Racers
Steve Stone of Stone’s Motorcycle Company in Northborough, Massachusetts, seems to have found a way to have ride and handling, a cool look, and blue- collar affordability all in one package with his Buell-based custom, Wild One. Steve’s been building bikes at the central Massachusetts shop he’s run with his partner in crime, wife Anne, for over thirty years. SMC’s customs have been featured in Barnett’s quite a few times, from his Rat’s Hole-winning Comet to the 155” 185hp powered Revolver, but Wild One is a trip back to his early roots of riding. “I’m trying to get back to simpler times when bikes were lighter and they were more fun,” said Steve. Other riders seem to have the same interest. “Out of all the years I’ve been in business, I’ve never seen anything that brought people to our booth at shows like these have,” Steve said. “I thought this was gonna grab some younger people and it did, but what amazed me was guys my age were the ones most interested. They all have baggers, but you know those aren’t the most exciting rides in the world. They all said, ‘Wow, if I’m riding alone (solo), I’d rather take this.’ It just puts the sport back into riding.”
The heart of this custom is the SMC twin-shock frame and Steve’s mantra of less is more. Less weight, that is. “When people sit on it and yank it off the kickstand, they’re shocked ‘cause they’re used to lifting 700+ pounds and this thing only weighs 350,” Steve said. The frame has a 34-degree rake with no stretch and incorporates a hefty top tube, which dampens vibration from the solid mounted Buell motor and contains the oil in the frame instead of a separate tank. “It’s 2” DOM tubing with only a .90 wall, but with the 2” diameter, it’s still strong and lightweight,” Steve said. “Our frame with the swingarm and shocks weighs less than just the stock perimeter frame alone. The huge shock and spring it came with must weigh thirty to forty pounds by itself.” Steve cuts off the aluminum swingarm’s under-the-engine shock mount and fabs a new upper mount to locate the Works Performance shocks, nicely angled to follow the frame lines, which have five-inches of useful travel. “I was just so pleased with them. When I took it on the back roads, I was aiming for potholes,” Steve said. “Here in New England, the roads make a rigid become worthless. After a guy has one for a few months, he wants to sell it and nobody wants it.”
As Barnett’s Magazine has often noted, Buells are a great base to build a custom from. Initial price, usable high-quality proprietary parts, and the ability to sell what’s left on eBay to a waiting audience keeps the cost down and the end-result satisfaction high. Steve used the whole stock Buell front end including triple trees and gauges to top off his frame while the stock brake and wheel holding a 170mm Pirelli sits out back. “The brakes are just amazing with a six-piston caliper up front and sixty pounds less weight. The nice part is, if you’re traveling and you have a problem, it’s all Harley-Davidson. We just don’t have issues with it like some aftermarket stuff,” said Steve. He added that this particularly pertains to electrical items like switches that are often a point of contention for custom owners.
The 1200cc Buell engine is dead reliable and makes 90hp, but it was shorn of its fuel-injection for electrical simplicity. “This is a tried and true design, but I had to go a different way as there’s really no place to put all the computers and wiring. The S&S Super E carb just bolts right on and with the Dyna ignition, it’s simple, it’s efficient, and works great,” Steve said. “We disassemble the engines and refurbish them, kiss the valve seats, new rings, and make sure the transmission’s good.” Steve also made an exhaust from original XR750 cans that he put Vance & Hines’ baffles inside and attached them to his own headers with a heat shield on the forward pipe. Sure nice to see a Buell motor with something other than that ugly underbelly muffler.
Contributing to the claimed light weight is an aluminum fuel tank Steve made after trying an XR750 tank and not feeling the love of how it looked, “I decided to go back to the smaller, earlier Sportsters, like a ’57 or ’58, and said, ‘Yeah, that’s the look.’ “ He’s taken a mold of this tank and future ones will be made out of carbon fiber instead. He’s already proficient in this medium as the rear fender is made from this wonder material while the front is stock Buell. SMC’s Jay McPhee coated the bike in black urethane paint including the cool Flanders TT bars and Buell mini-fairing with orange wheels and engine touches to give it a sporty look.
SMC’s version of a Going for Coffee bike is surprisingly priced at only $12,600 as shown. After a couple of exciting cappuccino runs, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Ultra Classic or Road King doesn’t start gathering dust in your garage.
Builder: Steve Stone
Stone’s Motorcycle Company
Steve Stone has been professionally beating on bikes for more than 30 years and there’s no sign of him stopping. With over three decades in the custom motorcycle business, he’s seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. But, if you’re talented, strong, and a hard working, hands-on owner like Steve, you make your own success. He’s been ably helped by his lovely wife Anne, who’s worked hand in hand with him to ensure Stone’s Motorcycle Company would prosper. His Yankee work ethic guarantees he doesn’t get full of himself and he keeps his nose to the ground as to where the custom business is going at any given time. You can’t help but admire someone who’s talented enough to make a Rat’s Hole-winning custom, but still will do an oil change or tune-up if that’s what his customers want. Or modify a stock Harley. Or give you a killer paintjob. Or, whatever. He hasn’t forgotten his roots.
“It’s not what it used to be, I’ll tell you that. Hey, that’s part of life. A lot of the competition we’ve had around in the last four or five years, they’re all gone. We’re starting to get more service and stuff, you’ve got to get back to the basics,” said Steve. “We’re hoping part of our salvation is these new Buell customs we’re making. There’s been such a tremendous response to them.” Steve believes that “we’re in this slump because people are not actually riding bikes.” Exacto! “The great thing is that I have a partner who still has an interest in motorcycles,” said Steve. “This summer we’re going to Peru to ride 3,000 miles through the jungles. She’ll go anywhere. This has been kinda our life. This is it for us.”
For more information on “New England’s best kept secret”, visit www.stonescycle.com or call Anne or Steve at 508-393-6816.
This bike feature originally appeared in Barnett’s Magazine issue #62, June-July 2008.
| SPECIFICATIONS | |
|---|---|
| Bike Name: | Wild One |
| Owner: | Steven Stone |
| Year/Make: | 2008 Stone’s Motorcycle Company |
| Fabrication/ Assembly: | SMC |
| Build time: | Six weeks |
| Engine: | 2002 1200cc Buell |
| Cases/Rods: | Buell |
| Pistons/ Cylinders: | Buell |
| Heads/Cam: | Buell |
| Ignition: | Dyna |
| Carb: | S&S Super E |
| Pipes: | SMC/XR750 |
| Air Cleaner: | SMC Super Stack |
| Transmission: | 5-speed Buell |
| Primary/Clutch: | Buell |
| Frame: | SMC |
| Rake/Stretch: | 34-degrees/ None |
| Forks: | Stock Buell |
| Rear Suspension: | Buell/SMC |
| Shocks: | Works Performance |
| Wheels: | Stock Buell |
| Tires: | Pirelli |
| Brakes: | Stock Buell |
| Fuel Tank: | SMC |
| Oil Tank: | Oil in frame |
| Fenders: | SMC/Buell |
| Handlebars: | Flanders |
| Risers: | Buell |
| Headlight: | Buell |
| Taillight: | V-Twin |
| Hand Controls/ Grips: | Buell |
| Foot Controls: | Modified Buell |
| Electrical: | Thunderheart |
| Painter/ Graphics: | Jay McPhee/ SMC |
| Color: | Black/ Orange |
| Seat: | SMC |