The brainchild of Rough Crafts frontman Winston Yeh, the Speed and Crafts custom bike show ran for the second time earlier this month. Showcasing the best that Taiwan has to offer, the event brought together a slew of local and international judges to preside over the 47 custom motorcycles present.
Supported by Shoei, Alpinestars, Harley-Davidson, Breitling Taiwan, SYM, and Madness, Speed and Crafts is as much a custom motorcycle championship as it is a bike show. As one of the leading lights of the Taiwanese custom scene, the man has a passion for elevating the culture and spurring his peers on.
While roughly 5,000 visitors crammed through the doors of the SongShan Cultural and Creative Park in Taipei’s Xinyi District, Winston and his team of judges had the arduous task of picking the best bikes. Builders were judged by their peers too—a carry-over from the AMD Championship.
Although a total of 36 awards were given out on the day, the main competition was split over three classes—Modified Harley, Freestyle, and Performance. We’ve rounded up the top three finishers in the Modified Harley and Performance classes, and the top five in the Freestyle class.
Modified Harley, 3rd: Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glide by AX Studio Third place in the Modified Harley class went to AX Studio for this brilliantly old-school Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glide. The AX Studio team set out to pair romantic classical details with bobber style, and we think they’ve nailed it.
A Sportster tank was mounted on custom brackets to the Dyna frame, with a handcrafted leather seat made by Hoffman. The rear fender is custom and bobbed to suit, with plenty of clearance to cruise with the Bitubo rear shocks.
The springer front end is bejeweled with a cast aluminum headlight, Performance Machine calipers, and custom caliper mounts. Kustom Tech levers were bolted to both sides of the bars, which sit proudly in front of the Motogadget motoscope mini embedded in the tank. A custom internal throttle system keeps the bars super clean.
The forward controls were made by hand and feature an ingeniously hidden pair of Motogadget mo.blaze indicators. The air filter and the stainless steel exhaust are custom, as is the paint which was laid down by Goblin Paint. It’s a curious mish-mash of styles, but AX Studio has somehow made it work—and we dig it.
Modified Harley, 2nd: Harley-Davidson Softail Breakout by Fangster And now for something you don’t often see on Bike EXIF—a raked-out custom Harley-Davidson Softail Breakout, modified by Fangster and exclusively featuring bolt-on components.
Starting with a 2016 Softail Breakout, Fangster started by bolting on front fork covers, to which they mounted Highsider turn signals. An LED headlight peeks out from beneath a small cowl, which matches the large muscular tank.
An Alcantara seat with blue contrast stitching matches the paint, which extends down the swingarm. The huge rear tire is covered with a rear fender with a fit so tight we don’t even think a credit card could slip in there. The bike wears a short, slash-cut exhaust (it is a Harley Breakout, after all).
Modified Harley, 1st: Harley-Davidson Sportster XR1200 by SMF Custom As with most motorcycle shows, the modified Harley-Davidson category is vast and fierce. The Speed and Crafts show is no different, with this stunning Harley Sportster XR1200 by SMF Custom occupying the top step of the podium.
Inspired by Pikes Peak hill climb and flat track race bikes, SMF Custom injected some racing style into this street-legal motorcycle.
Upside-down forks and a rear shock from Gears Racing, plus alloy Ducati Scrambler wheels, set the stance. The bike wears a custom front numberplate and low-rise bars, while the motoscope pro dash and push buttons come from Motogadget.
The aluminum tank, belly pan, and seat were all crafted by hand. The frame escaped serious modification, but a reinforced swingarm and custom five-spoke belt pulley were fitted out back.
The footpegs are custom, as are the huge 360 mm front brake discs, squeezed tight by Brembo calipers. The fuel-injected Sporty was treated to a handmade titanium exhaust to unleash a few more ponies.
All that was needed in the way of paint was a simple handpainted white stripe on the alloy tank and seat—the perfect finishing touch.
Freestyle, 5th: BMW R80 by SMF Custom The BMW R80 is still a popular choice among custom builders—and SMF Custom shows us why. Their minimalist R80 café racer made the top five in Speed and Crafts’ Freestyle class, leaving the shop with two awards from the show.
The bulky stock rear end is gone, with a custom cantilevered subframe and seat in its place. The stock wheels were painted gloss black and contrast cut, with the rear wheel converted from drum to disc brake. The perfectly proportioned front and rear fenders are custom.
