While fat rear tires have almost disappeared from the custom motorcycles currently built in the USA, Europeans (especially in Germany, Switzerland & Netherlands) continue to have a special affection for big rubber. Drag racing heritage? Even in Europe, if a custom like the one featured here continues to win big bike show competitions, it’s probably not because of the weight of rubber it carries, but certainly because of the overall styling and attention to details..
Builder Rene Nijdam created an interesting machine, his merit being able to transition flawlessly from a massive rear to a very skinny body & front end.
A radical “in-frame” gas tank, a single-sided swingarm/oil tank and a single- sided ftwisted ront end are not new concepts, but are here beautifully executed to show off the aluminum wheels.
Points of disappointment include a boring (on this type of custom) 1340 cc Harley motor although Nijdam spiced it a little bit with a dual carburetor setup. The seat? Well, minimalist…and unpractical. The pipes? Nice looking and ready to burn your left thigh. But we are talking about motorcycle art. It’s mainly a show bike and it excels in competition… (photos @ Onno Wieringa for Cyril Huze)
Genuine Hang on the Wall Art. Decide if you like it or not as art piece. I
“While fat rear tires have almost disappeared from the custom motorcycles currently built in the USA” -just another causality… This is a great looking piece. Who gives a Rat’s Ass if it can’t carve up a corner or has a Plus-size power-plant. It’s still a pretty darn kool machine. If they were all the same, it would be amazingly droll.
Best,
Later Jay
Love the very clean looks of this bike since it doesn’t have all of the accessories and extra parts hanging off it! Real neat!
seat would be an issue for sure , just rode 2 1/2 hours to daytona this weekend on a streetglide , butt was sore .
Honestly, everything has a limit, this is beyond that.
There should be a DIN spec that separates a vehicle from an ornament – eg if a two-wheeled, self-propelled ‘thing’ cannot complete a certain (standard) route, with certain radius bends (etc) in it, in a certain time, then it is NOT a motorcycle, but rather it is a two-wheeled ornament.
I am not suggesting you cannot have a show for two-wheeled ornament, by all means have it, but then have a MOTORCYCLE show separately.
Sigfreed, Exactly!
It’s kind of neat to see a whacked out custom that is not 1) a bagger, 2) a cafe’ racer, or 3) a scrambler. Clean and sharp, I like it. Interesting front fork/suspension.
Who says you have to build what everyone else builds , fat tire bike or skinny tire bike , long bike or bobber it is about what you like and want to build . In the custom world their are NO RULES !!!!!!!! Build what you love and who cares what everyone else thinks………….
A really fine looking machine, however I suspect that it may be uncomfortable to ride for any distance. I appreciate the fact that it is a show bike, but why own it if you can not take it out for a lengthy spin in order to show it off and observe the jealousy in the on-lookers faces. Pissing off fellow citizens is the American way. God bless America.
Definitely falls into the radical category. Its a cleanly done piece with many fine details that took a lot of time. Congrats…. I just don’t want to ride it anywhere…
In fact, I wonder how much time he does have into this bike…
Cyril, please run a feature on Rodent and Sigfreed’s bikes, we are all dying to see what real bikes look like.
So much fine workmanship, once again ruined by a seat. Over and over I see really nice bikes here where it looks like the day before the show it was noticed there wasn’t a seat so they tacked an upholstered ping pong paddle onto the backbone. It’s not about the ridability anymore than Salvador Dali was trying to paint realism, but it still has to be right. After all that nicly done embellishment on the neck fillet, you can’t say the seat design was because of some pure minimalistic theme. The neck design could have been repeated in a seat gusset/mount. That bike is worthy of a better seat, and we see bike after bike with that same seat setup.
Sigfreed – Goodness ! We actually agree on something ! Dang !
Having said that though there is no doubt the craftsmanship and skill that went into this is extraordinary . . The unfortunate thing is … it isn’t the least bit ridable . Heck . You’d need 20 sessions with a Chiropractor and a lifetime supply of Advil after a two mile jaunt to your local watering hole on this bike .
But .. it sure does look good regardless . It aint ‘ art ‘ mind you [ its craft ] .. but it sure does look good .
Woody’s – Heck that excuse for a seat would have you singing soprano within five minutes of sitting on the thing . And lets remember since you’re using the example . Salvador Dali never claimed to be painting Photorealism . Where as the builder of this is claiming this to be a motorcycle . A custom motorcycle mind you . But a motorcycle never the less . Calling it a motorcycle inferring that it IS a motorcycle thereby making the inferred claim that it is ridable at least to a certain extent . Which I’m sure we can both agree this ‘ custom ‘ isn’t … the least bit ridable that is
Sigfreed & Rodent, I agree wholeheartedly
It’s a showpiece/art & a showpiece/art only
Lots of craftsmanship, but what good is it if you can;t ride it
Somebody might like / buy it
But not me, “Thanks, but No Thanks” !!!!
Well, as a design exercise it seems to work, even with the fat tire.
And nicely finished to boot.
-nicker-
Sweet.
“Design exercise”.
Right.
I have an autocad suite for that.
The punctuation mark is the Indian Scout articlethat follows this.
To quote Crocodile Dundee
“That’s not a knife.
THAT’S a knife.”
Good looking custom, and outstanding craftsmanship.
Pop,
AutoCad (at least the version12 that i have) will only get me so far.
I’ve used it to get to the “Go/No-go” decision stage.
So at that point the a 3D B-Rep will tell how much of a job lies ahead.
And how cool (or stupid) this thing could be in reality.
By then i’m either revved-up to go or i’ve lost interest.
Point is, as much as i enjoy CAD work, no 3D model can replace “hands-on-metal” …… 🙂
-nicker-
Impractical…Unrideable…Expensive…but Beautiful !