2005 Fearless Choppers' Bad Intentions

When a vision creeps into Martin Dring's mind, it stays there until the image is realized in the form of steel. He wanted to create a bike that was sleek and long with a low stance and a European flair-something different from the completely chromed-out bikes commonly seen all over the United States. He wasn't afraid to show off the bike's components and didn't hide anything except the hydraulic lines.

He started off with a frame from Precious Metal Customs-his choice of frames for several years now. This frame was a great starting point because of its curves and simplicity. It was very important to Martin that the sheetmetal would flow over the frame as smoothly as possible. He fabricated the gas tank and seat section-which also holds the battery-around the backbone of the frame so that the end product was all one piece, fully welded and extremely smooth. He even added an internal crossover for the gas tank through the backbone so it's possible to use most of the gas in the tank. Looking to go as long as possible with the frontend, Martin had American Suspension make him a custom 9-degree raked tree to complement the company's 63mm legs with a built-in caliper on the left leg and bolted it to the 46-degree neck. The RMD three-piece wheels were chosen for their more mechanical look over a conventional one-piece rim. The rims were then powdercoated black with the centers and bolts chrome-plated.

The motor is a polished Powerhouse 114ci from Mid-USA, with around 140hp and 140 lb-ft of torque (to put it mildly, this motor has balls). Martin then put together an RMD billet open-belt primary and contacted Baker for one of its right-side-drive Dyna transmissions with a six-speed. A trans-brake setup for the rear came from USA Cycle. To fire up the beast of a motor, Martin went with a Stinger starter, which he says has never let him down, even with today's high-compression motors.

Next, the bars and seat had to be fabricated. The bars were made in-house from 1-inch stock with a 1-inch rise to keep that low, sleek look. The seat had to be made from a skin, so Martin tracked down a 12-foot-long python skin to cover the seat, which was also made in-house. Once the frame was done, the bike was completed, with all the wires and lines run internally for a super-clean finish.

Martin finished off the project by sending the frame to Rick Gregus from Rick's Super Paint in New Jersey for an eye-catching paneled paint job consisting of a black base with panels of Orion Silver and Galaxy Gray, topped off with a heavy gold-metalflake center panel. It was then clearcoated numerous times and wet-sanded and cleared even more times to ensure a perfectly smooth finish.

At the end of it all, Martin's vision was made a reality, and then it was on to the next project. And yes, he does get wet when it rains, but so do you....