When Shaw Speed & Custom were asked to appear at the prestigious Masterpiece Art and Design fair in classy Chelsea, London; the design and custom shop for the Harley-Davidson Dealer Shaw H-D wanted to arrive with something exciting and new that could be recognized and appreciated by a large audience.
With past motorcycles built like the iconic XLST3, the team knew that the retro scrambler "look" was a trend that was always attractive and would gain attention especially if it would be debuted at such a high end event.
Second choice and thought would need to go into the paint design of the motorcycle, and thinking down the petrol head road the plan came about to use the beautiful Tri colours of Martinis racing heritage. The bonus when investigating this area was that Martini were celebrating their 150th anniversary in 2013, seemed perfect for such a bike so the builds got underway with the platform that the team knew so well. So 18 and 63 got on the benches.
Second choice and thought would need to go into the paint design of the motorcycle, and thinking down the petrol head road the plan came about to use the beautiful Tri colours of Martinis racing heritage. The bonus when investigating this area was that Martini were celebrating their 150th anniversary in 2013, seemed perfect for such a bike so the builds got underway with the platform that the team knew so well. So 18 and 63 got on the benches.
Now I know that comments will be immediately made about the engine guards too low, the bike is too heavy, why would and how could you off road it etc, but that is not the purpose of the build and bike.
The motorcycle is motivated by the retro cool, 70s injection, scrambler "style" etc. Its a statement of cool. We know the customer for this bike will enjoy the ownership, the trophy rights, the fun scratching around country roads.
The bikes are built on brand new straight out of the showroom XL883Rs, the motors went bigger straight away with the Screamin Eagle upgrades from Harley-Davidson with new heads, barrels and pistons. These engine changes were finished with the RSD new Sportster rocker covers and Derby covers. The air breathers were also changed with a unique pipe that Shaw Speed put together fusing too major brands in the industry, not a very "cheap" way of doing a system but pretty effective. The pipes also had the camcoat treatment to toughen them up.
The wheels were replaced with a pair built in house with Harley-Davidson profile rims, the rear off a Dyna which as said would allow the wider 180mm rear tire section, the belts also replaced with chains which have been popular with Speed Shop clients in the Sportster market.
Rear Ohlins support the freshly modified frames and a small wide kick up rear fender is manufactured to keep the "Moto" theme, front forks are also stripped, nitraded legs in gold to match and fitted with Ohlins internals.
Handlebars are from the RSD range and with some machining of the top fork yoke the headlight is fitted from the VROD family. The original speedo is replaced with a super little retro style motogadget unit, white faced with orange needle, perfect fit.
The gas tank is the same as the original XLST3, modified again to fit the sportster chassis and detailing is carried through the bike even down to the anodised fuel pump on the painted underside of the gas tank.
The "low" engine guards are from the XR family again modified and made to fit the XL, and the brake rotors are bigged up all round on the bike.
The build is a simple one on paper but surprisingly long on the bench and in the paint shop. Image Design Custom the Speed Shops painters pulled off a stunning but fairly simple scheme helped of course by using the dynamic and awesome colors of the brand. One bike is in pearl white with gold, the other in a satin silver. The opposite paint works were done to please all eyes.
To view these bikes and now over 65 custom modified Harley-Davidson's check out the Speed & Customs brand new website www.shawspeedandcustom.co.uk
Rear Ohlins support the freshly modified frames and a small wide kick up rear fender is manufactured to keep the "Moto" theme, front forks are also stripped, nitraded legs in gold to match and fitted with Ohlins internals.
Handlebars are from the RSD range and with some machining of the top fork yoke the headlight is fitted from the VROD family. The original speedo is replaced with a super little retro style motogadget unit, white faced with orange needle, perfect fit.
The gas tank is the same as the original XLST3, modified again to fit the sportster chassis and detailing is carried through the bike even down to the anodised fuel pump on the painted underside of the gas tank.
The "low" engine guards are from the XR family again modified and made to fit the XL, and the brake rotors are bigged up all round on the bike.
The build is a simple one on paper but surprisingly long on the bench and in the paint shop. Image Design Custom the Speed Shops painters pulled off a stunning but fairly simple scheme helped of course by using the dynamic and awesome colors of the brand. One bike is in pearl white with gold, the other in a satin silver. The opposite paint works were done to please all eyes.
To view these bikes and now over 65 custom modified Harley-Davidson's check out the Speed & Customs brand new website www.
Posted In: RSD