north coast custom's alcatraz motorcycle is built from the ground up

north coast custom is a motorcycle workshop based in santa lucia del mela (messina) italy. the garage prides itself in building custom machines from scratch with elegant, sculptural forms. many garages choose to modify bikes with accessories, such as the ‘sinroja BMW R3 café racer‘; and the ‘revival cycles rickman velocette‘. but very few have the patience, or the resourcefulness, to build both the bike and engine from the ground up.

all images © onno wieringa / frank sander

north coast custom’s ‘alcatraz’ was recently in the limelight during the AMD world championship, one of the leading competitions for custom bikes where the winners are selected by the competitors themselves. they looked at this motorbike with a great deal of satisfaction, and voted for it as the 5th place winner. the bike is nice change of pace from the usual customs: combing luxury materials; colors; and forms.

using both metal and wood forms not just a motorcycle, but also a strong visual and emotional impact–creating a visceral reaction from the tangibility of the material selection. indeed the ‘alcatraz’ isn’t built for long distance travels, but to demonstrate the technical capabilities within the italian workship, but irregardless demonstrated work done is beautiful.

the engine build is mounted entirely in reverse compared to normal bike standards, and it remarkably drives in the same fashion while reducing the lines–refining the overall design. the chassis; wheel fork; plus every other element displayed on the bike has been handcrafted in the workshop. plus, each individual component has been bespoke made for the ‘alcatraz’, with the exception of the carburetor; tires; spark plug; piston.