Death Machines of London 23rd July 2016 Thruxton 900 | Up Yours Copper | Steampunk ◄PREVIOUS STORY NEXT STORY► 
If you're not a detail freak, look away, stranger. You have no business here. This motorcycle is strictly for the guys and girls who like to check out the big pictures first, and then get right down to the molecules, atoms and electrons; the nanofreaks who understand that broad strokes just won't do it; the fastidious fanatics incapable of creative compromise. This 2007 900cc Triumph Bonneville Thruxton custom is the idée fixe of Death Machines of London. The bike is called Up Yours Copper, or UYC. And that could be a spiteful jibe at our friendly head-bashing law enforcement officers, or it could be a reference to the copper, or cuprum (atomic number 29) liberally applied over this clinically sharp single-track observation in obsession. Or it might be a little of both. But we're not going to enquire too deeply because on this occasion, we prefer the fiction to the fact. 
It's hard to remember when we last saw such an eloquent and inventive exercise in noncomformist locomotion. The finish, the fettling, the tones, the textures; it's all just about perfect. And every time you think you've seen it all, there's a little more to see. Another facet. Another subtle surprise. 
Check the Up Yours Copper features: Fontana four-leading-shoe front brake Ceramic coated exhausts Rear frame loop remodelled A 100/90 x 19-inch front wheel A 160/60 x 17-inch rear wheel Avon tyres Remodelled Hagon shocks A 1940 Supermarine Spitfire Mk1 magneto switch Hand-carved walnut seat 7-inch LED headlight Internal throttle assembly De-lugged frame With this list, we've barely scratched the surface of the build. But then, our electron microscope blew a fuse midway through the examination, so we're down to mere unassisted eyeballs. If you've ever skinned a knuckle building anything, you'll understand why this motorcycle is a bloodbath. 
Some might call it steampunk. And we can see that. But we think this bike has taken a sidelong step into a very different quantum universe where the rules are strictly whatever you make 'em. Our advice is to go and take a closer look at Death Machines of London. There's a story behind the name, but the firm can tell you that one for themselves. Photography by David Clerihew. www.david-clerihew.com www.dmolcustoms.com ◄PREVIOUS STORY NEXT STORY► | 
