For our “Throwback'” series, we take a look at an older build and reminisce about the story of the build itself giving you a little more insight into how Analog’s collective brain works.
When I think about Analog’s history I tend to quantify what we’ve gone through in terms of the builds. They are the perfect measure of the passing of time and we have cataloged them for the world to see along with a snippet of our ideas and sensibilities. The builds themselves become identifiers for where we were at as a company at that time. The style, the design, the type of donor bike, the customer, the photos of the bike all tell a story.
Agnessa was built shortly after our highly acclaimed Indian Continental Scout and Ducati Super Scrambler. At this point in our career we had already built a handful of Japanese customs, and after a short hiatus to the aforementioned Indian and Ducati returned to the familiar comforts of a simple Yamaha donor bike. The theme was meant to invoke a definite 70’s vibe between the tires and paint scheme and it feels right at home on this XS650.
Back in early 2015, we were working on growing our business by designing and selling parts and apparel through our now well-established Analog Motor Goods brand. This exact bike helped us mock-up and design our CNC machined points, valve, and stator covers set shown here on the refreshed motor of Agnessa. Analog Motor Goods has grown to make parts for all types of bikes from BMW to Triumph to Universal, but this was the build that started it all – we even printed a shirt with the Agnessa ‘swoosh’ design on it!
Being as it was February on the north-side of Chicago, the outside temps were not working with us to for a photoshoot. Thanks to Tony and some hospitable friends at Asylum Skate Park in Lake Bluff, IL we got to shoot in this killer location – even bringing along friend of Analog, Josh Gordon to model our newest hoodie and rock some dope moves with our newest build in the background. This photo has a special place in my heart because I got started in photography shooting my grade-school friends doing skate board tricks. We even ended up putting a little lifestyle video together for the bike which has now become something we do regularly for our builds.
The words resto-mod get tossed around in the custom world on a regular basis to the point where they have a bad connotation. Every rebuilt CB750 with a non-standard color becomes “Such and Such Cycles” CB750. That being said, if I had to define what a resto-mod 70’s Japanese bike should look like I would happily point to this one every time. To me it invokes the spirit of the old with the technology and advancements of the new. Modern upgraded and tuned suspension, free flowing intake and exhaust, electronic ignition, lithium battery and slimmed down controls alongside classic colors and design make for a bike you can ride every day or be proud to take out and win best custom Japanese bike at Motoblot in Chicago. That’s what Analog Motorcycles is all about! (though we don’t hate on a modern v-twins with 100+ hp built in the current millennium either)
Where did u get front fender
And did u make or purchase rear fender
That build was a long time ago. It looks like stock front fender cut down. Rear looks like we took a front fender we had in house and modified to mount to the rear frame.
Whats the story behind the name?
It was built for a customer’s wife who’s name was Agnes. So we called it Agnessa.