Big bikes bookend this edition of Speed Read. We start with a 1,700 cc single-cylinder chopper and finish with a BMW R18 from CW Zon. Sitting in the middle are a classy Honda CB200 café racer from Indonesia and a K-Speed kit for the Honda Dax.

1,700 cc single-cylinder chopper by Al Hackel What do the Beechcraft Staggerwing and Ford Trimotor aircraft, M18 Hellcat and M4 Sherman tanks, and HUP Retriever helicopter all have in common" They?re all powered by the same 975-cubic-inch Wright R-975 Whirlwind nine-cylinder radial engine?as is the motorcycle you see here, in a way.
This custom chopper was built by a guy named Al Hackel, who had originally set out to build a Harley Knucklehead. After realizing that even dodgy basket-case Knuckles sell for exorbitant amounts of money, he pivoted to something much more wild.
It was then that Al stumbled across a Wright R-975 cylinder head for sale on eBay. The 1,700 cc cylinder was in good knick, so he brought it into his backyard agricultural equipment repair shop, closed the doors, and queued the music.
With the 1,700 cc single in hand, Al set about turning it into the heart of his creation. Using the equipment in his workshop and his lifetime of fabrication skills, Al designed, prototyped, and built the whole bottom end from scratch.

Fully complete, the R-975 cylinder is perched upon a custom engine case and drives a custom conrod and five-piece crankshaft. Al?s mate Justin Leineweber ground the custom cam, and the powe...