That’s exactly how I see this eye-catching custom built by Toce Performance in South Windsor, Connecticut. Whenever I get a rare “What the hell is that?” brain vibe after seeing something for the first time, I’m drawn, really drawn, to check out why it didn’t register as just another custom in my aging gray matter. This one’s an easy one and that’s because I’ve never seen anything quite like this before. Toce’s Softail is like a Star Wars version of a motorcycle that incorporates a lot of rule bending to build a composite motorcycle that never existed. I wasn’t sure I was really seeing a bat wing fairing laid back like the windshield in a new Corvette. It wasn’t added on, but integrated so well that it looks like the bike was designed and built around this one idea. I gotta say right up front that I absolutely love what Toce’s built here. 

  This is one of those rare occurrences where somebody actually does build something that’s outside the theoretical box and again, not just by sticking on a fairing. It’s so far from that. It’s almost more sport bike oriented around a bat fairing of all things. Plus I really like the fact that somehow the bike looks totally different in the front and side views yet is one harmonious design from the one end to the other. Front on view it’s all swoopy, laid-back fairing streamlining the and dominating the front while in the side view it’s barely noticeable it’s blended in so well. Toce’s got something going on here that’s pretty special as far as I’m concerned. 

   In case you were wondering or worried, but no stock Harley-Davidsons were harmed in the making of this bike. That one-off drop-seat Softail frame doesn’t have any York, Pennsylvania, DNA other than being a Softail design. At least it appears to be a take on Softail design as I can’t see any evidence of a mono-shock and that would be the only other way I know to make this swingarm swing. Somewhere Toce figured out how to hide the front and rear air suspension components to lower the bike down so low on its MRI electric center stand. Talk about clean as a whistle and I don’t even like whistling. I do wish I had seen photos of it popped up to ride height as it would probably look like a completely different bike with a whole new set of body lines. I’ve got a feeling that those new lines would look damn good too. 

   The other bodywork, the lovely Sporty-inspired fuel tank and that short and beefy rear fender that’s more spoiler than fender bring their own flair to keep this from somehow becoming bagger-bulky. What could be construed as the missing bits from this bike, the ubiquitous saddlebags, are gladly out of this picture. Not even a gratuitous leather side bag or whatever and for that I am grateful. This is just a kick-ass-and-take-no-prisoners custom motorcycle that could care less about rules. It makes it’s own.

   The choice of the wide tri-spoke wheels was a good choice as its simple design doesn’t fight for all the attention and I might say that the 26-inch front wheel was not what this bike was built around as I think is the standard big-wheel bagger approach. I think the 26-incher was what was needed after the rest of the design was hashed out. Hey, I could be totally wrong, but the use of a bat wing fairing in something this sporty and sleek. A bright red six-piston caliper grabs a single rotor up front while out back a sprocket brake does whatever it can do to slow the solid rear wheel with a seldom-seen-anymore wide tire. From personal experience I have no love for fat wide tires, but it sure looks good on this build. 

   By the way, there’s a black engine in there that acts as part of the paint scheme Toce went with. The big black mass serves as a central counterpoint around which the rest of the paint design fell into place. The light bright silver and gloss back paintjob with red pinstriping is asymmetrically pleasing in a fun almost kid-like way. That’s not a disparagement of any kind as it’s a looker from any viewpoint and only adds to the outright sassy-ness of what’s going on here. Even the paint craziness going on both front and rear wheels doesn’t look crazy as much as someone found the right design hiding within the wheels.

    Nope, there’s not much I don’t like about this bike and the thought and imagination that went into this. I like it so much I wish I could give it a couple of shiny stars like they used to put on test papers in grammar school. Yup, some big shiny metallic stars for exceptional work instead of some gaudy trophy that no one cares about a day after getting it. I think this build deserves about five of them and maybe even a rainbow too.