This is a story that was years in the making.  

 I first contacted Len Higa after I had seen a couple of vintage Hondas he built to Race AHRMA. I was enamored by his design aesthetic and fabrication skills. That was sometime in 2013 but nothing really happened until recently...

You could say that he was born with a wrench in one hand and the other twisting a throttle. At age two, his father would sit him on the tank of his three-wheeler and by age four he had already learned to ride a motorcycle....

His name has popped up in conversation more times than I can remember. Held in high regard by many other builders, his reputation had already reached me before I had even met him. What I soon found out is that I was already familiar with most of his work...

I had been planning to visit Brandon for a while now. I wanted to see his work firsthand. The bike he just finished is a 1983 BMW R100 in a delicious Laguna Seca Blue paint work. I made it down to see him just in time. He was prepping the R100 for the new owner and it looked as though it had just rolled off the factory line...

"You need something to move that back wheel; that's the Powerplant."

Yaniv's first introduction to two wheeled transport was in his own home growing up. His brothers had vespas they let him ride, and when that wasn't enough, he took his wheels off-road. Yaniv's father had a few dirt-bikes at home and this is where he got his thrills...

"Being around talented people my whole life is the best design school..."

Roland Sands

Roland Sands was born into a world of motorcycle customization. His father was both a right brain and left brain kinda guy. A designer, engineer and machinist, all in one. He introduced Roland at an early age to product development of the highest degree...

Kim Boyle // Boyle Custom Moto

I was a fan of Kim’s work even before I knew anything about Boyle Custom Moto. The 1971 Norton Commando he named “Ed” is now a star attraction everywhere he shows it. The tank and tail section were revised and redesigned with help from Evan Wilcox, the original maker of the alloy bodywork. I could sit and study this Norton for days.

SR

Chabott Engineering.

I met Shinya and Ayu at last summer’s The Quail Motorcycle Gathering in Monterey. We talked briefly and I told them that I would love to see them in Azusa once I made my move to LA in a couple of months. We kept in touch and I went back to San Francisco to start packing for the move.

Seeing that Shinya and Ayu had successfully finished the Motorcycle Cannonball and were now back in Azusa I knew that the time had come for me to make my way to Chabott Engineering.