Japanese Custom

Knowing that I am an avid motorcyclist, most people seem surprised when they ask me if I watched the latest installment of American Chopper--or whatever the current white trash show de jour happens to be--and I reply in the negative. That's because, outside of the fact that I have absolutely no interest in watching a bunch of dysfunctional sociopaths cobble together parts for an hour, I find the vast majority of custom motorcycles to be both ostentatious and ugly.

A Japanese builder, however, has come up with a really unique custom that I like.

The page is translated from Japanese by Google, and is quite difficult to read, so here's the pertinent bits I could sort out... Because of the exceptionally long wheelbase and shallow rake, (translation: very hard to steer in a stressed-member monoframe configuration), it's built around a dual-steering suspension and three-chain drive system. It can be custom-built for the owner with a variety of engines, ranging from a tiny 250cc two-banger, up to a modern, inline-four, liter-bike engine. Now that is a true custom bike.