Morgan Gales

Custom Motorcycles Of The 2019 Handbuilt Motorcycle Show

Our favorite builds from Revival Cycles’ Austin, Texas, custom show

April 17, 2019

Now in its sixth year, the Handbuilt Motorcycle Show has cemented its place as one of the most influential custom shows in the US, and uniquely encapsulates its home city of Austin, Texas. At the center of the show is one shop, Revival Cycles, not only pushing its show to be the best it can be, but also bringing wild and beautiful custom models built in its Texas workshop.

There were several clear themes at this year’s Handbuilt Show: unpainted bikes with raw or polished metal exteriors, two-strokes, and, of course, trackers. There were choppers, vintage restorations, some wild trikes and dragbikes, but the majority of bikes were function-focused and appear very rideable. Builds blending high-performance parts with show-bike aesthetics were around every corner.

Craig Rodsmith’s front-wheel-drive “The Killer” on display with other customs brought out from the Haas Museum.Morgan Gales

Beautiful lobster-scale welds on One-Up Motorcycles’ custom BMW R65.Morgan Gales

David Mucci of Moto-Mucci has a way of making every custom build look like a factory-funded concept. This KTM 300 custom is no different.Morgan Gales

“The FrankenBlast” Buell Blast by DesmoBIBU.Morgan Gales

This Yamaha XS650 built by father-daughter team Sofi and George Tsingos.Morgan Gales

Jeff Palhegyi’s TZ750 four-cylinder two-stroke flat-track racer.Morgan Gales

Artist Makoto Endo painting Revival Cycles’ “The Birdcage” R18 BMW live at The Handbuilt Show.Morgan Gales

The Haas Moto Museum, known for snatching up some of the most well-known and exotic custom motorcycles of the last decade, brought out a handful of said motorcycles to be displayed in its own section near the show’s entrance, immediately setting the tone as patrons walked through the doors. Moto Guzzi, Indian Motorcycle, and BMW were all sponsors of the show as well, but it was the German motor company that really stole the show with its BMW prototype-engine-based build “The Birdcage,” built by Revival Cycles.

The Birdcage, inspired by the Maserati Tipo 61, is based around the same BMW prototype engine that Custom Works Zon built on to win Best in Show at the Mooneyes Yokohama Show—the R18. This massive air-cooled powerplant is not only daunting because of its size, but because of the importance and secrecy of working around an unreleased BMW motor. We don't have any details on this engine yet but hope to soon, as BMW continues to hint at real concepts and a production model.

Hand-engraved scrollwork and cutaway sections on a beautiful Triumph chopper.Morgan Gales

An immaculate Harley-Davidson Knucklehead restoration among the custom builds.Morgan Gales

“The Six” wild Honda CBX custom built by Revival Cycles and brought out as part of the Haas Moto Museum exhibit.Morgan Gales

“The Bullet Bob Special,” custom RD400 built by Jared Morris to honor his late father.Morgan Gales

The titanium framed Birdcage built by Revival Cycles around a prototype BMW R18 engine.Morgan Gales

From vintage racebikes to dirt bikes, two-stroke machines were a welcome theme at this year's show.Morgan Gales

Forced induction and a monoshock, Harley-Davidson Sportsters continue to be a platform pushed beyond their limits at nearly every custom show.Morgan Gales

Gregor Halenda’s custom airhead adventure build with stunning handmade bodywork.Morgan Gales

This is the last custom show on our schedule until we head out to The Quail Gathering next month. Be sure to check out Handbuilt's website for more info on next year's show, and click here for more info on the Quail–—hope to see you there!