The front end was donated by a Ducati Monster, then lowered. Custom CNC yokes hold the forks in place, while a simple round LED headlight is nestled betwixt them. Clip-on bars are adorned with Motogadget bar end turn signals and grips, and Brembo levers. Other Motogadget parts include a mo.unit brain and a motoscope mini speedometer.
The stock tank has been massaged into a more aggressive position and the black paint has been broken up with beautiful gold pin-striping. Rear-sets and a custom stainless steel exhaust round out this classic, tasteful build from SMF Custom.
Freestyle, 4th: Suzuki BS125 by ZeroVector Fourth place in the Freestyle Class was awarded to ZeroVector for this custom Suzuki BS125. There isn’t a whole lot of the original BS125 left though, save for its engine—which has been rebuilt, and repackaged in a custom frame.
A bespoke swingarm sits out back, with a matching set of 17” Unison wheels wrapped in Dunlop Sportmax Q-Lite tires. The bodywork, which was fabricated in a joint effort with Hide Work, was inspired by the wings and body of a manta ray.
Kymco forks do duty up front, with a custom cowl that houses the headlight. The seat is integrated into the tank section, and finished with Alcantara upholstery by ChiRui Leather Custom. Modern handlebars are equipped with Rizoma turn signals, Motogadget switches, and ZeroVector’s own grips and risers.
The brake discs are custom parts, while the calipers come from Hartford. The rear-set foot pegs and twin exhausts are, again, from ZeroVector’s catalog. The final result is a surprisingly delicate custom that lends a sense of speed, even while standing still.
Freestyle, 3rd: Yamaha Ténéré 700 by Faber Studio x Rough Crafts Third place in the Freestyle Class was awarded to Faber Studio and Rough Crafts for a bike that is missing from the Yamaha factory lineup—a Ténéré 700 flat tracker. Yamaha’s CP2 engine is a real peach, and the crew wanted to showcase this in a lighter, more flickable package.
The roller was fitted with a pair of 19” wheels from Roland Sands Design, a set of Öhlins forks, and an Öhlins rear shock, all of which lowered the bike. The bodywork is mostly adapted Yamaha YZ450 stuff, with a handmade fuel tank sitting front and center. Everything is low and skinny, allowing plenty of movement front and back.
The Tenere 700 electronics and ignition remain, with everything hidden under the new bodywork. A set of Renthal Fatbars and Beringer controls are mounted on CNC-machined fork clamps, with the lighting supplied by a pair of LED projectors hidden neatly under the radiator.
The guys couldn’t decide whether to mount the exhaust high like a dirt bike or low like a flat tracker, so they chose both. The big-bore custom stainless steel headers are capped with Rough Crafts-branded mufflers, which must sound incredible at full tilt.
Faber Studio and Rough Crafts’ Yamaha Ténéré 700 flat tracker is long, low, and oh-so mean. (If you like to find out more about it, we featured it previously here.)
Freestyle, 2nd: Honda DAX125 by Nemoto and JZO Crafts This pint-sized work of art was built as a collaboration between Nemoto’s Kunimoto Hidetoshi and JZO Crafts. The team took a Honda DAX125 and turned it up to eleven—and then took home second place in the Freestyle Class.
Sat atop the Dax’s fuselage is a custom aluminum seat unit, topped with leather upholstery from Qi Rui. It lifts up to reveal an aluminum fuel tank. A titanium exhaust snakes its way through the DAX bodywork, exiting out the back through a handmade ducktail muffler.
An Over Racing swingarm is suspended by a custom multi-link suspension system. The bike uses Racing Bros air suspension at both ends—so it sits lower when parked than it does when riding.
The Nemoto CNC machine got a workout, as it pumped out the rear-set foot pegs, front fork covers, front fork lower brackets, and the rear sprocket holder. A custom front fairing houses a single Baja LED headlight. Hidden behind it are CNC fork clamps from GTR and a digital instrument panel.
The custom paint was laid down by OneWay; another detail that makes this diminutive custom larger than life. (If you’d like to see more, we’ll have a full work-up on this Honda Dax in the coming week.)
Freestyle, 1st: Harley-Davidson Sportster by GD Custom This incredible Harley-Davidson Sportster was built by GD Custom—and even if it’s not something you’d typically go for, the skill and craftsmanship required to build such a machine are otherworldly. We could stare at this wild creation for hours.
The team at GD Custom wanted to blend brass, leather, cast alloys, and timber details, as a throwback to vintage industrial styles where form followed function.
