Category: Ten Best Motorcycles

It’s that time of year when we throw the data out the window and pick our personal favorite customs of 2018. Our traditional Bike EXIF Top Ten is based on bikes that melted our servers—but these are the bikes that also melted our hearts.

There are a few ground rules: we only include bikes that we’ve written full features on (sorry, Bikes of the Week alumni). And we don’t feature more than one from a particular builder. We also exclude machines that have already popped up on our data-driven Top Ten; if we didn’t, Daniel Peter’s Yamaha SR500, Jackson Burrows’ Harley-Davidson Super 10 and K-Speed’s Honda Cub would easily have made the cut.

So here—in alphabetical order of builder—is this year’s Editor’s Choice.

Ducati 250 by Analog Motorcycles This petite racer features the most exotic pairing we’ve ever seen: a vintage Ducati 250 motor, in a prototype Moto 3 chassis. The rest of the bike’s a harmonious mix of parts bin and handcrafted bits. And as you can see, the results are absolutely glorious.

There’s one heck of a story behind the project too—from how it was conceived, to a tragedy that set it back by almost a year. (It’s worth clicking on ‘More’ to get the full story.) Analog’s Tony Prust has our utmost respect for forging ahead, and for building one of our favorite cafe racers of 2018. [More]

Ducati Scrambler by deBolex Engineering We’ve seen our share of shoddy craftsmanship masked by great photography. But when deBolex Engineering’s Calum Pryce-Tidd wheeled this stunning Ducati Scrambler onto the Bike EXIF stand at the Wildays festival, my jaw hit the floor. DeBolex well and truly are the real deal.

They masterfully transformed the Ducati Scrambler into a pure café racer, with a full complement of aluminum bodywork. Every last detail is on point; from the removable side panels, to the picture perfect paint and tasteful parts selection. It’s the cafe racer we wish Ducati had built. [More]

Yamaha XJ750 by Derek Kimes Meet ‘Turbo Maximus’—the bike that kicked us in the teeth with its 80s throwback styling and turbocharger. It’s the work of Derek Kimes, and at the time of publishing, it was the first and only bike he’d ever owned. Derek started working in Bryan Fuller’s shop part time while studying engineering, and this brutal superbike was the result.

It’s arguably the most nuts-o bike we’ve featured this year. Among the mods are a XJ900 engine swap, a conversion to fuel injection and a very trick turbo setup. The chassis is well sorted too (keen eyes will spot a mono-shock out back), and that livery is just dreamy. [More]

Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled by Earle Motors Automotive designer Alex Earle is someone worth keeping a close eye on. His Ducati Monster street tracker broke new ground three years ago, and this year he knocked it out the park again. This is ‘The Alaskan’—a Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled designed to excel off-road.

The focus here was on practicality—taller suspension, a lengthened swing arm, and a 21” front wheel with aggressive rubber. Alex also built new fuel tanks, and added luggage carrying capacity, a Kevlar skid plate and a blinding headlight. Then he took it across Alaska for two weeks… [More]

BMW R nineT by Hookie Co. Hookie Co.’s success lies in something that can’t be taught: they have a knack for building bikes that just look right. This sharp R nineT custom epitomizes that quality—it’s cohesive, perfectly proportioned and well constructed.

Hookie built the bike by designing a bolt-on kit, which they now sell. Highlights include a full-length bolt-on subframe, a fuel cell with an interchangeable carbon fiber cover, and a shortened seat, with a neat luggage strap out back. Best of all, anyone with a set of spanners (and enough headroom on their credit card) can replicate Hookie’s magic over a couple of beers on a weekend. [More]

Suzuki Bandit by Icon 1000 The Portland crew are long-time supporters of Bike EXIF—but that’s not why they’re on the list. It’s because this gear company also regularly builds off-the-wall customs. This retro-fabulous Suzuki Bandit presses all our buttons, and it finished just outside the top ten on our stats-driven list.

