Given how lengthy the chopper scene has been round, builders are spoilt for alternative when sourcing components for his or her tasks. However discovering the proper engine, body, and operating gear for a {custom} chopper is simply half the battle. You’ll want to know precisely which components to choose—and you must know the right way to mix them to create a cohesive machine.
Martin Becker at MB Cycles excels at this. The German {custom} bike builder is a matchmaker of types, combining bits from wildly totally different sources to create jaw-dropping V-twin efficiency choppers. He’s a grasp of stance, proportions, and particulars, and is aware of the right way to make fashionable and classic particulars harmonize.
The 2 efficiency choppers pictured right here had been constructed utilizing one among Martin’s favourite combos—a West Coast Choppers CFL body and an S&S Cycle V-twin motor.
Designed by West Coast Choppers founder Jesse James within the late 90s, the CFL is a TIG-welded hardtail body with a particular spine and a raked-out entrance finish. Martin picks up CFL frames each time and wherever he can, and sometimes has 4 CFL-based builds on the go at any given time.
The primary of those bikes, dubbed ‘The Eisenhauer’ [above], was constructed to compete in a European build-off. It took second place within the ‘Grasp Builder’ class at that occasion, earlier than being snapped up by a buyer in Beverly Hills, California, USA.
“That is completely loopy,” says Martin, “to ship a motorbike that I constructed from Germany to the land of the choppers. I’m actually pleased with that. The man who purchased The Eisenhauer ordered one other bike 5 days after it arrived by airplane; one other West Coast Chopper construct known as ‘The Stauffenberg’.”
For The Eisenhauer, Martin began with a 2009-model Jesse James-built WCC CFL body with a 32-degree rake and a 4”-up stretch. He matched it to a set of Professional-One yokes, then lengthened a set of forks and cleaned up their lowers to finish the entrance finish. An Arlen Ness fork brace and Hyperpro steering damper add stability.
The bike rolls on a set of Lyndall Fan Tab wheels, measuring 21” up entrance and 18” out again. Regardless of its chopper aesthetic, Martin’s constructed this one to be a rider. To that finish, it wears fashionable Metzeler tires, Efficiency Machine brake calipers, and Beringer rotors.
The cockpit is all enterprise. Tall (and adjustable) Vity’s Design risers grip a set of ABM handlebars, fitted with Hart Luck grips, a racing throttle, Beringer controls, and micro switches. A tiny Motogadget speedo sits towards the underside fringe of the highest bar clamp.
All of the wiring runs contained in the handlebars, courtesy of a Motogadget breakout field. Martin transformed the clutch to a hydraulic system as nicely, utilizing a equipment from Velocity Supplier Efficiency. All of those particulars play into his total imaginative and prescient for the construct; “To make it as clear as attainable, and to attempt to make it look quick and useful.”
That development continues by way of the bike’s bodywork. The headlight nacelle is from Fork Co., Japan, and mimics the shrouds on enduro bikes. The gas tank is a modified aftermarket merchandise, the seat and oil tank are from West Coast Choppers, and the rear fender is handmade.
There’s not an inch of this gnarly chopper that hasn’t been fastidiously thought-about. Martin opted for Kellerman LEDs for the flip alerts and taillight, added mid-mounted foot controls from Well-known Fabricator in Germany, and propped the bike up on a West Coast Choppers aspect stand.
Among the finest particulars are arduous to identify—just like the custom-made entrance axle, which acts as a conduit to attach the left and proper entrance brake calipers. Rounding out the accouterments are an MB Cycles license plate mount, a Kuryakyn skid plate, and a West Coast Choppers higher motor mount, which additionally homes the ignition barrel.
The Eisenhauer’s motor is equally tasty. “The casing is particular, and was made by S&S Cycle years in the past,” Martin tells us. “It’s a mixture between a Twin Cam and Evo—so the mounting factors are Evo and the interior components are Twin Cam.”
Additionally in play are a Joe Hunt magneto, S&S gear-driven camshafts, and a Baker six-speed transmission. Martin additionally put in a 2” major from Belt Drives Ltd., together with the corporate’s Competitor clutch.
The 88 ci V-twin is fed by a Keihin CV carb, fitted with a Efficiency Machine air cleaner. Gasses exit through a home made exhaust system, capped off with a Jekill and Hyde muffler that options an electronically-actuated valve to change its loudness.
The Stauffenberg follows the same recipe—with a number of tweaks. So it’s much less like a sequel, and extra like a spin-off.
This construct makes use of a 2011-model WCC CFL body, though it options the identical geometry as its stablemate. Martin as soon as once more picked Professional-One yokes, an Arlen Ness brace, and a Hyperpro damper, however pieced this bike’s entrance forks along with a set of modified Harley Dyna Tremendous Glide Sport lowers.
Lyndall Design V-Starr wheels sit at both finish, measuring 21F/18R and carrying Avon Cobra Chrome rubber. Besides this time, they’re fitted with Lyndall Brakes rotors and grippy Brembo four-piston calipers, mounted on Velocity Supplier brackets. The dual entrance calipers use the identical through-axle design as The Eisenhauer, however in addition they profit from race-style carbon fiber cooling ducts.
Up high, you’ll as soon as once more spot a 4.5” headlight surrounded by a Fork Co. fairing, plus 10” Vity’s Design adjustable risers and mid-rise bars. The hydraulic clutch and brake controls are from Beringer, however the grips are from Well-known Fabricator. The only rear-view mirror is a glassless Motogadget mannequin.
Martin picked the identical Motogadget speedo for this bike, however right here it’s mounted in a particular housing that locations it simply above the highest bar clamp. The housing additionally homes two discreet buttons on its entrance edge—one to start out the bike, and one other to scroll by way of the speedo.
The Stauffenberg additionally wears twin Kodlin taillights, Well-known Fabricator foot controls, and a small LED highlight in entrance of the first. Beneath the hood, Martin added an additional brace to the body’s spine to make it stiffer and put in a Well-known Fabricator higher motor mount. The bodywork features a Well-known Fabricator gas tank, a WCC oil tank, an MB Cycles seat, and a home made rear fender.
The shopper needed his second MB Cycles chopper to have somewhat extra poke, so Martin used a 2023-model 111 ci S&S Cycles engine. It makes use of an S&S ignition and coils, with an Accel charging system. The clutch and open belt drive are from Belt Drives Ltd., the transmission is one other six-speed Baker, and the sprockets are Lyndall components.
The consumption encompasses a modified Okay&N air cleaner, initially designed for Harley’s Milwaukee Eight engine. It feeds an S&S Cycle Tremendous E carb.
Ending The Stauffenberg off is a tightly twisted two-into-one exhaust, made to spec for MB Cycles by a craftsman in Indonesia. “If folks ask, ‘No,’ the muffler doesn’t burn your leg,” Martin provides.
Each bikes are draped in swathes of chrome and black, with tasteful gold accents. Martin turned to his common collaborators so as to add the finishes; Metallic Pores and skin Works for powder coating and Chiko’s Pinstriping for paint.
The Eisenhauer and The Stauffenberg are actually safely in Beverly Hills, parked in what is unquestionably a really enviable storage. We’d be hard-pressed to choose a favourite between these two gnarly efficiency choppers… how about you?
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