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Custom Motorcycles from Japan – Bratstyle

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Custom motorcycles by Bratstyle Honda CB750

There’s an active Japanese custom bike culture that has a style all its own. Starting with some of the same bikes we would start with over here in the U.S. and many that get no attention here whatsoever, they put their own unique mark on these machines. A bit of cafe racer with lots of street tracker mixed in, too.

Custom motorcycles by Bratstyle Triumph 650

These images illustrate some of the work and they all come from a Japanese site called Bratstyle. There’s a Honda CB750, a Triumph 650, a Yamaha XS650 and SR600. Quite a few Kawasaki W650s get the treatment, too. The entire site is in Japanese so I can’t tell you very much except the bikes they do are excellent. They don’t appear to be big money machines but there’s a lot of work involved. It looks like they sell parts and accessories and judging from their gallery, they turn out quite a few bikes.

It’s an interesting style, check out their site and see what you think.

More photos and link below:

Custom motorcycles by Bratstyle Yamaha XS650

Custom motorcycles by Bratstyle Yamaha SR600

Link: Bratstyle

Posted on Filed Under: Motorcycle Builders, Vintage Motorcycles

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Comments

  4. I love the look of those bikes!!! They’re like a sporty version of Zero Choppers. I wish the thumbs on the website were bigger so I could get a better look. Many of them appear to have the rear-end slammed down as low as they can go essentially making them hardtails. They are aggressive looking, but I wonder how aggressive you could get riding them?

  7. Pete, you noticed that, “Many of them appear to have the rear-end slammed down as low as they can go essentially making them hardtails”

    I had a friend, a Japanese exchange student, who bought a Sportster the moment he got here, had to lower the shocks and fork as he was short – but of pretty average height for Japanese. Makes me wonder if this is aesthetic or function, perhaps a little of both.

    I hope that is not read as a racially charged statement.

  8. Also, from what I understand, Japan is pretty strict about having turn signals, even on older bikes you must retrofit them in. Some pretty nifty solutions to that problem on these bikes.

  10. I have been a big fan of the Japanese custom scene for years and admire the sense of style (or anti-style as it were)that they can impart on the most seemingly mundane bikes. Case in point: look at what they are doing with Yamaha TW200’s , a bike that was pretty much marginalized in North America and yet can be customized into some pretty amazing to behold

  11. I’ve been a fan of this kind of bike for a couple years. I wish there was a universally used name to describe these Japanese customs, to make the easier to google.

    I really like this W650, http://www.bratstyle.com/custom/66/P90100182.jpg. I like the bikes that are something between bobbers and cafe racers… maybe a little streettracker, too.

    Japanese 350-450cc parallel twins from the ’70s and ’80s would make great donors for this style bike. Some of the factory “custom” bikes of the mid-80s (KZ440LTD, GS450L-T, etc) had teardrop tanks but didn’t have raked out forks. Flat track bars, a cobbled up seat, and peeling of unnecessary junk would get you most of the way there.

  12. The small displacement bikes that they use are indeed a great way to make a chopped out radical ride. I own two, a suzuki gn400, and a honda cb 360
    Neither bike was running or even complete when I got them and both bikes were considered learner bikes with no real use except as a “first bike”
    Kick only bikes are just plain easy to make into a radical looking chopper, add to that the unique look of a single cylinder, slam it down, add some (as someone said it) “found parts” paint it or let it rust, those little “beginner bikes” can have more attitude than a store bought 50k chopper.
    For example, I’ve got a relatively bone stock HD v-rod, when I drive that people are all smiles and waves. I get on the GN (about 1/3 the displacement 1/2 the speed, 10 times the attitude and louder than a sportster with open pipes) I’ve been labled a “menace to society” I still use hand signals and turn signals together, I mind space barriers and dont rev the motor. Some say I drive crazier on the rod cause its faster. But I get treated worse on the chops. Why? Pre-concieved notions of what the person riding the bike is like.
    “More attitude in the spokes of the rims (of the GN)than the whole harley”
    Since they are (can be) low budget to build, easy to maintain and usually cheap to buy, you tend to use more ingenuity than if you spend 10k on a motor. Build it cheap, and attitude is free.
    The GN for example I built for a total of 1500 and that includes the price of the bike, using left over takeoff parts from 7 different “high budget” bikes. Will it win shows? Never, but everyone looks, and no biker says bad things about it, just becuase it took creativity and not a high credit limit. The only real limitations for these cheap small displacement bikes really is how crazy do you want to get.

  13. Wow , I like it . At least their ridable , not like the hardtail fat tire raked out cookie cutter choppers .

  14. Love the top two images, they look like some pretty hard cafe racers/scramblers. The bottommost pic, I’m not so fond of. That engine looks cool as hell, though.

  15. Bratstyle Rules!! Love the anti-trend looks of the Japanese Custom scene … and being a fan of smaller displacement motorcycles makes looking at those beauties all the sweeter! Pure Lust!
    Man I really wanna TW200 to skin down into one of those wacky Japanese Bobber/Tracker Frankenbikes!

  16. Has anyone ever been able to contact the guys at bratstyle? I’ve been emailing them but haven’t had much luck. I’m trying to find a gas tank similar to the ones their using on the xs650. It almost looks like a sportster tank, but a little thinner and longer. Anyone have any ideas what kind of tank that is?

  17. I have tried contacting them too. No luck here. That seems to be the common thread with all the people I have heard trying to contact them. I am guessing that either none of them can speak English, or they just have no interest in dealing with overseas orders. I tell ya, I sure wish I could speak Japanese. I would absolutely love to get my hands on one of their seats for the xs650 sp.

  18. I have a bike used in son of anarchy and on csi interested in selling do bike used in TV sell good on this site its a OMG bike thanks

  19. hey guys.
    the guys over at bratstyle are frineds of mine , and maybe i can answer some of your questions. first, the tank you saw is custom. it may have started as a sporty tank, but he usually cuts them into 4’s and narrows and shortens them. also there bikes are pretty expensive. sr’s and xs’s etc custom built are around 15k. but I can say he really builds them right. and they run really good. all the motors are built up and are not just for show. if you wanna see some larger pics check my blog. ( a bunch of pages back, but you will find it.) http://www.21runnin.blogspot.com

    I also agree smaller disp. jap bikes are really cool and have ALOT of personality . I have 3 xs’s (street tracker, chopper, and a racebike 2 sr’s (stock, and a street track) a champion framed tt500 race bike, a tw200 (fully custom) , a large displacement 1260 GS (drit drag bike) and a harley chopper . my TW200 gets the most attention.!

  20. I am looking for a red gas tank for my suzuki gs450l 1980 that are nos and side covers plus emblems are something that i would buy. cell 1-435-619-9950.That gas tank suzuki part # is 44100-44210-00j.Thank’s bill