Luke's GS750 Cafe Racer
By Anthony van Someren - 11 Sep 13
Luke Robinson's bikes have been cropping-up for sale on ebay, quietly catching our attention with quality photos of some very beautifully designed bikes, all based around popular Japanese donors like CBs, XSs and GSs.
Luke's managed to slip five bikes out into the cafe/custom market under our radar so far so we thought we'd better pull him in for more info and share some of his builds with all of you.
Luke previously worked as a fabricator at an engineering company, but often found himself being roped into various projects and renovations from scooters to campervans, but as a life-long bike rider, from motocross and endurance to sportsbikes, it was cafe racers that really caught his imagination - so he decided to build one.
This first build went down so well that Luke quit his job and started to build fulltime, and we're very glad he did.
As Luke puts it, "there isn't any great secret or master plan that goes into the builds, I don't want to over-think it but just see how the bike wants to comes together, and so far it seems to be working…".
Luke's approach is how a lot of people build custom bikes, and we often comment that it's those who pre-plan and properly design bikes that produce the most balanced looking bikes, but in Luke's case his build-as-you-go instinct is serving him well, as all his bikes seem to come out perfectly proportioned and just plain pretty. Including our favourite so far, this Suzuki GS750.
For Luke, this black and silver cafe racer defines the genre, with a traditional look and feel to it. The bike has been heavily re-built and modified with a new partially rebuilt engine in the frame from a different bike, an aftermarket swingarm, rebuilt wheels, the carbs rejetted for pod air filters and more free-flowing pipes, re-worked suspension and loads more, from the seat to the subtle paint. The pictures speak for themselves.
We have a few more of Luke's bikes to feature on The Bike Shed, so watch this space and check out his Facebook Page, Website - and maybe keep an eye out on eBay too.