If you were given the opportunity to customise a brand new
bike with the support of a major motorcycle manufacturer what would you do? This
was exactly what happened to myself and the team at the Kustom Kommune back in
April 2014 when Harley-Davidson offered our communal workshop a brand
new Harley-Davidson Forty Eight Sportster and the freedom to do with it whatever
we wanted. What we decided to do was to completely transform the Sportster and
turn it into a bike that could be maintained and serviced using the modest
facilities at the Kommune workshop. The result is the Kommune 'K1', a Cafe Racer
styled, sleek and unique Sportster that showcases the skills of a talented team
of "backyard builders".
The build of the K1 was undertaken by a talented group of
individuals who donated their time and skills to help make this build a
reality. A dream team was formed. It consisted of Robby Ante a skilled welder,
Glenn Aitken a Harley-Davidson guru, Matt McLeod an engineer, Karl Stehn a
custom painter, Kenny Gohl an automotive electrician, Aaron Sinclair an
upholsterer, myself and Jimmy Goode the founders of the Kustom Kommune and a
handful of our members. Over 4 months we tore down and rebuilt the Forty-eight
using our combined skills and plenty of man hours. With so many people involved
opinions sometimes varied and timeframes were hard to stick to with most people
working after hours, but looking back now it all came together relatively
smoothly.
The
original plan was to put an XR750 TT style fairing on the bike, but with time
working against us the idea was shelved and we instead stuck to an XR inspired
colour palette. Karl Stehn at KDS Designs put together a slick paint design
using the classic XR black, white and orange and added plenty of flake to really
make it pop. We mimicked old school Café Racer techniques by using 2 Cole Foster
fuel tanks, chopping one in half to function as the tail end. Since we’d removed
the oil tank from the frame we also modified the tail to double as the Sporsters
oil tank. Robby and Glenn devised the internal plumbing system before welding it
all up to a custom fabricated seat pan. To support the weight of the tail/oil
tank Glenn fabricated rear struts that blend with the original lines of the
frame. Braided stainless steel lines and race fittings from VPW transport the
oil to and from the engine, snaking around the frame and engine.
To transform the bike into a Kommune friendly machine we had
to remove all of the fancy electrical sensors and thing-a-ma-jigs that we
couldn't tune using hand tools and old school mechanical know how. The ABS,
alarm system, EFI, factory ignition and accessory wiring systems were all
removed. Moto Gadget provided an M-Unit to manage the new electrics along with
bar end indicators, mini-switches and a keyless ignition. Matt from Krank
Engineering machined new spacers to replace the ABS sensors on each axle and
even milled a sweet Kommune emblem points cover. An S&S Super E carb now manages
the fuel delivery and because we love old school looks we swapped the belt drive
with a chain set up.
Roland Sands Designs provided the clip-on bars, clarity line
Derby cover and various blacked out engine dress up parts. A set of Chainsikle
rear sets put the rider in an appropriately aggressive riding position and the
headlight was remounted deep between the forks. We wanted the bike look fast
even when it was standing still so we used a Burly fork lowering kit to drop the
front end by an inch and added piggy back shocks in the rear to raise it by an
inch and level out the frame. We're big fans of the Japanese custom scene where
form often outweighs function and since our Forty-eight is more of a city bike
than a track bike we fit a set of chunky All State tyres from our friends at
Antique Tyres.
Despite all the other trick bits of
fabrication and custom work on the K1 it’s the pipes that show exactly what
can happen when skilled individuals put their heads together. We spent hours
discussing the route we wanted the pipes to take before Glenn Aitken cut
each section by hand, measuring the curves and lengths by eye. We then
removed, polished and brushed each segment before Robby Ante welded each
stainless steel piece together again. Opinions will vary about the pipes and
that's exactly what we were going for. They're our crowning achievement and
to me they sum up what the K1 and the Kustom Kommune is all about.
Experimentation, breaking rules and having a go. After all, when an
opportunity like this presents itself why wouldn't you go all out?