On Saturday July 16th, the 20th annual Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle Show returned next to the historic Queen Mary ocean liner in Long Beach, CA. The show was held in a new, and smaller location (Seawalk Village which replicates an old British seaside town), a reflection of the economy which has impacted the motorcycle industry so hard the last few years.
Custom Builder Jim Giuffra and the beautiful “spokes models” of AFT Customs created two all-new customs bikes to premier at this year’s building championship. Their very unique and original 1970 Honda CB750 based custom sport bike named “Sentoh” was voted Best of Show. It features a hand built perimeter frame, a single Mikuni HSR45 carb fed 4-tract induction system, hand made exhaust and kickstart system and modern RaceTech racebike suspension and Beringer brakes. (photography Jim Gianatsis)
Models are very fine. The bike. Hmmmm… I would not like custom builders to fall in the trap of “it looks cheap and weird so it’s generation X or Y, so it’s cool” Does nothing to me.
I could have fun with these 3 ones
I’d her but which do I mean?
Pink & Black or Black & Pink?
Hey Cyril. Is it really a Best Of Show? The girls, I agree, but this bike?
In its ugliness, I think this bike is somewhat attractive. Seriously.
looks weird…. but that is what wins at the LA Cal Show…. always has.
We don’t build bikes for people that live in the past. We build bikes for people that live in the future.
Had alot of fun helping put this bike together. I love it! Can’t wait for the shows we have coming up to show it off!
The bike has so much time into it. I saw it at the show and it really is incredible. Everything is hand done. The 4 carbs were removed and AFT made a one-off manifold for a Mikuni 42, not a 45.
This bike is very vogue right now. More riders are getting into the old Hondas since they are affordable and work well. They are great platform for customizing. Also, cafe racers are making a huge comeback. This bike hits both marks completely and I say WOW. I am concidering having AFT find and build me one of these beauties. Stay true to what you know Jim. Congrats to the girls on their latest build.
Loved the ER HED bike they built from last year, this one, not so much.
I think this bike is WAY out of the box from a design standpoint. First, AFT started with an inline 4 cylinder instead of the overdone V-Twins. Next, the one of a kind frame, single carb setup, custom exhaust and modern front end a brakes bring it all together for custom show bike that is also mean’t to be riden. The fact that the “models” also helped BUILD this is just the frosting on the cake. Well done AFT!!!
That Knucklehead was pretty damn nice too!
I bought a CB750F when I graduated from high school & still have it. The time was right to build a custom. A lot of the details can’t be seen in that picture.Every piece is custom for this bike.Here are a few of the high points – Our buddy Bryan From TPJ Customs made the perimeter frame & was kind enough to let Cyndi do a little of the TIG welding. Race Tech custom built the shocks using 15 different measurements from the bike. R1 forks with custom trees by our buddy Alan Kraus. We used CRF 450 hubs, foot controls (we modified) And took a CRF 450 K/S & shaft & mated it internally to the 750 mechanism. It has an exposed stator by Cycle X .All the lighting/instumentation is digital & LED by Clearwater Lights/Grip Ace/Motogadget. The bike is street legal. License plate pivots vertical or horizontal. Steering stabilizer is making a custom bike debut. Some parts are Moto GP prototype ( only 1 in USA) like the remote lever adj from Beringer. Beringer also supplied the Calipers & rotors (super mnoto) & hand controls. It has a Moto Gp quick disconnect front brake line. The oil tank is the tail piece. Fuel tank holds almost 4 gals. Bars are 1 3/8′ with our Double D risers. We completely went through the engine & added the Wiseco 836 kit & Web Cam. Dynatek provided the ign.system.We wanted to ditch the engine covers phillips screws & go to 8mm head bolts. They don’t make those longer than 45mm that we could find so we had to make our own in lengths above that.The intake manifold (4 into 1) was probably the hardest piece to make & then the exhaust. We cut the Leo Vince cans down 50% then reassembled them. They lazered the name for us. It weighs 420 with a gal of gas & 4 qts. oil – 10lbs lighter than an 05 R1 Yamaha that we also weighed. The AFT Girls did most of the sheet metal,welding, engine, whell lacing/trueing and final assembly under my supervision. I’m very proud of all their hard work & committment to excellance.
This bike was a fun build, that encountered blood, sweat, and not many tears. We all do what we love to do….. build amazing bikes!
Very innovative…
WOW BABY!
Jim don’t get to upset with the feelings stated above. If you built something that everybody liked you would be a trend not a trend setter. Keep up the good work and can’t wait to do some more work with you. Good luck at AMD.
Great workmanship or should I say workwomenship. Either way a tremendous TRUE custom build. Look at the detail!
This bike is going to do so many things for Aft just like Er hed did. This bike was no easy walk in the park for us to build but that’s what is so amazing about building a unique bike like Sentoh. I am very proud! Thank you to everyone who has supported Aft.
Well done, Jim and crew! Those who know how to create and innovate are seldom appreciated.
The great thing about Jim and the girls at AFT is they build something with a different style every year. They dont build cookie cutter bikes.
We always want to reward innovation and creativity at the LA Calendar Motorcycle Show, and the bike designs of Jim Guiffra at AFT Customs really exemplify that.
And function and practicality, bikes that can stop, corner and handle without killing you. Anyone can build a custom chopper from available parts and send it our to a plater and painter. These guys did something really different that had never been done before, from the ground on up.
Whether it’s the 1970 Honda CB750 based custom of AFT taking Best of Show this year, the 1965 BSA powered cafe bike of Chris Flechtner / Speed Shop Design that won last year, the wild alien like billet aluminum framed bike of Dreamcraft in 2005, the Pan Head cafe racer of Shinya Kimura in 2004, Jesse Rooke in 2003, Roger Goldammer in 2002, Russ Tom in 1997 and 1998, we really want to celebrate ingenuity, design and execution. Many of these builder’s got their start at the LA Calendar Show and in the FastDates.com Calendars, and went on to prove themselves as among the best custom bike builders on the planet.
Congratulations to all the LA Calendar Motorcycle Show’s Calendar Bike Building Championship winners, you guys are the best!
And then to have your bikes featured in the FastDates.com Calendars, Fast Dates and iron & Lace, for all the world to admire is the icing on the cake.
I like it.