Modern inline-four muscle bikes from Japan appeal to my practical side?they?re big, comfortable, reliable and have gobs of power. My only gripe with would be that they can come across as a bit bland, visually. You can go very far, very fast, but some of them look and sound like big sewing machines.
The owner of this 2008 Suzuki GSX1400, Luke, is no tailor. But he is something of a custom motorcycle aficionado. This is the second bike he’s had built by Tom Gilroy and his team at Purpose Built Moto on Australia’s Gold Coast.

The first was a Honda CBX1000 café racer, and Luke loved it so much that he decided to give it a worthy stablemate. He was primarily using his Suzuki for touring duties, and thought it also deserved the full PBM treatment. So with the CBX to compare to, what did Luke want for his GSX" ?Our first conversation was mostly about aesthetic upgrades, some mild engine performance mods to match, and better handling to boot,? Tom tells us. ?It’s hard not to improve a motorcycle when you?re cutting weight off and letting the beast breathe easier. Our plan was this: rebuild the angular subframe to create a shorter, sharper style, and pick up the design from where the CBX1000 left off.?

To kick things off, the bike was torn down. Most of the factory body parts were discarded, with the exception of the fuel tank. It was decided early on that the wheels had to be white?so with the color palette taking form, they were sent off to paint whil...