One Man’s Trash Is another Man’s Treasure – VR Customs Win Biker’s Café’s Annual Build-off Competition
Bikers Café, established in Dubai, is not just about good coffee and sandwiches. They also organize engaging and interactive activities that reveal the true heart of their establishment – motorcycles.
(Image: Biker’s Café)
The café has an annual motorcycle ‘build-off’ competition where they give three groups a motorcycle each to rebuild and re-style in a limited amount of time; the only rules were that the motorcycle had to be fully functional and the original engine was to remain. This year’s star was none other than the Indian-made 150cc Hero Xtreme that is well known to Emiratis as the ‘Thriller’.
Once the Thrillers were handed over, the three participating groups set to work immediately.
VR Customs’ Marc and Alan were the winners of Biker’s Café’s third build-off completion who came up with a stunning design and concept.
(Image: Biker’s Café)
Who would have known that this bike was originally used for pizza delivery?
(Image: Instagram/Greg Falski)
They generally left the engine alone as per the competition rules. But because they went “crazy” building something unique, they could not help but add a PE30 Keihin carb and a turbocharger to increase the bike’s speed.
The two men stripped much of the frames of the Hero Xtreme, gusseting it “for strength”, said Marc, as the quality of the steel used was “not great”. They also modified the hardtail rear end, having the pipes bent at their friend’s workshop, before assembling and welding them back into place. There was also a host of new brackets as well as a redesigned lower engine mount – changes that were could not be seen visually. Those that could be seen, though, were the installation of a silicon intake pipe and a new oil tank and pump.
Their customized Thriller runs on an amalgamation of borrowed parts – a Suzuki GSX-F750’s front forks and brake caliper, a 17-inch Honda CRF supermoto front wheel and a combination of a Honda CRF supermoto hub and an 18-inch CRF MX rim for the rear wheel – placing the Hero’s front caliper on the back wheel and CRF wavy brake discs at both ends. To ensure it worked properly, they added several brake adaptors and wheel spacers. Similarly, to make sure they could mount the bike, they used 2mm stainless plates inside the fairing and 10mm stainless tubing from the fairing and onto the bake, the resulting design a sort of replica of a 1950S MV Agusta.
Apparently, they welded bushes onto the bike for the tubes to be slotted into, using R-clips to secure them in place.
A two-gallon peanut tank is the only other bodywork on the Thriller, something that was supposed to be used for another project. But because it was not the right fit for said project, the piece ended up lying unused on their workspace. Fortunately, they found a good use for it for the build-off competition. After a cut and shut with a wider tunnel, the tank finally fit over the frame rails.
Behind the tank was a seat that was hand-shaped by Alan, borrowing the seat pad of a Honda CB750 café racer and capping it off.
Other miscellaneous modifications were: a Triumph 675 rear master cylinder, custom triple clams and steering stops, a new gear shift linkage, a throttle tube from a two-stroke, braided brake lines, tacho and boost gauges mounted in a custom-built dash behind the fairing and a pair of Bitwell Inc. grips around the cockpit.
Some people might say this is too much, but it was just enough for them to bag that trophy. After January, once all the necessary promotions are done, the men of VR Customs plan on having a little more fun with it on the drag strip.
Check out the creation of VR Customs below (all images hereinafter are from VR Customs’Facebook):
