Big bikes bookend this edition of Speed Read. We start with a 1,700 cc single-cylinder chopper and finish with a BMW R18 from CW Zon. Sitting in the middle are a classy Honda CB200 café racer from Indonesia and a K-Speed kit for the Honda Dax.
1,700 cc single-cylinder chopper by Al Hackel What do the Beechcraft Staggerwing and Ford Trimotor aircraft, M18 Hellcat and M4 Sherman tanks, and HUP Retriever helicopter all have in common? They’re all powered by the same 975-cubic-inch Wright R-975 Whirlwind nine-cylinder radial engine—as is the motorcycle you see here, in a way.
This custom chopper was built by a guy named Al Hackel, who had originally set out to build a Harley Knucklehead. After realizing that even dodgy basket-case Knuckles sell for exorbitant amounts of money, he pivoted to something much more wild.…