Dubbed ‘Colonel Butterscotch,’ Icon’s Bandit is sporting suspension and brake upgrades, a Kawasaki ZRX1200 aluminum-alloy swing arm and a sweet asymmetrical exhaust system. The bodywork hints at both 70s endurance racers and 80s superbikes, and is actually a second version— it all had to be rebuilt when the bike was binned during a shakedown test. Lucky for us, those Icon guys are stubborn. [More]

KTM LC8 by Max Hazan We only featured one bike from master builder Maxwell Hazan this year—and it was a far cry from his usual esoteric vibe. This one isn’t a museum-worthy masterpiece: it’s Max’s personal bike, a KTM 950 SM. It’s also sharp, looks like a ton of fun, and is hiding more craftsmanship than you’d think.

There’s hand-formed alloy bodywork throughout, including a new load-bearing fuel tank that also holds the electronics. Max also modified and fitted Marchesini wheels from a CBR1000, and relocated the rear shock mount to tweak the ride height. There’s even a lighting kit that can be fitted, making this the perfect track and street weapon. [More]

Seeley G50 by NYC Norton The allure of classic machinery is hard to beat, and this Seeley G50 is right up there with the best. It’s the work of NYC Norton, who built it specifically for the Custom Revolution exhibition at the Petersen Museum in LA.

NYC Norton pieced it together using a short-stroke replica Matchless Grand Prix motor from Minnovation Racing, and a Seeley MK2 chassis from Roger Titchmarsh. Look beyond the lively blue paint, and you’ll spot a long list of well-crafted details. And while this G50 is currently in race trim, it’ll be converted for road use in the future. [More]

Harley-Davidson Street 750 by Suicide Machine Co. Aaron and Shaun Guardado are two of the most down-to-earth, hard-working dudes you’ll ever meet. They’re racers too, so every bike they build has a strong performance bend. This time around, they took Harley-Davidson’s rather vanilla Street 750, and turned it into a ripping street tracker.

The brothers threw everything at this project. It’s sporting a one-off frame and bodywork, a carbon fiber swing arm, carbon fiber wheels from BST and Öhlins suspension. And it’s one of the sharpest Harley Street customs we’ve ever laid eyes on. [More]

Ducati Superbike by Walt Siegl Mr. Siegl and his ridiculously talented team never fail to impress, but this year they outdid themselves. First, they built a Leggero that very nearly made it onto this list. But then they topped it with a superbike that looks like it was built by a factory race team.

There’s so much here to love: from the custom frame that uses World SBK geometry, to the Bruce Meyers Performance-tuned hybrid motor. (Hop on over to the original article—the engine mods alone will make your head spin). This is no café racer; it’s a purebred race machine that blends classic design with modern tech. More, please.

Honorable mention: BMW R18 by Custom Works Zon Since we highlighted this bike as part of our Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show coverage, it doesn’t technically qualify for this list. But any bike that takes top honors at Mooneyes is worth consideration.

Plus, just look at it. Then consider that all the CW Zon team had to work with was a prototype drivetrain from BMW. The rest they built from scratch, resulting in the sleek—yet brutal—land speed racer you see before you. [More]

The best of the rest Narrowing our favorites down to just ten bikes is a painful (and almost impossible) task. Those that narrowly missed the cut include: Rno’s crazy Honda CBX 1000; Justin Webster’s de-scrambled Triumph Scrambler; Raccia’s classy Kawasaki ‘W1R’; Revival Cycles’ nod to the legendary Majestic; a Ducati flat tracker from Lloyd Brothers, and Smoked Garage’s off-the-wall Royal Enfield Himalayan (below).

Thanks to these builders for wowing us, and for giving us great content to share with our readers. Go ahead and dive into the comments to tell us if your favorites made it onto the list—or what you would have picked instead.

As each year winds down we sharpen our pencils, trawl through our data and whip up our annual Bike EXIF Top Ten. But because that list is based purely on page views and social media activity, some of our personal favorites don’t always make the cut.

