Quite a few bikes have quirks that can trap the unwary builder. The strange frame curvature on the Honda CX500 is one of them, and the height of the Harley Sportster motor is another.
The venerable V-twin is an unusually tall engine, which makes it difficult to get a straight line from the base of the tank to the back of the seat. And it?s even harder to create a low-slung, slammed effect. But Uwe Kostrewa has managed to pull off both tricks, and deserves a round of hearty applause.

Uwe hails from Cologne in western Germany, and operates his workshop as ?Hombrese Bikes.? He?s been building for six years, but burst onto the scene a couple of years ago with a colorful W650 tracker?complete with bright blue powder coated frame.
?Normally I build Japanese bikes,? he tells us. ?But I wanted to do something a little different, and thought about building a Harley-Davidson in the Hombrese style.?
Uwe?s Harley is a 2003-model Sportster 883, with an economy and purity of line that makes us think of the best Japanese shops.
?I think the style is a mix of scrambler, tracker and a little bit of Brat,? says Uwe. It ticks all those boxes for us, and a few more: when the images came in, we pored over them, trying to figure out how Uwe got such perfect stance.

So how did he do it"
?First, I took the bike apart and checked out the frame. I decided to lower it at the front and elevate the back to find a good line.?
Uwe has kept the stock fork tubes but installed new internals, in...