PORTFOL IO A Rough Crafts retrospective

PORTFOLIO

A Rough Crafts Retrospective

Commercial success is one thing, respect from others in your chosen profession is another. Winston Yeh is working on both.

“Once in a while you come across individuals who make a difference in the industry. Winston has his own vision and look, he’s an artist who uses motorcycles to express his talents,” says Steve Willis of England’s respected Shaw Speed & Custom

operation. “He could turn from two wheels to four, or to furniture and interiors. I would call him an artist rather than a builder, and I mean that in a complimentary way.

“With the Guerilla look he’s created visually stimulating, timeless machines. I’m confident his bikes have attracted a new generation into HarleyDavidson showrooms.”

That includes custom shops too. Shaw Speed clients often arrive with a particular “look” in mind. “People are saying they want ‘Something like this’, and they’re clutching a picture of a Rough Crafts bike,” Willis says. –Chris Hunter

n A client of Shaw Speed & Custom requested a replica of Rough Crafts’ iconic Iron Guerilla. The finished machine (above) was based on an XL1200X rather than the Yeh’s original 883. (Left) The BS X4 Chop, a radical reworking of the Japanese-market Honda X4 1300. (Below) Yeh dropped an S&S motor into a kit from Zero Engineering to create this steampunk-ish Knucklehead.

n(Left) Yeh describes Bomb Runner as a “mix of bobber, café-racer, and streetfighter.” It’s a 2011-model Sportster Forty-Eight 1200 with a revised silhouette, taller shocks and tailsection, and a lightly modified frame. The result is a more aggressive leanforward look. (Below) Another 48, this time called Shattered Pearl. “The owner gave me one guideline and nothing else,” says Yeh. “He said, ‘I know your style and trust in you, but everybody’s got black bikes. How about a white one?’”

VIVA EL V-TWIN! !

Sbay’s Spanish Muscle Machine By Buck Manning

One of the last things you’d expect in the tough economic climate afflicting the V-twin custom industry is the introduction of a new production bike. Even further down that list of expectations is that it would be from Sotogrande-Cadiz, Spain, of all places. Hey, nothing against Spain, but images of two-stroke Bultacos and OSSAs come to mind before anything like a

SPAIN

big pushrod V-twin peppered with carbon-fiber and aluminum like this outrageous muscle bike from the Sbay Motor Company (www. sbaymotorco.com). For reasons unclear it’s called “Jerry,” and yes it is a forerunner of a true production bike, as Sbay founder Sergio Bayrrai explains.

“We are fully booked with orders from all over the world, especially Germany, Switzerland and Holland,” he says. Even with a base price of $50,000, this

shouldn’t be a total surprise as Sbay had already received a lot of attention for a bike named “Flying,” winner of the Production class at the 2010 AMD World Championship in Sturgis. Jerry is a more comfortable version of Flying, even if it is slightly more radically designed. Radical as in the use of parts like the carbon-fiber girder forks you couldn’t

miss if you tried, replacing Flying’s conventional Ohlins. Comfortable as in a less committed but still racy riding position that somehow employs mid-mount footboards yet permits a lean angle of 56 degrees. “Leaning at this angle will take you to the edge of the tires, which for us is more than enough,” says Sergio.

So what we have here is a highperformance V-twin street rod for the well-heeled aficionado, one who wants a unique and exclusive ride. Sergio has plans to build a run of just 50, with a wide choice of engine and transmission options depending on what your wallet and ego consider necessary.

The standard drivetrain consists of a 110-inch RevTech Evo-style engine producing a claimed 115

horsepower and 120 foot-pounds of torque, driving a six-speed RevTech tranny via an Sbaymachined open primary. “We use RevTech engines because they come with a Euro 3 certificate, and homologation is not an issue,” says Sergio. “The horsepower and torque figures are more than enough for our bikes – just remember that at 443 pounds dry, Jerry is 140 pounds lighter than a Sportster, which has around 60 hp stock. Handling is directly related to power/weight ratio and Jerry’s performance is phenomenal.”

