Upon its introduction in 1991, the Suzuki DR800S Big — aka “Doctor Big” — was the largest single-cylinder mass production bike ever produced, displacing 779cc with a cylinder bore of 10.5 centimeters…talk about THUMP! The DR Big was inspired by Suzuki’s DR-Z800 Paris-Dakar rally bike, which gave up ~10 horsepower to its twin-cylinder rivals but was some 60 pounds lighter and more aerodynamic. Says Stefan Hessler of Hessler Rallye Team, who campaigned the DR-Z rally bike with the legendary Gaston Rahier: “Rahier was able to use the beak so skillfully that the DR ZETA cut aerodynamically like ..read more

All Photos: Drew Perlmutter Wildsville is a private “moto-fun-camp” in rural Georgia born from the moto-loving mind of our incredibly talented friend Chastin Brand, one of the country’s most highly esteemed hand-painters and pinstripers. Chastin and the Brand family have created one of the sweetest places on earth for people who love two wheels. Wildsville is an atmosphere and attitude as much as a place — a laid-back, vintage-forward Neverland where good times, family, and friendly competition go hand in hand. If you want the closest thing to On Any Sunday in 21st century America, this is the ..read more

Yamaha XSR155 Scrambler from Garage Esquinita…   The Yamaha XSR series is the company’s family of “neo-retro” motorcycles that combine modern engines and running gear with more classic design language. The XSR700 and XSR900 are the best known models in the range, based on the MT-07 and MT-09 modern nakeds, respectively. In recent years, Yamaha has also rolled out a pair of smaller siblings, the XSR125 and XSR155, for markets where 125cc and 155cc machines are popular. They feature Deltabox frames, 37mm inverted forks, and liquid-cooled 4-valve single cylinder engines. Our friends at Mot ..read more

Hand-painted Honda ready for La Ruta Del Nabab…   The Honda CRF450RX is Big Red’s big-bore competition off-road racer designed for closed-course GNCC, NGPC, and WORCS events. Unlike the green-sticker trail-legal CRF450X, the RX looks much closer to a full-on motocrosser, only with an 18-inch rear wheel, larger fuel tank, and kickstand. It’s a highly aggressive machine that comes with a hydro clutch, multiple map modes, traction control, and an engine that puts down nearly 53 horsepower at the rear wheel: “Plain and simple, the 450RX motor is a beast. It has gobs of power at all ti ..read more

Indonesia has become a hotbed of custom motorcycle culture in recent years. The country consists of more than 17,000 islands — Java, Sumatra, and Bali to name a few — and motorcycles are a way of life. While a vast array of customs come out of the nation’s workshops, the country’s builders seem to have an affinity for scrambler and “vinduro” (vintage enduro) style machines particularly well-suited to the mountainous jungle trails, sandy beaches, and windy roads of their native islands. Back in 2022, we featured a Yamaha WR155 scrambler built by Maulana Sandi of West Java’s Barokah Djaya Suka ..read more

Yamaha WR155 “Furai-Bou” from Katros Garage…   The Yamaha WR155R is one of those bikes we wish was sold in more markets. The small displacement dual-sport has a liquid-cooled 4-valve engine with fuel injection and variable valve actuation (VVA) — trick for the size! While Yamaha makes some of the better looking dual-purpose bikes on the market, we have a soft spot for the enduros, scramblers, and trackers of yesteryear. It’s no easy feat to transform a modern dual-sport into a retro-style scrambler / tracker, but Atenx Katros of Indonesia’s Katros Garage is no ordinary builder. His ..read more

A “Bonnie Desert Sled” from Old Tops Garage x Atlantic Custom Studio…   For many of us, the golden days of 1960s California desert racing remain one of the most romantic and defining periods of motorcycling culture. We’re talking about the days of 500-rider mass starts when riders like Malcolm Smith and Steve McQueen went racing across the sand and scrub on modified Triumph, Norton, and BSA desert sleds with high pipes, bash plates, and cross-country saddles — machines that really did “sled” their way through sandy washes and bound over dunes and arroyos. 1954 Triumph Desert Sled: M ..read more

NX650 Desert Thumper from Manara Artwork…   We’ve long said that many of our favorite bike-builders have racing backgrounds. Motorcycle racers tend to have a deep knowledge of geometry and mechanics, but racing doesn’t always allow them to express their creativity and style to its full potential. Our new friend Paolo Manara is one such former racer turned builder. Born in Cremona, Italy, Paolo has always had a love for engines and motorcycles. He spent 12 years racing motocross successfully at a regional and national level, taking home two championships…but also several injuries. “Unti ..read more

Patina Pony: Dominator 650 Scrambler from Emporio Elaborazioni Meccaniche…   Surely no one at Honda knew the Honda NX650 Dominator — a single-cylinder, plastic-clad adventure bike — would become a darling of the customs scene more than thirty years after its introduction. “The Honda Dominator 650…is the motorcycle that defined the ‘urban trailie’ craze of the Nineties. Beloved by town-bound motorcycle couriers and B-road hackers thanks to its punchy delivery, rufty-tufty build quality and commanding riding position…” –MCN The Dominator was produced from 1988-2001, and while the bike i ..read more

Electric Start, Air-Cooled: Motogadgets’ 1980 Yamaha XT500…   By the early 1970s, the big single-cylinder four-stroke off-roader was thought a species all but extinct.  After all, the great British 500 singles like the BSA B50 and Triumph Trophy Trail were from factories that had shuttered their doors, and cheaper, lighter two-strokes like the Yamaha DT series were selling like hotcakes. However, over in Japan, a designer named Shiro Nakamura was hard at work on a one-lunger that would change the motorcycling world. At the end of 1975, his creation appeared: the Yamaha XT500, which ..read more