Custom Bike: Beautiful Mess
The one thing that ties both Hot Bike’s editors and its readers together is the love of custom motorcycles. Loading the pages full of quality bikes built by true craftsmen with an eye for style and function are what sets this book apart from many of the others who are pretty much just chasing our tail monthly.
When I first laid eyes on this bike I was taken aback and the sum of its parts. It was funky as hell, had big-ass pink wheels, and looked as if it was nowhere near rideable. I honestly laughed it off as a total piece of shit. On second glance—after the initial shock wore off—I saw a bike that was way out there but actually very well put together. And then on the third look, when I saw a human being actually riding it, I admired the builder for taking the initiative in finding out just how crazy a custom bike could be built while still being able to throw a leg over it and rack up some miles.
The long and short of this bike is Todd Anglani from After Hours Bikes (AHB) in Cooper City, Florida, who was called to build a one-off project for Tarso Marques Concept (TMC) out of Brazil. Tarso wanted a “cartoon style” bike, and Todd is renown for his crazy two-wheeled builds, but this one was different. Todd was pushed to the limit when working out the frame geometry coupled with the wheel sizes. The bike relies on air ride suspension front and rear, and when the bike is laying frame the top of its tires are 6 inches higher than any part of the bike, making it quite a statement. When the bike is aired up the lower frame rails are 6 inches from the ground, so this bike does ride and quite well for the sum of its parts say both Todd and Tarso. The “speed hole” frame design is amazingly hand-crafted, and the I-beam banana “springer” front end makes the whole chassis look pretty crazy as well. The biggest thing you notice when seeing this rather wild assemblage of bike parts is the dual 30-inch Mad Wheels in Candy Pink shod in Vee Rubber tires. Wild rolling stock indeed. The sheet metal consists of a custom Vision Metal Works gas tank draped over the backbone of the frame, a Mooneyes-style hot-rod oil tank out in front of the frame rails, and a custom Fat Katz rear fender out back. Powering the bike is a fully chromed and polished Ultima 131ci fire-breathing motor attached to an Ultima six-speed transmission with an Ultima 2-inch open belt drive. Man, that’s a lot of power ponies on tap.
Like it or not, the amount of sheer talent and engineering it took to build this bike is staggering. Yes, this bike is ugly as sin, but it’s cool as hell.