Ultra Customs
David began by buying a frame jig and working out his ideas on it, but with all the customer work passing through his shop he just couldn’t appropriate the necessary time to build the frame. A call to Mike Weimer in the deep woods of central Virginia at Dirty South Choppers Inc. (www.dirtysouthchoppers.com) was all that was needed. “I faxed him a sketch of what I wanted. It took Mike six months to make because I had to find a place that could bend 4” tubing and that wasn’t easy. Mike gave me such a deal and did such a good job, I couldn’t complain. He did an amazing job, I’m indebted to the guy,” said David. DSC’s talented crew produced a rigid frame with 40-degrees of rake featuring a 2” under and 2” out neck with an additional stretch of 8” out back and David was off and running. “I had to plumb everything through the backbone as I didn’t want to have the wires, tubes, and everything outside the frame. Since they’re running where the gas is at, I had to plumb it with smaller tubing inside the backbone and weld it up,” said David. “After all the plumbing was done, it only held two gallons of gas and I said, ‘That’s not gonna do it.’ ” His solution was simple and elegant, welding together two fenders from Milwaukee Iron and Exile Cycles and then closing them off to form a 1.5 gallon rear fender/gas tank. It passes gas via a fuel pump hidden in a box behind the transmission that also houses the coils. “There’s ten pounds of butter in a five-pound package in there,” David said laughing at his description.
Combining a Jeri’s Springer fork with the futuristic frame was a design paradox that works perfectly. The short, beefy black legs blend right into the frame. “It’s the first springer I’ve owned and it’s kinda neat to watch it articulate and do its thing,” said David. The use of American Wire spoked wheels instead of billet was another interesting choice. “I just like spokes. Billet is cool, but what’s cool today is already growing old in six months. I didn’t think spokes would look so dated,” said David. Braking is timeless too with a PM two-piston setup up front working on a 120/70×21 Avon Venom and Exile’s Sprocket/Brake hauling a meatier 250/40×18 to rest.
Powering this bike is a 2000 107” S&S that David installed a Crane HI-4 ignition in to replace those pesky points with a header-wrapped StreetWalker RPGeez 2-into1 exhaust. “I like the 107” S&S, I had a 96”, but I’m pretty impressed by the 107,” said David. The enclosed primary turns a Rivera Pro clutch hanging on the end of a RevTech RSD 6-speed.
Now the tank-less design is really cool, but something that’s easily skipped over is something I really admire. That seat is suspended. “I didn’t want to do the normal sprung bobber seat on a tank-less bike, but I wanted some comfort because I planned to ride the bike a lot. I searched around eBay for bearings and found linear bearings, which I had never seen before. I thought they would work pretty fly. It’s an 8” rail with linear blocks, there’s two of them set up on it. I’m stoked ‘cause everybody that sees it has never seen it before,” said David. A RockShox mountain-bike shock provides damping and is deceptively surrounded in 16-guage sheetmetal with a sportbike taillight.
Finally, David could now do one of his multi-stage, multi-color paintjobs he’s known for. “My bike’s black, I like it. But I get a lot of grief for it,” said David laughing. Hey man, for a first-ever ground-up this mind-boggling, you’ll never get any grief from me.
| SPECIFICATIONS | |
|---|---|
| Owner: | David Micklevitz/ Leading Edge Customs |
| Year/Make: | 2007 Tank-less custom |
| Fabrication: | David Micklevitz/ Leading Edge Customs |
| Assembly: | David Micklevitz/ Doug Vancil |
| Build time: | Year-and-a-half |
| Engine: | S&S 107″ |
| Cases/Rods: | S&S |
| Pistons/ Cylinders: | S&S |
| Heads/Cam: | S&S |
| Ignition: | Crane HI-4 |
| Carb: | S&S G |
| Pipes: | Street Walker RPGeez |
| Air Cleaner: | Velocity stack |
| Transmission: | RevTech RSD 6-speed |
| Primary: | Closed double-row chain |
| Clutch: | Rivera Pro |
| Frame: | LEC/Dirty South Choppers Inc. |
| Rake: | 40-degrees |
| Stretch: | Neck: 2″ under/2″ out. Rear axle: 8″ back. |
| Forks: | Jeri’s Springer |
| Fork length: | -2″ under |
| Rear Suspension: | linear bearing/ RockShox/ 1.5″ travel |
| Front Wheel: | 21″ 60-spoke American Wire |
| Rear Wheel: | 18″ 60-spoke American Wire |
| Front Tire: | Avon Venom 120/70×21″ |
| Rear Tire: | Avon Venom 250/40×18″ |
| Front Brake: | PM 2-piston |
| Rear Brake: | Exile sprocket brake |
| Fuel Tank: | LEC/DSC |
| Oil Tank: | LEC/chin spoiler 3.5 quarts |
| Fenders: | Leading Edge Customs |
| Handlebars/ Risers: | Leading Edge Customs |
| Headlight: | 4.5″ painted black billet |
| Taillight: | LEC/Yamaha R1 |
| Hand Controls: | Joker Machine JX |
| Grips: | Knurled chromed billet |
| Foot Controls/ Pegs: | Thunder Heart |
| Electrical: | Leading Edge Customs |
| Painter: | David Micklevitz |
| Color: | PPG black |
| Polishing/ Molding: | Leading Edge |
| Seat: | Leading Edge Customs |
| Special thanks to: | Mike of Dirty South Choppers/DSC, Doug Vancil (AHDRA Top Fuel Champion ’01, ’02, ’03, ’07 and serious motor head), and Chuck Zetner of Z cycles. |
This bike feature originally appeared in Barnett’s Magazine issue #63, August 2008.
