Challenging conventionalism and exploring the unfamiliar to honor individuality should be the motto of all custom builders. On each of their creations… Among those who succeed, project after project, is Jeremy Cupp from LC Fabrications. A builder with a “can-do” attitude, always avid to learn new skills to create his 2-wheel dreams.
“Seven”, his latest creation, is a successful exercise in engineering from parts that never met before on the same motorcycle. A very innovative machine loosely inspired by the Harley-Davidson CAC Speedway bike used in the 1930’s by brave men racing under the lights on tight dirt or cinder ovals in the golden age of speedway racing.
To create an original timeless new racer inspired by the old ones while still respecting the tradition and the craftsmanship of an era gone by, is not easy task. As always on all his projects, Jeremy Cupp started by choosing engine and wheels. For rolling with the correct stance, a pair of tall ones, 23″ front and 21″ rear was an obvious choice. For motor, evidently a vertical single, but of course not something off the shelf. An admirer of the work done a few years ago by Chris Barber with his “DesmoHarley” engine (putting Ducati 900ss Desmo heads on a pair of Axtell cylinders, Carillo Rods with flat top Keith Black pistons) Jeremy decided to create his own motor, using a 2001 Buell Blast (500 cc) as his starting point.
The “Seven” (because it’s LC Fabrications 7th very fancy project) is built with the kind of engine that will make motor heads all twitchy just looking at it. As Jeremy describes his work: “The entire cam-chest was modified to use a series of idler gears to drive the lower belt pulley. The Ducati 750 ss cylinder head had also been heavily modified to take its place on top of the factory Buell cylinder. And in order to set the engine vertical instead of forward leaning, I “back-halfed”the cases and mated up a 1959 pre-unit Triumph transmission which I modified to use a hydraulic clutch slave from a modern Triumph…” Shifting is one down, three up.
The lugged style looped hardtail frame was done from .120 dom and setup with a 32-degree neck rake. The front end that Jeremy calls “The Hydro-Springer” is an attempt to build a Springer that both looks and handles great. The rear leg is a modified 32mm inverted Showa where the springs have been removed so they are dampeners only where the scratch built springer portion carries the load…(Jeremy Cupp is working on a small production run of these sets in a stock HD narrow glide configuration.)
The sheet metal is all polished aluminum and there is also a story behind it. Asked a few years ago by the media about the square tank design on a previous well known project called “Old black”, Jeremy replied honestly that he didn’t know much about sheet metal massaging, and that a square tank was all what he was able to produce. Since then, he learned…As proof, the “Seven”’s gas tank is fully polished with absolutely no filler to be found on it. Nearly every piece small to large was also made by himself,
Rear braking is via a perimeter rotor. Thanks to two separate Jaybrake calipers and to two separate master cylinders, foot brake is the primary and hand rear brake is for holding on the hills. Always motivated to learn new skills, Jeremy bought a sewing machine and learned upholstery, producing himself the “Seven”’s hand tool seat. He thanks Jo Cooper for answering all of his questions through the learning curve. “Seven” is a 2-year job and will be honored by being displayed during all the Sturgis Rally at the new Michael Lichter’s Exhibit at the Buffalo Chip. LC Fabrications. (photography @ Holly Marcus for Cyril Huze)
Wow.
Amazing work.
The definition of custom building.
Sweet ! very nice work .
Hey Jeremy, just as nice as the other 6, Congrats ! BJ
PS, been driving up & down 81, gonna stop by someday !
YES!!! Absolutely beautiful. Notice the way the exhaust follows the frame. For some reason that really caught my eye…
very cool and truly a labor of love, congrats
I love this bike! Definitely thinking out of the box, and doing it beautifully. Amazing piece! Can’t say enough about it!. Well done Jeremy!
Wow
Well done & inspiring as usual from LC!
love it, love it, love it!
What a cool engine!
Different and Amazing with great engineering, Modifications like these take allot of work.
Burt Munro put a Lycoming Head off a Catalina on a Velocette. Using very rudimentary tools
as you would expect lol
Those sorts of mods can be very difficult and often take huge amounts of time.
Strong work — wow, there’s a lot to take in. . . Thanks for sharing!
Jeremy is one of the few guys who really does things differently, im always blown away by the bikes he builds and the ingenuity involved. Another bike with the right amount of machine and hand made parts. Congrats on a killer bike
Love it. Have always liked the stance of speedway racers and intended on building a bike along those lines.
I tried ice speedway once… ONCE only that is, before I rapidly retired, soaked, frozen and scared sh#tless.
This is by far LC’s best effort to date – truly amazing effort throughout. Keep it up!
Hope it will at be ridden hard; if not in anger.
Another great build from jeremy
Such nice work, great to see some builders still taking things to this level ! congrats on the build!
Very cool indeed! Good to see craftsmen are still out there doing neat stuff.
That bike is Off the Hook!
Everything from the custom fabbed front end to the even more custom made engine is just a work of art.
I remember drooling over Jeremy’s Old Black at the Easy Rider show in Columbus a number of years ago. What an encore with this piece.
A very nice piece throughout..
Awesomely beautiful piece!
Another great bike from Jeremy. Not only does he build great bikes but he is one of the nicest guys around. Hope to see you in Sturgis my friend!!
You’re Aces Mr. Cupp!!!
You’ll all see two of Jeremy’s Hydro Springers at Michael Lichter’s “Naked Truth” exhibit at the Buffalo Chip during the Sturgis Rally. Jeremy built us a front end for our Hot Bike Tour build last year and it will be in Michael’s show in a couple of weeks as well!
See you in Sturgis Jeremy!
Big Joe
One of the most talented builders in the industry. Just keeps raising the bar to new levels.
What a great and good looking build. That bike just looks plain fun to ride!! 🙂
RE:
“… honor individuality should be the motto of all custom builders…”
-YES-
And also the motto of any “Real Biker”…..
So one has to ask, what’s the main street of Stugis all about these days……???
-nicker-
Yeppers
This thing is a work of rolling art and study in engineering. GREAT BIKE.
This is a really well designed and built bike