So, as has become tradition, we’ve compiled a follow up list—an Editor’s Choice that ignores the numbers and favors the heart. It’s a nod to those builders that we feel deserve recognition, to trends that we’d like to see take off in 2018, and to the bikes that stopped us dead in our tracks.

There’s no ranking, so we’ve listed our picks alphabetically, by builder’s name. And for obvious reasons we’ve excluded bikes that made it into the first list.

Yamaha SR500 by Auto Fabrica Brothers Gaz and Bujar Muharremi—the men behind Auto Fabrica—have some of the best eyes in the business, hands down. This Yamaha SR500 is testament to their skill at stringing together perfect lines, unique details and tasteful finishes.

Art and engineering collide on the right hand side, where an air channel in the fuel tank flows into a molded aluminum heat shield for the exhaust. Subtle, yet captivating.

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Bottpower BOTT XR1R When the mad engineers at Bottpower decided to take on the notorious Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, they cranked the tech up to eleven. The BOTT XR1R is powered by a 150 hp Buell XBRR motor, hanging off Bottpower’s proprietary backbone-style frame.

The full package is extensive, but highlights include top-shelf suspension, carbon wheels, a custom air intake system and sophisticated, custom-designed electronics. It looks mental and runs just the same—XR1R pilot Travis Newbold took a class win and finished with the fourth overall fastest time for a motorcycle.

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Buell XB9SX by deBolex According to shop owner Calum Pryce-Tidd, deBolex’s ethos is to “celebrate the efforts of the manufacturer by retaining the core of the bike, dressing it in a new set of clothes and upgrading components.” And there’s no finer way to describe what the London shop did to this Buell XB9SX City X.

DeBolex transformed the Buell with svelte bodywork, fine fabrication and killer upgrades like Panigale 899 forks and carbon wheels. They also cleverly repacked some components—like moving the oil cooler to between the yokes, behind a custom-made headlight shroud.

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Gareth Roberts’ Ducati MH900E A stock Ducati MH900e is desirable enough, but this one’s just plain ridiculous. It belongs to Gareth Roberts—a London-based film director responsible for the upcoming custom scene documentary, Oil in the Blood. It’s also technically a replica, but built at a level rarely seen on factory machines.

You’re looking at a 900ss motor in a titanium frame, covered in replica carbon fiber bodywork. The parts list is lengthy, with Panigale 899 forks, an Öhlins shock, an S2R swing arm and Kineo wheels all in the mix. Best of all it was a group effort, with some of the best hands and minds in the business leaving their mark on this exotic machine.

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Triumph TR6 by Heiwa MC We almost put two of Kengo Kimura’s builds on this list, but in the interest of fairness we let this Triumph TR6 hog the limelight (here’s the other one). It’s the bike that bagged Kimura-san the coveted ‘Best Motorcycle’ award at Mooneyes this year, but we’d be smitten with it even if it didn’t win.

The three-piece bolt-together frame, lithe bodywork and unique handlebar setup present of the best craftsmanship we’ve seen this year. And everything hangs together beautifully…like it just ‘belongs.’ It’s a reminder why Heiwa MC is—and will remain—a powerhouse in the custom scene.

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BMW R nineT Scrambler by JvB-Moto Spend five minutes with Jens vom Brauck, and you’ll discover a humility that belies just how talented the man is. His bikes are as sharp as his sense of humor, plus they’re a blast to ride too—I had the opportunity to put a few miles on this trim BMW R nineT Scrambler, and didn’t want to get off.

It’s a lot more compact than the OEM bike—thanks to a smaller fuel tank that places the seat further forward, and narrower and higher handlebars. It’s also loaded with signature JvB-Moto touches, like the bulldog-ish headlight and that neat little ducktail at the back. The small sliver of color on the tank is another killer feature—especially when you consider that Jens whipped up that gradient with rattle cans in record time.

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BMW C evolution by Krautmotors We’ll admit that this isn’t the most practical motorcycle we’ve featured this year, but we don’t care. With the world of electric vehicles expanding rapidly, we need custom builders to do batsh*t-crazy things with electric motorcycles. And a 72 Nm electric dragster, with a hand-shaped composite fairing and its guts exposed, is about as nuts-o as it gets.

