Today’s custom motorcycle scene is a melting pot of old and new techniques. Traditional handcrafting methods coexist with software-based design and modern additive manufacturing processes. And sometimes—like in the case of this impossibly elegant Yamaha SR400—they collide.
Moscow’s Copper Chopper built this hardtail bobber almost entirely from scratch, using a tube bender, lathe and welding machine. But before builders Alexey and Igor put hand to metal, they designed the frame, and eventually the whole bike, using the 3D design software Fusion 360.
Copper Chopper’s been going for about six years, and originally started as a sideline gig with a mantra of “bought, built, ridden and then sold.” But the guys took the business full time this year, and, as a result, have started taking on commissioned work.…