Currently, LDK has two motorcyclecustomization workshops located in Spain (Malaga) and in the United States (Miami, which was the brand’s first workshop and the one that has given it a boost worldwide).
The constant increase in orders and orders for BMW or Triumphcafe racer motorcyclesfor customers from the entire northern half of the country and especially from the capital, has led to the decision to open a third cafe racer workshop in Spain.
We are already working on the preparation of the facilities of what will be the new temple of the motor and the cafe racer in Madrid and that will have a modification and transformation workshop for BMW, Triumph, Harley Davidson and any other brand.
In this new motorcycle modification workshop in Madrid, we will work on all styles: Cafe Racer, Scrambler, Brat, Bobber, etc; and we will be specialized in the customization and modification of BMW R, Triumph Bonneville or Harley Davidson Sportster models.
And of course we will have a place where all lovers of the world of custom motorcycles and motorcycles in general can meet, have a coffee and talk about what we like the most: motorcycles, cars and everything that has a gasoline engine!
Despite the fact that the current situation caused by COVID-19 has delayed the work of our new premises a bit, we continue to advance little by little and we hope very soon to invite you to visit the new temple of cafe racerin Spain that we are preparing with great enthusiasm.
The customization of cafe racer bikes with Harley Davidson bases is not very common, however Lord Drake Kustoms has been one of the pioneer companies in the transformation of Harley into a cafe racer.
In 2009, the owner of Lord Drake Kustoms (Francisco Alí Manén) wanted to customize a motorcycle with a Harley Davidson base that would not turn out to be the typical bobber,chopper or custom motorcycle, which were made to date with the legendary bikes. American brand.
He wanted to show that Harleys could also be transformed into other, more current styles of custom bikes such as the cafe raceror the scrambler. And this idea by Fran Manen and without thinking, was the beginning of a new trend in the world of Harley Davidson transformations.
LDKbegan to take a turn in its motorcycle customization workshops, to start transforming Harley Davidson motorcycles into cafe racer style motorcycles that was something unthinkable until now; since the cafe racer was something typical of motorcycles of Japanese or English brands.
LDK Cafe Racer bikes
And the best way to start this turn and show the world that the transformation of Harley Davidsoninto cafe racer motorcycles was possible to do it with a Harley model that was not usual for this type of motorcycle modification: specifically we talked of the Dyna Low Rider model.
Dyna “Red Baron”
With this Dyna Low Rider (called “Red Baron”), Lord Drake Kustoms became one of the first motorcycle customizers in the world to carry out the cafe racer transformation of a Harley Davidson with a Big Twin engine.
And proof of this is that this custom motorcyclein its first public appearance, which was at the prestigious Custom Bike Show Rat’s Hole in Daytona Bike Week in 2013, caused such a furor that it was the winner of the world-renowned bike show in the cafe racer category where it competed. with numerous cafe racer motorcycles of English and Japanese brands .
Fran Manen presenting the Red Baron at Daytona Bike Week 2013
Then this Harley Davidson cafe racer won in all the custom bike shows in the United States in which it was presented, including another edition of Rat’s Hole held in Leesbug (Florida) where it was once again chosen the best cafe racer motorcycle.
The “Harley Red Baron Cafe Racer” ended up on the cover of the prestigious Iron Works Magazine (USA) and was covered or appeared in other magazines such as Biker Zone Magazine (Spain), Dream Machines (Germany) or American V magazine (U.K)
Red Baron was featured on the international magazine Iron Works
From that moment on, Lord Drake Kustoms began to stand out worldwide for his work on transforming Harley Davidson motorcycles into cafe racerand there have been many Harleys that have been modified to this day in their motorcycle modifications and transformations workshops in Spain(Malaga and Madrid) and the United States (Miami).
And of course we cannot forget the impressive Sportster cafe racer “Speedster”, with which Fran Manen was proclaimed Runner-up of the Harley Davidson World Customization Championshipin 2018, at the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building that was held in Cologne (Germany ).
Speedster
The cafe racer modifications and transformations on Harley Davidson that Fran Manen has carried out have set a precedent in the world of motorcycle customizers in Spain, the United States and many other countries and have made Lord Drake Kustoms one of the best cafe modification workshops. racer around the world.
In this post we present you thebest custom bikes and cafe racer 2020 that Lord Drake Kustoms has customized in his motorcycle transformation workshop in Spain and Miami.
For this we have made a selection from among all the motorcycles modified during a year that has been marked by the COVID-19pandemic throughout the world.
There have been more than 35 jobs and transformed motorcycles that have passed through our custom workshops in Spain and the USA in 2020 and among all of them we have chosen 15 units that we present in this post.
