All motorcycles need to be customized to some extent. New motorcycles are set up for a rider of average height and weight, and there is, strangely, no real industry standard for this. Each manufacturer is more or less left to their own devices here, so it stands to reason that no matter what you do, some adjustment is to be expected. This need for personalization can have a snowball effect. One thing leads to another and all of a sudden you will find yourself making far more changes to your bike than you might have first anticipated.
Some enthusiasts can’t stop at simple bolt-on modifications. For those that need more from a bike, or simply want to transform it into something completely unique, there is a huge custom motorcycle scene with a long list of established bike builders. The only limitations are your imagination and budget. From tastefully restored classics, all the way up to these bikes that all look as if they survived the apocalypse, there is a bike builder out there that can make your wildest motorcycle dream come true.
In order to give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from various manufacturer websites and other authoritative sources.
Cosmos Charger
By Rough Crafts
Underneath all that crazy bodywork lies a 2020 Street Bob. This cyberpunk bike looks as if it has traveled back in time from some sort of strange dystopian future where we all became obsessed with purple lighting effects. Once you realize that this work was commissioned by a company that makes computer cooling systems, the design begins to make a degree of sense.
Key design Features
- Squared off “computer case” bodywork
- Carbon fiber wrapped parts
- Purple lights
Dyna Low Rider S Cross
By MB Cycles
If you were to think of the number one thing a Dyna should not do, it is almost certainly going off-road. The S Cross boasts a completely new subframe, a lengthened swingarm, and Öhlins rear shocks. The wheels are rather surprisingly stock, but get wrapped in a set of knobbies to complete the off-road look. Out of the millions of Dyna builds around the world, this has to be one that takes it the furthest from its cruising roots. In a future where there aren’t any roads, this is what a Dyna would look like.
Key Design Features
- Custom rear subframe
- Lengthened swingarm
- Custom two-up saddle
Izi’s Ride
By Royal Enfield
Netflix needed a dystopian motorcycle for their dystopian movie, The Kitchen. For some reason, they reached out to Royal Enfield directly, and the company duly obliged. Royal Enfield decided to transform the Shotgun cruiser into something radically different. It is mostly a styling exercise, but it is well executed with a host of 3D printed panels, and we sure wish something like this would go into full production.
Key Design Features
- Custom subframe
- Faux girder forks
- Unique wheel covers
Super Scrambler
By Black Cycles
We do hope Harley is paying attention here. While the Pan America ST is great, a genuine scrambler version of the bike would be a pretty exciting change of pace. The intention of this build was for it to look like a Harley prototype – which it does. Unfortunately, the only way Harley will build a bike like this is if there is an actual apocalypse.
Key Design Features
- Fabricated aluminum body panels
- Fabricated hidden gas tank
- Flat dirt bike seat
Pan America
By Powerbrick
Instead of going more off-road like the aforementioned Scrambler build, Powerbrick takes the Pan America in a different direction. This is clearly a reinterpretation of the Bronx concept bike, and we have to admit it might actually look better than anything Harley came up with. It just looks like a fun street bike from the future, or maybe an alternate universe where the Bronx actually made it into production and the Pan America didn’t.
Key Design Features
- Custom rear subframe
- Custom exhaust
- Aston Martin “Spirit Silver” paint
Psychobilly Quad
By Ed Brink
At one point, this was an Ironhead XL1000 Sportster. The (rather iconic) Harley got grafted onto a Suzuki LT230 chassis, and the end result looks like the kind of creation people would come up with in a post-apocalyptic world where parts are scarce, and you need to work with what you got. The fabrication work here is second to none, though, and certainly doesn’t scream “built in a shed.”
Key Design Features
- Well, four wheels
- Custom frame
- Custom exhaust
Homemade Sin
By Icon Motorsports
Out of all the bikes on this list, Homemade Sin has to be the most apocalyptical. It really looks the part and gives off some serious rat-rod vibes. Underneath all the fabrication lies a Dyna, but the only resemblance it shares with the old Dyna is its air-cooled V-twin. That huge S&S twin is good for well over 130 horsepower, so it certainly isn’t slow, either.
Key Design Features
- Unique fabricated bodywork
- Beefy tires
- Ducati Monster front fork
Hokuto
By Ruote Fiere Motociclette Speciali
So often we see Japanese manufacturers looking to the Italians for inspiration, but what makes this build so interesting is the fact that it is an Italian who is looking to the Japanese for inspiration here. What was once a Moto Guzzi SP3 1000 has been completely transformed. It is meant to look like a futuristic Japanese café racer, and we think the execution of that design brief is stellar.
Key Design Features
- Tonti frame
- Custom fibreglass bodywork
- Specially fabricated aluminum fuel tank
Dune
By Le Cent Vingt Cinq
What was once a DR350 has been completely transformed into this rather unusual scrambler. Usually scramblers will be built out of street bikes, but this is a full-on dual-sport built to take on the Moroccan desert in a custom motorcycle race. There is so much to love about this build, including the unusually fat off-road tires and the artwork on the tank, but that leopard print seat cover is something else.
Key Design Features
- 18-inch Excel rims
- Honda Zoomer (Ruckus) headlight
- Custom fenders
Honda Dax
By JZO Crafts/Nemoto
If you just saw the picture of this bike, and we didn’t tell you it was a mini-bike, there is no way you would be able to tell its actual size. This is an unusual build, and the fact that they gave it an air-ride suspension only takes it to the next level. Obviously, for a bike this small there is no need for air suspension. But it has it, and they were somehow able to hide all those components – of which there are many – from plain sight.
Key Design Features
- Air suspension
- Honda Grom engine
- Custom aluminum fuel tank