Bear in mind the lovable Honda Motocompo? One industrial designer needs to convey it again, so he’s rendered a contemporary Honda Motocompo idea that makes use of the Monkey as a base. We’ve additionally bought a tidy Triumph Thruxton from the Czech Republic, a BMW K75 from The Netherlands, and a BMW R1100GS from Germany.
Honda Motocompo idea We seldom function digital design ideas on Bike EXIF, just because the story of how a design is dropped at life is usually extra compelling than simply the design alone. However the web is crawling with extremely imaginative bike ideas—all you must do is sift via the silliness to seek out the gems.
This one is especially fascinating—not solely as a result of it’s extraordinarily well-rendered, but in addition as a result of it’s rooted in actuality. It’s the work of Boston-based industrial designer Mitch Silva, and it asks the query; “What would a modern-day Honda Motocompo appear like?” And if Mitch has his means, it’ll finally develop into a bodily {custom} construct.
Mitch has over a decade of business design expertise, with a shopper roster that features the likes of Bose and Rivian Automotive. He lately launched Bonedog Industrial Design—a design consultancy targeted on serving to {custom} bike builders visualize their concepts. He rendered the neo-retro Honda Motocompo idea as a private venture, so as to add some further bike taste to his portfolio.
Honda’s mini-bike vary is packed filled with nostalgic bikes, however all of them reference historic Honda fashions from the 60s. Believing that the lineup lacks some 80s radness, Mitch envisioned a contemporary Motocompo constructed on the present Honda Monkey platform.
For those who don’t keep in mind the Motocompo, it was a foldable scooter that seemed like a briefcase and will match into the trunk of a automotive. Mitch’s idea isn’t designed to fold, but it surely does rework the Monkey platform right into a worthy reimagining of the enduring Motocompo.
The idea wraps the Monkey in enclosed bodywork that traces the traditional Motocompo silhouette, however with a extra angular vibe. The vents reduce into the aspect of the physique, blocky headlight, excessive handlebars, and wraparound taillight are all clear nods to the Motocompo. The sharpened-up strains and black inlays draw inspiration from one other 80s Honda—the Honda Elite scooter.
The decrease half of the render reveals the Monkey’s bones, with the engine blacked out to match the Motocompo’s finishes. The swingarm is modeled after the Honda Grom, and there’s a Yoshimura exhaust hanging off the aspect. The Motocompo had cute three-spoke wheels, so Mitch designed wheel covers, with grooves reduce into them in units of threes.
If the celebs align, Mitch will convey this bodacious Honda Motocompo idea to life. He plans to construct it as a plug-and-play package, ideally utilizing the Grom as a base moderately than the Monkey. Challenges will embody constructing a hidden gas cell, and discovering a robust materials that’s additionally reasonably priced in order that he can maintain the prices down. [Bonedog Design]
Triumph Thruxton by Rod Bikes Constructing a {custom} bike is simpler mentioned than performed. The proprietor of this 2010-model Triumph Thruxton discovered that out when he determined to take his bone-stock café racer to the following degree. He ordered a smorgasbord of top-shelf bits for it—however he finally ran out of data and time, and the bike was relegated to the nook of the storage.
Two years later, he noticed a photograph of a Honda that had been personalized by David Zima at Rod Bikes within the Czech Republic. With a renewed curiosity, he dropped the bike and components off at David’s workshop to get the construct over the end line.
With Öhlins suspension, tubeless Alpina wheels, and Brembo radial calipers already bought, the construct was off to an excellent begin. Rod’s job was to take these components, add a complete bunch extra, and tweak the bike’s styling. The Thruxton is a good-looking sufficient café racer in inventory kind, however the shopper wished a extra purist look.
The 1st step was to swap the Triumph’s chunky OEM seat for a fiberglass tail unit. The subframe was trimmed to accommodate it, and the seat was trimmed in trendy Alcantara. A small Lithium-ion battery sits underneath the tail bump, together with a management unit and keyless ignition from Motogadget.
