Moviegoers and movie critics have come away from "Oblivion" raving about the vavoom vehicles in the box-office hit starring Tom Cruise — especially lead character Jack's futuristic folding motocross bike.
Known on the set as "Jack's moto bike," the wispy ghost-white bike wheelies its way across a landscape of desert salt flats — actually, volcanic sand in Iceland — and transports the hero into and out of trouble throughout director Joseph Kosinski's dystopian film.
The "moto bike," though, was a Honda CRF450X before local motorcycle-fabricator-to-the-stars Justin Kell started transforming it.
Kell, whose Glory Motor Works has built or restored bikes for "The Master," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "G.I. Joe 2," among many others, said his company built three futuristic motorcycles for Cruise and Kosinski's stunt crews to ride in "Oblivion."
To do that, Kell removed and replaced the Honda's exhaust system, cooling system, fuel tanks and body work, added all-new lighting and electrics — all in his Glendale facility, where he also does classic motorcycle restoration work — and slapped on custom carbon fiber wheels.
