You won't find this little beauty working at a midget nudie bar, but it is under 4 feet tall, stripped, and has all the moves. At age 24, its creator, Jason Wonder, only has four years experience building customs but he's been around motorcycles all of his life.
He can thank his father for that. Papa may have not been a rolling stone but he sure got around the track. He was a pro flat track racer who intro'd his boy to the wonderful (get it?) world of riding when Jason was 8. That's the background that inspires him and his ideas are usually extremely unique and very rideable at the same time. Jason has crafted a lot of Buell-based creations but at the same time, loves the flavor of old hot rods. "I'm fascinated with Shinya Kimura's work," he told us. "I love the raw and mechanical way he builds each bike." He's also big on bobbers with quick little motors that anyone can ride to their heart's content.
The original radiator was...
The original radiator was tossed to make room for a custom aluminum dual flow radiator.
Jason fabricated the frame...
Jason fabricated the frame to cradle the engine and used Softail style side plates for the rear section with outboard shocks to connect to the dual rail swingarm.
Stuffed under the backbone...
Stuffed under the backbone and nestled between the downtubes is a custom aluminum intake with forced induction
Jason started in his parents' garage and eventually got his own full-time place. He's just trying to get his name out there. His operation's a modest 700 square foot shop; that's not exactly colossal but some of the best builders in the world work out of smaller shops than that. As his shop's only employee, Jason doesn't hear too many employee complaints about the workspace. What he does hear is input from his biggest fan; dad drops by to keep him company from time to time. Other than that, it's just him, his tools, and the workshop where he takes care of business.
What you see here is Jason's second V-Rod build. Jason loves the Revolution motor; between his history and his penchant for Buells, it's not too surprising that he'd want to use one of Harley's "other" enigines for a project.
The idea going in: rideable, perhaps even track-worthy. Oh, and it had to be done for the 2009 AMD World Championship show in Sturgis. This all started in June, which gave Jason a scant eight weeks to make it all happen. Good thing he's young.
Having such a narrow time frame, Jason obviously dove right in. He built the frame to cradle the V-Rod engine, house the oil pan perfectly, and to give plenty of strength for the rear shocks, all the while keeping a little bit of traditional styling. Measuring in at 28 degrees, the neck angle is closer to a sport bike. Yes, we know-big surpise coming from a guy who's into racing.
Part of racing also includes control. Jason gave this V-Rod a full Brembo setup to make imposing your will on this thing easy and confidence-inspiring. Rear set foot controls not only house the rear brake and shift levers, they also add to the flat track feel of the bike.
Jason molded the brakelight/turnsignals...
Jason molded the brakelight/turnsignals into the underside of the tail where there's also a mount for the license plate.
Although the V-Rod mill is a great platform, it's a pretty big engine; keeping the proportions right to suit its look was Jason's biggest challenge. He slimmed the tank and seat down quite a bit, which also helped keep the weight low (he wanted to keep this scoot at a svelte 350 pounds or less). The seat/tank/semi-fender is a removable one piece which only weighs 12 pounds! There's just enough bodywork atop the backbone to hold the rider and fuel in place. Jason cleaned up the electrics with a custom wire harness hidden under the tail and used a set of his Wonder Customs' traditional racer controls with a set of Vortex clip-on handlebars.
The one-piece cafe Style seat...
The one-piece cafe Style seat and 2 1/2 gallon tank setup is light weight, functional, and fit the design of the bike.
Power is also considered in any racing-inspired machine. While this mill makes it by the gob, horsepower is like dessert-there's always room for more. Take a gander under the backbone and one of the first things your eyes lock onto is the polished aluminum intake and breather, which help supply more air to the engine. Jason also switched over to a custom fuel pump for improved gas flow to the motor and made a custom 2-into-2 exhaust with SuperTrapp disc-only mufflers.
With time running short and pressure mounting, Jason managed to get the job done. One of the ways he shaved time was with the paint; there's no elaborate mural covering the tank. Just a nice charcoal gray with red accents.
Just building a showbike wasn't part of the plan. Jason told us, "I wanted a bike that would showcase something different and I could ride the hell out of it. I built it, took it to the AMD show in Sturgis and then took it to the track. I dig that. I have some new old-school designs that I have started working on so I am excited about that. I love what I do and hope to be able to continue doing it. Building one-off creations that are truly unique, are rideable, and are performance driven is what I'm about."