Recently, the team at Mutt Japan collaborated with the legendary Custom Works ZON workshop to create a unique custom build, proposed by none other than Yuichi Yoshizawa, the founder and owner of this respected workshop.
Yoshizawa-san, alongside his right-hand man Yoshikazu Ueda, are among Japan’s most renowned custom builders. They bring a clean and functional design aesthetic to their builds, coupled with a wild obsession with subtle detailing. Founded in 2007 and based in Gamo-gun, Shiga Prefecture, Custom Works ZON started off strong with a win at the USA Rat’s Hole Show in 2007. In 2015, they were selected by Harley-Davidson headquarters as one of Japan’s top five builders. They have won numerous awards at various custom bike shows and have built a solid track record of customizing Harleys, BMWs, Triumphs, and more.
Starting with a 250 Sabbath, Yoshizawa-san took inspiration from imagining how young riders on their first bikes, like his son, might go about customizing bikes. This ties into the mission of the Custom Works ZON team to ensure interest and longevity in the world of custom bike building by inspiring a new, young generation of builders, principally by showing them that great things can be achieved quite easily.
Starting with a 250 Sabbath, Yoshizawa-san took inspiration from imagining how young riders on their first bikes, like his son, might go about customizing bikes. This ties into the mission of the Custom Works ZON team to ensure interest and longevity in the world of custom bike building by inspiring a new, young generation of builders, principally by showing them that great things can be achieved quite easily.
Rather than doing a complete rebuild, Yoshizawa-san and Ueda-san worked with the lightness of our flagship small cc bike, making modifications with simplicity and lightness in mind while still showcasing their trademark simple yet stand-out aesthetic.
Yoshizawa-san commented on this collaboration: “Until now, I’ve only worked on large displacement bikes, but I wanted to try out a bike that’s popular with the younger generation today, and that’s when Mutt caught my eye. It’s simple and well-suited for customization, and above all, it’s the brand spirit that runs through Mutt – ‘easy to ride, easy to maintain, affordable, yet with the same style and sound as a large vintage bike, with endless possibilities for customization.’
I wanted to create a customization that fits that concept. I incorporated all the technology that ZON has used up until now and imagined a unique customization. The biggest feature of this bike is the bolt-on body, which is Mutt’s specialty bodywork. The silhouette has been completely redesigned, and details such as the girder forks, handlebars, and 18-inch wheels have been worked on. We were thinking about the future as we created this bike, wondering how young users will move from small displacement bikes to larger displacement bikes. This is the first in Mutt’s custom project, and it is a Mutt that truly combines with ZON’s custom spirit.”
The finished bike premiered at this year’s Osaka, Tokyo, and Nagoya bike shows in Japan. Check out the build video below.