When we approached Justin about getting his bike in the magazine, he suggested shooting it at his favorite barbershop - we agreed that is was a good idea and so did the owner of Hawleywoods Barbershop, Donnie Hawley. You see, Justin LeVassiur is a greaser kind of guy: he rides a rigid custom that looks just right and he treats his hair the same way - it has to be perfect. But Justin is a bike builder, not a barber, so when he's finished shaving bikes down, he goes to Hawleywoods in Costa Mesa, California, to get his haircut.
Back to the bike: Foundation Custom in Huntington Beach, California, is where Justin, who owns one-third of the shop with Chad Edwards and another guy who will remain nameless, performed all the work transforming an 883R Sportster into the chopper you see here. His goal was to create a cool bike from something that many ignorant people in this business wouldn't even consider touching, and he wanted to thank Martin Woolery for inspiring the idea. So, with their metaphorical middle fingers pointed toward the current trends in the industry, Justin and Foundation Customs got to work.
Using a perfectly good anniversary edition 2003 883R, Justin started pulling the bike apart as quickly as he could because he wanted to have a bike to ride within in a week. Once he had the motor out of the frame he immediately took it over to one of the best motor builders around, Geoff Gaites, the Cycle Doctor (coincidentally just around the corner from Hawleywoods). Geoff Gaites is 100-percent genius with almost any motor that crosses his path and Harleys just happen to be one of his specialties. He tore into the top end of the 883 faster than Casanova unsnapping a corset. The motor was in good shape, but Geoff wanted the motor to produce some serious horsepower, so he added a set of 1200 cylinders, heavily ported 1200 Screamin' Eagle heads by Bill Chambers Racing, and a set of special ground cams that he knew would perform well with the other motor components. Other go-fast goodies included a 42mm Mikuni carb, a Joe Hunt Magneto ignition, and a set of pipes Justin built specially for the bike. Geoff felt that the stock H-D primary would be able to handle the additional horsepower, but he used Zipper's gears in the transmission and put together a secret clutch assembly that he didn't want revealed to the public.
While Geoff was busy with the motor, Justin was over at Fred's Frames working on a custom frame. He and Fred constructed a simple, yet strong, rigid with 30 degrees of rake and 8 inches added to the downtubes with a stock length backbone. As soon as the welds cooled, Justin raced back to his shop and secured a set of Custom Chrome Industries triple trees to the neck. Knowing he wasn't going to use a front fender, he shaved off the caliper and fender mounts from the Sportster lower legs and coupled them with 10-inch over tubes. Fastened to the front end is a 21-inch Foundation Custom Gasser wheel surrounded by a used Dunlop tire - and no front brake, of course. A matching Foundation Gasser 18x5-inch wheel was used in the back of the chopper as well, but this one is wrapped in a 5-inch wide Goodyear drag racing slick and is bolted to the old Sporty's caliper and rotor.
Within a couple days, the frame was ready for the motor and Justin could mock up the project and fit the sheetmetal. He started out with a Mustang peanut tank that he modified by moving the petcock to the rear and repositioned the tank mounts to fit the steep angle of the backbone. Then, he cut up an old swap meet fender so that it just barely covered the rear tire and supported it with a Foundation Custom Two Hands sissy bar. For oil containment, he used a generic barrel-style tank that he had found awhile back when cleaning out his garage. Instead of the typical padded seat, he bent a piece of aluminum to cradle his rear-end and "claims" it is comfortable, but we find that hard to believe. The following day, Justin had the bike over at a West Coast Colorworks where Rick Walker laid down a black basecoat with 1972 Bassboat Gold metalflake highlights and the tasteful pin stripping was hand done by Harpoon and Bob Iverson.
Justin wanted the bike to remain as uncluttered as he could while keeping it functional. He wanted as little as possible on the bars, so he used a suicide shifter with a deep socket for a knob and a foot clutch. The only things on the bars are a set of Super Sixties white grips and a polished P.M. reservoir and lever. Lastly, a pair of Custom Chrome Industries headlights were bolted to the triple trees, and a single bullet taillight was positioned just above the rear axle.
It's hard to believe, but Justin and Foundation Custom (with a little help from their friends) were able to get this bike from stock form into a chopper within 7 days. And with the help of the Cycle Doctor, the bike puts out 97hp to the rear wheel and has been clocked at just under 150mph!
If you're interested in Foundation Custom's work, check out www.foundationcustoms.com. For more information on Hawleywoods world famous barbershop, check out www.hawleywoods.com or www.layrite.com.