MUSKET 2 (2017)

The “Musket 2” has lines so clean they could be a sketch. The forks are silver tubes, interrupted only by springs at their bottom (Hazan built them “upside down”). The handlebars are equally free of visual distraction, having slim metal handgrips with an internal scroll throttle, while the clutch and brake levers grace other parts of the bike. The combined fuel and oil tank is a simple wedge with a rounded leading edge, matching the scale of the frame headstock and headlamp perfectly, while also being perfectly anonymous. The frame is an open cradle with the engine a stressed member, but the lines of the frame appear continuous from headstock to rear axle, and are almost completely void of the gussets, struts, and brackets that production bikes must suffer. The perfect “V” at the rear axle is totally uncompromised by utility, and shocking in immovably fixing the rear wheel, while celebrating its vulnerability in being totally unsupported by extra metal.

“Hazan is stretching his engineering chops in other areas of the chassis, like the cleverly combined handshift/clutch lever on the rider’s left side. It’s an intuitive combination – squeeze the two levers to shift – and carries a whiff of “chopper badass.” Also unusual are the dual brake pedals on the right: one for the front, one for the rear, which are pressed at the same time for even braking. On the front brake, the plate anchor visually counterbalances the leading-axle bottom fork lug, while it’s mirrored on the other side of the hub by a faux brake plate that directs cooling air via a scoop into the brake drum. The rear wheel is a solid mag sourced from an automotive catalog; painted black, it gives a masculine solidity to the back end. The wheel takes a car tire of course, which has become something of a standard for Hazan’s builds.

The “Musket 2” has been featured in PipeBurn, BikeEXIF, and the Los Angeles Times.

Follow the Builder: Hazan Motorworks