This Irish-esque bobber stands out from other scoots at a single glance for obvious reasons: Its bright-green tires leap out like nobody's business and command attention. With "Infamy" here, built by Infamous Choppers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, shop owner John Duzicky wanted a bike that let people know about his heritage and bike-building skills at the same time.
Which is part of what Infamous is all about. A dedicated dirt-biker in his youth, John also loves custom street iron and made the leap into chopper building full-time in 2004 when he opened the shop. From the get-go being different was an overall goal for Infamous, and brightly-colored rubber donuts was one way to achieve that.
John got both the Tomahawk 17-inch wheels and the tires from Desser Tires in Montebello, California, a distributor for Tomahawk in the U.S. Tomahawk makes tires like this in a rainbow of colors, so they were a logical choice for Infamous. The wheel setups are joined to a single-downtube rigid frame with 34 degrees of rake and 2 inches of stretch (up and out) to give Infamy a little lift in the profile without sacrificing good handling.
But even apart from the tires, the bike stands out for other reasons. Inside the frame you'll find a 100-inch Indian motor; although they're far from rare, you don't exactly see those mills all over the place, either. Also, the Indian carries the Infamous air cleaner and S&S E-series carb on the left side instead of the right. It's paired with a JIMS six-speed transmission and 3-inch BDL beltdrive and sports a set of wrapped Wicked Brothers pipes that give it a touch of badass attitude.
John carried the 'tude over to the sheetmetal and controls as well. He disdained using any sort of skin to hide the front tire, but out back his shop created a clean, smooth fender, supporting it with two lengths of 530 diamond-cut motorcycle chain for struts. The diamond cutting didn't stop there, however. It was carried over to the BDL hand controls that reside at the ends of Infamous' Pit Coolers ape hangers.
As if all that wasn't enough to stand out, there's the contrast between the black and green. On most bikes, the tires are black and everything else is brightly painted, but here that age-old relationship is reversed. Beyond that, though, John colorized other parts most builders would leave plain, such as the final-drive chain. And if you take a look at the left side of the motor, you'll notice the same thing with the spark-plug wires: Both draw your attention to areas most people usually skip over. They even had the painter, Steve Jackson at Atomik One, green up the beltdrive with airbrushed shamrocks on the belt itself. Up front, the frame neck gusset multitasks as a bright-green shamrock, all of which completes the Irish motif of the bike.
Of course, the green tires fit pretty well with the Ireland theme, too; this is the fourth such Infamous chopper to feature colored rubber. Although the general public hasn't had much opportunity to view them yet, the Infamy bikes have gotten plenty of attention wherever they've made an appearance. Sadly, the first one was stolen during Arizona Bike Week. The other two have been sold, leaving this one all alone (but not for long).