by Charlie Stockwell
So, I started this one mid way through 2011 for a young kid who wanted something pretty special for his first bike. He doesn’t even have a license yet!! So where else would you go if you wanted a really cool bike right??
This guy didn’t have much of a clue of what he wanted. His Dad was pushing him in one direction. Kinda long and stretched Captain America style…but he wasn’t having it. He new he loved the V-Rod, especially the original one that was launched by H-D 10 years ago, but he wanted something unique and custom. That’s all he could tell me though. I gave him a few options and ideas that I had but he wasn’t so keen. So I asked him to try to be a little more descriptive, give me a little more direction…..what did he have in mind?? This went on for almost 6 weeks. Yes, really. We had at least 3 meetings during which both of us stood there and said barely nothing at all!
Patience wearing thin, I started sketching one evening. A V-Rod that had my, Warr’s, vintage signature touch whilst edging towards that ‘Steam Punk’ look but with heavy influence from the original V-Rod. The customer loved it and so we began!
Hand beating the bodywork, Brembo Monobloc callipers & Ohlins R&T forks with our own CNC machined triple trees. ‘Warr’s Racing’ team tuned the engine. We wanted a larger rear wheel so fitted a wider swingarm and a 280 tire. Custom built wheels to our spec are from our friends in California, Ride Wright Wheels.
Now, to go with the raw look of the bodywork my customer wanted a contrasting colour for the fittings, bolts etc. Brass would look pretty cool and would work perfect for the steam punk look I wanted. “Can we have the spokes of the wheels in brass” he asks!! with brass not being possible we have had them gold plated along with a few of the other details.
I wanted to go with the bare aluminium bodywork like the original V-Rod but the customer wanted the frame, wheels, bodywork in the same finish. With so many different materials and so many different parts this wasn’t going to be easy. We weren’t going to be able to make the lot in aluminium but that was the colour/finish he wanted. The McLaren F1 cars have the exact finish/colour we wanted…..so after calling in a little favour we had some paint and a happy customer!
Completion due March 2012.
See more of Charlie’s builds exclusively on Stay On The Black here.
