Pro-Street
Lucky 7 Motorsports in Rancho Cucamonga, California, was able to combine the looks and some of the handling characteristics of an imported sport bike with the low slung, muscular appearance of a hot rod American V-twin cruiser. Greg Handren, an employee at Lucky 7 Motorsports for almost four years, was one of the guys that helped lead their customer, Ted Williams, through the process of having his bike built at the shop. “Ted came into Lucky 7 with the bike you see in these pictures already in his head. He knew he wanted a Walz Hardcore softail-style frame with sportbike styling cues. Ted had talked with a couple of the other shops in the area and they all tried to talk him out of the frame because it’s manufactured in Germany and there’s a long wait to get one on the West Coast of the United States,” Greg said. The guys at Lucky 7 listened to his requests and agreed to build the bike as long as Ted didn’t expect the bike to be built within a few weeks; he was going to have to be patient. The 280mm rear tire frame tookabout six months from the day it was ordered to the day it arrived at the shop. Finally, the Lucky 7 crew was finally able to start working on the rest of the bike for Ted.
Back when this bike was built, Greg worked the parts counter and kinda oversaw the shop’s mechanics; he ordered the entire driveline for the bike once the frame was received. He called up CCI for a 100” RevTech motor and a RevTech 6-speed, left-side-drive transmission that were tied together with a Primo/Rivera open-belt primary and dry clutch. Unfortunately, the driveline was not a bolt-in affair. The frame would only work with the driveline in one configuration and more German-made parts were needed to be ordered to change that. Ted wasn’t willing to wait for delivery, so he had Lucky 7 modify the frame to make it work. A series of trans-plate mounting operations soon followed, but it was worth the extra effort. When they were finished, the bike would roll in a straight line without veering to the left because of a huge offset or misalignment.
The issues with the frame and Ted’s ideas didn’t stop there; he wanted to use an inverted sportbike front end that everyone at the shop knew would make for more modifications to the frame. “We were looking around for sportbike front ends at a local motorcycle salvage yard called Neanderthal Cycle Salvage and found this GSXR 600 front end. It included the front wheel, forks, trees, fender, rotors, and calipers for about $200. Compared to an inverted aftermarket Harley front end it was a freakin’ steal,” Greg said. In order to make the GSXR stem work with the Walz frame, they had to lop off the front and bore out the steering neck so the thicker Suzuki stem would fit properly. There was one ray of sunshine that didn’t create any extra work, coincidentally; the GSXR front wheel perfectly matched the Eurocomponents’ three-spoke, 280mm tire-handling monster wheel fit within the swing arm.
“Once we had the rolling chassis all worked out with the driveline installed, the rest of the build was a breeze,” Greg said. The Suzuki handlebars readily accepted the Suzuki/QTM hand controls and they welded a twin-beam Exile headlight to the bottom triple tree. Raul’s Auto Trim made the clean derriere holster, and they had the bike painted flat black with gloss-black racing stripes.
To say the bike is understated would be an understatement. It doesn’t call attention to itself, but if a person happens to look close, they’ll notice the well- placed sportbike influence. According to Ted, the bike was well worth the year- long wait, but that’s to be expected when most of the major components had to make it to the U.S.A. from the other side of the world.
| SPECIFICATIONS | |
|---|---|
| Owner: | Ted Williams |
| Year / Make: | 2007 Lucky 7 Motorsports |
| Fabrication/ Assembly: | Lucky 7 Motorsports |
| Build time: | 12 months |
| Engine: | RevTech 100″ |
| Cases/ Flywheels: | RevTech |
| Rods/Pistons: | RevTech |
| Cylinders/ Heads: | RevTech |
| Cam: | RevTech |
| Ignition: | RevTech |
| Carb: | Mikuni HRS42 |
| Pipes: | Lucky 7 Motorsports |
| Air Cleaner: | Forcewinds |
| Transmission: | RevTech 6-speed |
| Primary: | Primo Rivera dry clutch |
| Frame: | Waltz Hardcore 280 Softail |
| Rake/Stretch: | 30-degrees/3″ backbone |
| Forks: | GSXR 600 |
| Rear Suspension: | Legends Air Suspensions |
| Front Wheel: | GSXR 600 |
| Rear Wheel: | Euro-components 18×10.5 |
| Front Tire: | Metzeler ME880 |
| Rear Tire: | Metzeler ME880 280mm |
| Front Brakes: | Brembo/dual 6-piston |
| Rear Brakes: | Euro-components pulley/ brake |
| Fuel/ Oil Tank: | Waltz |
| Fender: | Waltz |
| Handlebars: | Suzuki |
| Headlight: | Exile twin beam |
| Taillight: | Pro-Fab |
| Hand Controls: | Suzuki/QTM |
| Foot Controls: | RPM |
| Electrical: | Lucky 7 Motorsports |
| Painter: | Concepts Powdercoating/ Dreamscape Studio |
| Color: | Flat Black/ Gloss Black Stripes |
| Graphics: | Dreamscape Studios |
| Seat: | Raul’s Auto Trim |
| Special thanks to: | Concepts Powdercoating, G&J Aircraft Fittings, Legends, and everyone at The California Speedway |
This bike feature originally appeared in Barnett’s Magazine issue #63, August 2008.
