Sosa Metalworks Recasts A 1940 Indian Scout

The “Suavecito” custom is a 1940 Indian Scout reborn

You’ll find any finish you want on this beautiful machine, so long as it’s metallic (or leather).Michael Lichter Photography

Building a motorcycle with handmade parts sorta, kinda completely rules out opening a catalog and ordering a bunch of premade bits and pieces to do the job for you. Cristian Sosa and Sosa Metalworks made “Suavecito” here by hand, a build centered around a 45-inch 1940 Indian Scout motor and transmission. While Sosa’s technical and fabrication skills are obvious in this rolling representation, his rather artistic approach to creating motorcycles may not be. “When I first started building the bike,” Cristian explained, “I was striving for a gentleman’s racer—a bike where design is infused with function and style. The truth is the design was never something that was planned ahead. This is how I like to work—making one piece at a time and allowing the design of the bike to grow from the motor out, and all of it hand-carved and left raw.”

Cristian Sosa feels that when a bike is left raw, it shows the builder’s craftsmanship skills to the best of his abilities. “There is no easy way out when leaving a bike bare like this. Everything has to be done the hard way.” That's a much more personal connection to a bike than bolting on parts from a catalog!

Copper, brass, and raw metal combine in a look that’s steampunk-ish yet ground in the reality of a vintage Indian.Michael Lichter Photography
Dig the cracked look of the leather on the seat.Michael Lichter Photography
From the girder fork to the spoke wheel, everything you see here but the tire was made by Sosa Metalworks.Michael Lichter Photography
With its turned-down handlebar and skinny profile, this bike would be very much at home on an old pre-World War II track.Michael Lichter Photography
If you want to know how good Cristian Sosa is with a welding rig, check out his work at the neck here.Michael Lichter Photography
The custom-made tank flows in tandem with the backbone over it.Michael Lichter Photography
Suavecito’s 45-inch Scout engine and three-speed transmission look great for their age.Michael Lichter Photography
You can see more of Cristian's work at sosametalworks.com.Michael Lichter Photography