Europeans cherish the performance of their sport cars and custom motorcycles. And where Americans would favor theme bikes about the western era, American Natives, NASCAR and Mc Donald’s (!?!) they are fond of paying tribute on 2 wheels to their automobile brand names. Saw a lot (too many) Ferrari theme bikes, but more rarely Porsche tribute custom bikes.
As an introduction, 2 facts that most Americans don’t know. First, Porsche was founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche, an Austrian engineer, not a German. Second, the company was during many years only a motor development and consulting firm, not building cars under its name. First assignment from the German government was to conceive a “car for the people” (In German, Volkswagen), resulting in the Volkswagen Bettle with the 1st Porsche model (Porsche 64) developed in 1939 using most components from the Beetle.
To tell the tale of this legendary car brand, which today (with Mercedes and BMW) still defines the “Made in Germany“, this tribute bike could only adopt a street-fighter look with a big-inch stroker engine form S&S Cycles, hand-made frame and aggressive body work, a beefy front end many paint job references to Le Mans, Steve McQueen, James Dean (killed behind the wheel of his Porsche 550 Spider) and other images of the Porsche family history, all airbrushed by top-noch artist Marcus Pfeil. Built by German Custrom Wolf, a shop specializing in custrom street-fighter style custrom motorcycles. (Photography copyright Frank Sander)
Bike Name: Tribute to Porsche
Builders: Wolfgang Bätz, Christian Märtl
Engine: S&S 113”
Frame Rake: 40°
Swingarm:MMS Cycles/Custom-Wolf
Front End Make / Type:Thunderbike RS
Transmission Type:Softail 5-speed
Front Wheel: Thunderbike Vegas Cut 4,5 x 18
Rear Wheel: Thunderbike Vegas Cut/ 10 x 18
Front Brake: Thunderbike / ZX 10 R
Rear Brake: Buell / Braking “Wave”
Front Tire: Metzeler 130/60/18
Rear Tire: Metzeler 280/35/18
Shouldn’t they have built it with a V-Rod engine?
Or a BMW engine? And made it a sportbike.
Exactly what I was thinking since Porsche designed the V-Rod engine…
Is this an officially sanctioned bike?
I think Dr Wolfgang Porsche would be very unimpressed with this. It’s the antithesis of Porsche’s design philosphy.
It won’t handle well, it doesn’t incorporate modern technology, and it probably doesn’t have any resale value.
Is it anything more than a PR exercise on the builder’s part?
Definitely needs to have a boxer engine. I love the forks.
Agree with basically everyone. A tribute to Porsche better handle…well….like a porsche and not be made from almost exclusively american parts.
Boxer or V-Rod X 10
Classic German prostockchoppercustomthingy
How about keeping the edginess in the design and step up the motor/parts that reflect the Porsche racing livery?
Looks like a Walz HCC bike!?!?!
Yep- looks like a Walz/OCC/Anything but Porsche Design….. Kinda embarrassing to Porsche Design, this is the LAST thing they’d condone…..
LOL Ol’ Cyril just likes to stir things up once in a while… why not…
I have no doubt that Cyril knew we would flame this one. More comments…
What’s Porsche about it!
I hate HATE theme bikes …
Takes more than graphics to convey a “theme.”
-nicker-
A poor copy of a Waltz bike. Nothing “Porsche” about it.
Try Penz Custom Bikes for some Austrian cycle style.
Don’t care for Porches,but that is an insult to the name. ..Z
Don’t get me, wrong but with all the German tech and this being a one off bike , I would have expected some exotic Porsche concept motor that was lying in the basement for the last 29 years . I guess they are having a hard enough time puttin this thing together . Looks like OCC got together again ! ! !
Looks good……overall nice looking,nice front end,wheels and the rear rotor…….
Weak.
At first glance i thought it was a Waltz HC bike. Then going on to read its a tribute bike to Porsche. As I’m looking at it thinking “there is nothing Porsche about this bike”. You guys are right should have at least build around the VROD at least, after all it was a Porsche development, and much more appropriate tribute.
A different paint job and it could have been a Schwinn tribute bike…
I’m with the where is the boxer engine crowd.
The Valkyrie Rune I ride has the perfect opposed 6 most like what’s in my Porsche.
S&S builds great engines but honestly has nothing to do with a “Porsche Themed” bike.
The VRod engine has nothing to do with a Porsche car either for that matter.
James Dean and old race cars with a few logos doesn’t make it anything Porsche like.
Look at the cars in the screen behind the bike and tell me where is the Porsche Shape
anywhere in that build?
Epic fail. A theme bike that completely misses the point of everything that Porsche stands for.