Theres just something about the Japanese bike aesthetic that gets me goin'

Oxblood

Oxblood

750cc
Wandering around the web looking at all the cool Japanese bike shops like Bratstyle blows me away by how simple they make building cool looking bikes seem. The latest shop I have found that has me hankering for a 250 and some vintage tires to build a neat little city bike to blast around on is Gravel Crew.

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And my favorite, this thing just looks tits to me:
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So what are your favorite shops and bike styles?
 
nohawk

nohawk

Rocker
All of them are still pretty cheap to obtain too. The yamaha xs is not as easy to find dirt cheap anymore though. What is the brown one in the second pic? Virago?
 
Oxblood

Oxblood

750cc
nohawk said:
All of them are still pretty cheap to obtain too. The yamaha xs is not as easy to find dirt cheap anymore though. What is the brown one in the second pic? Virago?
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I've got an XS650 thats been sitting in storage since I left Colorado in 2005, maybe when I get back out there I'll finish it. I think I need to scrap the hardtail and order a David Bird hardtail section though because I believe I built it too low.
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Hit the nail on the head, heres a link to a blurb about the second bike:
http://www.pipeburn.com/home/2009/9/12/gravel-crew-virago.html
 
M

musicswapshoppe

Rocker
talking 250 yamis is hard to go past this, actually negotiating to buy 4 d/ter. My savings are dwindling fast with recent purchase of 900 t/bird!


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B

bluedes

Scooter
I thought you might like this old girl..
 

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motomaniac

motomaniac

Street Tracker
I live about 15 miles from the Bratstyle shop in Japan. Although I have been here over 15 years and ride everyday I have never seen one of these custom bikes on the road. None of them seem to have a license plate, either because they cannot pass the road inspection or the rider just builds it to keep in his garage. It's a shame because they are beautiful bikes. There are many stupid rules here that seem specifically designed to crush all the fun out of life and just make being creative a useless or very expensive activity.
 
O

otherwise

750cc
motomaniac said:
I live about 15 miles from the Bratstyle shop in Japan. Although I have been here over 15 years and ride everyday I have never seen one of these custom bikes on the road. None of them seem to have a license plate, either because they cannot pass the road inspection or the rider just builds it to keep in his garage. It's a shame because they are beautiful bikes. There are many stupid rules here that seem specifically designed to crush all the fun out of life and just make being creative a useless or very expensive activity.
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I haven't been there but have been told that the pressure to conform is very strong.
 
motomaniac

motomaniac

Street Tracker
OBEY -CONSUME - CONFORM! The first 3 things everybody must learn in Japan.

There are idiots who rebel here referred to as "Bosozoku". These are kids on bikes which they have stolen who ride in big herds on the local roads and expressways usually in the middle of the night or on the weekends. None of the bikes have mufflers. They like to gun the engine continuously just to make as much noise as they can. They can be easily heard from about 7kms away. This may seem cool until you experience this three or four times a week at 2am for months on end. The police (Keystone Cops as they are known here) can do nothing about it. Here's a link to a video from YouTube:Bosozoku

Imagine these shitbags rolling through your neighborhood two or three times a week.....:chair:
 
Bonniebret

Bonniebret

Rocker
It's funny this topic should come up. I've been looking at old Savages and Boulevards for a friend of mine. I took this one out for a spin on Sunday. It's a 1980 Honda CMT400. The guy wanted $2700 for it. Ran fine but the person wanted it as a daily rider. As a 2nd or 3rd bike I'd say yes but I wouldn't want it as a daily. Fun bike though.

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S

strokerlmt

Moderator
Ya know I love my Triumphs and no wandering for me. BUT I have to say I get a small woody over the Honda 350 550 750 cafe bikes......they are frikkin cool.....
LMT
 
motomaniac

motomaniac

Street Tracker
whyme said:
What were the big white sissy bar things in Japan?? looks like crap!!
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It's a style popularized by these idiots so they can drag along their junior high school girlfriends....I think it originally came from a comic book. They are out every night here making huge amounts of noise. A friend of mine was lane-splitting between two lines of cars stopped at a red light when some of these boneheads came wheeling up behind him blasting their bikes and trying to push him out of the way. He was on a sport bike so he locked the front brake and revved up sending hot burning rubber spraying all over them. Quite entertaining he said. :lol:

I've always been tempted to steal a dump truck and take the local lot out in one fell swoop but being a foreigner I don't think I could get away with it. I stand out in a crowd here.
 
tezza

tezza

Street Tracker
hey motomaniac just watched your bosozoku clip, bahaha, wtf talk about rebels without a clue ,peter fonda would love the seats though. to bad its 2010 not 1969. they would get laughed out of town here in oz and the US to i would guess, tossers.
 
Speed3Chris

Speed3Chris

I like Dick
Don't know if you guys watch 2 guys Garage...TV show on cable. There was a recent episode about cafe-ing a Honda 550. I had never seen bikes worked on as part of the show before. A lot of car hotrodders dig bikes as well...like me. :) The old guy who used to be on the show...probably about my age :) has been replaced by a younger sidekick to the guy who owns the Honda.
The bike they cafe-d was a Honda 550 owned by the talented fabricator and cool dude who obviously digs cafe bikes and the bike he built was outstanding...absolute minimalist design. Kind of refreshing to see a cafe bike built on TV instead of a heavy, grotesque over the top chopper with a truck rear tire.
Like Lach, I also dig cafe'ed Hondas like the ones that Bonafide has built...motorized art.
 
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