The {custom} motorbike scene is a melting pot of types and philosophies, however few names have managed to stir the pot fairly as constantly and compellingly as Roland Sands Design (RSD).
Greater than only a {custom} store, RSD is the brainchild of Roland Sands, a former AMA Grand Prix Nationwide Champion racer. This background is the important thing to understanding the RSD ethos: his designs aren’t nearly trying good—they’re about efficiency, operate, and mixing two-wheeled cultures. From high-speed street racing to stripped-down choppers, Sands merges the precision engineering of a sportbike with the uncooked soul of a cruiser.
Since founding RSD in 2005, Sands has constructed lots of of machines, designed numerous components, and even based the Tremendous Hooligan Nationwide Championship racing sequence. His work has elevated the {custom} recreation, proving {that a} bike might be each a high-art showpiece and an absolute blast to experience.
Listed below are seven of our favourite customs from the RSD workshop which have appeared on Bike EXIF through the years.
The Professional Inventory Peril: BMW R18 Drag Racer
When the BMW R18, a motorcycle outlined by its huge boxer engine and cruiser styling, first hit the market, California’s RSD was one of many first workshops to leap in. For this iteration, they threw warning to the wind, dialing the insanity as much as eleven and cloaking it within the iconic Daytona Orange livery.
The result’s a full-bore Professional Inventory drag racer aesthetic that borders on outrageous. To attain this inflexible, aggressive stance, RSD fabricated a bespoke trellised subframe that eliminates the rear suspension solely. The rear finish is a symphony of drag-spec {hardware}, that includes Grothus Dragbikes axle plates and a beefy rear wheel wrapped in an 8.5-inch-wide Mickey Thompson tire. Making room for that huge rubber required a drastic engineering answer: RSD eradicated the inventory driveshaft, repositioning the rear drive hub in entrance of the wheel to behave as a jackshaft, sending energy by way of a brand new chain drive.
Up entrance, Grothus Dragbikes’ forks, an 18” wheel, and {custom} yokes with built-in handlebar mounts proceed the theme. The rider controls are equally uncompromising, with a Race Torx thumb brake and a Pingel electrical shifter eliminating the necessity for any conventional foot controls.
Lastly, RSD cleverly built-in a nitrous oxide bottle by modifying the OEM gas tank to hold gas solely on the left, carving a channel on the suitable for the chromed reservoir to sit down proudly on show, cementing its standing as maybe probably the most excessive {custom} BMW R18 ever constructed. [MORE]
Yamaha RD400 ‘2 Stroke Assault’
In a sea of choppers on the Born Free present, the looks of Roland Sands’ “2 Stroke Assault” Yamaha RD400 was a second of pure, screaming defiance. Roland purchased the non-running donor RD400 for a mere $600 at a swap meet and spent a yr reworking it into an uncompromising, high-performance street racer.
This machine is a world away from the donor bike; solely the engine circumstances and the California title stay. The air-cooled parallel twin was rebuilt and ported by two-stroke wizard Ed Erlenbach, and now fed by twin Mikuni flatslides carburetors. The exhaust is an equally uncompromising setup of handmade growth chambers by Brian Turfrey, paired with real TZ250 silencers. The transmission has been beefed up with hand-cut Erlenbach gears and an early TZ250 dry clutch.
To deal with this firecracker of a motor, the bike wears a full TZ250 body and a real TZ250 ‘banana’ swingarm. Suspension is top-shelf, with black-nitrided Öhlins FG43 Street & Monitor forks up entrance and an Öhlins TTX shock within the rear. The bodywork even has a private historical past, with the tank coming from the very TZ250 Roland rode to his AMA Championship win in 1998. Working on 17-inch magnesium monitor wheels and Dunlop KR race slicks, this bike is a shocking throwback that sacrifices nothing in trendy efficiency. [MORE]
Yamaha Bolt Road Tracker
When the Yamaha Bolt arrived on the scene, it was meant to be a critical challenger to Harley-Davidson Sportster, providing a lighter, better-handling various to the American V-Twin. Yamaha USA tasked Roland Sands with displaying the Bolt’s {custom} potential, and he responded with a flawless, streetable tracker that required zero reducing to the body—a boon for residence customizers.
Sands, who had lengthy wished to create a streetable tracker, discovered the Bolt a great platform. The transformation begins with the stance: the again wheel was bumped up from 16” to a flat-track-appropriate 19”, fitted with Solar Gold anodized Buchanan’s rims and Dunlop flat monitor rubber. The aesthetics lean into race minimalism, with a fiberglass seat unit wrapped in race foam and new aluminum aspect covers.
Efficiency upgrades are plentiful, together with an RSD Carbon Fiber Slant consumption and a {custom} stainless-steel exhaust with a carbon tip. Dealing with is tightened up with a braced swingarm, whereas the rider triangle is optimized with RSD Step Moto bars clamped onto RSD Nostalgia risers in a refined Black Ops end. The result’s a radically totally different look created from a cleverly chosen choice of bolt-on components, proving the Bolt’s potential as a contemporary, performance-focused {custom} base. [MORE]
Harley-Davidson Ameri-Tracker Sportster
Flat monitor is in RSD’s DNA, and the Ameri-Tracker is the final word answer for injecting that ‘go quick, flip left’ adrenaline right into a road-legal machine. Primarily based on a 2008-spec Nightster with a wholesome 1200cc engine, this construct showcases how one can create a “extremely practical, soiled model of the Sportster” good for each the road and an area hooligan brief monitor.
