In the case of our feature bike by Tim Firstenberger of Little Comfort Customs in Sarasota, Florida, this 2001 Buell Lightning was struck by something other than lightning, apparently some kind of vehicle. But, it did leave a fine donor engine for Tim to work his magic around and that’s just peachy for the rest of us. In case Tim’s name strikes a bell, you might remember we featured another bike of his about a month ago that was really a popular online item. Clean, simple, and to the point will do that and this bike is just another fine example of Tim’s work.

 

   Like most projects, all it took was just one look and the wheels and gears of a builder’s mind start whirling and turning away.  “It all started when I ran across a pic of a Cory Ness board track-looking build. But, with me not having the money to do what he did, I started out with the Buell(wrecked) and a Kraft/Tech frame with a D.N.A 4”-under springer and went from there,” said Tim. Hey Tim, from a quick look at your finished project, you’ve got absolutely nothing to apologize or be even the tiniest bit ashamed about. Cory’s bike may have been nice, but yours is right up there too and I’m sure it’s a whole hell of a lot cheaper, er, less expensive. More importantly, it doesn’t look like a budget bike, just a really nice bike and that’s all that really counts. The striking, yet simple paintjob done by Richard Paxton at P-Mans Classic Cycle Paint in Bradenton, Florida, along with the candy red powdercoat on the frame by Fusion Powder Coating in Sarasota, Florida, makes this so-called budget build look like it had a huge budget.   

 

  Once again, the Buell 1203cc engine doesn’t need a hell of a lot of hop-up stuff done to it as it already pumps out close to triple-digit horsepower just by filling it with gas and twisting the throttle. Tim just made sure that everything was in proper running order for a bike intended for street use and eventual sale. “I split the cases, checked it all out, and cleaned every thing up before I sprayed the outer cases with VHT wrinkle black,” he said. Actually what he was referring to according to the photos was the outer engine covers, cylinders, and heads which gives a nice contrast to the raw aluminum engine cases. “I also built the remote-mount front master cylinder mounted where the voltage regulator would go and then the regulator found a new home  under the oil tank,” said Tim.

 

   Unlike most Buell donor builds, Tim chose to use a set of always classically gorgeous spoked wheels and thankfully didn’t lace them with two-or three hundred spokes (hey it seems that way to me) per wheel or with spokes fat enough to look like they should be on an amusement park ride. Tidy, classic good looks will always prevail at least in my book.  Using front and rear brake may not be part of the (unfortunate) rear-only style trend of late, but it sure makes things safer on the road by about a 1000% (give-or-take 10%) when that SUV on a mission to nowhere important cuts you off. Mid-mount controls make it all a little more comfortable with those down-turned board track-style bars putting you in a more aggressive riding position and they look right on this bike too.

 

    I think it’s pretty fair to assume that any Buell named Boneshaker has lost its previous rubber-mounting with the switch to a Kraft/Tech rigid frame, but apparently that’s all part of the game. Tim’s description of what it’s like to ride only backs up his choice of moniker as he said,” Bone shaking, teeth rattling, eye watering, hang on for your life ─ It’s a freakin’ rocket!” Somehow I don’t think that came as any surprise to Tim as he was building it or its new owner who bought it not just for its good looks, but for some good kick-ass, bone shaking times of his own.

 

  Tim’s pretty proud of his build and it calmly shows in his description of how he feels about the finished bike. I feel that I got the lines that I wanted to see and the contrast in color with the limted budget I have,” he said. “I feel like I have to have clean lines, clean contrast, and very clean workmanship.” Now that we’ve seen two extremely nice builds by Little Comfort Customs’ Tim Firstenberger, all I can say is, “Hey Tim, great job as usual. When’s the next one? You’ve got a bunch of online fans wanting to see more and I’m dying to show more.” Time to get back out in the shop man and get to it.