After we discuss Harley-Davidson, the dialog often gravitates towards two poles: the nimble (by Milwaukee requirements) Sportster and the huge, mile-munching Large Twins. Whereas the Sportster is the frequent flyer of the {custom} scene, it’s the Large Twin—spanning engines from the legendary Knucklehead and Panhead to the fashionable Milwaukee-Eight—that gives essentially the most daunting canvas for a restaurant racer.
These machines have served as the center of the Harley lineup, powering heavyweights just like the Avenue Bob, Fats Boy, and Breakout. They’re characterised by large torque and a scale that often discourages the “tucked-in” cafe aesthetic. However for the builders who dare to pair high-performance suspension with these heavyweight cruisers, the result’s a “Energy Cafe” that instructions respect. Listed here are 5 of our favourite Harley-Davidson Large Twins Cafe Racers that stopped us lifeless in our tracks.
Tough Crafts’ Avenue Bob
The Harley-Davidson Avenue Bob is the stripped-back purist of the Softail vary, which is strictly why Winston Yeh of Tough Crafts loves it. For this construct, commissioned by the gaming big Cooler Grasp for his or her thirtieth anniversary, Winston blended the world of PC {hardware} with sci-fi motorbike design. The result’s a futuristic beast that appears prefer it was rendered for a high-end gaming engine.
To realize the “Cosmos Charger” look, Winston used 3D-scanned chassis information to digitally design the fairing, tank, and tail. These had been 3D-printed in a high-end polymer earlier than being wrapped in cast carbon fiber by Simon Fiber Craft, making a marbled, crystalline texture. The backbone of the bike options CNC aluminum fins backlit by purple LEDs—a direct homage to laptop warmth sinks—whereas a {custom} aluminum gas cell hides beneath the cast carbon shell.
Beneath the sci-fi pores and skin, the chassis is all enterprise. It includes a full Öhlins suspension setup, held by {custom} yokes and related to a Pace Service provider swingarm. Efficiency Machine wheels (18″ entrance, 16″ rear) and Beringer calipers guarantee this 2020-model Large Twin handles as sharply as its sharp-edged bodywork suggests. It’s a cohesive, menacing masterpiece that bridges the hole between digital aesthetics and mechanical uncooked energy. [MORE]
Smoked Storage’s Softail
Popping out of Bali, Nicko Eigert and his group at Smoked Storage created “Spirit,” a construct so radical it feels prefer it belongs in a decade we haven’t reached but. Constructed for the Suryanation Motorland occasion, the objective was merely to blow the socks off the viewers. Whereas the donor began as a Softail, solely the 1340 cc Evolution engine stays.
The body is a very {custom} chromoly metal piece, that includes a prime tube that runs above the two-piece aluminum tank. Essentially the most jaw-dropping function, nonetheless, is the hole hub system. By operating the 26-inch wheels on these ingenious hubs, Smoked Storage achieved a “Tron bike” aesthetic that appears unattainable in movement. A girder entrance suspension with a hidden Fox monoshock gives the damping, whereas a linkage-based seat suspension retains the rider snug on the hardtail body.
The wheels are lit by an LED system that may be programmed to reply to velocity or cornering angles. With large 20-inch discs and a hand-made 2-into-1 exhaust snaking by way of the body, it represents absolutely the peak of Indonesian fabrication ability. “Spirit” is not only a static sculpture; it’s a purposeful motorbike that loves a straight line. [MORE]
Hazan Motorworks’ Knucklehead
Max Hazan does not simply construct bikes; he creates purposeful sculptures that defy typical engineering. The “KNTT” was born from a dialog in regards to the final V-twin, main Max to construct an S&S 74ci Knucklehead that runs two entrance cylinder heads. This was no bolt-on job; it required slicing and rebuilding the heads, altering consumption runner angles, and hand-making lifter blocks and rockers to permit the pushrods to clear.
The body is a one-off chromoly masterpiece, wedging the alluring motor right into a stance paying homage to the legendary Harley-Davidson KRTT and XRTT racers. Max paired the motor with an outdated Indian Scout transmission that was transformed to right-side shift and used a custom-made heel shifter to function the rear Wilwood caliper. The bike sits on 18″ Morris mags and makes use of Royal Enfield forks which were re-sprung and upgraded with Teflon bushings for contemporary efficiency.
Each inch of the aluminum bodywork was formed by Max’s arms, from the tight fairing to the waspish tail. Your entire bundle weighs an unimaginable 375 lbs (170 kg), making it one of many lightest Large Twin builds ever featured on Bike EXIF. With stainless exhaust headers that mimic traditional MotoGP methods and a distant oil filter/cooler, the KNTT is a visceral, elegant tribute to American racing heritage. [MORE]
GS Mashin’s Fats Boy
Tom Mosimann of GS Mashin took a 2000-model Harley Fats Boy—a motorbike identified for being “chubby” and chrome-heavy—and turned it right into a steel-clad drag racer. Tom drew inspiration from salt flat racers, hand-shaping the distinguished headlight shroud, the hard-edged tank, and the built-in tail part out of uncooked metal. It’s a daring departure from the standard “seaside cruiser” look typically related to the Fats Boy.
The bike sits with a nose-down, aggressive rake because of lowered forks upgraded with Progressive Suspension springs. Whereas the long-lasting stable rear wheel stays, Tom swapped the entrance for a 21-inch unit, giving the bike a “Large Wheel” cafe stance that should not work on paper however appears to be like unimaginable within the metallic. Roland Sands grips, Beringer controls, and mid-placed Efficiency Machine foot controls shift the rider’s ergonomics from “lazy” to “assault mode.”
Completed in a retina-searing inexperienced livery that flaunts Tom’s expertise as an indication painter, this Fats Boy is totally road-legal in Switzerland, regardless of the nation’s notoriously strict noise and security laws. It’s a loud, muscular assertion that proves even the bulkiest Large Twin might be reworked right into a streamlined velocity machine when you’re courageous sufficient to chop into the metal. [MORE]
Tough Crafts’ Softail Breakout
If there’s a bike that defines the “Tough Crafts Type,” it’s the “Asphalt Glider.” Based mostly on a Softail Breakout, this construct is a protracted, lean, and monochromatic train in aggression. The shopper needed one thing extra excessive than Winston’s earlier award winners, and the result’s a motorbike that appears like an H.R. Giger creation dropped at life by way of billet aluminum and carbon fiber.
The entrance finish includes a high-performance billet aluminum girder fork from FG Racing, whereas the rear suspension makes use of a Legend Suspension air shock with an onboard compressor. This permits the 230-wide rear tire to tuck tight into the fender when parked and rise for clearance on the fly. The wheels present a “bizarre steadiness” of weight: an enormous, skeletal 23″ Arlen Ness wheel up entrance contrasted in opposition to a stable, heavy 15″ HD Wheels block out again.
Nicknamed “shrimp model” by the shopper, the ergonomics mix long-reach drag bars with ahead controls, folding the rider over the carbon fiber tank in a predatory crouch. With 2Abnormal Sides pushrod collars, a custom-built field muffler, and a deeply scooped tail, the Asphalt Glider is the final word expression of the “Midnight Crustacean”—a Large Twin that is not simply constructed to indicate, however constructed to glide by way of the asphalt at velocity. [MORE]
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