One of the great achievements in any custom motorcycle builder’s career is to be invited to showcase their wares at a major show. Not only is it an acknowledgement of the builder’s skill and recognition of their position in the scene, but for many, it allows them to create a bike that truly pushes the boundaries. For years, SoCal’s Dustin Kott has been delivering one incredible custom after another to his extensive client base. However, a call from the organisers of the Born Free Motorcycle Show to be an invited builder at their 15th edition gave him the chance to try something truly unique. Combining all of his skills and mixing the best of bobber, boardtracker, and café styling, the Kott Motorcycles man has delivered this outrageously beautiful 1969 Triumph Daytona 500, known as Bloodmoon.
Last year, we featured another Daytona 500 that rolled out of the Kott workshop—a stunning café racer-styled transformation. That build provided Dustin with a host of ideas for working with the unit construction classic Triumph. So, when a friend had another unwanted example, he was more than happy to take it off his hands. “Having some details fresh in mind and an attachable hardtail, I decided to build a café-inspired bobber. For a number of years, I’ve been contemplating a hardtail project with a girder-style front end. An opportunistic invitation to Born Free 15 presented the motivation to really strive toward a unique interpretation of a unit Triumph build and to bridge, if possible, the gap between chopper builds and café-inspired builds,” Dustin tells us.
Apart from the popular American V-Twin frames, Triumph frames with a sprung rear converted to a hardtail are perhaps the most popular in the chopper community and an icon of the scene. To build his foundation, Dustin sourced a bolt-on hardtail from the guys at Factory Metal Works, who have been making them for years. However, rather than simply follow the instructions and tightening the nuts, Kott aimed to create a cleaner look with true rigid styling. “Instead of being bolted onto the engine cradle, it was statically welded into place. This allowed for a seamless and well-massaged joining of the front and rear halves of the frame.”
Next, it was a matter of TIG welding the right brackets for components like the seat, fuel tank, and other vital parts. The result is a super clean chassis that features only the necessary hardware, nothing else! Before finishing the frame in black, the final touch was ensuring the clearances were right for the chain, as Kott wouldn’t be using the stock Triumph hub. Now, he could delve into the metalwork, an area where he has always excelled. Take the oil tank for example, the factory-issued item resembles a WWII water canteen. In contrast, Kott’s piece has a beautiful flow, constructed from an old front fender, so that the lines follow the nearby rear tire.
The asymmetric lines from front to rear, combined with the hole right through the centre, create a truly functional piece that is also a major talking point. A set of neatly crafted, copper-coated mounts help shape the overall look. The handmade aluminium fuel tank is another first-class component, inspired by Kott’s café racer builds but resized to suit the bobber aesthetic. The lines are simply perfect, with the front of the tank flowing with the shape of the down tubes and the top sheet beautifully radiused. The sprung leather seat unit completes the major pieces of bodywork, with the tail notched to neatly match the profile of the tire.
But the high-end fabrication work doesn’t stop there; that girder front end is a work of art! “The top and bottom triple clamps were sketched and Waterjet cut, allowing for four axle points to be welded to the triple clamps, effectively creating a pivoting parallelogram. The fork tubes were bent, cut, and welded to bottom, mid, and top axle points, allowing for complete communication between the frame and front wheel.” The sprung shock connects the top and bottom clamps, with a rebound-adjustable item taken from a mountain bike. The clip-on bars feature adjustable mounts welded directly to the front end, giving the bike an aggressive stance.
The rear end, on the other hand, is built around a Honda hub. Given that Dustin has never been a big fan of riding old-school British style, with its right-side shifting, he set about crafting a fix. Expertly, he made all of the bushings, linkages, and shafts by hand, then engineered a setup that shifts in an ultra-smooth manner. To get the bike rolling, the front end sports a stunning drum brake setup, and each end wears stainless spokes laced to rims finished in copper. Then, it was on with the high-profile Shinko classic rubber, giving the bike a mean look that accentuates the long and low style.
To give the bike some colour, the copper detailing is matched to a slick paint job, with Indian red chosen for its vintage vibe, while the airbrushed details really help bring each piece to life, adding further detail to admire. Of course, the unit-construction Triumph engine doesn’t miss out either; this is the same 500cc engine that claimed multiple Daytona wins. The pedigreed piece is brilliantly polished and looks better than new. The Amal carbs sport a set of copper-coated velocity stacks, and the 2 into 1 exhaust with a slash-cut tip emits a best-of-British bark. The bike built for Born Free gave Dustin Kott a chance to do something different, and his Daytona delivers his signature vibe while transcending any era or style.
[ Kott Motorcycles | Photography by Alex Martino ]