This unique machine was originally a Buell S1 White Lightning. The initial plan involved using the original Showa inverted front end, but in the end the crew at Twisted Choppers went with an old-school undamped springer. Jason Kangas and the rest of the Sioux Falls-based gang certainly lived up to their shop's name on this machine. The strength of Buell's unique brand of machine has always been its chassis. Take a sweet-handling Buell, and then turn it into a rigid with a springer front end, and what have you got? One seriously light and fast street machine.
Not happy to do just another chopped Buell, Jason and fellow Twisted crew member, Dustin Eliason, handbuilt the unique double-backbone perimeter frame in a week. Look closely and you'll see no visible mounts between the frame and the tank, which was also handmade. The sweet frame-hugging pod actually does triple duty as top motor mount, gas tank, and air-accumulator for the seat. While a barely-suspended gas tank doesn't seem like the wisest choice for a motor mount, the bike was ridden several hundred miles at the Sturgis Rally without any problems. The trick little air seat was fabricated out of a single piece of metal, then upholstered. The air system was drafted from a police bike and adapted for chopper-duty. Jason claims that this little piece makes this radical little machine into a downright comfortable ride.
Paint was carefully chosen to accent the unique beauty of the machine. Candy green graces the frame to make it the star of the shop, while a gunmetal metallic coats the sheetmetal for maximum contrast.
I got dizzy trying to find all of the handmade parts on this bike, some of which include the oil tank, handlebars and footboards. Then you have pieces like the cam cover which is stock, but ground down just enough to keep the oil in, and to expose the oil pump and more frame. Twisted went with a very minimalist theme for this bike, putting just enough parts on to make it a runner and no more. Anything that couldn't be ditched was hidden, like all the lines and wiring.
With all these little details, it's not surprising that this is yet another project that went right down to the deadline, with final assembly and wiring taking place the week before the Rally-just in time to pick up a few trophies.
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