“Cheetah” Toshiyuki Osawa is a prominent figure in Tokyo’s custom motorcycle scene, known for his ability to blend the grit of flat track racing with his custom builds. Operating under the name Cheetah Custom Cycles, Osawa-san is as much an artist as he is a fabricator, a reputation he solidified at the 2024 Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show with his custom build based on a 2004 Buell Blast.

For this project, Cheetah took a single-cylinder Buell—a bike often dismissed by the custom community—and reimagined it as a radical “street tracker” style machine. The build featured a completely bespoke frame and a hand-formed iron gas tank, which Cheetah meticulously shaped that gave the bike an organic, flowing silhouette reminiscent of vintage drag racers and 70s choppers. This balance of aggressive racing geometry and experimental artistry caught the attention of the judges, ultimately winning the W&W Cycles Pick.

Beyond his skills in the workshop, Toshi is well known in the motorcycle world as the organizer of the “Have Fun” Flat Track series. This initiative was born out of his desire to promote the joy of dirt track racing without the pressure of professional competition. The events encourage riders of all skill levels to bring a variety of machines, from small-displacement commuters to vintage American bikes, to the dirt oval. His philosophy is simple: racing should be accessible, creative, and above all, fun.