For those who don’t agree with that formula, there are always options like the 131-inch Zipper’s Magnum that Sergio’s presently has on his dyno knocking out 184 hp and waiting to be installed. “It’s going to be a scary machine,” he says. Yeah, that ought a do it – if not, there’s always a turbo… Monster motors notwithstanding, Sergio strives to instill great handling, stop-on-a-dime braking and balanced power in every bike he builds. That they’re interest

VIVA EL V-TWIN! ! ing to look at and mentally dissect is a plus that doesn’t just coincidentally happen. Sergio engineers a piece until it looks right and works correctly. For instance, the 6061 T6 aluminum frame probably didn’t require all the extensive CNC’d aluminum pieces, but it certainly doesn’t lack for them. It’s not only interesting to look at but the perfect fit of the machined pieces makes for a stronger structure. Sergio says there are 100 man-hours of work TIG welding the frame alone. And development is constantly ongoing, with lots of time spent on the racetrack. “We decided to change the rear suspension setup,” he explains. “The production bike will have the Ohlins shock placed in front of the rear

nSbay bike is a rolling juxtaposition, an enticing combination of old world and high tech, as in copper oil lines and carbon-fiber fuel tanks…as in wire-spoked wheels and an alternate front suspension system… as in floorboards and titanium mufflers…as in a leather tractor-style saddle and CNC-machined aluminum frame. Even the Motogadget tachometer gets in on the theme, with an analog face but electronic internals and multi-functionality.

wheel in a vertical position and it will be linked to the chassis using a leverage system.” These are the kind of quick, on-the-run changes only a small company can make.

Easily the most polarizing element on this bike is the Sbaydesigned and built girder front end. A properly designed girder eliminates chassis dive under braking and should be extremely rigid side to side, but anything other than standard-issue telescopic forks are bound to have their fans and detractors. Sergio is unfazed by any negativity: “We developed the girder fork with a curved shape in order to obtain further stiffness, and it works,” he says. “We are still working on the fork, and the good news is that for the production bike we are fitting a set of levers that allows the front end to travel a full 5 inches with only 2 inches of movement from the Ohlins TTX shock. Even better, the front axle travels in a vertical direction throughout, so as you approach a turn under hard braking the bike flows smoothly into the turn with no change in wheelbase.”

Out back the swingarm is another Sbay item, a vacuum-bagged and oven-cured carbon-fiber piece that also encloses the battery. There are more carbon components to save even more weight, like the dual fuel tanks and both fenders. Contrasting with the bike’s high-tech elements are steampunk pieces like the external copper lines running from the oil tank housed in the top frame tube. Let your eyes move around the bike and it’s all kinda VIVA EL V-TWIN! ! whacky, kinda cool – the stainlesssteel headers ending in those gorgeous Ghibli titanium silencers, the asymmetrically mounted headlight, the reverse-pivot hand levers – adding up to a feeling of pieces and parts, old and new, all cohesively working together. A nice choice in a world of computermachined wheels is Sergio’s stainless spoked hoops consisting of Haan hubs and Excel rims. Galfer wave rotors all around with dual Brembo radial four-pot calipers up front and an ISR two-piston job out back, all monitored by ISR controls, bring Jerry to a stop quicker than just about anything this side of a brick wall. And it’s all great stuff just to look at, too.

The riding experience is what it’s all about, though, as Sergio is quick to stress. “The Jerry is an easy bike to ride, light and comfortable. The more you ride it, the better you feel. By the time you reach the bike’s limits, you realize you are riding like a maniac, and you will look at Jerry with different eyes,” he says. “It’s a ferocious wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

Personally, I think the “sheep’s clothing” remark is a misnomer, as nothing about this bike looks remotely sheepish to me. Fantástico motocicleta, Sergio, fantástico!