Carey Kiser of Concord, North Carolina, seems to be cut from the same cloth as old George and didn’t let a tough economy stop him from having a cool bike that he can ride the living pee out of while not being part of a same-cow, making-payments herd. This work in progress piece is based on the smart man’s donor bike, a late model Buell utilizing the high quality components like frame, forks, wheels, and brakes surrounding a motor that puts out way more than enough horsepower dead-stock to power such a lightweight machine.

There are a few thing’s Carey’s done to simplify things like hanging a carb off the side instead of the stock fuel injection. Bolting a carb on an aluminum-framed Buell is not a simple task, though, as Carey had to cut a hole through the frame which also serves as the fuel tank and then seal it up again. For those of you at home, this is not a task for the faint-hearted, but Carey did such a nice job you’d never know it didn’t come that way.

Other personal touches are trading low bars for a set of apes and a wide solo seat to support the more upright riding position. The substitution of a traditional chrome headlight looks great on a Buell and makes you wonder why this isn’t done more often. One can only wonder what this machine sounds like now that the stock muffler has been replaced by something about the size of a soup can, but hey, each to his own.

In the meantime, Carey’s still at it with his newest mods of a 200mm rear tire, new bars, a different rear fender, and relocating the seat. This work in progress that jack Cofano photographed at the Smoke Out continues to evolve and change as time and money permits. At some time in the future, I hope to see more pics of where this is going, but in the meantime, this bike is a great reason to get off your butt and start making something out of nothing or as George said, “When times are tough, the tough get going.” Carey has and he’s having a blast riding his Buell while he works on the changes.