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This drag racer style bike was built during a 3-day build-off front of the visitors of a large European Bike Show… Well, you know (I hope) that it’s absolutely impossible to build a full custom in a weekend, except when it’s a Build-Off for a TV series and what you watch is of course the edited images of several weeks of work, sourcing parts, fabricating some and assembling, plumbing and wiring. So, let’s say it was assembled in 3 days, adjustments included, after many hours of fabrication in the month preceding the “live Build-Off.” Still, there is a lot of merit in assembling a bike in a weekend front of spectators. Just try! adjustments included. And anyway, people love to watch the race to completion with the biggest reward to get front of a crowd: for the first time, the engine cranks and starts…

Classic Cycles from Switzerland is the shop behind this project. It had to be done with a very low budget. Because 2 orphan V-Rod wheels with brakes and a fork were languishing in a back room, it was decided to use them, not to build a cruiser but a rigid drag racer looking bike whose steel parts had to be fabricated before the build-off competition and left raw. The Build-Off rules include at least some painting to be performed live on stage, the objective being to add some entertainment for the spectators. A 100″ RevTech engine (with some slight modifications like a new camshaft) and a tranny were temporarily cradled into the frame for testing of a new hand fabricated 2 into 1 exhaust system with a very nice looking flared pipe end. Surprisingly, the adjustable (and foldable) seat system consumed as many labor hours than the gas tank and rear fender steel fabrication. To clear the space under the seat, it was decided not to use an oil tank but to run engine oil inside the frame, requiring the pre-installation of the necessary plugs and fittings and some pressure testing.

For show, and later a couple of fun trials on the track, a 3-foot wheelie bar was also fabricated, So, in pieces the bike went to the Build-Off with all the crew assembling, re-adjusting, trimming, wiring and plumbing during 3 days (including some show after hours.) Europe’s master painter  Marcus Pfeil added some pinstriping, then it was a spectators’ ovation went it went to life, getting started for the 1st time exactly at the time the show promotor expected it. By Classic Cycles Switzerland. (photography copyright Frank Sander for Cyril Huze)