NOCTURNAL UNICORN

WHILE, OF LATE, THERE’S BEEN A VERY NOTICEABLE SWING IN CUSTOM BIKE STYLING

BACK TOWARDS BIKES BUILT IN THE SIXTIES AND SEVENTIES, WITH LONG FORKS, CLOUDSCRAPING SISSY-BARS, AND DUAL SEATS TO MATCH, THERE’RE STILL THOSE FOLK WHO ARE CREATING BESPOKE MACHINERY FROM BRAND NEW MOTORCYCLES.

Some may veer away from modern bikes due to the increased complexity of electronics (there’s a lot to be said for a bike that runs on nothing but points ignition and pure luck), while others may say that a modern motorcycle’s too expensive to modify, but have you seen the price of Panhead or Triumph twin (or even Kawasaki air-cooled four) parts nowadays? Complexity aside, there’s something to be said for a new bike, with its efficiency of power output, reliability, and ability to stop, go, and handle in modern traffic that’ll appeal to many – it’s just a case of making it look a little classier than a production machine, with a fat dose of personalisation thrown in too, of course.

Building bespoke custom bikes from modern production machines is something of a speciality for Winston Yeh of Rough Crafts in Taiwan. You’ll have seen several of his builds in these pages before, and although he doesn’t go in for the aforementioned chopper style, he still retains a sense of historical style in his builds, referencing the bobbers of the Fifties, café racers of the Sixties and streetfighters of the Eighties and Nineties, too.

This latest build, interestingly entitled ‘Nocturnal Unicorn’, started life as a 2020 Harley Fat Boy which, while being a great bike and a lot of fun to ride, was nonetheless a production machine that retained a lot of standard Harleyness (for want of a better term). It needed a bit of attitude adding to make the friendly, chubby child of a Fat Boy into a toughened, streetfighting back street brawler.

The customer who came to Rough Crafts wanting a tough and aggressive custom bike, with his primary demands simply being fat tyres and Harley-powered, was keen to push the boundaries a little, and happy for Winston to apply his imagination to build something new, rather than just using off-the-shelf parts.

So, rather than recreate one of is previous builds (such as the hi-tech ‘Tarmac Raven’, or the retro-mod ‘Obsidian Fighter’), the decision was made to combine fat tyres, retro styling, and modern componentry for the brakes and suspension.

Winston’s keen to point out that ‘fat’ tyres are not the same as ‘wide’ tyres. This bike has ‘fat’ tyres – the 230 section 15” rear

Avon is the same as that fitted to the Rough Crafts ‘Crowned Stallion’ (as well as being made famous on builds by Russ Mitchell of Exile Cycles), and to balance the chunky rear, a 200 section

16” front’s been used, squeezed between a pair of ultra-trick Öhlins FGRT301 fork legs. To give a slightly more retro look though, the front end has just a single disc, although there’re twin four-piston Beringer callipers, mounted radially on to a bespoke fork bottom piece, one to the front, and one to the rear of the fork leg. Another radial four-pot Beringer’s used at the rear, with the floating radial calliper mount being a feature that we’re seeing more of nowadays on custom builds.

The chunky, stubby look is also accentuated by various other parts fitted, such as the one-piece rear mudguard/electrics cover (a modified Fred Kodlin part), and the two-into-one-into-two exhaust system that ends in staggered tapered tips no further back than the swinging arm spindle. And, yes, the frame retains the original swinging arm, albeit controlled by a shock also by Swedish suspension artisans, Öhlins.

The standard fuel tank remains, although it’s been modified so as to sit comfortably behind the wide front end, while a solo seat and some mid-mount footrests complete the ergonomics, resulting in a build that not only looks tough and brutal, but also rides with the same kind of attitude. The one thing that unites all of the Rough Crafts builds, whether they be bobber, lowrider, café racer or streetfighter, is the sombre and menacing monochrome paint scheme. Don’t take this to mean that they’re all just painted black – it’s far more involved than that. Winston uses different finishes and textures to emphasise the form and flow of the finished bike, so matt, gloss, and satin versions of black are used, alongside chrome, polished stainless, and aluminium alloys and, occasionally, a bit of detailed blue, gold, or bronze too, and, as always, a neat little cast tank badge by Winston’s friends at 2 Abnormal Sides.

DAVE MANNING PICS BY ROUGH

CRAFTS