I kinda feel like a school kid again just looking at Michael Ojala’s gorgeous Salt Flats custom that seems to be spewing its own series of built-in speed lines. Even though you can clearly see the bike’s sitting on its side stand, there’s a sense of movement going on from the front wheel which looks like it’s almost being pushed forward by the fork legs to the low swept-back bars to the Exile Cycles Monster Drag Pipes which are their own set of speed lines. Michael has brought a lot of fun drama to his design much like I thought I did with my kid drawings although I gotta admit he does a much better job than I ever could even in my kid’s brain.  

   Michael, owner of Ojala Customs in Trollhättan, Sweden, for the past eight years, has got a bit more going for him designer-wise than my ten-year-old self had. “I worked as a clay modeler in different countries in Europe. For example, I worked at Ducati in Italy. My job was to help the designer with sculpturing a bike that you will see on the market in the near future,” said Michael. “The idea of Salt Flats began with me wanting to build a classic racing bike. I ran short of inspiration, but then I remembered a movie called The World’s Fastest Indian. After doing some research on salt flats racing bikes, I got the idea of doing a ‘40s bike with a new modern feeling and basically a fresh touch.”

    The first thought-lines put into metal had to do with the backbone of this build , that raked –out, and I do mean raked-out, one-off frame Michael built. How raked-out does 56-degrees of rake sound to you? Well if for some reason unknown to all mankind you’re not impressed by that figure, then throw in another 7-degrees in the trees for a total of 63-degrees, baby. Now that’s a lotta rake in anyone’s book. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out what appears to be almost a just-off-horizontal floating steerer tube. What Michael had to say about all this may seem a little understated, but then everybody’s got a different view of what’s what. “Because of the rake it’s a little trick to turn fast, but it’s really stable on the road,” he said.

   There are some absolutely beautiful lines throughout this bike like how the curved-top tube’s line gets picked up by the tank and carried curvaceously forward into the high point of the bike, the tiny Motogadget speedo whose face looks like it was made from ancient Italian marble. Or, the way the seat tube just kinda bends back like the wind finally got its way. It all just flows in one smooth mass of white from front to back with no unexpected stops along the way. Maybe I shouldn’t expect any less from a guy who sculpts vehicles in clay, but he sure knows how to keep things elegantly flowing.  

   Now you might have noticed a few things that are not usually seen on show bikes like the aforementioned speedo, the very practical and still good looking dual Chopper Shox suspended seat, the big brakes front and rear, turn signals, and the all-important piece that holds a license plate. Yup, the license plate. It all goes well with the basically stock 80-inch Harley Evo engine in the big scheme of things as Michael has plans for this bike besides winning awards as he has been doing already. “So far I have just had a couple of laps around the shop, but next season I will ride every day to work,” he said. There’s a crazy practicality to all of this that Michael sums in under a dozen words, “I guess you can say that I have a wild imagination.” Yes you do sir and it’s appreciated.

For more info on Ojala Customs, be sure to check out www.ojalacustom.se and keep an eye on this site for more of his work.