Dave is in the process of...
Dave is in the process of producing his air-ride system as a kit for people who want to make a front and rear air-ride bike in the cleanest way.
One look at the sweeping curves of Dave Dupor's "Lowlife Trader" custom and Edvinas Arkusauskas had found his dream bike. It wasn't until a year later that Edvinas approached Dave again to finally have the bike built. "I made his dream bike a reality," said Dave, owner of DD Custom Cycle (DDCC) in Lake Villa, Illinois. "Some people are big talkers and say they want something, but nothing happens. He [Edvinas] came back to me a year later and was like, 'You remember me...'" Two months later the "D'Ultimate" bike was finished just in time for the show season.
Hidden lines, seamless molding, and a smooth-flowing appearance are just a few of the ideas Dave had in mind for this bike. It was going to be very similar to the Lowlife Trader bike except Dave wanted to take it to the next level with features such as an air-ride system. Starting with an '07 ICI Lowlife frame with 7 inches of stretch in the backbone, the neck was raked to 40 degrees. Dave then made a new swingarm for this ride. The bike has a DDCC complete front and rear air-ride system. "The front suspension is comprised of Tricky Air canisters on their Springer frontend, while the rear is supported by a Legends rear airbag system," said Dave.
Designing the air system is where Dave's mechanical engineering background and more than 15 years of experience tuning and customizing cars and motorcycles came in handy. Dave made the framerails and uptubes from the rear of the chassis, along with a drilled-through crossmember that connects both framerails to gain twice the volume-in the air storage tank. To simplify the system even more, he installed an Air Ride Technologies compressor with a 120-psi pressure switch that automatically refills the frame upon demand and automatically shuts off when the frame reaches 120 psi. It's very similar to car and truck systems-no more holding the toggle switch for 30-45 seconds and draining your battery. The compressor only operates when the key switch is on. The main heart of the system is the ARV-2500 Big Red Valve Assembly, which is fed by the frame supply, then divides it to the front control and the rear control. Dave installed a Dual Needle 150-psi gauge that displays the front and rear air systems independently of each other. The valve body is a completely self-contained system that does not need maintenance, lubrication, and so on. All the air lines are 1/4-inch DOT high-temp hoses that semis use. The frame even has a Schrader valve (standard tire/ball valve) that can be used in case of compressor failure.
Most of the time you won't...
Most of the time you won't find anything between the downtubes, but here Dave wanted to add a custom downtube grille in black.