Built for the journey
Charlie Boorman needs little introduction in the two-wheeled world. Through his Long Way adventures with Ewan McGregor he inspired motorcyclists around the world to take the time off to go on that epic adventure, and ever since he got his license he rode virtually all types of motorcycles at some point.
When you’ve tried it all, it becomes easy to decide on your favorite bike for those everyday rides, and in Charlie’s case this is a full-custom T120 Bonneville personalized to his preferences.
Already impressive, the striking orange Bonnie was missing the final piece of the custom-puzzle, the perfect exhaust to finish it off.
A quick trip to our Brackley workshop saw the T120 truly come to life, after we fitted it with the titanium full drag system from our Ready To Ride collection. Charlie’s Triumph now sports that cleaned up look that comes with fitting drag pipes, while it spreads those deep-toned tunes from its 1200cc twin engine.
For those of you who missed it, you can watch the full video of Charlie’s visit to our workshop, and the transformation of this Bonneville, by clicking 'Watch Video' on the left.
Parked in the heart of the custom motorcycle scene
From starting a blog focused on the revival of the custom motorcycle scene, to creating multiple events and venues dedicated to the subject: if anyone knows how customizing a motorcycle is done it’s Anthony “Dutch” Van Someren, founder of The Bike Shed Motorcycle Club.
With a venue in London and Los Angeles, and another one underway, Dutch currently finds himself traveling between the UK capital and the Californian coast. And because motorcycles are hard to bring on board as hand luggage, Dutch quickly got himself a beautiful black Thruxton 1200 RS to ride whenever he is in LA. And while he decided not to go full custom for this one, he carefully curated the right parts to give it that personalized look, feel, and more importantly: sound.
Enter stage left, our full system with cone-shaped mufflers in a brushed finish. The style of this system compliments the classic café racer looks of the Thruxton, and the conic shape allows exhaust gasses to expand before leaving the muffler which gives the Thruxton that distinct two-cylinder thump. On top of that, the full system shaves off a tremendous amount of weight resulting in livelier handling on the road: perfect for those California twisties.
Working with Dutch means working with someone who has been pivotal in the revival of the custom motorcycle scene, and it is a great compliment to have him pick our exhaust for his personal bike. As a result, you can see the Hitchcox Motorcycles’ brand name parked outside of the Los Angeles Bike Shed venue whenever you are around, with many LA based Triumph enthusiasts following suit.
Stepping into new territory
The Royal Enfield Interceptor 650
Known best for her role as the Marvel character Mantis, Pom Klementieff is equally adventurous when she’s not on set. Her weapon of choice when she goes out on the road is a Royal Enfield Interceptor 650, but just like her Marvel character the bike sports a unique outfit after its full custom makeover.
The Bike Shed played a big role in the transformation of the bike, and thanks to our connection to Vikki and Dutch we jumped on board to expand our horizon beyond the exhaust systems we already engineered for Triumph’s modern classic range.
The result is a striking double barrel, high mount full system that completely transforms the bike’s look compared to the low mount stock exhaust. The decision for the high mount setup came from the scrambler-esque design direction, and when you see the bike, you immediately understand why.
The introduction of the bike on platforms like Bike Exif was followed by an overwhelming response, which saw the exhaust system being added to our Ready-To-Ride collection as the first non-Triumph focused product. And if you are looking to transform your Interceptor 650, you’ll be happy to find it in our collection.
One off custom Ducati full system
Leave it to Matt to stun the crowd with his Sticky’s Speed Shop creations. Thinking outside of the box whenever he starts a new project, this creation saw him tackle an air-cooled 90’s Ducati SuperSport. Us reaching out to him asking if he had any interesting projects planned was all he needed to go all-in on the Ducati, and we were happy to contribute to the bike that later became the poster boy for The Bike Shed’s London show.
Far from the typical Ducati-red appearance, the mix of carefully curated parts from Ducati’s, Suzuki’s, Yamaha’s and custom made pieces is carried out in bold colors and lighting bolts. Our input meant we carefully routed full titanium headers through the frame and around the shock before adding dual under-seat titanium mufflers with custom titanium billet end details.
While we leave it to you to enjoy the pictures, we will put in Matt’s quote as used in the Bike Exif article:
"On collecting the Ducati from Hitchcox, Matt, no stranger to exotic parts, was left gobsmacked. “From front to back, it was outstanding, with flawless bends and welds all the way through. Pictures will never do it justice, it has to be seen in the flesh to be fully appreciated.”
Built to stand out
Rob’s Thruxton is what happens when ambition and creativity have no boundaries. It’s hard to believe that Rob came in “just” to get a Hitchcox Motorcycles’ exhaust for his Thruxton, but that’s how this story started.
Rob and Tom quickly became friends while chatting about what could be done to personalize his Thruxton 1200R. Tom, no stranger to customizing bikes beyond their exhausts, threw a few ideas around that quickly got answered by even more ambitious changes to the bike.
Fast forward, this one-off build got treated to the full makeover with no stone untouched. Changes to the frame, upgraded suspension, a surplus of high-end aftermarket parts, and the piece de resistance, a one-off full exhaust system following a routing never seen on a Thruxton 1200 before.
The routing of the exhaust was partially made possible by switching from the stock fuel injection to old school carburetors, another feature not seen on Triumph’s modern-day café racer. And while these extensive changes came with some engineering headaches during the build, the result is a stunning bike that stunned the crowd when it was unveiled at the 2024 Bike Shed Motorcycle Show in London.
Built for raw riding
For those of you who’ve never been to the Malle Mile, we encourage you to put it at the top of your list. Run by cousins Robert and Jonny, the event is truly unique, and it unites motorcycle enthusiasts who aren’t afraid to get dirty.
The vibe of the event attracts custom builders to take a day off to have a good time, but not before creating a purpose-built bike to join in on the offroad shenanigans the event has to offer. Sebastian Miller went to LIND Triumph in London to do just that when creating a classic styled, desert sled inspired Triumph Bonneville.
Built together with the talented Charlie Stockwell from Stockwell Design, the bike turned into something Steve McQueen himself would ride. Dubbed the Grimsthorpe Growler, the bike born as a T120 Bonneville now lives as a custom, offroad inspired bike equipped with a one-off, double barrel high mount full system that perfectly contributes to the desert sled vibes.
We were happy to see the bike join in the Malle Mile on the day, and we can safely say it looks just as cool, if not cooler, covered in mud.
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We work on a limited number of custom builds throughout the year. If you’re working on something extraordinary, like the projects above, get in touch with us.
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