So thanks to BMW Motorrad for handing Rolf Reik at Krautmotors a C Evolution to tear into—and thanks to Rolf for throwing the rule book out the window.

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Husqvarna TE570 by Moto Mucci This sensational little dual-sport is what happens when an industrial designer with a head full of ideas builds himself a new ride. Dave Mucci’s Husky TE570 is laden with quirky touches—and devoid of all the plastic it shipped from the factory with.

There’s a vintage Husqvarna tank—complete with original patina—up top, along with a new bolt-on subframe and custom-made saddle. The front-mounted radiator and grill give the Husky almost cartoon-like proportions, but the real kicker is how this thumper looks like nothing else out there.

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BMW R nineT Scrambler by NCT Motorcycles We first became aware of NCT Motorcycles two years ago, and we’ve kept a close eye on them ever since. The Austrian shop has produced hit after hit, but it’s this fresh take on the R nineT that secured them a spot on this list.

The use of a classic boxer fuel tank (taken from an R100 RS) on the modern nineT is a stroke of genius, and the yellow and blue palette is inspired. Then there are smaller details like those side panels—perfectly shaped to fill space and complement the Beemer’s new lines. It’s the sort of consideration that we’ve come to expect from NCT, and will probably see for years to come.

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Kawasaki Ninja H2 by Wrenchmonkees We’re itching to see more 80s and 90s sport-style customs, and this stunner from the formidable Wrenchmonkees is the perfect blueprint. The project was commissioned by Dutch moto gear manufacturer REV’IT!, and is based on Kawasaki’s maniacal Ninja H2.

It’s a smorgasbord of adapted and hand-made parts, finished in a typically Monkee monochrome livery. It’s also one of the wildest customs we’ve seen from the Danish crew, and a kick-in-the-face reminder that you should never, ever count them out.

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Honourable mentions Above, we have six more builds that made the shortlist, but narrowly missed the final cut. Clockwise from top left, we have Revival’s sidecarcross Ducati ST4, Craig Rodsmith’s turbocharged Moto Guzzi, the Krugger Ducati Diavel, Schlachtwerk’s Kawasaki W650, Titan’s BMW bobber and Thrive’s Harley XL 1200 Sportster.

It’s been a tremendous year for the custom scene. Thank you for joining us, and for engaging in lively debate. If we’ve missed any of your favorites here (or in our data-driven main Top 10), put us right in the comments.

It’s been a cracking year for the custom motorcycle scene, with a delectable array of killer builds from all over the world.

There’s also been a huge shift towards the mainstream. The big manufacturers have moved on from simply running custom programs and competitions, and are now selling retro and naked bikes with ‘factory custom’ styling.

Looking closer at the independent builders and workshops, it’s been hard this year to pick out a trend. If anything, it’s been anti-trend: the different genres of bike building have leveled out, with no dominant type.

Interest in scramblers is higher than cafe racers, which have finally bottomed out. Trackers are slightly on the rise—but only slightly, despite the media attention given to flat track racing. It’s bobbers that are comfortably in the lead—with interest probably driven by the popular Indian Scout and Triumph Bonneville factory Bobbers.

This year’s Top 10 is probably our most eclectic list yet. It’s purely data driven, based on page views, incoming links, and social media sharing. It’s also weighted according to how long ago the bike was featured, so that bikes that appeared in January are on an equal footing with bikes that appeared a couple of weeks ago.

Respect to the builders who made the list, and the photographers who captured their skills.

10. Honda CB750 by Bryan Moses When Bryan picked up a rusted out CB750 for $50, he planned to strip off a few parts and then ditch the rest. But then he changed his mind, and here we are—with one of the most popular bikes of 2017 with readers. The engine has been punched out to 836 cc, the front suspension is from a a CBR900RR Fireblade, and most of the back end is from a CBR600F4i. And that strange extra tube at the front of the frame? It’s an oil tank, chromed to match the stainless steel exhaust system.

