Blog — Bobber

Bike Shed London 2018 - Tom Bing

We've worked with Tom Bing pretty much since he returned from a truly epic riding and surf trip through North and South America, where he and wife Sally challenged their little Hondas through some of the most inhospitable terrain capturing some truly stunning wanderlust inducing images along the way. Back in the groove of 'normal life' Tom and Sally tour around in their aged Talbot Motorhome with baby Billy while working for the DTRA, Built Magazine, Yamaha and a number of custom bike publications. Tom covered the show for us last year and thankfully he returned for 2018 and managed...

The Race of Gentlemen

Hopefully 2018 will be the year Bike Shed realises a dream of opening a venue Stateside, if for no other reason than to be closer to all the action. Events like The Race Of Gentlemen will be marked in our calendars, in permanent marker! June 9-11th 2017, Wildwood, New Jersey Facebook Events Page | Race Entries & Tickets | Bike Shed Events Calendar Here's some of the action from last year's TROG at Pismo Beach, California captured by Götz Göppert - the chap who's exhibited the massive ice racing prints at our Bike Shed London & Paris shows. You can...

Triumph Bonneville Bobber 2016

When is a Bobber not a bobber? According to some - it seems to be when it's embraced the new wave cafe-custom scene so closely that a handful of aficionados are up in arms over the idea of a factory-built custom, and the temerity of using the word "bobber" to describe something built by a manufacturer. Meanwhile, back on planet Get-a-Grip the rest of us have just been keen to get a test ride on what might just be Triumph's most important new Bonneville to-date, which would make it one of their most important bikes of the past decade. So,...

Kevils Bomber

If you were down in the smoke a few days ago for Bike Shed London 2015 you will have seen the Kevils quartet of customs in Quayside 1, just a few metres away from the bar. Handy. In the 'Shed we refer to bobbers as the perfect hangover bike, something you can just swing a leg over, sit back and let the breeze blow away the fugg. For the concept to work you need a laid-back riding position and some proper clout between your legs. This is one of Kevils Speed Shop's few goes at building a bobber as Kev...

Skuddesign Black Betty

We don't feature much Milwaukee Muscle on the Bike Shed, but having just fired up a Buell engined Cafè Tracker I'm reminded of the appeal; that engine note takes some beating. Nicolas Barthelemy of Skud Design is no stranger to making things sound right, whilst maintaining effortless cool. Last year he brought us a stunning Kawasaki W650 Scrambler. Ok, so the woodland setting for the photo shoot played a part but that bike just made you want to go and tear up some dirt. Leaving Europe behind for the wide expanses of Canada, Nicolas fancied himself a laid back cruiser...

Steel Bent Customs The Seven 1

Michael Munday and the guys from Steel Bent Customs are seriously busy but still manage to turn out top quality work. In the last 2 years alone over 20 Steel Bent bikes have been the The Shed. At the BSMC Event III, a Matchless KTM bobber created a huge stir for its originality and I-wanna-ride-that-one-appeal. For me this 1971 Honda CB450 DOHC - Seven 1 ticks a similar box, potentially wildly impractical and uncomfortable, and all the other things that people like to point out on forums but what it does do is scream, "ride me!" This has been Michael's...

Cocknose Choppers Triumph

If you have a dream, sometimes it’s easier to achieve if you look right under your nose and take small steps from there. Father and son team Lyndon and Stacey Poultney from Port Talbot, Wales work together under the moniker of Cocknose Chopper. A name that increases in appeal once the intonation of a Welsh accent is added. Just tried that in your head, haven't you?! Lyndon AKA Cocknose used to be a panel beater and sprayer so should be well equipped for turning a sow’s ear into a purse. Currently he pressure tests engines for Ford which again stands...

The Drayton Porkchop

"This motorcycle was never meant to be a polished, perfectly executed custom bike, it was not destined to sit amongst glittery show pieces, it is not an exercise in high-end fabrication, it was not meant to have flowing lines and blended edges, that stuff is for hatchback designers." This is The Drayton Porkchop, a collaboration between custom workshop Boneshaker Choppers and design studio Ilovedust, and as intros go, this is a pretty good one, penned by Ollie & Mark of ILoveDust. Billed as 'ILoveDust VS Boneshaker' the bike was meant to be "a mean brute that looks as if it...