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Click here for more photos…
This bike feature originally appeared in Barnett’s Magazine issue #65, November 2008.
SPECIFICATIONS | |
---|---|
Owner: | For Sale |
Year/Make: | 2006 Sabers Specialties |
Fabrication/ Assembly: | Blake Sabers |
Build time: | one year (off and on) |
Engine: | 124″ S&S Anniversary |
Cases: | Polished |
Flywheels/ Rods: | S&S |
Pistons/ Cylinders: | S&S |
Heads/ Cams: | S&S |
Ignition: | S&S Super Stock |
Carb: | S&S Super G |
Pipes: | Martin Bros./Sabers Specialties |
Air Cleaner: | RSD Anodized |
Transmission: | Baker chrome billet 6-speed |
Primary: | Primo/ Independent Cycle |
Clutch: | Primo |
Frame: | Independent Cycle Drop-neck LOWLIFE |
Rake: | 36-degrees |
Stretch: | 2″ down, 5″ out |
Forks: | HHI/Perse/ Sabers Specialties |
Front Wheel: | 21″ x 3.5″ Ride Wright Fat spoke |
Rear Wheel: | 18″ x 10.5″ Ride Wright Fat spoke |
Front Tire: | Metzeler 120/70/21 |
Rear Tire: | Metzeler 300/35/18 |
Front Brakes: | HHI chrome 4-piston |
Rear Brakes: | Transbrake transmission brake |
Fuel Tank: | Independent Cycle/Sabers Specialties |
Oil Tank: | Independent Cycle |
Fender: | Twisted Choppers/ Sabers Specialties |
Handlebars: | Chrome Drag Bars |
Risers: | Joker Machine |
Headlight: | Kuryakyn |
Taillight: | Profab |
Hand Controls: | Performance Machine |
Foot Controls: | Independent Cycle |
Electrical: | Sabers Specialties |
Chroming: | Meclec |
Painter: | Custom Plus Collision/Kyal Auch |
Color: | PPG Royal Blue, Tan |
Graphics: | Pinstriping |
Powder coating: | KGM Powdercoating |
Molding: | Sabers Specialties |
Seat: | Sabers Specialties |
Special thanks to: | Kurt at KGM Powdercoating, Kyal at Custom Plus Collision, and S&S Cycle |
Sabers Specialties
Photos by Michael Lichter
Located on the opposite side of the state from Sturgis, Mitchell, South Dakota, is home to Sabers Specialties, owned by Blake Sabers. He was asked to compete in the S&S Fiftieth Anniversary Build-Off they were holding in the company’s hometown. He accepted S&S’ invitation to build a show-winning bike using one of their 124” motors, but found that he had a lot to do if he was going to compete against some of the best custom builders in the world. Sometimes the easiest way to build a show bike is to take a look back at previous bike builds and capitalize on the aspects that people (and judges) appreciate. Blake had success with another bike that he had built in the past called Thrust, and thought he could improve on his original design with a number of changes while maintaining a slight resemblance to the original.
Blake decided on an Independent Cycle drop-neck, HARDLIFE frame for its long, low shape. Plus the driveline components would fit without any extra modifications, and it was a completely different platform than his previous build. The frame was built with a little stretch in the backbone and the downtubes, with 5” and 2” respectively. The neck was raked to 36-degrees, but Blake felt that it needed a more aggressive stance. He added 5-degree-raked HHI triple trees, for a total of 41-degrees of rake that hold the Perse legs. “I was able to modify the Perse legs to house an air-ride suspension system and hid the air compressor underneath the seat,” Blake said. The chassis received a set of Ride Wright fat- spoke wheels measuring 21×3.5” in the front and an 18×10.5” is surrounded by a 300/35/18 Metzeler tire in the rear. The forward wheel hub is home to a rotor and squeezed by a four-piston HHI chrome-plated caliper.