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9. Vagabund BMW R100R With one-piece monocoque bodywork and minimalist styling, this Austrian airhead is well beyond ‘sano’—it’s worthy of a place in the Rodder’s Journal. Designer Paul Brauchart and mechanical engineer Philipp Rabl employed truly left-field thinking here, and the metalwork (hand-made by Bernard Naumann of Blechmann) is outstanding. Even the compact muffler is a work of art, with the kind of sensuous curves you’d find on a high-end superbike.

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8. Royal Enfield Bullet by Thrive Royal Enfield is on a roll these days, and so are Jakarta-based builders Indra Pratama and Barata Dwiputra. This Bullet 350 is one of Thrive’s more restrained builds, but the old-school scrambler vibe is incredibly appealing. With proper fenders, a comfortable seat and jewel-like build quality, this classy little number proves that you don’t have to ditch the practical bits to make an impact.

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7. Shanghai Customs eCub It’s a sign of the times: an electric bike makes it into our Top 10, and a Honda Cub-based one at that. Shanghai boss Matthew Waddick is onto something here: many top-level electric moto components are made in China, and he’s used local knowledge to re-engineer the humble Cub into a stylish city runabout. The eCub might look ‘retro,’ but with three types of regenerative braking and a full suite of LED lighting, it’s anything but. (Interestingly, Shanghai’s electric tracker only just missed the cut to get into this Top 10.)

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6. Diamond Atelier Mark II Series Tom Konecny and Pablo Steigleder of Diamond Atelier have an eye for effortless styling and classy detailing. Their business sense is just as sharp: they’ve packaged the signature elements of their BMW R-series builds into a limited production run of ‘Mark II’ bikes. Each bike gets a monolever swingarm, new bodywork, upgraded suspension and 320mm brake discs with 6-piston Tokico calipers. We thought it was a great idea, and so did you.

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5. The Buell ‘FrankenBlast’ Shed builds are the stuff of legend, but living room builds are next level. This one comes from a carpenter’s assistant called Alex, who emigrated from Romania to Chicago and created a small workshop in a corner of his apartment. All that is left of the Blast now is its engine, carb, and the front half of the frame. And anyone who can graft a girder front end onto on a Buell deserves a medal.

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4. BMW Alpha Landspeeder Great bikes often have great stories behind them. And they don’t get much better than the tale behind this amazing inter-continental collaboration. After Turkish designer Mehmet Doruk Erdem posted his shark-like concept online, the American bike builder Mark ‘Makr’ Atkinson picked up the baton and turned it into reality. It was a fortuitous match: Atkinson is one of those guys who can build an engine from scratch, using metal billet. The result blew up the interwebs, and even made headlines in the mainstream design world.

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3. The Mutant by Ironwood Custom Motorcycles Older BMW airheads are the perfect donors for custom builds: tough, well engineered and blessed with a plentiful supply of parts. The downside of that popularity is a certain ‘sameness’ to many builds, but Arjan van den Boom and his colleagues Eric and Sam came up with something very different for this R80. The aggressive, angular lines are attention-grabbing, and if you look closer, the attention to detail is top-notch. We especially love the vintage Porsche 356 hue on the Zündapp tank, inspired by Singer Vehicle Design.

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2. Hazan Motorworks KTM In any normal year, this would be the #1. Max Hazan’s KTM got more web traffic and more social media shares than any other machine from a known, big name builder. The KTM 520 engine is hooked up to a supercharger, a clever piece of engineering in its own right—but the rest is hand-made mechanical artistry at its finest. From the slender frame to the aluminum bodywork and the gorgeous ‘black nickel’ finish, Hazan’s latest is achingly beautiful.