The hardtail Sporty rides on a classic set of spoked wheels with a 21” wheel up front, bouncing away inside the custom girder fork. Cast housings were made for the twin headlights, which sit in front of the custom handlebars.
The fuel tank, rear fender, and myriad brackets all appear to be some sort of cast alloy and are expertly made. The Sportster engine sits proudly inside the frame, with neat brass details like the pushrod tubes and air intake.
The custom leather seat features an interesting split design where the inside section is sprung but the outside is fixed to the rigid frame—a detail you don’t see too often. The oil tank is ingeniously integrated into the front of the frame, with copper lines running rearward to feed the engine.
Every detail on the GD Custom Sportster appears handmade and well-considered. The amount of time and effort that went into the build must be astronomical, so it’s easy to see why it took home the gold.
Performance, 3rd: BMW RnineT by Kuo CNC Design Kuo CNC Design took home the bronze trophy in the Performance class with this wild custom BMW R nineT. As their name suggests, they specialize in CNC design—and they’re clearly bloody good at it. Designed around the concept of ‘mechanical soul,’ the Kuo CNC Design R nineT combines mechanical aesthetics with elements of steampunk and anime.
Clip-on handlebars, a set of custom fork clamps, and a slew of Motogadget and Magura parts make up the new cockpit area. The bike rolls on a gorgeous set of custom alloy wheels, which look so good you’d think they were genuine BMW accessories. Rear set pegs and a shortened subframe push the rider into an aggressive position, but a new Öhlins rear shock keeps it comfortable.
The intake features a pair of forward-facing pod filters, with the engine sucking air through custom titanium intakes and ejecting it via a titanium exhaust with Akrapovič muffler. The rocker covers feature custom engraving, inspired by the crew’s love of anime.
The bodywork was painted by hand and is the standout feature of the bike. It’s loud, but it still ties into the other black and red components of the bike in a subtle way. We bet it looks even better riding down a sunny country lane.
Performance, 2nd: Ducati Monster 937 by Chun Hsiung Motorbike The runner-up of the Performance class at Speed and Crafts was this Ducati Monster 937, modified by Chun Hsiung Motorbike. The inspiration behind the modifications was the 2022 Lamborghini Huracan STO, a VW Group stablemate of Ducati. The Huracan’s baby blue paint was splashed over the Monster—but Chun chose Ducati red instead of orange for the highlights.
A tiny bikini fairing with a Puig windscreen was bolted on above a new set of Öhlins FGRT301 front forks. A set of magnesium M10RS Corse wheels from Marchesini were fitted, while a single-sided swingarm was magically bolted onto the back end, to show off the rear Marchesini hoop in all its glory. Low bars were added, along with some top-shelf Brembo goodies.
Chun installed a Spark titanium exhaust too, which ties into the blue bodywork quite well. A dry slipper clutch from STM was also fitted, because it is a Ducati, after all. The upholstery matches the hexagonal pattern found in the Huracan, with a small belly pan fitted down low to tie things together.
With all the top-shelf parts and high-performance Ducati vibe (note the sneaky winglets hanging off the bodywork), Chun has injected a healthy dose of Panigale style into the Monster.
Performance, 1st: Triumph Speed Triple 1200RR by Eric The winner of the Performance Class category was a talented gentleman named Eric, who modified his personal Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RR for the show. Eric wanted to retain a fully compliant road license for his Speed Triple, so he chose evolution over revolution.
The key focus was removing the front fairing to make the bike appear visually lighter, with a single round LED headlight mounted in its place. The headlight sits on a custom bracket and is adorned with a Triumph headlight protector. A pair of Kineo tubeless spoked wheels were fitted, and Eric retained the tasteful smattering of Triumph carbon fiber pieces.
Almost hidden from view is the gorgeous custom exhaust system. The pie-cut titanium headers snake their way under the bike and terminate in a single Zard muffler. The exhaust runs low, so the passenger pegs were deleted.
The rear end was simplified with a tail tidy and the seat was upholstered to Eric’s exemplary taste (kudos for the flash of houndstooth fabric). The bike was then finished in a Triumph Bobber TFC paint scheme, which suits the Speed Triple 1200 RR quite nicely. Sometimes it’s the simple modifications that make the biggest difference.
Speed and Crafts | Images by Kazuo Matsumoto (venue) and Weeber Photography (individual bikes)
