It starts with a ‘short list’ of about 25 bikes. Once Chris compiles the stats and publishes his list, I eliminate any bikes that made both lists, to level the playing field. This year, those were Brad Peterson’s Yamaha TZ750, Workhorse Speedshop’s Indian Scout drag bike and Andrew Stagg’s jaw-dropping Yamaha MT-07.
Like the stats-based list, my selection is extremely light on café racers?but loaded with flat trackers and street trackers, and bikes that take cues from those styles. There’s been a big push towards performance in the scene this year too, and some of the bikes below would be proper fun to ride. As an added twist, two of the machines that made the cut are electric.
The list below isn’t ranked, it’s simply alphabetical (by builder name). So read on and soak up my ten favorite custom motorcycles of 2019. Then hop into the comments and tell me if you agree with the selection.
Alta Redshift by Blatant Moto When electric manufacturer, Alta, shut their doors, three ex-employees were left with a laundry list of untested ideas. Luckily, those guys also had the skills to execute their ideas, and access to a bundle of prototype and sample drivetrain parts from the company’s promising Redshift model.
The three formed Blatant Moto, and debuted with this radical flat tracker. Ironically dubbed ‘The Death Rattle,’ it’s a refreshing twist on a popular genre, but it’s also a glimpse at the desig...