Bali and custom bikes

One of the things that I thought was just LOVELY about Bali was the crazy custom motorcycle scene.  Who would have thought?  Now my motorcycle days are way behind me (replaced as they are by the MAMIL era bicycle; for example, have a fab plan to go for another little ride in the US - this time a couple of days through North Carolina on my way to a work thing ...)  But Bali really made me miss them in so many ways.  In the past, I had some exposure, via Gerry Steyn, to the South African custom bike scene.  And it was always about huge, go freakishly fast, or look and sound freakishly mean (in the case of the Harley crew) bikes.  In Bali, no no, EVERYTHING gets customized, and it is so so cool.  Here are some examples, with their originals (where possible to find them):

How cool is this Honda Cub?  It's just fantastic.  GREAT paint-job, cool crome-work, really nice fork and crown, cool colour combo and seating - perfect black spoked rims and fat takkies.  I think it is simply beyond lovely.  While it maybe unrecognisable here, in it's usual guise it's a 50 to 125 cc (depending on the year, this one a 50) classic postie bike of my childhood.  What is interesting about it though, is that the Honda Cub is the best selling vehicle, of any category, of all time.  Toyota Corolla?  Goodbye.  Over 100 million Honda Cubs have been sold world-wide - check out below for its more recognisable form.

Really cool details - a really special little jewel.

Here is the 1969 version - appropriate I thought - and immediately recognisable.

And here is the 2019 Super Cub - yours for HKD13K (the price of a bicyle) with 125 power and ABS.  WTF?

I have no idea what this started its life as - but it is a 125 offroader, that's been turned into a chopper.  So cool.
Ev absolutely loved it.  You can see another with a wild faring in the background.

The next one has a bit of a story.  We are sitting down for dinner in a lovely Italian place, overlooking a rice paddy, when a guy comes rolling in on a much bigger and louder bike.  I look at the bike and see that it has Africa Twin on the tank.  I think it really can't be ... the Africa Twin was a late 1980's bike that was front and centre of my desires.  Honda built them as commercial versions of their Paris Dakar racers - 750cc offroad twin - it was the ULTIMATE adventure bike (and so successful that it has become a category of bike itself - the BMW GS range, the KTM Adventures etc.  You see them all over South Africa now (I think they are called adventure tourers - or Galander-scooters to petrol-heads :-).  So I get up and go and have a look at the bike - which as you will see below, does not look anything like the original any more.  And it is definitely an Africa Twin - I can see from the engine - and it is lovely.  So I say to the guy who has just ridden in on it, " I LOVE your bike - this was my dream bike back in South Africa just as I was getting to the age when I could ride".  He smiles a huge smile - and holds out the keys - and says "you have to take it for a spin then".  Haha - how cool is that?  So it takes me a while to get over some initial apprehension - not often an affliction - and a short while later I am literally ROARING along a road next to the rice paddies.  It went like an absolute missile - beautifully tuned, free breathing - paradise. 

Here is the original 750 cc Africa Twin....

And here is the Bali bad boy bad ass version - Josh it was GREAT!!!