One Very Wicked, Mean & Nasty Motorcycle
This full-on street custom has, not-surprisingly, won its fair share of trophies… but that’s not why it was built.
IF you’re after extreme performance plus a ride that turns more heads than Linda Lovelace and Linda Blair combined, well look no further because here it is! This is the most formidable, jaw-dropping, eye-ball-popping street custom to be seen in this land. And it’s not just visually intimidating — it runs a full-on, 155-cubic-inch, Twin-Cam power-plant (which is awesome in itself).
Digga, the owner of this amazing custom motorcycle and part-time wrench man, has a history of building custom motorcycles — he’d endured many a sleepless night burning the midnight oil — however, the thing that makes him stick out from other builders is the fact that he rides them… and often.
What Digga wanted this time around was a unique street custom with a heavy dose of power on tap. After checking out an American company, Nothing But Customs (NBC) — a well established outfit who has won many shows like the Daytona Bike Week, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, and other iconic motorcycle events throughout the States — Digga was full of new ideas for his new build. John Triplet, the main man at the helm of NBC, guided Digga to alternative options at times but always gave him the final say. John has an eternity of knowledge when it comes to building such a ride as this one. And he’s built plenty over his time.
This particular build began with a one-off custom frame which displays first-class engineering attributes by NBC. A 44-degree rake was implemented to the neck plus another six degrees via the triple trees making it a total of half century in rake. The inverted front-end is by Mean Street complete with custom bars with internal throttle cables. Other accessories fitted to the bars include the PM levers, switch blocks and four spotter front caliper. Grips are from Accutronix. Keeping an eye on how Digga is traveling is the responsibility of a Dakota Digital Speedo.
The custom oil tank doubles up in its duties — apart from the obvious as to what an oil cooler is, this one is located at the bottom of the down-tube disguised as a spoiler which maximises the attraction of air and thus efficiently assisting in doing its job. This may seem like a trivial thing, but given the power-plant fitted, it’s a necessity more than cosmetic.
The engine itself is a complete powerhouse… and then some! It was built by R&R Cycle in the USA. They were in consistent contact with John from NBC making sure that clearances, etc, were all AOK. It really is a big engine, and not just in cubes, it’s physically big.
The 155-cube engine begins with custom-made cases to suit. Inside is the Jim’s racing-grade fly-wheels attached to a pair of Carrillo rods; 8.375 in length. They work in sync with the JE dished pistons. The cams are R&R Cycle 6.250m variety with the titanium valves being 2.5 inlet and 2.0 for the exhaust. The stroke is 4.625; bore is 4.600. The carburettor is a specially honed out S&S ‘D’ series that’s also fitted with Thunder Jets. Spark requirement is fulfilled by more from R&R Cycle’s own ignition system. Exhaust is custom.
So what does all this mean? Well, on the dyno this engine pumped out 198.6 ft/lb of torque @ 3800 rpm; and at those revs delivery was a staggering 190 horsepower. However, keep in mind there’s still more grunt on offer as they were conservative revs on the dyno!
Taking all this mumbo on board and relaying it to the final drive pulley (via a jack shaft) is the beefed-up, left-side-drive Baker gearbox complete with a 10-stack, dual lock-up clutches from Barnett. A Hi-Tech open primary belt drive that carries a five-inch belt is also on the big side of things.
Both the front and rear chrome billet wheels come from Renegade; front is 21 inch and shod with Avon Venom rubber; the rear is a whopping 14 inches in width and 18 inches in diameter enveloped with a 360 Avon Monster tyre. This rests comfortably between the NBC tubular structured swing-arm with LED indicators slotted in at the ends.
The rear Sprotor brake is another accessory that doubles up on duties. In this case, the rear pulley, which is also the brake disc, came courtesy of HHI.
Both the front and rear guards are more custom additions from NBC. The forward controls are more from Accutronix. NBC fuel tank has a capacity of four gallons. A plethora of braided line by Maltech has been fitted throughout.
The overall length of this ride is 10.5 feet. An aluminium plate was affixed to the base of the frame giving a resting pad for this ride once the Air Ride suspension has been activated. In short — slammed!
Once the project was shipped to Australia Digga took possession. It had no paint, seat or final assembly, plus a few other extras were required. That’s where Digga came into the equation — in his humble little garage, he dummied up his ride, seeing what goes where and what it all does. And this part is not as simple as some would have you believe. For example, firing up the engine alone took many phone calls to R&R Cycle to make sure not to damage it in any way; sensible precaution.
When it comes to airbrushing, painting murals, etc, Mat Egan is definitely one of the best in the business. So being as Mat had painted all of Digga’s other street customs, it came as no surprise he got the gig for this one. Taking just over a month to lay down some of his own visual ideology over the 2-pak gun-smoke-silver base, the final result suited this ride to a capital ‘T’.
Once his ride was put together, Digga was naturally keen to test it out — and he did just that — although he did show some common sense rather than unwarranted bravado as even with a mild twist of the throttle, he was blown away with the power that the 155-cube-inch Twin Cam engine delivered — it’s a handful to ride with so much grunt on tap.
This project took just on two years to complete from inception and joins the stable of street customs that Digga has built over the years. And this one is more than just a head turner… even when it’s static. It’s a genuine, hand-made custom without compromise!
Words & pics by Knackers
- GENERAL
- Builder/Designer: Nothing But Customs (NBC)
- Make: Street Custom
- Owner: Digga
- Frame: NBC 44-degree rake
- ENGINE
- Make: R&R Cycle fully polished
- Cubes: 155
- Heads: R&R Cycle
- Pistons: JE dished
- Rods: Carrillo
- Cams: R&R Cycle
- Cases: R&R Cycle
- Carburettor: S&S ‘D’ modified; Thunder Jets fitted
- Air Intake: Velocity stack
- Ignition: R&R Cycle
- Exhaust: R&R Cycle
- TRANSMISSION
- Type: Baker 6-speed LSD
- Clutch: Barnett 10 plate dual lock up
- Open Primary: Hi-Tech 5-inch belt
- Final drive: Belt & pulley
- WHEELS & TYRES
- Front: Renegade 21 inch
- Rear: Renegade 18 x 14 inch
- Front tyre: Avon Venom
- Rear tyre: Avon Monster 360
- Front brake: PM 4 Spotter caliper
- Rear brake: HHI Sprotor 4 spotter caliper
- SUSPENSION
- Front-end: Mean Street
- Triple trees: Mean Street 6-degrees
- Seat: Stingray skin
- CONTROLS
- Bars: NBC; internal cables
- Levers: PM
- Grips: Accutronix
- Forward controls: Accutronix
- Speedo: Dakota Digital
- Headlight: Custom
- Taillight: Custom LED
- Indicators: LEDs
- GUARDS & TINWORK
- Front guard: NBC
- Rear guard: NBC
- Fuel tank: NBC
- Oil tank: NBC
- PAINT
- Paint/colour/murals: 2-pak Gun-Smoke-Silver
- Painter: Mat Egan
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