V-Rod
Tom Ghobrial knew what he wanted. “When he first talked to us it was a 124” S&S, then he came at us with this because he has a V-Rod and loved it and we said well, we’ll give it a shot,” Savage’s Sean Snyder explained. “He requested our Savage Cycles Violator frame, although many changes were made to it.”
The changes took place not on the sketchpad but as the build took shape. Sean remembered, “We sketched a little bit, but not a whole lot. We had ideas, and the customer had some pictures of other Evo choppers he liked, but basically [Savage’s] Jeremy Gordon put the frame in the jig and we bought the motor from Harley; he took measurements and just started building around it. We bought the Harley mounts—it’s still rubber mounted—and built as we went, which meant we had to re-cut the frame, re-do this ‘n that.”
The all-metal gas tank is under the seat, easily accessed when the seat pops off. The fuel tank is a Savage original. Sean said, “We bought the Harley fuel pump for the V-Rod, so it’s got its own fuel pump,” Sean added. “That’s our second radiator, the first wasn’t big enough. We had one built, the one that’s behind the radiator, and it didn’t quite cool like it was supposed to so we bought aluminum reservoirs and made our own, then made another one.”
The customer requested that big 300 rear tire, and the Goldammer front-end. “On a regular V-Rod the radiator shrouds are outside, they’re pretty wide,” Sean said. “On this bike they’re more narrow and that big front tire and front-end block a lot of air. So we had issues at speed with it overheating. We went with an oil cooler on it, and actually a bigger chrome reservoir to hold another quart of radiator fluid.”
The wiring was time consuming, but so was incorporating the air box into the frame. “We had a basic idea but the amount of things that came up were astronomical. There were quite a lot of things we didn’t know about, most of them mechanical. It was ‘figure it out’ as it went. We had a vision but it wasn’t set in stone, and everything had to work. It was a long journey and we didn’t have a lot of people to go to for any kind of reference. We had to figure it out, ” Savage’s Mike Dixon said. Sean added to that and said, “It was definitely not easy. Mike had many hours on that bike, we don’t have a clue how many. With the air boxes he did research. What goes into the top where the fuel injection is? That’s all stock, but he modified what he made to adapt to that.”
A bit of panic took place when it came time to get the bike dyno’d. “That was the biggest thing,” Sean said. “We took it to a place locally where they have their own computer, and we couldn’t get it quite tuned in. Then we took it to the Harley shop and they couldn’t get it quite tuned in. In the end we took it down to a place called Skip’s in Winchester, Virginia, and they tuned it in. They took care of it, and it runs good. And I love the way it sounds. It sounds great.”
For the paintjob, Sean used Tom’s choice of House of Kolor Copper Pearl. Sean also designed the cool graphics, which the customer loved. Savage Cycles made the seat pan, as they always do, and sent if off to High Rollers Cycle Seats in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to finish it off with that beautiful alligator seat.
The build took about a year to complete. Sean said, “We’d work on it, then work on other things while we were trying to engineer everything to work.” He added with a laugh, “There wasn’t a lot of custom V-Rod bikes for us to look at, and now we know why. Just to do what we did, like making a radiator, getting the air boxes to work…still we definitely had headaches to keep it cool.”
More than a concept bike, Violator V is a rider. “Oh, it gets ridden,” said Sean. “The customer loves it. Tom actually has a regular V-Rod and he likes this one better. He’s like 5’6”, and this bike’s pretty big, but he loves it and has been riding it as much as possible in the year he’s had it.”
Up Close: Goldammer G Force Component Front End
Roger Goldammer should need no introduction. His trophy room must look like Elvis’s gold record section at Graceland with all his wins at the top shows of the world. The outside-the-box customs he creates are littered with his innovative products like the G Force Component Front-End on Violator V.
The team at Savage Cycles was only too happy to oblige their client when he requested Goldammer forks for his custom build. Builder Sean Snyder said, “The owner wanted them, but we’ve used them two or three times previous on a few high-end bikes. They’re very distinctive, beefy, and a very nice product. I like the distinction that you know they’re top-of-line just by looking at them. And Roger, he’s a great guy, too. He’s just very cool, an engineering genius.”
For Violator V, the Goldammer G Force Front Ends were a no-brainer. “For a bike like that, that’s very beefy anyway, it keeps the whole flow,” Sean said.
Goldammer Cycle Works zeroes in on setting the industry standard for high-end components of the highest quality and performability. The G Force Component forks are assembled from four main billet components using a patent-pending fastening system that gives them their ultra-clean looks. Perse Performance produces the lower legs with internals supplied by Race Tech and Harley-Davidson giving good control and reliability. Currently, the Wide Glide-width forks, with a hidden fork stop, can be ordered with 3- or 5-degrees of rake built in. They’re available in a polished or a black-anodized finish with single or dual rotor applications for most aftermarket and some stock frames. Length-wise, they start at 29.5” and go to “whatever.” For a full list of Goldammer products check out www.goldammercycle.com or call 250-764-8002.
Builders: Sean Snyder, Jeremy Gordon, and Mike Dixon
Combining grace and elegance with drop-dead cool for a high-voltage bike like Violator V requires the talent and imagination of a crack team of bike builders known as Savage Cycles in Frostburg, Maryland. Comprised of co-owners Sean Snyder, Jeremy Gordon, and Mike Dixon, the Savage team (plus four employees) has been combining their own particular brand of genius since their street rod/custom car beginnings all the way to the bikes and parts and dungeon-themed motorcycle showroom they have today.
“I did masonry work before this, so we did the whole dungeon-theme shop ourselves,” Sean said. “We definitely wanted to go for the wow-factor. In the area where we’re at, a small town, it’s kind of a culture shock.”
Sean did much of the design inspired by trips with his wife to Las Vegas. “We like theme bars and restaurants, and that’s kind of what we were going for, a dungeon-feel. It works real well. It’s fun to watch people come in the front door for the first time and be in awe.”
The economy isn’t taking too much of a toll on Sean, Jeremy, and Mike, and their employees. Savage has six contracted bikes for 2009, as well as paintjobs, maintenance, and car work. “We’re swamped,” Sean said. “Our garage is full, knock on wood. But it is kind of frustrating because we can’t move around real easily.”
Everything turned out by Savage Cycles have the team’s stamp of creativity, but they also pack a wallop that shatters any preconceptions about what you think can and can’t be done. Check out the Savage dungeon online and get a gander at some Goblins, Devils, Headhunters and more by visiting www.savagecyclesonline.com, or if you’re in the market for a quality bike that suits your style, call the crew at 301-689-1861.
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