Precious Metal Customs

No. No is a word that you just don't want to hear when you are planning out a chopper. Russ Austin has always had custom bikes, but when he came up with the idea for this one, the first thing he heard was "no." He went to a number of frame builders and every one said the same things, like:"No, it can't be done," "No, it won't handle well," or, "No, that geometry is unsafe." Russ knew then that if this bike was going to happen, he and his Precious Metal Customs shop were going to have to blueprint it themselves and find someone to bend the tubing.

The first thing he needed to do was get his crazy frame from blueprint to rolling chassis. He called the guys at Gambler and told them his ideas, and they said they'd do it. When the tubing cooled off, he had a frame with 8 extra inches in the downtube, 5 extra inches of backbone stretch and a rake of 45 degrees. Russ even dropped the seat rail 6 inches, giving it a height of just 17 inches. The only suspension on this rigid is a massive 73mm invert-ed Mean Street frontend with 22-inch-over legs held by 5-degree Mean Street triple-trees. A set of Beach City wheels was used to get it rolling.

The 21-incher up front and the 18-inch rear are covered in Metzeler tires, with the back being a 240. Russ matched the wheels with Beach City rotors and finished the braking setup with P.M. calipers. Russ knew the motor had to have triple digits, so he picked a Revtech 100ci polished engine. The only add-ons were a Mikuni carburetor and a set of Martin Brothers pipes. A Baker six-speed right-side drive transmission with built-in oil tank receives power by way of a BDL 3-inch open primary and clutch assembly. Once the drivetrain was done, next on the list was to start on the sheetmetal.

Russ had this big frame sitting in front of him and he was sure that it would catch eyes on its own, but it needed a crazy gas tank to really stand out. He called Dave Wright, a master metal-worker, and the two started on fabricating a giant tank to match the big dimensions of the frame and frontend. To further show off the frame, Russ and Dave decided to go fenderless and incorporated a seat pan into the tubing. The frame also had a nose cowl molded in, which Russ hid the battery and regulator behind.

The bike was to be named 24k, so Russ handed it off to painter Randall Rutledge. Randall covered the frame and tank with several layers of Gold Rush by House Of Kolor and even inscribed "24k" on the under-side of the tank in a ring.

After the parts got back from paint, Russ got to work on reassembly. He started by bolting on a set of Joker Machine risers to hold the PMC handlebars with Excel Components hand controls. He also used foot controls by Excel and passenger pegs by PMC. For illumination, Russ picked a headlight by Ness and a taillight/license plate combo by Cyril Huze. Wiring was the final step as all eight wires were run internally, keeping the chopper as clean as possible.

With his bike done, Russ learned that in fact, yes, the bike could be built. His bike and the slogan: "The jewelry you ride," prove it.