Slow Burn: How Game Over Cycles Turned a 1936 Auburn Into a Bagger

• Win in the Tourer & Bagger class plus the audience award at the Custom Bike Show in Villach
• 3.3 metres long, 400 kg (around 880 lbs), roughly 7,000 working hours
• Air-cooled RevTech V-twin with 115 cubic inches, around 1,885 cc

Custom bikes usually take their cues from other motorcycles. The Slow Burn is different. Its model was a car from the 1930s that is well known in the hot rod scene. Game Over Cycles from Poland turned it into a fully equipped bagger, a touring motorcycle with fixed hard panniers. The Slow Burn custom bike has won several competitions since its 2024 debut in Daytona. More awards have now been added at European Bike Week on Lake Faak. European Bike Week is considered one of the most important Harley gatherings in Europe and is a showcase for the custom scene every year.

Which awards did the Slow Burn win at European Bike Week 2026?

At the Custom Bike Show in Villach, the Slow Burn won the Tourer & Bagger class and the Metzeler People’s Choice Award on top of that. This audience award is decided by a vote of the spectators.

The show took place on 11 September 2026 on the main square in Villach and was one of the highlights of European Bike Week. The organisers split the motorcycles into six classes: Antique & Restomod, Cruiser, Adventure & Offroad, Tourer & Bagger, Radical Custom and Sport & Clubstyle. In the bagger class, Belgian builder Gert van Hoof took second place with a green and silver Road Glide. The overall Best in Show win went to Slovenian builder Vito Klemenčič of VK Custom Works, who also won the Sport & Clubstyle class. Poland was doubly successful in Villach, by the way: Mali HD, also a team from Poland, won the Radical Custom class.

The trophies were handed over by Bill Davidson. He is the great-grandson of Harley-Davidson co-founder William A. Davidson and ran the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee for many years. This is said to be the third time Bill Davidson has presented Game Over Cycles with an award at a competition in Europe or the United States. For the Polish shop it was reportedly also the fifth audience award at European Bike Week. The Slow Burn is also said to have taken the Best of Show title at the Arneitz Custom Bike Show.

Which car served as the model for the Slow Burn?

The model is a 1936 Auburn 852 Boattail Speedster that also carries the name Slow Burn. The car belongs to James Hetfield, singer and guitarist of Metallica.

Hetfield built the car together with American car designer Rick Dore. It has already been exhibited at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. It is styled in Art Deco. That movement shaped art, architecture and design in the 1920s and 1930s. Symmetrical patterns, arches, ovals and ellipses are typical of it.

Company founder Stanisław Myszkowski explains the idea behind the project with his closeness to the band: „Metallica has always been a huge artistic inspiration for me.“ By his own account he is a fan of the band’s music and imagery. Since Hetfield collects and restores old cars himself, the team wanted to connect both worlds. That is how the Slow Burn came about as a kind of sister vehicle to the musician’s car.

How does Game Over Cycles translate the car design onto the motorcycle?

Game Over Cycles carried over almost every striking detail of the Auburn to the motorcycle. This was not just about the colour, but about body lines, lamps, wheels and even the leather.

The front end with its chrome grille recalls the car’s radiator. The tail lights are shaped like classic automotive lamps. The handlebar and levers pick up the angles and proportions of the Duvall-style windscreen frame. As on the car, the front fender carries a chrome cover. The rear is shaped so that its line matches the back end of the Auburn.

The 30-inch front wheel is particularly eye-catching. Game Over Cycles built it in-house and machined it on a CNC mill, a computer-controlled milling machine, so that it reproduces the pattern of the Auburn wheels. The dark brown paint in the Root Beer Candy shade is said to be identical to the car’s. The paint came from Novol and was applied with equipment from Anest Iwata. The air filter cover is styled after the car as well.

Even the seat matches the original. The company WB-Line from Stobierna covered it with the same leather used in the Auburn’s interior. The design was created in cooperation with LFANT Design.

