Nº 014
Cendana
1978 Honda CB750
Sandalwood and brass cafe racer, built for a furniture maker who wanted to hear the engine more than the city.
- Displacement
- 736 cc
- Build time
- 14 months
- Completed
- 2023
Custom motorcycle atelier — Bandung, Indonesia
We build motorcycles that feel inevitable, not assembled.
One commission at a time. Frame, engine and finish resolved together on the same bench, then handed over with a bound record of every decision made along the way.
01 — The atelier
Most custom work is decoration. Ours begins at the steering head.
KOVAL occupies the second floor of an old textile warehouse in Bandung. There is no showroom and no stock. A motorcycle arrives, is taken down to the last bearing, and does not leave until every part has earned its place.
We work in steel, aluminium, leather and paint, and we work slowly. The waiting list is deliberate — it is the only way to give a machine the attention it asks for.
A motorcycle is not a canvas. It is a system of forces, and taste is what decides where they meet.
02 — Disciplines
Three decisions, made in order, before a single part is ordered.
Everything else follows from these. Skip one and the machine will tell you about it at speed.
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Geometry
Rake, trail, ride height, the width of the bars. Stance is a decision, not a consequence — so it is settled on the jig before the first cut.
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Engine
Displacement, intake, exhaust note. We build for torque you can feel at three thousand revolutions, not a number printed on a specification sheet.
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Surface
Paint mixed in-house, anodising, brushed alloy, vegetable-tanned leather. Finish is the last thing decided and the first thing anyone notices.
03 — Selected builds
Three machines, three different arguments.
Each one started as a standard motorcycle and ended as a single resolved idea.
Nº 021
Bara
1981 BMW R100
Scrambler with the stance of a trials bike and the wiring of an aircraft, for a rider who crosses the delta every Sunday.
- Displacement
- 980 cc
- Build time
- 11 months
- Completed
- 2022
Nº 029
Lontar
1975 Kawasaki Z1
Restomod that keeps the original frame lines and hides every modern component underneath them.
- Displacement
- 903 cc
- Build time
- 16 months
- Completed
- 2024
04 — Process
A build is a long conversation with a machine in the middle of it.
Step one
Commission
A conversation, then a document. We agree on intent, budget band, and the one thing you will not compromise on.
Step two
Teardown
Every part measured, photographed and catalogued. What cannot be saved is remade rather than replaced.
Step three
Build
Frame jig, engine bench, paint booth. Monthly photographs and one point of contact throughout.
Step four
Handover
Dyno sheet, torque log and a bound record of the build. Then the first ride, together.
05 — Commission
Tell us what you ride, and what it should become.
Commissions are open for the second quarter. We take two at a time and reply within three working days, usually sooner.
- Studio
- Jl. Cigadung Raya Timur 14
Bandung 40191, Indonesia - studio@kovalatelier.com
- Telephone
- +62 22 5550 147
- Visits
- Thursday to Saturday, by appointment only