She breathes and she moves!
There are still a few little items left to finish, but she sounds health, hauls ass, handles like a dream and now has some nice color in the pipes. The Ohlins suspension is amazing and the geometry’s spot on. Although I’ve only put a few miles on it so far, it feels like you could ride it for hours with little or no fatigue.
I still need to finalize the air cleaner, I want to optimize performance, so will try a few options when she goes on the dyno after logging some miles. A rear splashguard and front fender are left to be done also, and after vacillating between a center stand (which I usually prefer) or kickstand, I think a nice clean kickstand will be most practical. I’ll tackle that in the upcoming week and hopefully take her out for a longer ride in the hills next weekend.
This project has been a very long one and I have a lot of folks to thank. The bikes owner has been a joy to work with, his patience, support and involvement artistically have made it a rare and enjoyable experience.
Danny and Jennifer Rhoades of The Frame Works Racing in Arizona have been major contributors to this project from the beginning, they are true friends and great people.
Bennett’s Performance built an amazing engine, as usual.
Our friend, Mark “Duckman” van der Kwaak of DBBP fame helped by turning lots of 2D ideas into 3D reality, he’s very talented, always brings tons of great ideas to the table and is an all around great guy.
Ryan Boyd of Boyd Motor Co. in Colorado saved our ass a bunch of times when we were in a crunch, THANKS!
Satya and Alan Kraus of Kraus Motor Co. also came to the rescue in the final days, THANKS!
Dennis “Chopman” Chick, who helped make sure this thing got all bolted together in time for Artistry in Iron.
And, of course my wife, Sharon.
The folks below all deserve huge thanks for indulging all my crazy requests and pestering;
Yoshimura RD, Douglas Wells
Ohlins Suspension, Eric Knight
Baker Drivetrain, Bert Baker and Scott Lerg
K&N Air Filters, Jere Wall
PSI Power Carbs, Bruce Kahlhamer
Black Bike Wheels, Elliott and Brian
Custom Metal Finishing, David and Lilly
Specialized Coatings, Kelly and Larry
Azteka Customs, Mauricio
A.V. Gauge & Fixture, Inc, Aaron Kettlewell
Belmit Development, Steve Belin
JD Polishing, Juan
Evil Engineering, Repo
