commuter electric bicycle at a much higher price. It has a top speed of 90 kph (56 mph) and a range of 120 kilometers (75 miles), with the latter largely dependent on weight of the rider and weather / road conditions. Peak power is at 22 HP from a permanent magnet synchronous motor, while the 6,6 kWh Lithium-Ion battery achieves a full charge in 5 hours.

The eRockit may be all sorts of fun, but it’s also not cheap. It will retail for 11,850 euro ($13,100), with a 250 euro ($277) deposit needed to place a pre-order.

 

May 24
Love0

Kawasaki Zundapp Is a Nod to a Bike Maker Few Remember

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by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com

The name Zundapp has long left the motorcycle scene. The German bike maker arrived on the market a bit late compared to the competition, in 1917, and was open for business until 1984, when it went bankrupt.

As a result of both that, and the fact that the bikes they made were neither popular nor numerous, Zundapp may mean nothing to a lot of people. But there are some who resonate with the moniker, and go to great lengths to honor it.

What you see in the gallery above is a 2001 Kawasaki W 650, but it’s no longer called that, and it’s no longer stock either. The bike in this configuration is called Kawasaki Zundapp, as a tribute to Zundapp the company, and has been modified by a Paris based garage called Blitz Motorcycles.

The built was done on behalf of a customer who got the motorcycle bug on a Zundapp KS, a line of motorcycles dating back to the 1930s. And because Blitz is in the business of taking “a personal memory of the owner of the machine and find a way to include it in the making process of the new bike,” this was the idea that led to this creation.

The custom build called of course for the fitting of some special parts. The main added hardware is the fuel tank, sourced from a Zundapp KS model and fitted “as found,” without any visual modifications or repairs made to it, and only with functional changes made to make it fit on the frame.

The original frame of the Kawasaki was shortened by 3 inches, and the fork lost 1 inch from its length. The engine underwent a complete rebuild, a new chain was fitted, and a Triumph handlebar made its way up front.

We are not being told how much the process of making the Kawasaki look like this cost, but the result is a sight to behold.

May 22
Love0

Harley-Davidson El Jefe Is Today’s Dose of Mexico

By General Posts

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com

It may not look like it to some, but the build we have in the gallery below was once a Harley-Davidson Heritage. Severe modifications transformed it into this, a lowrider-style motorcycle aptly called El Jefe.

Despite its name, this motorcycle is not of Mexican origin. The build belongs to a German custom bike maker named Thunderbike, and wears the El Jefe name in honor of the lowrider motorcycles whose roots can be traced back to the “Mexican immigrant quarters of Los Angeles in the 60s.”

“Since the TV series Sons of Anarchy at the latest, Central Europeans have been familiar with the pompous design of lowrider bikes,” says Thunedrbike, adding that a “brand new Milwaukee Eight Heritage has been chosen as the basis for this” in contrast with what else is out there in this segment.

The Heritage was chosen as a base for the build because the geometry of the bike gives it “good rideability and can be steered through all corners with ease,” harnessing well the torque of the 114ci Milwaukee Eight. But other than that, El Jefe is far from its former self.

Wearing a special and unique paint work, the bike has tons of custom parts, including the fenders, air ride suspension, and of course the massive 23- and 18-inch wheels (front and rear). The stretched look of the bike was achieved by fitting a new triple tree that has 6 degrees of additional rake, which also helped lower the headlight even closer to the front wheel.

Aside from these modifications, there is a whole list of other custom parts that make El Jefe stand out in the crowd, ranging from the otherwise insignificant license plate to the hand grips and exhaust.

We are not being told who the bike was made for, but as most other Thunderbike builds, this too is a one-off.