The first of four chapters, detailing a motorcycle build project that Diamond Atelier will be sharing with us over the next few weeks. For their latest project, the guys at Munich-based Diamond Atelier have undertaken the challenge of flipping a brawny off-road Suzuki DR650 into a more stylish, urban-friendly cafe racer. The initiative coincides with the release of the latest issue of Craftrad magazine, which is set to drop during the first week of November. Read a step-by-step guide to the first part of the makeover below, courtesy of Tom Konecny and Pablo Steigleder from Diamond Atelier, shot by Philipp Wulk. “As the Suzuki DR is a standard typical off-road motorcycle, it was a long shot from the urban-aggressive style that we want to gravitate toward. The DR seemed to work well as a base model — given the high capacity single cylinder engine and its reputation of being a reliable daily driver — but, most importantly, this particular transformation has never been done before.”

“The first step in every build is to strip the entire bike down to its bare essentials, in order to see what is hiding underneath the bodywork. In this case it’s obvious that the rear frame interferes with the otherwise simple proportions of the bike and therefore must be removed. Besides that, the whole bike sits too high off the ground and has to be lowered for the bold, offensive look we want to pursue.”repo motorcycles for sale in georgia “Often, we treat our bikes to some cosmetic modifications, but we also make sure each bike is in immaculate mechanical condition when they roll out of our workshop. motorcycle sale in baguio cityTherefore, every engine is completely disassembled and reworked to make sure it runs just as good as it looks.”suzuki intruder 1500 motorcycles for sale

“We proceed to strip down the bike even further until we are left with just a frame. Now comes a critical part in the build – defining the stance and ride geometry. Not only does this step influence the bike’s appearance more than anything else, it is also a crucial determinant for the ride characteristics.” “After lots of measuring and tweaking, we can finally test fit our custom made suspension components. motorcycles for sale bremertonCompared to the original parts, these are shorter, stiffer, lighter and a lot more durable — but also about 10 times as expensive.” “Another crucial component is the set of wheels. We are using smaller and much wider rims compared to the old ones, which allow us to mount modern racing tires. These provide additional safety at high speeds as well as more traction when cornering and breaking.” “This is the final stance.

Besides the more aggressive look, we also achieved a lower center of gravity, which is especially important for fast and tight corners in downtown city traffic.” “With the beefy tires and the lowered ride height, the appearance of our DR650 is now already far from where it started. But of course we can’t just put the old parts back on.” “One of the major visual characteristics of every motorcycle is the gas tank. Its shape and position on the bike can make a design perfect or throw it off completely. We chose a vintage ’70s Honda tank, which complements the Suzuki’s new slim and light silhouette.” “Here we are: quarter of the way through our custom cafe racer.” Stay tuned for part two of the transformation diary, coming soon…If this cute little number whipped past you out on the trails, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a vintage Husky resto. But you might have a hard time keeping up.It’s actually a 2005-model Husqvarna 510—built to a very unusual brief by Tony Prust of Analog Motorcycles.

Hence the name: ‘Double Take.’ Tony’s client, Doug Wheeler, is a massive fan of vintage dirt bikes. It’s the more exotic marques that tickle his fancy: Ossa, Maico, Bultaco and, naturally, Husqvarna.“Unfortunately the years have gotten the best of Doug, and kick starting those old machines is no longer an option,” says Tony. “He saw a Photoshopped rendering of a more modern Husqvarna, made to look like an old 70’s era Husky, and sent it to me.” Starting with a brand new Husky donor would have sent the budget through the roof. Plus the new, tall machines are unsuited to Doug’s height.“He was interested in starting with a Honda CRF250X. But I wasn’t willing to take a Honda and make it look like a Husky—I have standards!” says Tony. “So I talked Doug into letting me hunt down a Husqvarna donor bike. A month or so later I located an SM 510R in pretty good shape.” For starters, converting the 510 from motard to scrambler meant a new set of wheels. Tony put a call in to Warp 9 to lace a set up in proper dirt bike sizes: a 21-inch front and an 18-inch rear.

The next trick was lowering the Husky enough to suit Doug, but still retain decent suspension travel. That meant ditching the stock mono-shock setup in favor of a custom dual shock arrangement. (Which, as a bonus, helped with the classic look.) Analog beefed up the subframe and fabricated mounts for the new shocks—a one-off set of G3-S fitments from Race Tech. The forks went to them too, and came back two inches lower.“Doug has no intention of jumping the machine, but rather enjoying some mild single track and trail riding,” explains Tony. “So the stance, suspension and height are all where they need to be for him.” Getting the right look for the bodywork was critical. So Tony roped in Craig of Rod Smith Customs to help build a vintage-style aluminum fuel tank, and a matching set of fenders.The radiators had to be bumped forward a tad to accommodate the new tank, which mounts directly to the SM’s stock tabs. “A bit of a challenge—but it turned out really well,” says Tony.

Keeping with the vintage motif, Tony made a couple of number plates to cover up the stock air box and new subframe. The seat pan was shipped off to Alligator Bob’s, and came back as a simple vinyl affair—but with custom foam and gel padding for long days in the saddle.The 53hp single cylinder engine was solid. It was just treated to a good service, and a couple of case covers were powder coated black. The exhaust system is a modified Arrow two-in-one header setup, mated to a Cone Engineering muffler. The finish is what you’d expect from Analog—top shelf. The throwback, two-tone paint comes from Kiel’s Kustoms, and the silver bits are polished aluminum. There’s a Bates-style headlight up front with a hand-made grill, along with a Trail Tech Vapor speedo.An Analog Motor Goods ‘Revolver’ taillight keeps things legal, along with well a full set of well hidden LED turn signals. The skid plate is from Flatland Racing, the foot pegs are from Warp 9, and the tires are Shinko 244s.