Rideable & Legal Pro Street Custom Motorcycle
Having the vision and the ability to fund it all is often what separates the dream from the reality.
BYRON WANTED a custom motorcycle that was rideable and legal, something that he could just jump on and ride and enjoy. He’d had a few Harley-Davidsons before, and Adelaide’s Pro Street Motorcycles had always worked on them.
Nick from Pro Street explained Byron’s situation. “He’s very specific in what he wants. He wanted better quality components so at the end of the day he could just jump on it and ride it, and once it was together, never pull it apart. That’s why he went for the components that he did: the 124 cube S&S engine and the six-speed right-side-drive Baker gearbox, the Arlen Ness billet primary housing, the Arlen Ness hand controls, Arlen Ness indicators, Arlen Ness mirrors. He’s gone to a lot of trouble to make it a good, rideable motorcycle.”
The frame, the rear tail piece, the oil tank, and the rear guard are all incorporated into one, so the rear guard is actually fixed and part of the frame. The aluminium fuel tank is from Scotty’s Choppers.
Maintaining the high standard meant that a few other well-known companies also contributed to the finished machine. Forward controls and wheels are from Performance Machine, with a 280 rear tyre. Handlebars were specifically made for the bike with a V-bar construction, and a Dakota digital dash was mounted. The air cleaner came from Custom Chrome, and a 4.25 inch billet Headwinds headlight sits stylishly at the front.
The front guard’s custom made; it was bought as a blank and the sides were flared so there was no need to run spacers, and then the scallops at the front and the rear were cut out. The battery lies flat to give that low chopper feel when you’re riding the bike. The coil is mounted in the centre of the engine with a neat custom cover, and all the wiring runs internally through the frame.
Nick has his own specific view on this. “In my opinion, motorcycles look best when nothing really protrudes and sticks out, so it’s a matter of trying to hide as much as you can. It’s good when someone looks at a bike and they wonder where things are. When you hide as much as you can it gives the impression that it shouldn’t really go or it shouldn’t really be on the road. Especially when you’re riding it down the road!”
The two-into-one exhaust was custom-made for the bike, with a removable baffle so Byron can make as much noise as he wants with the baffle removed but still keep it down when the mood or the occasion demand.
Rear air suspension allows a three-inch drop to the bump stop, giving the bike a uniquely low slimline look. The saddle height was made as low as it possibly could because the owner wanted to enjoy that chopper feeling. Dave at Bushranger did the seat, with Byron going through a few different seats before he was happy with a seat that was both comfortable and good looking. Dave did an exceptional job and everyone involved was very happy with the end result.
One of Adelaide’s most talented painters, Troy at Nightmare Designs, took care of the colour scheme and its exacting application. Again, Byron was very specific in what he wanted: ghost flames and everything to be hidden, and nothing to really jump out. As far as you can with a bike like this, he wanted it to look quite subtle as well as glamorous, so the frame and the bodywork have been painted all together.
It was entered in Adelaide’s Extreme Horsepower where it won the coveted Best Custom Motorcycle trophy against the kind of stiff competition you’d expect. It’s won a few other trophies too, but that’s not really what Byron principally had in mind when he went into Pro Street: his simple aim was to build a motorcycle that Byron could just jump on and ride and enjoy. So far, he’s done around 6000 km on it, enough to be certain that it’s actually very good to ride. He rides it whenever the weather permits and whenever he can—it was made to ride and enjoy after all, so when Pro Street finished the bike he rode to Mildura, through Swan Hill, then through the Grampians and back through Victoria.
Pro Street Custom Motorcycle article by Chris Randells
