NICKEL ‘N' BRASS
100% Biker|Issue 254
Over the years I have been constantly impressed and often amazed at the variety of people that custom motorcycles attract. Perhaps this shouldn’t be as surprising to me as it is, because I fully believe that building a custom bike is one of the broadest forms of art that there is
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NICKEL ‘N' BRASS

After all, it encompasses both aesthetics and engineering, one of the few artforms in which these two disciplines intertwine so completely. A modified motorcycle has to work, but it also has to look good and, as many of you will have found, those two things are not always mutually compatible! Perhaps it’s because of the fact that custom motorcycles cross these boundaries that they attract an equally wide variety of people. There is genuinely no such thing as a typical custom bike owner and many of the most interesting folk I have met in this life have been through two wheels. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t still be blown away by a seemingly random meeting.

And so it was in this case. Some months ago, I had an email from Dom Fairbanks with pictures of his Harley Sportster. It was a bike I recognised and had admired in show reports, although I hadn’t realised that it lived just an hour down the road from Casa 100%. I soon found out that the bike looked even better in the flesh than in photos, but I also discovered that this build has been a far from easy process for Dom.

While he has had various motorcycles, this was a very special project for Dom and he had always wanted one that was built from the ground up to his specifications. However, it was only with the passing of Dom’s mother in 2016 that the idea became reality. His mother— who knew that her son loved motorcycles and had owned many—left him an inheritance and I wouldn’t be surprised if she knew exactly what Dom would do with that money! He says; “I was able to design my ‘always wanted dream bike’ and have it built. It means more than words to me and it’s the best gift that my mother could have given me.”

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Denne historien er fra Issue 254-utgaven av 100% Biker.

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There's No Place Like Chrome

When settling down to write a feature for a magazine, it’s necessary to have two things, nay, three things in front of you. A computer is useful, it saves all that messy ink and blotting paper that we used in those long gone school days, a strong hot mug of tea should also be on the desk (goes without saying), and finally, a set of scribbled notes that a couple of months ago resembled a detailed description of a motorcycle, but that by now, are largely illegible…

time-read
4 mins  |
Issue 256
Spike And Bob's Big Swedish Adventure: Part 5
100% Biker

Spike And Bob's Big Swedish Adventure: Part 5

In 1979 Hasse took Caprice to the Norrtälje show for the first time, but he had changes for the bike in mind and, during the winter, he picked up a jammer frame and a set of 20-inch tubes.

time-read
7 mins  |
Issue 256
Black Dog Custom Show - The Black Dog, Broadmayne, Dorset
100% Biker

Black Dog Custom Show - The Black Dog, Broadmayne, Dorset

Named after the only pub in the village of Broadmayne near Dorchester, nobody there can quite remember how long the informal get together that is the Black Dog Custom Show has been going

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1 min  |
Issue 254
100% Biker

TWEETY

Over the last couple of years, very few if any motorcycles have inspired such bafflement and scratching of heads as Dan Duggan’s Honda CX500

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7 mins  |
Issue 256
100% Biker

THE DOUBTER

Every project starts somewhere and this one began at the Bike Shed Show at Tobacco Dock in London or, to be more accurate, when my mate Matt Donaldson turned to me and said, “I bet you can’t build a bike good enough for here.” Well, that set me to work!

time-read
3 mins  |
Issue 256
100% Biker

JBS SPECIAL

Jarno comes from a family with petrol in their blood. His father races classic motorcycles and Jarno was raised on a farm where the barns are full of motorcycles instead of cows! This is his very first project, the Jarno Bastian Special

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4 mins  |
Issue 256
100% Biker

CUSTOMBIKE Messe Bad Salzuflen, Germany

Sometimes what is missing from a show is more interesting than what’s present. With the German show Custombike celebrating its fifteenth anniversary, the event remains a showcase for European customising in all its diversity— with the additional benefit of a focus on parts that are homologated and approved for Europe

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5 mins  |
Issue 256
100% Biker

COVERT MISSION

It’s not often that I have to sneak in and photograph a motorcycle without the owner knowing anything about it—something that was made tougher in this case by the said motorcycle being kept at said owner’s house

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4 mins  |
Issue 256
Carry On Screaming
100% Biker

Carry On Screaming

As is often the case, I first caught sight of Nige Biffin’s cool Honda CB750 at a local show last summer, standing out as it did from the stock stuff and the classics present. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t just the ace paint that grabbed my attention, but the obvious quality of the build throughout. I needed to know more…

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3 mins  |
Issue 255
Paul's Harley
100% Biker

Paul's Harley

Ensuring that a custom motorcycle will comfortably chew up the miles is perhaps not always one of the main priorities for every builder, but for anyone in the National Chopper Club, it’s essential. Never more so than when you happen to live in one of the far flung parts of this island which means that you’ve usually got a journey to do before you even start going anywhere, as Paul, NCC National Secretary and member of Chopper Club Kernow, knows all too well. This is the story of his latest chop.

time-read
3 mins  |
Issue 255