When the guys at ICON 1000 aren?t designing gear, they?re working on bikes. The customs that roll out of the Slabtown headquarters mix retro cues with future tech?a twisted cocktail that strangely works.
This Triumph Thruxton is the latest build from the Portland, Oregon crew, led by design director Kurt Walter. And it has one of the best names ever given to a custom: Three Martini Lunch.

It?s a 2014 model Hinckley twin, and it?s heavier on the retro cues than previous builds. But 3ML keeps the off-kilter styling and avoids the usual custom clichés with a chunky, hard-edged look that?s more mid-80s than Ace Cafe.
It?s a dissolute, half-faired homage to vintage road racers, and a sister bike to the Iron Lung Sportster from three years ago. Inspiration, believe it or not, came from a 1968 Pontiac Firebird.
The unusual paint?close to British Racing Green, but not quite?is Verdoro Green, a color used in the late 1960s By General Motors.
?The color was stolen from the only Pontiac that ever mattered, and applied to this English tart in a dank woodland garage,? we?re told.

Mechanically, there?s some seriously heavy-duty work going on. The engine is now a stressed member, since the lower part of the frame has been removed.
There are new brakes from EBC, and a custom single-sided swingarm suspended with a one-off Nitron shock. Right above are the exhaust cans, hiding under the tail unit, protected by a modified Panigale heat shield.

And then, of course, there are those ...