The FLYING DUTCHMAN

LM Creations’ Moto Guzzi V9 Bobber pays tribute to the ultimate Italian grand prix bike of the 1950s a.

- NICOLAS STECHER

For a young Luuc Muis growing up in The Netherlands, the art of motorcycle design seemed predestined from birth, arguably programmed into his very DNA. The son of a professional graphic designer, his dad trained Luuc in the aesthetic arts on two fronts: digitally training skills in Adobe software like Photoshop and Illustrator, while also ensuring his son earned grease under his fingernails working on a vintage Volvo in the garage. Wrenching bolts and saturating pixels, a two-pronged approach.

By the ripe age of 12, Luuc began working Saturdays sweeping floors at a custom motorcycle shop, combining lessons learned from hours glued to the Discovery channel with tooling around in the store’s robust tool shed. Soon the nascent Dutch builder was engineering and manufacturing his very own stretched chopper pedal bike.

When it came time to decide on university Luuc dedicated his studies to industrial product design, building three motorcycles just for kicks during his term. Graduating at the age of 21 he immediately began working in the motorcycle industry designing hardware, aftermarket accessories, helmets, and apparel. While a full-time employee he managed to win an Indian Motorcycle competition where he was paid to construct his wild Hasty Flaming Buffalo creation—an inspired one-off celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Indian Scout.