Beginning with a wrecked donor bike present in a junkyard, Roland boosted its efficiency with a Vance & Hines Fuelpak FI Tuner, an RSD Radial Air Cleaner, and a Slant 2-into-1 exhaust system. A heavy-duty Barnett clutch prepares the machine for abuse, whereas the controls lean into the oval monitor ethos with rearsets on the left and mid-controls on the suitable.
The most important practical improve is the suspension: Suzuki GSX-R forks up entrance, personalized with new triples to regulate geometry, and Progressive Suspension 970 Collection shocks out again. The bike rolls on 19-inch RSD Del Mar wheels in a ‘Machine Ops’ end, shod with traditional flat monitor race compound Dunlop DT3 rubber. RSD’s genius for stability is obvious within the bodywork, with a modified Softail Classic Tank, hand-made aspect plates, and a kicked-up tail creating a glance that’s instantly recognizable as a high-performance RSD creation. [MORE]
KTM 690 Enduro R
The KTM 690 Enduro R is understood for its efficiency, however Roland Sands took the 66 hp, 305 lb Austrian machine and gave it a radical aesthetic and efficiency overhaul, proving that the ‘KTM look’ will not be the one possibility. The problem with the 690’s almost 36-inch seat peak was reconfiguring it to work, and the RSD crew succeeded with panache.
The bodywork is totally new and hand-fabricated from aluminum, then painted by Airtrix, retaining the signature KTM orange in an aesthetic racing stripe. Engine output was boosted by plundering the KTM Powerparts catalog, putting in an EVO 2 tuning equipment that features a race-profile cam and a Ok&N filter, all respiratory out via a custom-fit RSD ‘Slant’ exhaust.
To transform the tall dual-sport right into a street-carving machine, RSD swapped the inventory wire wheels for 17” Morris wheels with a {custom} nickel anodizing impact, working Dunlop Q3 Sportmax road/trackday tires. The forks are derived from a 690 Duke, shortened and revalved by Race Tech, and the bike now incorporates a hand-fabricated swingarm hooked as much as a {custom} Race Tech shock. The ultimate racing contact is a set of Graves Motorsports clip-ons, eliminating any doubt in regards to the bike’s high-performance, streetfighter focus. [MORE]
Indian Monitor Chief
Beginning with the formidable Indian Chieftain, an enormous touring bike powered by the 111 cubic inch (1811cc) Thunder Stroke engine, Roland Sands carried out one among his most bold transformations: the Indian Monitor Chief. Tapping into Indian’s wealthy motorsport heritage, Sands created a boardtracker-inspired beast.
The bike is centred round a hand-fabricated 4130 chromoly metal single-sided inflexible body that hugs the engine completely. That is matched by a black Paughco Leaf Spring Fork meeting up entrance, a vintage-style piece of engineering that’s surprisingly trendy, with its movement managed by a Fox DHX mountain bike shock tucked low close to the axle. Regardless of its rigid-looking look, Sands experiences the bike handles surprisingly nicely, even within the twisties.
The Monitor Chief is an train in weight financial savings and efficiency. The inventory engine internals stay for reliability, however the colossal Chieftain sheds lots of of kilos, now estimated at 400-500 lb. versus the inventory 827 lb. tourer. It incorporates a titanium gas tank, an aluminium stomach pan, and a {custom} titanium 2-into-2 exhaust. Closing particulars embody 21” x 3.5” light-weight RSD Del Mar rims in a bronze end and see-through RSD Readability covers that reveal a {custom} Barnett clutch stress plate. The completed bike takes the burgeoning cool issue of America’s oldest model up a number of notches. [MORE]
Honda Monkey for Wee Man
Customization is not at all times about outright pace; typically it’s about making a motorbike match its rider completely, and this wild Honda Monkey constructed for Jackass star Jason ‘Wee Man’ Acuña is the final word instance. As a shorter rider returning to motorcycling, Wee Man wanted a motorcycle that was geared for the pavement and constructed to his body.
The diminutive Monkey supplied the right start line, however even its famously thick seat was a hindrance. The RSD crew set to work, reducing the entrance forks with a Racing Bros equipment and including 280 mm Racing Bros shocks out again. Crucially, they fabricated a {custom} subframe with new shock mounts and trimmed a Saddlemen seat to make sure he might get each toes firmly on the bottom.
Roland’s racing background ensured the efficiency field was additionally ticked. The Monkey’s engine was tuned with a Chimera consumption, Ok&N filter, and a full Yoshimura exhaust system, leading to a stunning high pace of 70-plus miles per hour. This pace is managed by light-weight BST carbon fiber wheels and an upgraded Brembo/Galfer braking system. The completed bike seems to be killer and is completely sized for its proprietor, proving that RSD is really a “non-denominational motorbike firm.” [MORE]
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