What this bike called Recycled Rat that Sic Chops (short for Scott’s Insane Chops) built specifically for the Café Class at the Daytona Rat’s Hole Show (where it won the Café Racer Showdown) says it all in its name. Scott apparently had a 250cc V-twin Yamaha Virago hanging around and decided there was still some life left in the old girl. After stripping it down and assessing what he had lying around and where he wanted to end up, he stretched out the stock swingarm not just for looks, but to accommodate a 23” rear wheel to replace the 15”-stocker. Up front, Scott found an inverted dirt bike fork that cradles a 21” wheel similar in design to the rear. I love the switcheroo over the usual taller wheel in front norm and it gives this bike a forward-raked stance like the “big and littles-style” favored by hot rodders since hot rodding began.

Speaking of hot rodding, Scott couldn’t leave the tiny 60-degree V-twin alone and instead of the usual intake and exhaust tricks applied to most engines, he decided that he’d just chuck a turbo on it instead. Yeah, that’s hot rodding at its best. As you might guess, there’s no aftermarket bolt-on unit for Yamaha’s tiny cruiser motor so everything had to be fabricated and worked and reworked until it was not only a runner, but aesthetically pleasing too. I have no idea what he had that turbo lying around from, but Sic Chops had to whip up a set of header-wrapped pipes that go into and out of the turbo. The forward facing carb with a velocity stack sticking straight ahead doesn’t miss a lick of available air and provides a ram affect the faster you go. How fast that is and how many horses this air-cooled OHC two-valve ex-cruiser motor makes is a moot point. It definitely won’t endanger dynos, but that it exists at all in this form is what really counts. Will it break the fabled Ton? I have no idea, but if it did, that would be something to brag about and do it often. Might be the first words out of my mouth when I met somebody if it could and it was my bike. “Hi, my 250cc turbo Virago will go a hundred. Oh, and was there something you wanted to say? Did I mention it can break the Ton? Oh I did? Well it can.” Probably something we’ll never know, but it’s got a damn turbo on a 250cc ex-cruiser motor and that’s cool by me

Scott replaced the stock fuel tank with one off what looks like an old CB200 Honda and modified it a bit for fit and style. Since this is a recycling project, he didn’t just chuck the old Virago tank, but cut it up and made his tail section out of it with a jaunty-angled English street fighter flair. In honor of the 40th edition of the Rat’s Hole Show, Scott chose the Rat’s Hole signature colors of yellow, red, and black for his paint finish with touches of the sorta neon green from the Big Daddy Rat mascot dotting the fork tops, gas cap, carb intake, and as part of the graphics. Not a bad way to win a few points with the judges. The neato diamond-stitched seat covering and side panels on the tank add a bit of hot rod roadster déjà vu. Me likey.

So anyway, now you’ve seen the two extreme extremes that came out of the same shop and the same mind. All I can wonder about is what the hell Scott is brewing up next. Scott was quoted as saying the Recycled Rat was the “sweetest bike I’ve ever built, the sweetest bike I’ve ever ridden” and that it “changed his direction in custom builds.” I can’t even begin to guess what that last quote means, but I look forward to whatever the hell it is. I love surprises.

For more info on Sic Chops visit www.sicchops.com.