"El Demente" in Spanish, or "The Demented" in English, is an appropriate name for this insanely over the top custom creation which won overall first place at the 2012 Harley Davidson Bike Week (South Africa). Its creator and our friend Jacques from Open Road Customs, describes the bike as an old school boardtracker with new

At Retro Write Up we feature high quality custom or restored motorcycles of all shapes and sizes. We support and respect the clever, low budget, home workshop created motorcycle just as much as those more sophisticated custom machines built by our homegrown South African professionals. We do not ever wish to judge or compare the

I am fortunate to be able to share in my two year old son's daily struggle to make sense of this bewildering, wonderful world. He has established all sorts of routines and patterns which give him security and comfort. Any deviation, even sitting in the wrong chair or drinking from the wrong bottle, may result

Flathead. Knucklehead. Panhead. Shovelhead. Ironhead. Blockhead. The insults keep flying but nobody seems to be getting angry. The reason is because those using these colourful words are merely speaking Harley. From the earliest times, Harley enthusiasts have given a nickname to every new reincarnation of the Harley V twin engine. The names originate from the

If you were going to compete directly with the traditional motorcycle market by producing a motor scooter, would you hire someone who hated motorcycles as your chief designer? Probably not! When Ferdinando Innocenti decided to build scooters after WWII he appointed an aeronautical engineer, General D'Ascanio to make his dream of economical, reliable transport for

Our featured motorcycle goes a long way to supporting the theory that "less is more". This nimble cafe racer started life as a Honda CB175 model which was built from 1969 until 1973. It has a twin cylinder, overhead camshaft four stroke engine, twin carbs, a five speed gearbox, electric start, indicators, twin leading shoe

1936 Harley Davidson DL 1200 Harley Bike Week 2013 is upon us and it seems appropriate to feature the American made motorcycles which entered this year's Johannesburg to Durban run. The commemorative DJ Run has always attracted a small percentage of American entries, mainly Harleys, in comparison to the British and European manufacturers. I was

Heritage can be defined as something inherited from the past. It is a mixture of history and uniqueness. When it comes to products with heritage, prospective customers buy the product expecting to own a small piece of this heritage. A motor vehicle's heritage is normally determined by an outstanding feature which over many, many years

When I first got into the vintage motorcycle scene, it was suprising to find out how many pilots owned and rode old motorcycles. Flying a Jumbo jet all over the world or performing impossible manoeuvres in a Pitts Special with South Africa's elite stunt flying team are far removed from riding a basic vintage motorcycle

The first part of our feature on the 2013 centenary of the 1913 Johannesburg to Durban Race focussed on the 1930s British made motorcycle entries. This time we will have a look at the German made machines of the same era that entered this event. I am personally a great fan of the British motorcycles