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1. The Madboxer Well, we weren’t expecting this. New Zealander Marcel van Hooijdonk spent five years building this incredible machine, shoehorning a turbocharged Subaru WRX engine into a custom-built frame. Power goes through a two-speed auto transmission, and there’s even a center-steering front hub setup. It’s the kind of build that would tax the abilities of a professional motorcycle engineer, but Marcel is a man who enjoys a challenge. Kiwi ingenuity at its finest, and it’s road-legal too.

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It’s been an eye-opening experience compiling this year’s awards: some of the winners here were a real surprise for us. Many remarkable machines just missed the cut: we saw Rough Crafts, Krugger, Heiwa and Craig Rodsmith squeezed out by the tightest of margins.

But it’s that sort of unpredictability which makes the custom scene so exciting. Are you as excited as we are to see what 2018 brings?

Since 2009, we’ve dug through our stats at the end of every year to see which bikes our readers liked the most. The annual Top 10 is a purely objective list—the two-wheeled equivalent of a Billboard chart.

But there are always some builders who didn’t quite make it in, or inexplicably flew under the radar. So, for the second year running, here’s an Editor’s Choice. This time it’s 15 (rather than 10) builders we think deserved more recognition. They’re presented in alphabetical order, by builder’s name.

Builder Wenley Andrews Location Sydney, Australia Bike Honda CBR954RR Fireblade Why Streetfighters aren’t our thing, but heavens above, this brutal CBR is something else. Wenley added the front-end and swing arm from a Honda VFR, and fitted a massive 240-section tire out back. Subtle it ain’t, but it also wins the Rear Of The Year award.

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Builder Bunker Customs Location Istanbul, Turkey Bike Yamaha XSR700 Why The XSR700 is a stonkingly good bike, according to nearly all who ride it. The Uzer brothers took it to the next level with crisp new bodywork and performance upgrades, including Super Ténére wheels, MT-09 forks and a one-off exhaust plumbed into an Akrapovič catalytic convertor.

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Builder Cherry’s Company Location Tokyo, Japan Bike Harley-Davidson Street 750 Why Kaichiroh Kurosu usually spanners on older Harleys, but he worked a special kind of magic on the Street 750. Virtually every part of the bike is hand-fabricated, with only the front half of the frame remaining intact. And then there’s that turbocharger …

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Builder Clutch Custom Location Paris, France Bike BMW R nineT Why Willie Knoll, an American in Paris, is one of those builders with the ‘eye.’ His machines always have simple lines and perfect stance, and we can’t find a bad angle on this R nineT. The new bodywork and 18-inch wheels are the obvious changes, but the close-up detail and craftsmanship is mesmerizing too.

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Builder Diamond Atelier Location Munich, Germany Bike BMW R100R Why Every bike from Tom Konecny and Pablo Steigleder is a delight. They’re unpredictable, but also totally focused on the tiny details that can make or break a build. In a world saturated with airhead customs, this one stands out—and not just because of the paint color.

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Builder Eastern Spirit Location Węgrowska, Poland Bike Suzuki GS550 Why New builds from Lukas and Sylwester are few and far between, but invariably hit the spot. They have the classic café racer vibe absolutely locked down—and who’d have thought a late 70s Suzuki GS 550E could look so good?

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Builder FCR Original Location Poitou-Charentes, France Bike Triumph Bonneville Why FCR are known for their performance-oriented customs, but they knocked the ball out of the park with this classic Brat build. ‘Sunrising’ doesn’t pretend to be anything more than a stylish boulevard cruiser, but with a nickel-plated frame and Ceriani rims, it has a remarkably elegant and timeless feel.

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Builder ICON Motosports Location Portland, USA Bike Suzuki GSX-R750 Why Collectible 1980s sportbikes are not the best candidates for the grinder. But ICON has always zigged when other zag, and we reckon ‘Major Tom’ is the best build yet from Kurt Walter’s crew. With a Kawasaki ZX-7R front end and solid aluminum V-Rod wheels, it’s full of contradictions—but strangely appealing.

