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Twelve years of spanner time, filed properly. Filter by what it looks like or by what it started life as.

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Top-down view over the handlebar of a black custom BMW K1100 with twin gauges, bar-end mirrors and a brown leather seat Latest
Cafe Racer · Cafe Racer

Four workshops, one K1100

My first build: a blue 1993 K1100 RS bought running for 4,200 zloty just before the world shut down, dragged through four workshops in two cities, and finished five minutes from home. This is the long version, with the real numbers.

BMW14 min read31 August 2026
Ride Report Three riders on custom motorcycles photographed from above on an empty Warsaw road

Ninety bikes and one very good Sunday

Tweed in thirty degrees, a K100 that boiled at every light, and the best turnout this city has managed. The Warsaw run, written up properly.

BMW8 min
Cafe Racer A dark green Triumph Thruxton cafe racer lit against a black roller door

A Thruxton stripped back to the bone

Twelve kilos gone, none of them from the engine. Where the weight actually hides on a modern Triumph.

Triumph9 min
Brat A black and white Honda CB cafe racer under a single striplight in a bare parking garage

Brat style, explained properly

It isn't a flat seat and knobbly tyres. A short history of what Go Takamine actually started.

Yamaha7 min
Workshop Close-up of a polished Honda fuel tank badge and chrome exhaust

Polishing alloy without wrecking it

Four grits, one compound, and the mistake that puts swirl marks in a tank forever.

Honda6 min
Scrambler Scrambler motorcycle with knobbly tyres parked inside a workshop

Why everyone is building scramblers again

Bad roads, cheap donors and a geometry that forgives. The revival makes more sense than it looks.

Ducati8 min
Parts Cafe racer parked outside a bar beneath a red neon sign

Clip-ons vs clubmans: pick the right pain

Both look the part. Only one of them lets you ride more than forty minutes at a time.

Triumph5 min
Tracker Custom motorcycle photographed side-on in open desert scrub

Tracker geometry on a budget donor

Rake, trail and ride height in plain language, plus the three donors worth hunting for under a grand.

Yamaha11 min
Brat A blue Yamaha XS650 brat with a brown ribbed seat photographed in a dark workshop

Is the XS650 still the best first build?

Parts support, forgiving electrics and a frame that takes a loop. And the catch nobody mentions.

Yamaha10 min
Cafe Racer A blue BMW R80 cafe racer with a boxer engine and cafe seat parked on tarmac

The R80 monolever nobody wanted

Bought for 900 euro with a seized rear drive. Eighteen months later it's the one we ride most.

BMW14 min
Bobber Vintage hardtail Harley-Davidsons with springer forks parked in the rain at a motorcycle show

The truth about hardtails

They look incredible and they will destroy your spine. How to get the look and keep the travel.

Harley-Davidson8 min
Workshop A workshop wall hung with spanners, sockets and hand tools

The tool wall: what you actually need

You can build a whole bike with about 400 euro of tools. Here is the honest list.

Honda9 min
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