How Black Cycles Rebuilt an EV Failure into a Street Tracker

Black Cycles transforms a failed electric motorcycle into a stunning custom street tracker, proving that EV leftovers can spark a bold new era of bike building.

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The golden age of custom motorcycles was born from leftovers — surplus WWII bikes, abandoned factory racers, or forgotten street bikes reimagined for something faster, lighter, cooler.

Today, we’re witnessing the same revolution, but this time, it’s electric.

The EV motorcycle boom has flooded the market with startups, half-finished dreams, and a graveyard of ambitious machines that never made it past the bureaucracy. For most riders, it’s a buyer-beware wasteland. For real builders, though? It’s a goldmine.

And no one proves that better than Noel Muller of Black Cycles.

The New Raw Material: Unwanted EVs

Scrolling through Facebook Marketplace, Noel found the modern equivalent of a barn find: a VAYA Z8 electric sportsbike. It is one of six imported into Australia by a company that couldn’t get them road-legal under Australian Design Rules (ADR). The bikes were sold at cost, with a warning: “for private off-road use only.”

For Noel, it was the perfect raw material. Thanks to Australia’s Individually Constructed Vehicle (ICV) laws, a builder can make over 50% changes and get a fresh inspection for road use.

A once-doomed EV just became the starting line.

Forget Gas Bike Nostalgia — Build for the Battery Era

Most custom EVs today fall into two camps: either they’re desperately trying to look like their gas-powered ancestors, or they go way too far into futuristic weirdness. Noel chose a smarter middle path.

He stripped the Z8 to its bones, tossing the overstyled fairings and bulky subframe. In its place, he shaped a new silhouette: minimalist, enclosed, and true to its electric nature.

The handmade aluminium bodywork, punctuated by dimple die holes for strength and weight savings, hugs the frame like it was born there. The result: something that feels clean, modern, and completely believable as the next evolution of motorcycles.

A New Soundtrack for the EV Generation

If the frame speaks the future, the paint job hits a personal, clever note. Noel tapped Justin from Popbang Classics to create an Eddie Van Halen tribute — a nod to EVH’s chaotic genius, reborn in electric blue instead of the traditional Frankenstrat red.

The link is more than visual. Just like Eddie shredded the rules of guitar playing, builders like Noel are rewriting what motorcycle customisation can be in the EV era.

Hacking the Heart

You don’t just build an electric custom, you have to hack it. Noel admits he had zero EV experience, but found an ally in Adam, an EV guru who helped him unleash more power without sacrificing reliability.

Together, they bumped the motor’s output from the stock 100 amps to 150 amps, sharpening acceleration dramatically while keeping battery drain manageable, a perfect tune for real-world city riding.

Custom cooling fans, a remote on/off switch (no key needed), and clever hub motor covers finished the mechanical transformation. On top of that, suspension tweaks by XXX Suspension dialed in the stance and handling.

The Birth of a New Kind of Custom Bike

This isn’t just a cool build. It’s a blueprint.

In a world where electric bikes are still finding their place, builders like Noel aren’t waiting for manufacturers to catch up. They’re taking the castoffs, the failures, the forgotten experiments — and turning them into something better, faster, and ready for the road.

The Black Cycles VAYA Street Tracker isn’t just a one-off custom. It’s proof that the spirit of motorcycle building is alive and well and electric.

And yes — it’s for sale. Catch it before it vanishes like the EV startups it rose from.