Written by Marlon Slack
There?s something refreshing about Atelier Medusa. Based in France, the shop doesn?t make any pretensions about being the most experienced team out there. They have mentors, they ask questions and they learn. A lot. Each of their builds has been getting better and better. And they continue this upwards trajectory with their latest creation, a perfectly-proportioned 1988 Honda Dominator scrambler.

Medusa are only new the custom scene, with the Dom? being their third tilt at building a motorcycle. The shop is made up of two bright-eyed engineering students, Quentin and Thomas, who have spent a lifetime sketching and building things. They draw their inspiration from science fiction films ? including post-apocalyptic staples like Mad Max.
And that?ll give you an idea of the direction the pair wanted to take the Dominator in. They wanted something good-looking and to test their skills, but they also wanted to ride it. ?Because we are tall people we wanted something high and comfortable,? they say. ?But it had to be very thin and ?sober? at the same time and have nothing to hide. We wanted to stay minimalist and pure, without any plastic. That is, to say, the opposite of the Dominator was when it left Honda?s factory in 1988?.

The Honda Dominator, an early adventure-touring bike, was outfitted with more plastic than a Brazilian model when it initially hit showroom floors. Over time it?s garnered a legion of fans who praised its reliability, comfort an...