Obviously anyone who knows the least bit about Rick knows he’s a sharp cookie (there’s another one of those old sayings I don’t understand) when it comes to promoting his dealership or himself. Taking on a line of made-in-India single-cylinder bikes to sell out of a dealership known for outlandishness just doesn’t fit the wild tie-dyed chopper image Rick’s cultivated. So, why not take one of those singles, turn it to the wild side and get a little press like any smart promoter would? I’m sure it took Rick all of eleven-milliseconds to decide this was the way to go and so he did.

The vintage–looking rough casting cases of the new for 2011 unitized single would never do so they’ve been polished to a fare-thee-well or what some refer to as within-an-inch-of-its-life (two old nonsensical sayings in one sentence-score!). That is a shiny beast of an engine now and with that crazy EFI system and wrap-around header-wrapped exhaust, it’s a proper attention getter too. Both visually and vocally. There’s nuttin’ that’s ever going to make this mill fast no matter how much it’s hopped-up short of running it on straight nitro with a big shot of nitrous (can you do that?), but it sure is a shiny and pretty thumper.

Rick swapped out the stock, well actually he swapped out just about everything from the telescoping forks (now a Redneck Engineering springer) to the 18” spoked wheels front and rear (now 20-inchers) to the tank (now a peanut) to big-ass solo sprung seat (now just a steel pan – ouch!) to — well you get the picture. There really ain’t much here that it arrived with from the factory in the lovely coastal city of Chennai that’s often referred to as the “Detroit of India”. Take that any way you want, I didn’t name it.

With all these changes, probably the most eye catching part as usual for a Fairless custom is the paintjob. Once more, Gary Queen of Other Side Customs (www.othersidecustoms.net) blew it out of the whatever you blow something out of when you do a paintjob that’s mind blowing. This is not the tie-dye paintjob you expect from Mr. Fairless, but damn is it cool. There are just enough peace signs and RF logos to make it Rick-approved, but they’re integrated so well I just love them. Gary, you are one mega-talented dude and I never ever call anyone a dude, but it seemed right in this case.

So now that Rick’s got your attention with his personal rendition of what he’d do if he was the chief designer at Royal Enfield, check out his website (www.strokersdallas.com) for more info on how you could pick one up for yourself. If you do make it to Rick Fairless’ Strokers Dallas, be sure to keep an eye out for Rick’s mom Sharon too. There’s a rumor going around that this is actually her ride and that wouldn’t surprise me in the least.