Car designer Rick Dore liked the result. He says he was thrilled by the first pictures of the motorcycle, especially in direct comparison with Hetfield’s car. In his view, the bodywork, wheels, colour and levers all worked: „everything was right on with the Slow Burn.“ He explicitly praises the build quality.

Which engine powers the Slow Burn?

The Slow Burn runs an air-cooled RevTech V-twin with 115 cubic inches, which equals around 1,885 cc. So it is not a Harley-Davidson engine, but an aftermarket unit.

The engine has forged internals and is paired with a RevTech five-speed gearbox. A BDL clutch and a Mikuni carburettor are added to that. Engine, gearbox and clutch came via the dealer Custom Chrome Europe. Game Over Cycles has not published any power or torque figures.

The shop built the frame and swingarm itself, along with the rear air suspension. Up front there is air suspension from Legend Air. Both suspension units can be adjusted pneumatically, exactly as on the Auburn. Braking is handled by Performance Machine calipers gripping discs made by Game Over Cycles. The tank, oil tank, fenders, panniers, handlebar, levers, ignition lock and exhaust also come from the shop’s own workshop. The instruments are supplied by Dakota Digital, the footpegs by Performance Machine and the lighting by Custom Chrome Europe.

What electrical features does the Slow Burn have?

The Slow Burn is street legal and brings along several electrical features. The side panniers are usable and open electrically. The licence plate retracts at the push of a button. A lid on the tank, which also houses the instruments, likewise opens electrically and gives access to the fuel cap. The exhaust system is integrated into the right-hand pannier, with the exhaust ending in the chrome trim at the rear. That way no visible silencer disturbs the line.

Why is the Slow Burn so big and heavy?

The Slow Burn is 3.3 metres long and weighs 400 kg (around 880 lbs) because it is meant to reproduce the elongated proportions of the Auburn. A smaller motorcycle could not have captured the car’s lines.

According to Game Over Cycles, getting the size right was the biggest technical challenge of the project. Christopher Bienkiewicz of Game Over Cycles describes how the motorcycle had to be large enough to show the car’s profile correctly. At the same time the team adapted the dimensions to James Hetfield, who is 185 centimetres tall. That made it harder to keep the proportions of the whole vehicle coherent.

The entire construction is made of steel. According to the builder there are no plastic parts. For a smooth line, all bolts are hidden. Around 7,000 working hours are said to have gone into the project.

How successful was the Slow Burn at Daytona Bike Week?

At its debut at Daytona Bike Week 2024, the Slow Burn won four awards in two competitions. It took the Best of Show title and the win in the Extreme Bagger class at each of them.

The premiere took place on 9 March 2024 at the Rat’s Hole Custom Bike Show in Florida. That contest is considered the oldest custom bike competition in the world. The Slow Burn achieved the same result at the Boardwalk Bike Show, which had 136 motorcycles entered. Daytona Bike Week is one of the largest motorcycle gatherings in the world; around 500,000 participants are quoted for the 2026 edition.

Bienkiewicz describes the reactions of other custom builders in Daytona as very positive. For him, putting his own work up for judgement is part of the deal: „Unless you are confronted by judgment, you never know.“

Who is behind Game Over Cycles?

Game Over Cycles is a custom shop from Rzeszów in eastern Poland that has been building motorcycles since 2012. The founder and owner is Stanisław Myszkowski, and the shop manager is Tomasz Rzeszut.

The city is not far from the Ukrainian border. Bienkiewicz jokingly refers to „Poland B“. By that he means the shop does not come from a centre such as Warsaw and sits rather at the back of the European scene. Yet it is precisely this different take on classic American motifs that is said to contribute to their unusual designs.

Game Over Cycles became known in part through Behemoth, a custom bike built around the theme of heavy metal. Another project is The Recidivist, regarded as the first tattooed motorcycle in the world, with parts covered in tattooed cowhide. A converted Yamaha Niken also came out of Rzeszów. The shop’s motorcycles have already won awards in Europe and the United States. With the Slow Burn, Game Over Cycles has now extended that list on both continents.

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