this week i received a nice email from a man named faiz darizt in indonesia with flattering remarks about how bikerMetric has been “a great source of inspiration” for him. flattery will get him nowhere. but these kickass honda bobbers will:
their bike, “the 4th attempt,” has been featured on bM twice in the past few months. on another popular blog it has been mistakenly attributed to the purchaser of the bike, who likes to go around saying he built it. the truth is dariztdesign built it. maybe there was a great big mistranslation between him and the blog i got the photos from. either that or the buyer is kind of a douche. in this profile from last june by indonesian magazine roda dua (“two wheels”), the owner of the bike brags about how he had it built but never met the builders.
that settles that. some bloggers ought to do a little research before posting. trust but verify, dudes.
the brothers at dariztdesign are self-taught and spend countless hours researching and learning about everything related to custom metric motorcycle building, from painting and airbrushing to metal fabricating and frame building. with each build they seek to create something unique.
faiz wrote how they were located in the center of java, indonesia, and he called their home town jogja rather than yogyakarta. i suspect faiz did this for a couple reasons; both as a function that determines his city as a good place for business, and for a stupid american that might go “huh?” at yogyakarta.
all right. you want info on these bikes and i’m fascinated with southeast asian culture, and not only the “kustom” kind. i have covered this before, but if you are not aware (you stupid american) the reason indonesian cats build such small bore bobbers is because they are affordable. if you live in the far east (thailand, malaysia, philippines, etc.) and can afford a bike larger than 500cc, you’re wealthy. more than 750cc and you are very wealthy. american vees and european bikes are incredibly rare. therefore, the custom motorbike builders get their hands on what they can, and they’ve got millions of 100-to-250cc motorbikes to chop and turn into amazing creations.
darizt design definitely has the amazing part down as you can see from the pix here of their orange honda cb100 bobber, called “the preamble.”
agus is the man behind the metal and mechanical mayhem. faiz assists with research and design ideas, and helps with the business of owning a custom motorcycle shop. it’s been a pleasure trading emails with him the past few days.
the orange bike seen above is a 1976 cb100. nothing but the motor remains from the original bike. to boost performance, agus replaced the cylinder head and carburetor with a honda gl200 head and carb, as well as adding other mechanical elements from the gl.
the frame, front suspension and handlebars are made from seamless steel tube, using “old fashioned bending tools,” according to faiz. the gas tank, exhaust, forward controls, saddle, lamps, and other accessories were all hand made from metal by dariztdesign.
both wheels are 21′ (my favorite), and the front and rear wheel hubs and discs are from a gas gas trial bike. the brothers painted the bike in their garage but the engine and exhaust were powder coated outside.
amazingly enough, the preamble was their very first build. they’re self-taught mofos showing what a man can do when he decides to do it and suffers no doubt about his dream.
the green bike here is a 1985 gl100 or, as faiz wrote, “let’s call it the second attempt.” unlike the preamble, there are no special treatments for the engine, only upgrades on the ignition and wiring.
the frame, front and rear suspensions, and handlebars are again made from steel tube by dariztdesign. the rest of the fabrication utilized similar elements as their cb100 with some parts such as the seat cover, seat post, and cable adjuster taken from a bicycle.
dig the freaking suspension!
the wheels are 19′ and the front drum brake is from an old yamaha dt dirt bike. the rear left-sided drum brake is custom made by agus with parts taken from a vespa front drum.
these are only two of a handful of bikes the brothers have built.
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