Toshiyuki ‘Cheetah’ Osawa has had a busy 12 months. Scorching on the heels of a collaboration with Indian Bike and Sideburn Journal that debuted on the Bike Shed Present, he already had one other deadline looming; Born Free 14. Osawa-san was on the distinguished invited builders listing for the fourth time, and needed to carry a motorbike worthy of the accolade.
Although he’s a daily on the present circuit, Cheetah’s bikes aren’t trailer queens. With a background in flat monitor racing, he builds {custom} bikes which can be enjoyable to journey and look good crushed up. For Born Free 14, he delivered a classic Harley-Davidson WL flat tracker with a home made chassis and a plethora of tasty particulars, dubbed ‘Meteor.’
Cheetah began with a 1946 Harley-Davidson WL engine, then went to city modifying it. The inventory 740 cc displacement hasn’t modified, however the rear cylinder’s been flipped round as a nod to the enduring Harley XR750 flat tracker. There’s a H-D KR750 cam inside too, with a pair of Lectron carbs sucking air via Okay&N filters.
Different additions embrace a Norton Commando transmission and a delightfully dangerous-looking open main. Evidently, none of those mods had been easy.
The chromoly body is completely Cheetah’s handiwork—proper right down to the jaw-dropping bronze-brazed joints. “This conventional British approach just isn’t broadly identified in Japan,” he tells us, “so I researched, realized, and gathered all of the supplies and tools I wanted from England. It took me nearly 5 years to turn into proficient at it.”
Cheetah constructed the {custom} girder entrance finish utilizing the identical strategies. And since he wasn’t about to cover all that ability away below powder-coating, the body and forks merely put on a transparent coat to guard them.
Since Cheetah legitimately plans to race the classic Harley WL, he baked some adjustability into the bike’s structure. The underside of the girder fork sports activities an eccentric wheel axle mount, providing a variety of fast top and path changes. Out again, a set of {custom} mounting plates affords six completely different top changes for the rear wheel.
As per flat monitor norms, the WL rolls on 19” laced wheels wrapped in Hoosier filth monitor rubber. There’s only one brake; a classic Gerling unit on the again.
Perched on high of this magnificent machine is a monocoque physique, hand-shaped out of aluminum. Cheetah tasked S-Paint Works and Tomomi Shimizu at Shake Indicators with the paint and pin-striping work, respectively. However the geometric patterns which have been changed into the metallic are all Cheetah’s work.
The bodywork hides separate custom-made gasoline and oil tanks. A pair of struts on the again serves to help the oil tank and seat association, and the gasoline filler cap is tucked away simply behind the body’s steering neck. A beneficiant leather-based seat runs alongside the highest of every little thing, designed to supply the rider oodles of maneuverability.
Cheetah’s Meteor is stacked with radical particulars. The sculpted handlebar risers and headlight ‘hood,’ and the engraved rear wheel mounting plates, are pure mechanical artwork. A touch of white on the handlebars affords some distinction, whereas basic Bates foot peg rubbers recall the previous.
Granted, a few of these particulars are onerous to identify when the bike’s lined in mud—however Cheetah prefers it that approach. “The idea of Meteor is that it’s a {custom} bike, but it surely’s additionally an actual racing machine with a classic motor that’s able to race,” he says.
Dashing in direction of the Born Free deadline at breakneck pace, Cheetah buttoned the bike up simply in time to ship it from Tokyo to California. However one factor he didn’t get round to, was a correct shakedown. “I flew over to California simply three days earlier than the present, picked up the bike, sneaked into Shinya Kimura’s workshop, and in some way was in a position to begin the engine,” he says.
“I genuinely recognize Shinya for letting me use his store on such brief discover, as typical. The day after the Born Free present, I took the bike to El Mirage and rode it for the primary time. The tuning wasn’t good but—however driving the bike that I constructed from scratch was very particular, and nothing might substitute that happiness.”
“This bike is coming again to Japan quickly, so I’ll tune it by driving it on my native oval monitor to make it go quicker. When it will get many scratches and chips on the bodywork from my knees and flying pebbles, and worn-out tires (however solely on the left facet), my Meteor will lastly be full!”
Toshiyuki ‘Cheetah’ Osawa Instagram | Pictures by, and with honest because of, Kazuo Matsumoto
The post Meteor: A 1946 Harley-Davidson WL flat tracker from Japan appeared first on lickscycles.com.
source https://lickscycles.com/meteor-a-1946-harley-davidson-wl-flat-tracker-from-japan/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=meteor-a-1946-harley-davidson-wl-flat-tracker-from-japan
No comments:
Post a Comment