Motorcycle Parts

Spoked motorcycle rims typically require a cruel trade-off for streetbikes. Though the lacy intersection of thin spokes exude nostalgia, the distinctive look is also associated with tube tires, a bygone technology that exacerbates the gyroscopic effect by throwing weight to the outside of the rim.

Zero Gravity Daytona 675

Fleet, shark-like, and surprisingly compact, the standard-issue Triumph Daytona 675 yields more-from-less through a torquey triple and relatively low mass-but how do you trim more fat from an already-lean thoroughbred?

Moto Couture

Bimota SpA imported only 22 motorcycles into the United States last year, but the bike brand is fully aware that individuality is relative. Under their Private Client Services division, Long Beach, California-based ArthaWorks / GP STAR has kicked off a new project that enables motorcyclist to create their ultimate bikes, built entirely to personal specifications. In much the same way that Prada or Gucci offer private services more than a notch above their ready-to-wear lineup, a thinner slice of Bimota's two-wheeled lifestyle is now available.

90-degree Longitudinal 32-valve Engine 

By any estimation, Giancarlo Morbidelli dreamed in epic proportions. A self-made businessman with a passion for motorcycles, he used his entrepreneurial spoils to finance a race team and achieved impressive results: His race bikes won three consecutive 125cc world titles in the mid-1970s, a coveted 250cc title in 1977, and another 125cc championship the following year.

Ultimate MotorCycling Special

Maybe you're too young. Or perhaps you are not intimately acquainted with automotive racing history. Whatever the reason, if dark and light blue stripes with red fail to make your heart go pitter-patter, you might miss the inspiration for the Ultimate MotorCycling Ducati 1098 Special.

Swedish Pride, Husqvarna Inspiration

It may appear as fanciful as a doodle rendered in Photoshop, but the Husqvarna V1000 Gran Turismo is as substantive as any bike you have ever thrown a leg over. Boxy-yet-sexy, in a jackknife-meets-Akira kind of way, this customconcept is one man's irreverent reinterpretation of a 63-year-old motorcycle that happens to be as culturally relevant as the dodo bird. Why the homage to extinction?

1462cc V-Twin Cruising Fun

The surly Suzuki Boulevard M109R can be a satisfying machine when extreme riding is in order, but the big-engined beast is a bit severe for daily use. Filling the gap between the M50 and the M109R, Suzuki's new M90 combines more humane ergonomics with a 90 cu in (1462cc) V-twin.

Custom Cafe Replica Bike

Roger Goldammer is as sensitive to the stigma of simulacra as the next connoisseur. "Whether it's an auto manufacturer re-doing the Mustang or a screenwriter re-writing a movie," he admits, "borrowing from the past is a risky thing." And yet his latest creation, a stylized re-interpretation of the mid-century Manx Norton, embodies a certain purists-be-damned exuberance.

Big Bang? No, Think Crossplane.

Yamaha's mass production YZF-R1 superbike has more in common with Valentino Rossi's feral M1 than ever before, now that a key component of championship-winning MotoGP engine technology has trickled down to the track-ready street bike.

Racing Legend Motors Ahead.

The early days of auto racing were a perilous era in which the loss of life was nearly as routine as the wave of the checkered flag. Maverick car racer and builder Roy Richter was no stranger to the realities of the sport, but its hazards were made concrete when he lost two friends to racing-related head injuries in 1953.

Considering their choice of protection-one was wearing a leather helmet, another a construction hard hat-Richter resolved to prevent future loss of life. The result was the founding of Bell Helmets.

Norton's domination at the Isle of Man during the 1930s earned their race bikes the “Manx” appellation, and by 1950, an innovative tubular steel “Featherbed” chassis further advanced the breed. Norton's two World Championship titles in 1951 reaffirmed the company's “Unapproachable Norton” slogan, though more powerful MV Agustas and Gileras would eventually depose the British brand.

Fabio Taglioni, founder of Ducati's trademark desmodromic valve system, produced in 1955 what is considered to be the company's first race bike, the 100cc Marianna. The third iteration of the Marianna was christened the Formula 3, and, in 1958, only 40 Formula 3 factory production racers were made. While most were sold in their native Italy, a few made their way to Britain, and even fewer were imported to the United States.