Akira follows the story of best friends Shōtarō Kaneda and Tetsuo Shima, the leaders of the vigilante bosozoku motorcycle gang the Capsules as they battle against both their rival gangs the Clowns and the Government.
Since its premiere in 1988, Akira has amassed a cult following for its incredible cyberpunk animation and gritty depiction of the socioeconomic effect of war and youthful rebellion. Set in dystopian Neo-Tokyo, a city plagued with corruption and motorcycle gang violence.
Since he was a child JB (one of Jeremy's Best French Mate) has been one of these cult followers of Akira, and the film inspired him to come up with the concept for his custom XSR900. First, a rendering of the finished bike was created with the help of Artist @jeremylord_ and with the plan set in stone, the build began.
JB wanted a solid set of wheels for this build- with no off the shelf items available a set needed to be designed. Jeremy Tagand and Mario from Ricci Engineering set to work drawing and designing the alloy discs and clamps that would hold these discs in place on the spokes, with these laser cut and milled they were off to powder coat.
While waiting for the wheels to return, an @scproject_oceania exhaust was fitted along with a monkeebeast front fender, chain guard, speedo bracket and rear wheel hugger. An @s2concept tail light matched with @kellermann_company Rhombus indicators takes care of the lighting in the rear. While @motogadget MO.Blaze Disc's sort out the front.
MO.View Blade mirrors also from motogadget are perched on the end of a set of @rizoma Conical handlebars giving the bike a sinister look.
The final pieces to be fitted were a set of @motodemic side plates and a skid plate from @givi_official from a tracer 900 which had to be heavily modified to fit the aftermarket exhaust.
The last step, as always, was to send the paint work off to the wizard over at @sydneycustomspraypainting - Marc Houssenloge to paint the ghosted "X" and Japanese kangi on the tank and skid plate. final details are the decals scattered around the bike which reference Akira and Neo-Tokyo.
The final product is a dark, ominous, almost understated bike that Testuo Shima could be seen (or unseen) neutralising a few of the clowns on, yet still make a hasty get-away should the 5-0 arrive.
Based in Australia & want to build your own Akira? Find the parts at: https://deusparts.com.au/collections/akira
For all sale and build enquiries about Akira please email: bikes@deuscustoms.com
Photos by Kenyon Batterson
