Read Full Article Written by Andrew JonesWhile motorcycle riders tend to prefer one brand of bike over another, it’s much trickier for custom builders to do the same. If you’re trying to put food on the table, limiting your builds to just one manufacturer will automatically rule out many potential customers who might love what you on, but maybe not the bike you do it to. So, after many years of doing mostly Moto Guzzi builds, America’s Bruce McQuiston has swapped his pasta for pork knuckle and taken a little trip to Munich. Here’s his ‘Das Moto’ BMW R100RS that’s eine kleine cafe unt eine kleine tracker.Our chat starts with Moto Studio’s Bruce in a decidedly ‘biz dev’ kind of...
Those who’ve followed Bike Shed from the early days will be aware of our penchant for Moto Guzzis and in particular those built by Bruce McQuiston of Moto-Studio. Choosing to shy away from the perhaps simpler task of customising round barrel 850 and 1000s Moto-Studio builds, those that aren’t Ducatis, tend to be based on the later and more powerful 1100 Sport.This latest build began life as a carburettor 1100 Sport from the mid-nineties. I’m sure even loyal owners of won’t deny that the stock bike looks ungainly, I haven’t ridden one but from what I hear it’s a bike that can hustle, beneath a pilot sporting adequately sized cojones. These aren’t flickable, nimble machines. The owner of this particular example is a...
Nostalgia sells. Yesterday’s legends still influence today’s purchasing decisions: just look at the enduring influence of Steve McQueen, who died over 35 years ago. In Ducati circles, Paul Smart is one of the biggest legends. His win at Imola in 1972 is often credited with launching the SuperSport era, and the sea green and silver livery of his 750 Imola Desmo is iconic. Ten years ago, those classic hues appeared once again on a Ducati—the SportClassicPaulSmart 1000 Limited Edition. But although we love Pierre Terblanche‘s design, we’ve been aching to see the colors on a bike with SuperSport genes. This 1994 900 SS/SP from Moto Studio hits the spot perfectly. Moto Studio was founded by sculptor Bruce McQuinston, a man with a background in...
The Moto Guzzi 1100 Sport is one of those wonderful motorcycles that suffers from one major problem – it’s a little on the porky side. With a wet weight well into the 500 lb range the Guzzi was challenging to ride, although those who have mastered it tend to consider it one of the best handling of the heaver sport bikes of the 1990s. One of the reasons for its solid handling was the frame design, it was developed by John Wittner with a single rectangular beam joining the steering head to the swing-arm pivot and also incorporating the chassis mount for the monoshock. The hefty V-twin with its iconic longitudinal orientation is also a stressed chassis member, contributing significantly...