Builder Jamesville Location Slangerup, Denmark Bike Harley-Davidson FX Super Glide Why The old school bobbers and choppers that have made James Roper-Caldbeck famous are not our usual fare, but the quality is obvious. This café’d Shovel, however, is right up our street—and one of the coolest slabs of Milwaukee muscle we’ve ever seen.

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Builder Fred ‘Krugger’ Bertrand Location Liege, Belgium Bike Yamaha SR400 Why Fred has won the AMD World Championship of bike building not once, but twice—with outlandish show bikes that subvert that genre. This SR400 commissioned by Yamaha Europe shows that he can still do the basics amazingly well. Built with the help of MotoGP mechanic Bernard Ansiau (above right), it’s possibly the fastest SR400 on the road, thanks to an Aisin supercharger.

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Builder Marcus Moto Design Location Stockholm, Sweden Bike Honda CRF450 Tracker Why Engineer Marcus Carlsson likes bikes that are “unique or a bit weird,” and so do we. This is a barely street legal racer, right down to the battery-powered lights, and cooler than an ice-cold shot of aquavit.

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Builder Moto Adonis Location Roosendaal, Holland Bike Yamaha XV750 Why The XV series has been elevated to icon status in the custom world, thanks to the illustrious American builders Classified Moto and Greg Hageman. But Dutchman Daan Borsje has crashed the party with this stunning streetfighter-tinged XV750. Daan was only 27 years old when he built this bike—making him one of the most exciting young talents on the Euro scene.

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Builder PRAËM Location Paris, France Bike BMW S 1000 RR Why Brothers Sylvain and Florent Berneron stunned us with their futuristic Honda RC51 and then turned up the gas for this even more desirable Beemer. Optimus PRAËM was commissioned by BMW Motorrad France, and sports new bodywork inspired by 1980s endurance racers. Mechanical mods (including carbon wheels) have trimmed the avoirdupois by 20 kilos (44 pounds).

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Builder Scheffers Engineering Location Velfjord, Norway Bike Yamaha GTS 1000 Why Roel Scheffers lives in the land of the midnight sun, and a five-hour drive from the nearest city. That didn’t stop him building the most technically interesting motorcycle we saw in 2016. He’s added new rear suspension, a 136 horsepower FZR1000 engine, and bodywork that lowers the machine to just 32 inches in height. Madness, in the finest possible way.

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Builder Roland Snel Location Amsterdam, The Netherlands Bike Yamaha TR1 Why We’d never heard of the TR1, a V-twin tourer from the 1980s, until we saw this very sharp café racer racer from Holland. Roland works for Yamaha, and despite not being a professional mechanic, has turned out a build we reckon even Greg Hageman would be proud of.

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Builder Urban Motor Location Berlin, Germany Bike 1964 Jawa 350 Why Perhaps the most original build of the year, this steampunk sprint bike was created for the Glemseck 101 races. Only the engine remains from the original Jawa, installed into a custom chassis. The extraordinary bodywork was designed by Henry Schulze and built by Marvin Diehl of KRT Framework; Jules Verne would have loved it.

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That’s our pick from a spectacularly good year. What’s yours?

The traditional annual Bike EXIF Top 10 is governed by web traffic, social shares and links. It’s a reliable snapshot of what both regular readers and casual visitors enjoy.

But relying on cold, hard data means that some very worthy custom motorcycles don’t get the exposure they deserve. Several of my own favorites are in the 2015 Top 10, but others aren’t. So for the first time, here’s an Editor’s Choice. It’s purely subjective and there’s no ranking order.

Auto Fabrica Type 6 It’s been a huge year for the London workshop. We featured three Auto Fabrica bikes, but the standout has to be this Yamaha XS650. It’s one of the most balanced and minimal customs we’ve ever seen, with streamlined bodywork in 2.5mm aluminum and a swooping exhaust system to match. You could write a book about this machine, so we put it on the cover of the Gentlemen’s Edition of The Ride: 2nd Gear.