Among the custom bikeswe have chosen there are several cafe racer, scrambler, bobber and custom transformationsmade with Harley Davidson and BMW motorcycles mainly. Although we have also highlighted a Triumph Bonneville cafe racer with aires Brat, a Royal Enfield and a scrambler-styleYamaha XT and a legendary Suzuki GS750.
The custom bikes and cafe racer of 2020
We started the year presenting a spectacular BMW R100 cafe racer with scramblertires.
We continue with a Suzuki GS750cafe racer modified in a millimeter way to respect the essence of this style. And a Yamaha XT 600scrambler with a total transformation with flat track airs and street tracker.
And we continue with one of the star projects of the year, a spectacular BMW K1 with its own style and that has nothing to do with the typical BMW k100 cafe racer seen to date.
Very soon we were invaded by the work of modification and transformation of BMW R motorcycles, from which three precious things came out: A BMW R100 color “British Racing Green”, a mixture of cafe racer with scrambler and bobber, a full-rule BMW R65 cafe racer en in a matt blue color and one BMW R100R scrambler.
Another of the star projects of the year has been the transformation of a Harley Davidson Vrod, to which in addition to an inverted fork and a spectacular bodywork, we added a spectacular 360 rear wheel kit for Vrod.
TwoSportster bobbers continue on the list of custom Harley Davidsons. The first a totally black Sportster 883 lowwith custom tires. And the second a Sportster Forty Eight elegantly transformed with a light gray tank.
We finish this list of the best cafe racer and custom motorcycles of 2020 by Lord Drake Kustoms, with the motorcycle customization work carried out on 4 totally different brands and with a result of also uneven styles: A Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 scrambler, a Harley Davidson Softail Bobber, a Triumph Bonneville Brat and a BMW R100 cafe racer.
Unlike other motorcycle customization and transformation workshops in Spain, it is clear that in LDK’scafe racer and custom workshops, there are no limits when transforming or modifying a motorcycle, whatever the brand or style that is desired.
The cafe racer fashion in Spain is something that is on the rise despite the fact that this type of motorcycle transformations have been hitting hard all over the world for several years.
Number of motorcycle customization workshops in Spain have gone from carrying out modification work on custom or Harley Davidson motorcycles to carrying out cafe racer transformations with Triumph or BMW motorcycles, to name a few examples.
It was precisely in our custom motorcycle workshop in Miami where we created our first cafe racer motorcycles in 2009 and 2010 with TriumphBonneville bases and especially Harley Davidson Sportster.
However, in our custom workshop in Spain we have gradually increased the production of BMW and Triumph cafe racer motorcycles over the years; These brands are the most chosen for this style of motorcycles transformed in Spain, especially the BMW R100.
The rise of this style has been such that it has become a culture or a casual fashion that has reached the vast majority of the population.
Since this “cafe racer culture or fashion” has allowed the world of cafe racer or custom motorcycles to be attractive to many people who, before the resurgence of this movement, would never have noticed a motorcycle or even less thought about having one. .
Cafe Racer: not just motorcycles but a way of fashion
In addition, the cafe racer movementhas not only brought us beautiful motorcycles transformed in Spain, but has managed to create something much more affordable and popular for anyone on the street: A way of dressing and a style of clothing.
As happened with the surf brands in the 80s and 90s, now it is very easy to see many cafe racer stores in Spain, where custom motorcycles are only mere decorative items in a showcase or exhibition that really sells are t-shirts jackets, caps or many other accessories from cafe racer brands such as Deus Ex Machina or Lord Drake Kustoms.
In 2014 we opened our first cafe racer store in Spain (Malaga) with our own brand and clothing line, which we expanded in 2019. And we are currently working on the opening of a second cafe racer store in Madrid that will also have a motorcycle customization workshop.
Two of our modified Harley-Davidson V-Rods are published by DARK KUSTOM in an extensive report where they evaluate their characteristics. These are the Vrod Oliver and the Vrod 360.
DARK KUSTOM is an online publication based in Barcelona that collects and evaluates the best custom bikes on the planet. Within its catalog we can find custom motorcycles made from different brands and styles.
What is more interesting is that it also has a compilation of custom motorcycle manufacturers from around the world, organized by country.
The professional analysis carried out on each motorcycle culminates in a score based on the appearance (look) and parts used (parts). In addition to an assessment of the users.
Our custom motorcycles have obtained a high valuation that we reproduce below:
For the third time, the Japanese magazine “Club Harley Magazine” has included Lord Drake Kustoms among the ten best motorcycle customizers in the world. This was communicated to Fran Manen by phone just a few days ago.
Soon, the issue of this magazine will be published, which will include a report with the chosen custom bikes.
The press has taken note of this news and has published several articles highlighting the career and track record of Lord Drake Kustoms.
At Lord Drake Kustoms we are proud to be back at the top of the world rankings and looking forward to giving you new machines on two wheels to dream about again in 2021.
