Photo: Alex Martino
LA’s Kott Motorcycles specializes in the fabrication and design of vintage motorcycles, and this latest project from the company takes a 2006 Triumph Speedmaster as base metal and turns it into something else indeed.
Kott made their bones customizing bikes from the 1970’s Honda CB series and turning them into supreme customs.
“My love of motorcycles goes back as far as I can remember. I have memories of sitting in front of my dad on a motorcycle as early as 2 years old and I cannot remember ever wanting to do anything else with my life,” says the majordomo of Kott, Dustin Kott.
He claims that his main goal is to “simplify and bring functionality back into antiquated machines,” and that he’s committed to building bikes that end up as one-of-a-kind motorcycles that perform as well as they look.
This bike from his shop, an amalgam of various parts from a 2006 Speedmaster and a 2007 Thruxton, is as exceptional to look at as it is functional.
“The project was brought to me in two separate bins of what was left of an ‘06 Speedmaster model and I started slowly sifting through the parts to find some inspiration and direction. As with most extracurricular projects, I stalled out and let the project sit for years,” Kott told Pipeburn. “Having picked up some new metal shaping tools recently, I’d decided to make an aluminum fuel tank that could possibly work for this shelved project, I’d found my motivation.”
Kott removed the cylinder head off of an air-cooled Triumph engine and, with the assistance of Bill Miko, flipped it around to create his version of a forced air induction.
The 2007 Thruxton frame was built to accommodate a set of narrowed seat frame rails and a new subframe led him to reconsider the suspension. This new frame and swingarm were then modified to ride on a monoshock taken from a Yamaha R6. The front end was then fitted with a set of Honda F4i forks which were added with some necessary parts from Cognito Moto.
The new intake setup was built to serve twin 36mm Mikuni carbs and they were placed on the engine with machined aluminum mounts and a pair of velocity stacks.
Kott says a schematic provided by Jeremy Cupp of L.C. Fabrications helped him square away the electronics and he has the “build running like a song.”
He then took a new set of metal shaping tools and went to work building some lovely, handcrafted tins which included the fuel tank and a stylish front cowl from aluminum. The cafe-style tail is all steel and one of Kott’s signature designs. This bike was finished with a classic black paint job and gold striping.
“My love of motorcycles goes back as far as I can remember. I have memories of sitting in front of my dad on a motorcycle as early as 2 years old and I cannot remember ever wanting to do anything else with my life,” says the majordomo of Kott, Dustin Kott.
He claims that his main goal is to “simplify and bring functionality back into antiquated machines,” and that he’s committed to building bikes that end up as one-of-a-kind motorcycles that perform as well as they look.
This bike from his shop, an amalgam of various parts from a 2006 Speedmaster and a 2007 Thruxton, is as exceptional to look at as it is functional.
“The project was brought to me in two separate bins of what was left of an ‘06 Speedmaster model and I started slowly sifting through the parts to find some inspiration and direction. As with most extracurricular projects, I stalled out and let the project sit for years,” Kott told Pipeburn. “Having picked up some new metal shaping tools recently, I’d decided to make an aluminum fuel tank that could possibly work for this shelved project, I’d found my motivation.”
Kott removed the cylinder head off of an air-cooled Triumph engine and, with the assistance of Bill Miko, flipped it around to create his version of a forced air induction.
The 2007 Thruxton frame was built to accommodate a set of narrowed seat frame rails and a new subframe led him to reconsider the suspension. This new frame and swingarm were then modified to ride on a monoshock taken from a Yamaha R6. The front end was then fitted with a set of Honda F4i forks which were added with some necessary parts from Cognito Moto.
The new intake setup was built to serve twin 36mm Mikuni carbs and they were placed on the engine with machined aluminum mounts and a pair of velocity stacks.
Kott says a schematic provided by Jeremy Cupp of L.C. Fabrications helped him square away the electronics and he has the “build running like a song.”
He then took a new set of metal shaping tools and went to work building some lovely, handcrafted tins which included the fuel tank and a stylish front cowl from aluminum. The cafe-style tail is all steel and one of Kott’s signature designs. This bike was finished with a classic black paint job and gold striping.
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