What does it take to win the ‘Greatest Element Work’ award on the illustrious Yokohama Scorching Rod Customized Present? You’ll want oodles of creativeness, ingenuity and talent—and Takuya Aikawa isn’t quick on any of these.
Aikawa-san runs the Japanese customized store Sureshot in Chiba, simply east of Tokyo. With two HRCS ‘Greatest in Present’ awards already beneath his belt, he entered this tradition Harley-Davidson Dyna in final month’s operating of the occasion. He won’t have bagged the general this time, however an award for the very best particulars at Mooneyes (because the present is often identified) is nothing to sneeze at.
Dubbed ‘Section III,’ this 1998-model Harley-Davidson FXD Dyna Tremendous Glide follows Sureshot’s mission to construct customized bikes which are “quick, light-weight, and thin.” However that’s not all it has going for it. The nearer you look at it, the extra you discover the plethora of neat particulars that earned it its award.
The mono-shock swingarm and twin downdraft intakes are apparent modifications, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to note that the body’s been tweaked. However you’ll want a pointy eye to identify the non-standard entrance suspension, or the unconventional customized hand-shifter design.
On the coronary heart of the machine, Takuya rebuilt the motor with a pair of burly billet aluminum cylinder heads from Pace and Science. Subsequent, he fabricated a customized manifold to suit a Keihin FCR41 downdraft twin carburetor with velocity stacks, and a home made cowl to maintain issues tidy up high. The dual slash-cut exhausts are customized too.
The bike runs with a regular five-speed Dyna transmission, whereas the clutch has been upgraded to a hydraulic system. The left aspect sports activities a menacing 2” open belt major from Ultima—however it’s the mechanism mounted above it that’s actually attention-grabbing.
Connected to the left aspect of the engine is a hand shifter setup of Takuya’s personal design. Utilizing a sequence of connecting rods and CNC-machined linkages, it places the shifter proper subsequent to the fuel tank for fast entry. A dimpled, leather-covered shifter knob rounds it off.
There’s extra machine work up entrance, the place Takuya fabricated his personal entrance suspension system. It’s a number one hyperlink design of kinds, with a pair of air shocks from RacingBros including dampening. It additionally reportedly took a whole lot of fine-tuning to ensure it wouldn’t nosedive beneath braking.
The underside yoke is built-in with the fork legs, that are held in place by a customized high yoke. The cockpit is tremendous sano, with customized bars sporting little greater than an inner throttle and the entrance brake lever. All the pieces has a made-to-fit vibe—just like the machined attachment level that holds the bike’s LED headlight.
Even the stable machined wheels are one-offs. Measuring 19” within the entrance and 18” on the again, they’ve been designed to hold all their accoutrements on the left aspect solely, leaving the proper aspect open. The entrance wheel’s brake disc mounts on to tabs on the wheel itself, with out the necessity for a rotor, whereas the again brake hides behind the sprocket.
Not a lot of the unique body stays both. Takuya fabricated a brand new spine from oval tubing, and redesigned the subframe to taper right down to a customized aluminum swingarm. The OEM twin shock association is gone, changed by a single RacingBros shock with a customized tune.
A slim tail unit sits up high, with an equally slim gasoline tank positioned in entrance of it. Each are customized items, hand-formed from aluminum. The seat wears horsehide leather-based, whereas the tank’s adorned with a customized fuel cap.
The Harley’s additionally kitted with smattering of much less noticeable machined elements, just like the side-mounted plate holder and the customized foot pegs. You’ll discover the SureShot brand on the factors cowl—and a few different sneaky areas.
All of these elements come collectively harmoniously to create a recent spin on the cruiser style. Takuya’s Dyna cuts a lithe determine, with a flawless stance and simply the correct amount of flat observe affect. There’s a touch of sizzling rod styling within the combine too, by way of the deep metallic flake inexperienced paint on the bodywork.
But it surely’s the auxiliary finishes that basically testify to Takuya’s consideration to element. Pay attention to how the gasoline tank’s pin stripe additionally runs over the aluminum cowl adjoining to the intakes, and the way all of the pin striping matches the colour of the powder coated body. Even the wheels are intelligent; they seem like common nine-spoke alloy hoops from a distance, revealing a secondary snowflake sample as you get nearer.
There’s additionally a mixture of finishes at work right here—together with variations on black, uncooked metallic, polished metallic and magnesium—however nothing feels overplayed.
It’s clear that SureShot is aware of when to zig and when to zag. And it’s clear that the Mooneyes judges know brilliance after they see it.
Sureshot | Fb | Instagram | Photographs by Kazuo Matsumoto for YENC Journal, with particular due to each.
