The next Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show is over ten months away, but many top-flight builders are already plotting their next entries. After all, ?Mooneyes? is the top custom show in Japan. It’s jam-packed with supreme craftsmanship?so if you’re bringing a bike, it had better be good.
Here’s a closer look at a gem we uncovered at the most recent show: a magnificent hardtail with a knucklehead engine, created by Hideki Hoshikawa and his team at Asterisk Custom Works. Hoshikawa-san built it just for the show, and it took him almost a year.

If you’re wondering why it took so long, here’s a clue: We asked Hideki what the donor bike was, and he simply replied, ?there is no base bike…we made it from scratch.? That’s right?this is no weekend special. Hideki named the project in honor of the Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind, after watching the film The Greatest Showman. ?I tried to recreate the real diva from the movie, in our custom bike,? he explains.

Hideki chose a S&S Cycle Type E Knucklehead motor for the project. He then decided to take the theme further, going full retro on not only the style of the build, but also the techniques.
So there’s no fancy CNC work going on here; all the custom bits were hand-made using basic tools.

The hardtail frame, for starters, is a one-off. Hideki took the steering neck, seat mount, rear motor mount and transmission mount from a shovelhead frame, but built the rest using chromoly steel...