Early last year, Paul Maxey rode with Terry and Todd Marino (father and son, respectively) out to Performance Machine for the Johnny Chop memorial. While en route, his bike picked up a wobble, and after it limped into PM, he found himself with a busted downtube. Although they didn't build the thing, the Marinos had fixed another problem on it at their shop, Troll Worx, in Hesperia, California, so they were familiar with all of its eccentricities.
The Marinos took their patient back home for surgery, but while they were talking with Paul, it came to light that he had a lonely Buell that'd been relegated to the sad duty of collecting dust in his garage. This got the gears going in Terry and Todd's brains, and they talked Paul into letting them turn his X1 into this very bobber.
Like that was a hard sell. Take a stock Lightning and convert it into a reliable custom job for less scratch than he'd kicked down for the other bike? Tough decision.
We say it was cheaper because a lot of the Buell parts transferred over. The motor and driveline were a solid foundation for a custom scoot, but the chassis wouldn't make the grade without a ton of fabrication. Redneck Enginuity, however, makes some sweet Buell-centric frames, and that's where Troll Worx hunted up the bones for Paul's new toy. It's a rigid with a mild 35-degree rake and 2 inches of stretch in the top tube. That left the rear shocks without a job, but the X1 frontend, wheels, and front brake setup made the leap into bobberdom. The only big change in this department came about for the rear brake, where a cleaner Exile caliper and rotor displaced the old Buell set.
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