Subsequent, 74 hours had been spent simplifying the Thruxton’s advanced wiring system. The Rod group eliminated all the things they didn’t want, then put in a nifty Motogadget gadget that allow them get across the bike’s CAN bus system to swap out the speedo.
Different mods embody new clip-ons, levers and push buttons, new rear units, and tiny Kellermann flip indicators. Decrease down you’ll spot a carbon fiber entrance fender, Ok&N filters the place the airbox was, and twin Arrow exhausts.
As trendy traditional British café racers go, it doesn’t get extra quintessential than this. [Rod Motorcycles]
BMW K75 by WiMoto It’s not simple to work with the goofy, angular strains of the Ok-series BMW, so we’re normally impressed when somebody pulls it off. This one’s the work of Wido Veldkamp at WiMoto in The Netherlands, and it’s a gentle {custom} job by his standard requirements—however that doesn’t imply he reduce any corners.
The venture got here from a shopper that had began taking her bike aside, however wanted assist welding a subframe. So she took it to WiMoto for a little bit gentle fabrication work and ended up simply handing the entire venture over to them.
The tail part is an off-the-shelf merchandise that she’d already purchased, so WiMoto caught with that. However moderately than merely fettle the subframe to suit it, the group fabricated an all-new subframe, angling it upwards on the again and sinking a taillight into it. It’s a intelligent design; this café racer may not have the flat bone line that so many builders crave, however its contours comply with a constant sample from entrance to again.
Subsequent, WiMoto tailored the forks from an Aprilia Tuono to the K75, with adaptors to run twin 320 mm brake discs. The entrance fender and radiator covers are {custom} components, and the battery now lives within the tail part, leaving the area underneath the seat open. The BMW additionally sports activities new handlebars, risers, grips and mirrors, and a custom-made license plate bracket that additionally hosts the rear flip indicators.
For those who’re searching for the entrance flip indicators, they’re a part of the LED headlight unit. A 3-into-one exhaust system sits decrease down, with Avon Roadrider rubber wrapped across the inventory rims.
Completed in a darkish turquoise hue, with pops of orange so as to add distinction, this K75 is as tidy as they arrive. Most {custom} builders ignore the older three-cylinder Ok-series Beemers in favor of the newer and greater fashions, however we’d give this plucky avenue tracker a go any time. [WiMoto | Images by Mark Meisner]
BMW R1100GS by Himora Motors The BMW R1100GS was fairly a radical machine when it first hit the scene, but it surely was quickly overshadowed by its successor, the world-famous R1150GS. You’ll be able to decide the older 1100 up for fairly low cost as of late—however whereas it’s a troublesome and succesful bike, it’s no looker.
Kay Riemann at Himora Motors in Germany agrees, so he gave this 1994-model BMW R1100GS one heck of a makeover. As an industrial and graphic designer, dragging the previous boxer’s aesthetic into the fashionable age was a excessive precedence.
Kay began by swapping the R1100GS gas reservoir out for one from a more moderen BMW R1150R. Then he ditched the inventory plastics, dressing the bike in a set of sensible carbon fiber items as an alternative. A two-piece seat sits out again, perched on a modified subframe with a pointy fender to complete off the tail.
The adjustments weren’t solely beauty—Kay took care of the bike’s performance too. He refurbished the wheels, then spooned on new Heidenau K60 tires and upgraded the brake discs. Going deeper, he rewired the bike round Motogadget elements and swapped out the EFI unit for an R1150GS system.
The crash bars, handlebar risers, and headlight brackets are all {custom} components, the headlight and heated grips are from Koso, and the hand guards are Barkbuster objects. The speedo, mirrors, flip indicators, and switches are all from Motogadget, the throttle is from Domino, and the footpegs are from Lonerider. An SP Cobra exhaust muffler finishes issues off.
Between its purposeful stance, muscular bodywork, and aggressive black and crimson coloration scheme, Kay’s R1100GS positive appears prefer it means enterprise. Parked subsequent to a inventory 1100, it’s streets forward. [Himora Motorcycles]
