LSL Lindy Bob Custom Cafe Racer

Practically a United Nations on two wheels.

LSL Lindy Bob Cafe Racer

Despite its apparent simplicity, this custom, the Lindy Bob, embodies more cultures than you’d find swirling around in a petri dish. It’s a Japanese bike manufactured as a tribute to classic British motorcycles that’s been customized by a German to look like a cross between an American boardtracker and a British clubman/café racer, then named in honor of legendary 1920s’ American aviator Charles Lindbergh and an African-American style of dance from that same era called the Lindy Hop. The bike’s builder, Jochen Schmitz-Linkweiler, has a lot of bases in his ballpark, and he made sure he touched them all.

Working from his custom shop, LSL Motorradtechnik (www.lsl-motorradtechnik.de) in Krefeld, Germany, Schmitz-Linkweiler started with a 2011 Kawasaki W800 ohc parallel-Twin. The upside-down flat-track handlebar he installed looks the boardtrack part, but the rest of Lindy Bob has the clubman ambience Jochen so loves. That handlebar is an LSL item, as are the triple-clamps that pinch a stock W800 fork. The single front disc brake also is the original, but the stock 19-inch front wheel was traded for an 18-incher to match the rear, and the front fender was eighty-sixed altogether. A small H-D Sportster headlight and its mating "eyebrow" finish off the front end.

An abbreviated rear fender pokes out from under a custom seat; upper covers on the dual shocks further the period look. Schmitz-Linkweiler fabbed an aluminum chainguard and part of the 2-into-2 exhaust, then swaddled the head pipes in heat wrap. Matte-black lacquer covers most everything except the gloss-black frame, a few pieces of chrome and the orange tank. The end result is a simple, appealing custom, despite the many flags it flies.

LSL Lindy Bob - 3/4 view

LSL Lindy Bob - 3/4 rear view

LSL Lindy Bob - front view

LSL Lindy Bob - cockpit