The Persian Gulf custom scene is small, but outposts like Bikers Cafe are working hard to change that. Every year, the Dubai joint gives three brand new motorcycles to local customizers for their annual build-off.
This year, Bikers Cafe picked a donor that most folks would turn their noses up at: the Indian-made Hero Xtreme 150, known in the United Arab Emirates as the Thriller. (Yes, those Emiratis have a sense of humor.)

Here’s the winning entry, courtesy of Marc and Alan at VR Customs. Starting with what’s essentially a pizza delivery bike, they decided that ?hard tail retro drag bike? was the way to go. And they were right. Even though this Xtreme 150 won?t quite do an 11-second quarter mile, it?s by far the coolest delivery bike we’ve ever laid eyes on. ?We are not a shop,? says Marc, ?just two guys with basement space that enjoy building bikes. But we were lucky enough as a private team to be given a bike to build.?

?The rules of the competition said that the engine must remain standard, but that was about it. It gave us the opportunity to go a bit crazy and build something unique. As our bad ideas grew it became a turbo, and we made some other changes as well.?
The donor Hero Xtreme was fresh off the showroom floor, but there’s not much left of it now. Most of the frame’s new, for starters. ?The quality of steel used on the original was not great,? explains Marc, ?so we gusseted the frame for strength.?

Then there’s that h...