Customisation is an art form, allowing motorcycle enthusiasts to transform their machines into unique, personalised works of art. Doing just that, Vice Motorcycles recently unveiled ‘Mutt Akita Lightweight TT’, their first official custom build.
In this article, we had a chat with builder Carl and delved into the story behind the Akita’s transformation from Road Bike to Track Bike. The design process unfolded organically, with several iterations and changes along the way.
Vice Motorcycles wanted to create a custom sports bike with classic aesthetics and a cool vibe. To bring this concept to life, they transformed the Mutt Akita 125, leveraging its distinctive tank, into a 1960s racing machine.introducing a half-fairing, seat cowl, and a belly pan that seamlessly filled the space below the engine, they created a lowered appearance while preserving the bike's original geometry.
In their pursuit of a lighter and faster look and feel for the new bike, they equipped it with a pair of Classic Dunlop K82 tires. To complete the transformation, Vice adorned it with period graphics, giving the bike the captivating appearance of a privateer race entry.
“I wanted it to have the look of a sort of a privateer race entry in the 60s or early 70s where there was always a bit of a mishmash of colours and the early Thruxton, Bonneville that they used to race tended to be sort of blues and reds and white then it just evolved really. In the end I just thought, well let's try them all.”