Vintage
Using a 1977 FLH as a donor for ease of titling, the 93” stroker was stripped down to its engine and frame. “I knew Tim wanted that wider tire on the back of it, so I said, ‘Why don’t I do a single-sided rigid frame with a laced wheel on it?’ It’s not something that you see done all that often and I thought it would look cool to have that laced wheel just hanging out there looking like it’s completely unsupported,” said Steve. “I just cut the ass end of the frame off behind the seat post and welded up the back end, machined an axle out of some stainless stock, and sent it to Black Bike to have the wheel custom made.”
Nowadays, the popular trend is stripping bikes to the bone, but the added complexity of Steve’s tinsmithery and a shrunk-down super charger stuffed up under the seat really pays dividends aesthetically. So where’d Steve come up with that baby blower? “I was looking around on eBay and I saw this little tiny AMR500 supercharger built for a small 3-cylinder car that isn’t sold outside of Japan. I got it brand new from a guy in Texas. We’re running about 3-4 lbs of boost and feeding it 100-octane race fuel because we’re a little worried about detonation and melting holes in the pistons if we run it on anything less than that, so that does make it a little less practical shall we say,” said Steve. “We knew the blower had to sit on the left side to drive it, but we didn’t want to run five feet of plumbing through this big circuitous route all the way around the bike to get to the intakes on the other side of the heads.
So Scott Yamasaki [Scott’s Motors in Denver, Colorado] welded over the intakes on the heads, made fins to cover up where the old intakes were, and then machined all new intakes on the left side of the heads. It took over 40-hours of welding time but they came out so nice and clean that most people can’t even tell that he moved the intakes to the other side.”
Steve knew Tim liked the pointy aggressive styling of Slasher, so he tried to incorporate those heavy-metal elements into the tank and fender. “I had been thinking about doing a dragon scale fender for awhile. I took a fender blank and made a little template out of paper. I cut a whole bunch of pieces and overlapped them and fanned them out around a form an inch or so bigger diameter than the tire and then tacked them together. It’s really challenging to take all those pieces and fan them out like that and still maintain the exact radius around the tire. I had to cut all these little slivers of steel and sand them and fit them in the gaps to fill in the spaces between the scales. The pointy little tips on the scales are each rolled up just a little bit further as they rise towards the back of the tire and the last one kind of fans upward to give a little bit of visual lift to the line of the bike,” said Steve. “Doing that fender was an absolute nightmare. It took me days to build that fender. Tim never had time to come over to the shop and look at things so I’d bring the parts down to the coffee shop we both frequented in the morning and show him there. We’d get some funny looks from the other customers with a dragon scale motorcycle fender on our table.”
Absinthe, the bike, was not originally conceptualized as an Art Nouveau homage to absinthe, the intoxicating beverage. “At the time I built the bike, absinthe was still illegal in the US, and reputed to be dangerous, and it was green,” said Steve.
“This bike is barely legal, it doesn’t have turn signals or a horn or half the stuff it probably should have to make it legal, it’s green, and it’s relatively dangerous because of the blower, so I thought the name Absinthe was perfect.”
Up Close: PSI’s Genesis Big-Air Carb
Like Mark Twain’s famous quote, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated,” the non-availability of the mechanical air/fuel mixer known as a carburetor on a new Harley would lead one to believe they are dead as well. Far from it, though, as aftermarket companies like PSI in Ogden, Utah, are not only hanging in there making replacement carbs for the bazillion bikes still running them, but continually updating and improving the performance with pieces like their PSI Genesis Big-Air carb. This is one interesting flat-slide carb with a V-shaped venturi that makes a 38mm carb flow via built-in five-axised machined ribbed interiors and Vortex Generators (an aerodynamic surface that creates “mini-tornados” increasing air flow and fuel vaporization) like it’s a 48mm resulting in claimed big horsepower and torque gains throughout the rev range.
PSI’s Big-Air carb not only provides big and useful power increases, but the patented design is also easy to tune to get just the right amount of power and drivability. Three easy to adjust external fuel adjustments (pilot, needle, and power jet) simplify tuning by not having to change jets and can be made even with the engine running for what PSI says is “incredible throttle response and mid-range snort.” Technically, even the hard-anodized slide operates on an innovative eight-ball-bearing roller system for smooth operation and the machined case along with the external adjusters gives it a high-tech look you’ll be proud to have hanging off your engine. PSI’s Big-Air is available in clear or black anodized finishes along with biker-mandatory chrome and comes with a three-year warranty. As PSI says, “Who needs fuel injection when there is a better concept with less hassles and costs and with no computer guru necessary.”
More info at www.psicarbs.com or call 801-393-1030.
Builder: Steve Jones
Growing up in Massachusetts, Steve Jones was totally fascinated by chopper culture, although his parents did all they could to keep him off of motorcycles. As an adult, Steve never thought he’d be able to actually pursue bike building because he expected the equipment would be too expensive to afford. “Then I saw Billy Lane on Discovery Channel bending a gas tank over his knee and I thought, ‘Well I’ve got a knee, so I can at least try this.’ ” he said.
Based out of Castle Rock, Colorado, Steve is a jovial, humble guy who laughs easily and often, but when the TIG welder comes out, he builds a mean machine. His early efforts have included a diverse portfolio from board trackers to pro streets and even expressed his openness to building custom electrics someday. Stylistically, Steve is a huge Indian Larry fan and said, “I’ve seen enough of his bikes in person to know that you can stare at them for hours and not notice all the little details. It’s almost like solving a puzzle or something. I feel sorry for future generations who are going to grow up just seeing plastic covers over perfectly mechanically-working, highly-engineered stuff that doesn’t have much soul.”
Whatever his vision, Steve takes great pride in creating his bikes with as much of a hands on approach as possible, designing and fabbing his own frames, tins, and machined parts. “I have several projects that are ongoing. There is a very minimalist bobber with another Scott Yamasaki motor, a vintage road race replica based on a Suzuki GT750 two-stroke triple, a boardtracker, a futuristic cafe racer with a Buell Firebolt motor and single-sided front and rear suspension, and a Triumph Sprint frame with an Arctic Cat fuel-injected 700cc two-stroke motor with a 5-speed transmission,” said Steve. “The Arctic/Triumph bike should be pretty scary since it will have over 150 horsepower and weigh less than 300 lbs.”
For more information, visit www.jonzcustoms.com or call 303-437-9901.
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