Now we get amazing bikes seemingly one after another and needless to say, that only makes it tougher for the builders. It definitely doesn’t stop them. Take the case of this absolutely unbelievable bike built by Kyle Shorey of Shadetree Fabrications in Dallas, Texas. Built from a pretty-decent shape 2007 Saxon Crown owned by Bill McNabney, little was used from the original bike. Actually, I guess there’s an almost complete Saxon carcass lying around somewhere. If you had an Evo-style motor, tranny, and some appropriate wheels and brakes lying around, you could plop them in what Kyle didn’t use and have a neat little bike. We have to give some credit to both Kyle for having the imagination and guts to build something this different  and to Bill for having the balls to break-up a decent bike and use nearly nothing out of it.

 

  I think what is really wild about this particular bike called Speedmetal is that it’s a bit shocking diversion for Kyle who really has an hard core, but extremely tasteful Old School bent going in most of his previous work I’ve seen. If given a choice, he’d rather work on a Panhead or a Shovelhead as he feels it brings out the best in him. Check out this video of Kyle’s knockout ’54 Panhead called Voo Doo Queen and you’ll see what I mean. Speedmetal just pops at you like it’s from a parallel dimension where the industrial look of a bridge girder is worshiped for its honest, but self-composed brutal simplicity and style. This bike is not trying to look or be something, it just is.

 

   After the Saxon got pillaged for parts, Kyle grabbed a bunch of tubing and fabricated a radical drop-seat, wishbone-style downtube frame with a 42-degree rake just because he liked it. Same goes for the wicked Kyle-fabbed I-beam springer fork that kinda looks like it was originally part of a 1920s shipyard crane. Probably not, but there’s that industrial feel going on from every piece of metal, rubber, and animal hide everywhere you look. These are all wonderful technical things, but from this point of the build, Kyle took it to another level with everything else.

 

   Take those absolutely gorgeous, cylinder head hugging, twin fuel tanks held on by ten big wing nuts sitting on ten beefy metal tabs on the exposed top tube saddlebag-style. The hard-line external tubing and brass fittings adorning the sides to the twin brass caps that look straight off the oil furnace tank in the scary cellar of my childhood home to the lovely brass Shade Tree/STF logo brass badges sitting front and center, it’s just a piece of art and fun to me. There are a few other bits of nice brass badging on the side boxes and cone badge.  The side containers, one for oil and one for tools, just blow me away from shape to fabrication to mounting. I just love it and couldn’t think of any way to change any of this even if there was a gun to my head. It all just looks right. I’m just surprised that the container-style rear fender/tail section doesn’t hold something too, but it does look correct for the rest of the look.

 

   I’m sure you’ve checked out the straight out of Shade Tree handlebars Kyle whipped up. Damn they’re tough, dirty, and pretty all in one swoop. The drilled-out I-beam bars end in a delicate touch of reverse bar-end levers with the throttle and clutch cables running exposed over the bar. I’m sure glad Kyle chose this surprising, but cool route instead of hiding them. They are what they are and he took that and ran with it in a whole new way that ended up being some sort of benchmark as far as I’m concerned. Just past them is possibly the only rectangular headlight setup I’ve ever been okay with. I don’t know if those lights work well or not, the shape of the housing itself and the over/under blue lenses fit this bike to a freakin’ tee. The blue lava lamp look has grown on me and I rate these just weird enough to be completely cool.

 

  The Saxon’s repurposed S&S 100” engine is a fine choice to bat around town or indulge in whatever hooligan fun Bill might like. Especially with a set of pipes not afraid to show their heat-induced running and construction colors, but are capped-off with agricultural brass rains flaps. A bit of turnkey drama that has to be the visual and aural focal point of onlookers when Bill’s making Speedmetal’s flaps dance around with every throttle movement. Kyle’s simple and clean distressed leather seat and hand grips lend a touch of warmth and softness to the raw brushed metal finish.

   Speedmetal literally got doused from stem to stern in loving, but torturous hand brushed finish as the finish. Everywhere. Not over done either, just very cohesive. And, it takes guts or maybe just downright confidence to leave all the welding tastefully exposed with the weld’s brassy color defining the outlines of the bike through the brushed metal. The finish looks appropriate and cool and I can’t imagine this in chrome, powerdcoat, and paint. Although if owner Bill wants another custom bike rejuvenation off in the future, all he’ll have to do is the exact opposite of the current finish with a trip to bling town. I wouldn’t, but Bill’s not afraid.

 

 

This bike is fun to look at and fun is what motorcycles are still all about to me. Motorcycle fun can be riding, building, or just doing a bit of staring. I bet Kyle had a lot of fun during the build coming up with satisfying design solutions that entailed an unfortunate amount of work. It was worth it, though, as Speedmaster has chalked up a ton of awards and hopefully Bill’s going to ride the hell out of the one-off, national show winner just because he can.

 

  For more info on Kyle Shorey’s Shadetree Fabrications and not only their cool one-off bikes, but their parts line too, click on http://shadetreefabrications.com/ .