Inspiration for a build can come from any number of places: A cool frame design, a radical idea for a gas tank, a hot rod, almost anything. The Red Xtreme Machine exemplifies what can happen with a little inspiration.
The crew at Xtreme Machine doesn't get too many chances to build custom bikes, but every once in a while they decide they need to build a bike to showcase a product, and that's the case with the Red Xtreme Machine. They were pretty excited about the new Venus wheels they had just machined, so they went into action and started coming up with ideas.
Rod Brogdon's got some experience when it comes to design and fabrication. He began his career in 1987 working for Boyd Coddington of Boyd's Wheels in California. In 2000 he moved to Illinois to form Xtreme Machine with Rick Rolson, Rob Rodems, Jeff Rodems, and Donna Carmody to focus on motorcycle wheels, an endeavor that has blossomed into one of the top wheel manufacturers in the industry.
The Venus wheels have silhouettes of naked girls pole dancing, and the Xtreme crew wanted to build a bike that went along with the theme, so it was going to have to be a long, low, and sexy chopper with lots of bling. Jesse Jurrens at Legend had just come out with the perfect frame, the Independent Lowlife with 40 degrees of rake. It was long and low, different from everything else Rod had seen lately, and just the right platform for the build. He fit it with some handlebars and an oil tank from Independent, fabricated a set of triple trees, and mounted a twisted Springer from Denver's Choppers.
Precious metals, gold and chrome.. a beautiful combination. | 
It's like looking at a ferrari; the bodywork just swoops from end to end. | 
These intricately designed wheels scream sophistication and class. what's more profound than naked, billet-cut figurines straddling poles? |
The brakes had to match the wheels perfectly. They wanted to hide the front caliper behind the fender bracket, so they custom-built a caliper for the front and fabricated rotors for the front and rear. For the rear they decided on an HHI caliper. For the drivetrain they picked up a Mid-USA 114ci motor and a Mikuni carb. To get the extra bling they were looking for, they sent the motor out to Diamond Heads for its signature finish. To get power to the wheels, they used a Baker six-speed transmission and a primary from Independent.