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Unlike most Buell customs where many donor parts are used in the build to keep expenses down, Steve tossed most of the donor bike aside and started fresh. “I pretty much had the design in my head. It’s basically a bobber-style bike, but I was also looking back at the ‘70s,” said Steve. “David Mann used to draw up bikes like this. It’s a combo of today’s bobbers and yesterday’s style with some real hot rod futuristic-type features like the 200mm series tire and the 23” front wheel. Just some things I thought would put it in a class to itself as opposed to your regular everyday bobbers.”

Keeping the heart of the X1 was a given as Steve simply refreshed the 1203cc engine and swapped out the EFI for a simple Mikuni 42mm carb topped with a velocity stack along with a Dyna 2Ki ignition to drastically simplify things. Stuffing the engine in a Paughco 200 rigid frame with real-world riding in mind, Steve said, “ I think that 34- or 35-degrees of rake with a 200 rear tire in just about any bike has just the right thing.” Bolting on a DNA springer with a 23” spoked spool wheel gave him the David Mann look and hot rod stance that says, “let’s roll.” Out back Fab Kevin cooked up a serving of with dual Tokiko four-piston calipers as the main braking ingredient. As far as being brakeless up front, Steve said, “ It’s simply for the nostalgia of it. When you look at a David Mann drawing, he just had an old spool front wheel on it. The back brake really worked well, it stopped the bike great. After a while, I didn’t even notice that the bike didn’t have a front brake everything worked so well.”

With Mann in mind, Oro Fundido had to have a set of apes, no question about that, and the Pipe Dreamz straight-back exhaust looks like it was pulled directly from a Mann painting. Steve strayed a bit from Mann’s tough guy credo with his “futuristic” choice of a comfortable dual-shock saddle, but having Duane Ballard cover it in his exquisite hand-tooled leather sorta evens things out.

For bodywork, Cole Foster anted up one of his gorgeous tanks and the Detroit Bros supplied the fender, but you can’t help but notice the sheetmetal Steve added between the front downtubes. “I just filled it in, I thought it would look cool. It’s got stainless-steel mesh in there like race cars,” said Steve. “It just makes it look cooler and adds a lot more color. I think if the tubes were left alone, it wouldn’t have looked quite as full and nice on the front.” Making sure you can see that is the stunning House of Kolor Pagan Gold paintjob that Attitude Custom Painting in Pinellas Park, Florida, sprayed on. “That’s a beautiful color, in the sunlight it’s just awesome,” said Steve.

Steve kept the bike for a year before selling it and rode (enjoyed) it a lot. “I rode that bike constantly. It’s a blast to ride, that little bike will wheelie in second gear,” he said. “I went to a local bike night and nobody questions what it is. About ten minutes later some guy goes, ‘Damn, your ride’s a Sportster!’ That’s the reaction you get. It was great, ran like a top. I really miss it a lot.”

Interestingly, Oro Fundido just didn’t disappear into oblivion with its happy new owner, but ended up being the inspiration for a limited series of production bikes called Rayo 1. Steve is in the process of finishing the prototype bike and it’s definitely worth taking a look at. No, they’re not Buell based, but have a 113” 120hp(!) El Bruto engine tied to a six-speed tranny in a bike that’s got a strikingly similar profile to Oro Fundido (including the HOK Pagan Gold paint) for the absolutely shockingly- affordable price of $15,995. Yup, that’s not a misprint — $15,995. Check out the Rayo 1 in progress (available Jan/Feb 2010) at Steve’s web site www.lightningrodmotorcycles.com for yourself and see if you don’t agree it’s a deal.