XTC Choppers owner Kevin Proctor wasn't trying to show off his bike-building skills with the '05 "Deviant" spread across these pages. He wanted recognition as a go-to guy for quality frame and component manufacturing. Sure, Kevin was poked and prodded by other builders to build this bike when he hit the show circuit last year with his new line of frames. Whether it was because of the antagonistic questions from these builders or because the notion of building a bike had been on his mind anyway, he finally caved in and decided to build the Deviant for the Pro Show World Championship of Bike Building in Las Vegas last November. But once reality set in, Kevin and his crew realized they had only 17 days to pull off the build.
Although sleep would fall off Kevin's to-do list over the next two weeks, he knew the bike could be built in time, given his background. He started designing frames as an offshoot side project while running his full-service motorcycle shop. After experiencing rapid growth over a six-year period, he realized one of the businesses would suffer due to time constraints. Kevin decided to focus on frame manufacturing and opened up a new shop in Ramona, California. He left the service and retail end of the other business in the good hands of his former general manager and service manager. His specialization in frame and component manufacturing gave him a slight advantage when it came time to build Deviant-there was no wait time for a special-order frame or fuel tank.
With a turnaround time of one day, the Deviant Drop Seat Pro-Street frame was finished with 7 inches of stretch in the backbone, 4 inches taken out of the downtube, and a neck raked to 49 degrees. Between a few hours of sleep to break up the following days, the XTC crew found themselves seeking inspiration in a coffee cup to build a legitimate contender for the bike show. "We knew it had to be spectacular," Kevin said, "and it needed to showcase what other builders could do with our frames and sheetmetal."
The design concept of Deviant was to make it as long and low as possible. A fuel tank was fabricated for this bike to follow the curve of the backbone and hug the rocker boxes of the TP Engineering 124ci motor. A TrikShift transmission feeds power to the rear wheel of the bike, while a BDL open beltdrive ties the motor to the trans. Kevin turned to MGS Custom Bikes for a set of Cyclone pipes to complete the motor installation.
When it came time to choose a frontend, Kevin was particular about one design element: no visible cables, lines, or wiring anywhere. That's when he turned to American Suspension for a custom-fabricated Phantom Inverted frontend with a hidden two-piston caliper to complete his chassis. Custom-made handlebars were fitted with Performance Machine controls with a hydraulic clutch. A GP Designs internal throttle was then installed, giving the bars "a sanitary, almost invisible look" to Kevin. The throttle cable was routed through the backbone and out near the top motor mount, then attached to the Mikuni carb.
In order to meet the no visible lines requirement, an oil tank in the standard under-the-seat location was unacceptable for the crew. A rubber-mounted oil tank was designed and fabricated instead, then mounted under the trans. The conventional oil-tank/battery-tray location became an electronics box that housed the battery, coil, regulator, and main wiring harness. Kevin then modified Russ Wernimont fenders to fit the radius of the Avon Venom wheels.
Choosing a color for the paint was easy for Kevin-based off his favorite car-but finding a painter to meet the stringent time frame was not so easy. After some persuasion from Kevin, Robert Prayther of Praythers Custom Paint committed to the tight deadline and laid down Shelby GT500 KR Limegold Pearl over the bike. Rich from Bitchin' Seat Company also stepped up to the quick turnaround and crafted the stingray and Italian leather seat to finish off this bike just in time for the show.
Although the XTC crew didn't walk away with the championship, they did leave with something else: recognition. The Deviant showcased what the guys had initially set out to do. And at least the other builders will stop poking and prodding them about building another a bike for a while.