The 124” S&S motor arrived at the shop polished but unassembled. Blake had a number of the components powdercoated black. Then he assembled the polished and black-powdercoated power plant with an S&S Super G carburetor topped with a Roland Sands Designs black-anodized air-cleaner cover. A set of modified Martin Brothers exhaust pipes balance the right side of the bike with a Primo-Independent Cycle primary drive and Primo clutch on the left. Connected to the primary is a BAKER OD6 transmission with a polished billet case to compliment the motor’s finish. Attached to the trans is a Pro-Fab transmission brake with a two-piston caliper that removes clutter from the rear wheel with nothing to cover the fat spokes.
Independent Cycles puts together a set of tins that are perfectly designed for their frame. Knowing this, Blake felt they’d work best with his idea of the completed motorcycle. “Independent Cycle has things right, their chassis are nice and clean. They look too good to be as reliable and easy to work with as they are,” Blake said. Before he mounted the tank, he altered it by welding in a flush-mount gas cap, stretched it a few inches, and welded in a strip on the top that he says some people mistake for body-filler putty. He mounted the battery underneath the transmission, and filled the area underneath the seat with the aforementioned air compressor, then added an ignition coil, and relays. “It all fits, but it’s pretty cramped in there,” Blake said. Lastly, Blake trimmed and custom fit Twisted Choppers’ front and rear fenders to wrap around the wide front tire and fatty rear.
At this point in the build, the only real resemblance to Thrust was the long and low profile. “Everyone that saw Thrust really liked the paint, so I thought we might paint this bike in a similar way,” Blake said. Custom Plus Collision’s Kyal Auch painted the sheetmetal with PPG royal blue and tan colors that accentuate the lines of the bike. “Once the shop and I saw the bike painted, we started calling it the Clone because out of the corner of an eye it can be mistaken for Thrust,” Blake said.
Blake started the final assembly next. Chromed, one-inch-diameter drag bars were bolted on the front end with Joker Machine risers behind a 5.75” high-intensity-discharge Kuryakyn headlight. Independent Cycles foot controls provide a place to put the rider’s feet while Performance Machine hand controls accept rider input. Sabers Specialties also made the custom seat in-house — Blake figures the more aspects of a motorcycle he and his shop can make, the more creative control and fewer restrictions he has with his custom builds.
The Clone pleased the crowds at the S&S Build-Off unveiling and was a testament to Blake’s eye for custom building. He may not have won the show, but there were just as many people crowded around his bike as any that took home a trophy.
Builder: Blake Sabers
Sabers Specialties
Back in high school, Blake Sabers, owner of Sabers Specialties, was into low-rider trucks. It wasn’t until he was about half finished with eighteen months of training at the Wyoming Technical Institute that he even noticed Harleys. “Through high school and for a little while after there was no way I could afford a Harley, I always had a crotch rocket. Talking with guys in school that had H-Ds at Wyo Tech got me interested,” Blake said.
Not long after completing school, Blake got a job in a Harley shop in Illinois. He spent some time as a service technician while he learned the ropes and eventually started his own shop in Mitchell, South Dakota. The last three years have been successful for him, but the tightening economy has forced him to incorporate more variety at his shop. “When I first opened the shop I only did sheetmetal, fabrication, and paint work. I only wanted to do custom work. We’ve expanded a little, now we’re a full-service shop and we also do used and crashed bike sales,” Blake said.
The last few years have honed his abilities and developed his building style. “I like to build long, low profile, and sleek bikes. Something like a stretched pro street bike. When it comes to rear tire sizes, 300mm is about as wide as I’ll go on a build,” Blake said. That said, Blake does step out side what he prefers to build to try other styles and types of bikes. This year, during Las Vegas Bikefest’s Artistry in Iron show, Blake told us that he’d have a crazy custom Road King built nothing like a pro street bike and sporting sky-scraping, 20” ape hanger handlebars. See more long and low Sabers Specialties creations at www.sabersspecialties.com or call 605-996-7433.