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Supercharged BMW R80 by VTR Customs There’s nothing conservative about this Swiss-built custom. It’s sporting a ‘home-made’ fuel injection system, a custom ECU and a Rotrex supercharger. And, for extra oomph on the quarter-mile, a nitrous oxide injection system. Just as well builder Dani Weidmann races in the Swiss supermoto championship, otherwise we’d say this BMW is too insane to ride.

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Ducati Leggero by Walt Siegl We’re always on the lookout for an excuse to feature Walt Siegl’s work. Thankfully, there’s a slow but steady stream of hand-built Leggeros leaving his New Hampshire workshop. This one caught our eye, commissioned by a client who wanted a completely naked bike with a classic look. With magnesium wheels and Kevlar bodywork, it’s as light as a modern sportbike—but the simple exhaust system and understated paint give it timeless appeal.

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Bunker Customs Triumph Bonneville The new Triumph Bonneville is hitting showrooms soon, but there’s plenty of life left in the current air-cooled model. This sleek T100 from Turkey’s Bunker Custom Cycles is one of our all-time favorite Bonnies, with a staggering level of finish and a substantial power upgrade. The restyle is subtle but effective, with a clean line running from the base of the tank through the length of the bike.

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Roland Sands RD400 These days, Roland Sands mostly builds slick road-going customs and concept machines for the big manufacturers. But occasionally a race bike sneaks onto the job sheet. Called ‘2 Stroke Attack,’ this Yamaha was the fastest machine on display at the last Born Free show. The race-spec RD400 motor is hooked up to hand-made expansion chambers and cradled in a TZ250 frame. And the tank is as authentic as you can get: it’s from the TZ250 Roland won the AMA Championship with in 1998, minus the dents.

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ER Motorcycles ‘Thompson’ Are there any unmolested BMW airheads left? Probably not. But if you find one and simply have to customize it, this is the benchmark. The Slovenian workshop is famed for its craftsmanship, and this ‘bitsa’ has the factory-built look. The frame is from an R69S, the engine and transmission are from an R100, and there are R50 and R80 bits elsewhere—but it all hangs together beautifully.

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NYC Norton Commando Kenny Cummings of NYC Norton is a legend in the vintage British iron scene. This ‘Sunburst’ Commando will extend his reputation even further; it’s one of those rare instances where a highly technical build also looks drop-dead gorgeous. The blueprinted engine has a lightweight, balanced crank and forged pistons, and it’s slotted into Seeley Mk2 replica chassis. There are too many other mods to list here, but rest assured, this is mechanical expertise of the highest level.

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Kaffeemaschine #17 Moto Guzzi Axel Budde has now built 17 Moto Guzzi Le Mans resto-mods, but we reckon this is the best Kaffeemaschine yet. It’s a Mk III created for a client who lives thousands of feet above sea level in Colorado. The engine has been rebuilt with a balanced crank, a hotter cam, big valves and ported heads, and now breathes through a pair of 40mm Dell’Orto carbs. It’s the paint that gets us, though—a vintage Jaguar blue offset by brown leather.

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Alex Earle’s Ducati Monster Most trackers have a retro vibe. But rather than follow a well-trodden path, Alex Earle has given his Ducati lashings of carbon fiber. The monocoque bodywork and reworked frame have dropped the dry weight to a mere 345 pounds (157 kilos). The 19-inch wheels are lightweight custom jobs milled by RSD—but you can specify 17-inch rims and handlebars with less pullback, if you prefer more of a ‘retro superbike’ look.

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Ed Turner’s Suzuki GSX1100 A burly 1980s Japanese superbike with yellow engine paint and skate stickers all over the tank does not sound like a recipe for success. But that’s the genius of Frenchman Karl Renoult, who heads up the aptly named Ed Turner workshop. The engine is all that remains of the big Zook, because Karl has built a new frame and a compact fiberglass tank. The forks and wheels are from a Buell, the headlight is from a Ford Mustang, and the taillight is from a prison cell. (Yes, really.) We liked it so much we put it on the cover of the Rebel edition of the book The Ride: 2nd Gear.

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That’s my pick—what’s your take?