Most shops have a focus or an identifiable trait that helps separate them from their competitors. Be it a style, proprietary design, or even something as simple as the best customer service in an area, every shop strives to be known for something the other guys don't do as well.
Kit Russell runs Russell Design Works, a small shop in Hollister, California. When it came time to decide what he was going to do for his industry signature, he went way out on a limb and decided he was going to build a reputation on creating fully custom bikes that didn't drain the bank accounts of his customers.
Mark Silva, owner of this beautiful black chopper, has been friends with Kit for a very long time. He has watched Kit create rolling art for customers that come into the shop, and he finally decided he had to have a bike built by RDW. But, since Mark is such a good friend, he asked that Kit not cut him a deal and to charge his regular price for building a custom bike. After all, he wanted Kit to be able to buy beers once in a while when they went out.
So, with a gentleman's agreement in place, Kit went to work. He started the project by picking up a Santee frame with some serious chopper geome-try. The neck wears 43 degrees of rake where it meets a 6-inch stretched single downtube and backbone with 4 more. The only suspension on the chopper comes from Perse 10-inch-over legs in hex lowers, and 6-degree trees.
Next, Kit decided to give the project some mobility, so he lined up a set of 60-spoke wire wheels from CCI. He put Avon tires at both ends, a 90/90-21 front, and a 250/18 out back. Stopping power for Mark's new chopper would come from a RevTech rotor and four-piston caliper up front, and an Exile Sprotor assembly out back - both brakes ride on the left side for a clean look.
Powering the project was going to be an almost complete out-of-the-box assembly. Kit used a RevTech 88ci motor with a satin finish, added a Dyna ignition, a Mikuni carb, a D&M air cleaner, and Santee pipes, then moved on to driveline issues. Five speeds of RevTech transmission met up with a BDL 3-inch open beltdrive to feed the final chaindrive. Kit focused on building a custom beltdrive cover with a heel guard to protect Mark's boot from the spinning assembly.
It then came time to have some fun building the sheetmetal. Needless to say, no front fender would be used on Mark's new bike. Kit turned his attention to the gas tank that he would build around a Choppers gas cap. The 27-inch-long tank fits the backbone perfectly, leading your eye to the Nacelle oil tank that Kit's friend, Joan, found for him. With a theme emerging, Kit built a fender for the rear which used three separate panels that accentuate the point-style of the bike. The last piece of metalwork to be fabricated for the body was the 12-sided headlamp that Joan thought would be a good touch. Since she found the cool oil tank, Kit took her suggestion to heart, and it turned out to be the right idea. Looking at the project in front of him, Kit realized that no handlebar on the market would work with the lines he had created, so he fired up the welder one more time to crank out something with the right look.
Harry's Custom Paint took care of bringing Kit's finely molded metal to life. After the House of Kolor Black had a chance to dry, Harry spent a considerable amount of time with silver-leaf and a pinstripe brush. The results are a story in itself.
Suddenly, it was week nine of the 10-week build, and Mark was getting itchy to ride. Kit installed the GMA hand controls which go with the RDW-built forward controls, and moved on to wiring in his dagger-styled motor/coil mount. From there, he installed an RDW license mount, and dropped the Corbin seat in place as the calendar swung to the start of week 10.