SALT SHADOW AFT builds a two-up land- speeder

SALT SHADOW

AFT builds a two-up land-speeder

By Howard Kelly W ho says good help is hard to find? Not Jim Giuffra of AFT Metric Customs in Jackson, California, where the shop is staffed by women – drop-dead stunners aged 18-40 – who can actually build bikes, as well as model seductively at bike shows, conventions, store openings, etc. Yup, they may be “booth candy” but the AFT Girls can out-fabricate that guy on your block who’s been restoring a ’78 Shovelhead in his garage for the last 12 years now. Seriously.

FEATURE BIKE

Besides being easy on the orbs, the AFT build team has helped turn out some memorable showwinning machinery in the past couple of years, namely a pair of Honda Shadow 750 V-twins that have been judged worthy of Best Performance Custom honors at the

“AFT Girls did the riding at Bonneville, not something your average swimsuit model has on her résumé.”

annual AMD World Championships in Sturgis two years running. Following their star turns in South Dakota, the bikes were hauled to Utah for speed runs on the salt flats, more than justifying the “performance” portion of their trophy tags. Leathered up, AFT Girls did

the riding at Bonneville, not something your typical swimsuit model has on her résumé.

Construction of “Halia,” as the 2012 bike was called, started several months earlier when Giuffra sprung a surprise on the girls. With the stocker stripped down, he brought in Greg Westbury of Westbury Handcrafted Motorcycles and Cole Foster from Salainas Boyz to teach a sheetmetal class. Watch

n Halia is a lesson in small details that matter. It’s also a legitimate twoupper, thanks to folding passenger pegs and this minimally padded leather squab screwed to the rear fender. A touring bike it ain’t but every red-blooded male (or female for that matter) can appreciate the ability to ferry a friend.

TECH SPECS

Name of bike: Owner: Year/Make/Model: Fabrication: Assembly: Build time: Engine: Carbs: Exhaust: Air Cleaner: Transmission: Frame: Forks: Shocks: Front wheel: Rear wheel: Front Tire: Rear Tire: Front Brake: Rear Brake: Fuel Tank: Oil Tank: Fenders: Handlebars: Headlight: Taillight: Hand Controls: Handgrips: Foot Controls: Footpegs: Electrical: Painter: Graphics: Anodizing: Chrome: Seat: Special thanks:

Halia AFT, Jim Giuffra 2001 Honda Shadow 750 AFT AFT 600 hours Honda VT750 Stock AFT/Leo Vince K&N Stock Honda/AFT Honda/Race Tech Race Tech Buchanan/AFT Buchanan/AFT Avon AV71 Cobra 120/70-19 Avon AV72 Cobra 180/55-18 Beringer Honda AFT None AFT Driven Mfg. Clear Water Lights TPJ Customs Beringer Grip Ace AFT Kirk Taylor AFT Kirk Taylor Kirk Taylor Pacific Coast Meclec Duane Ballard Avon Tyre, Miller Welding, Beringer Brakes, Race Tech, Dynatek, K&N, Grip Ace, Clearwater Lights, Motion Pro, Web Cams, Leo Vince

nFabricated aluminum rockerbox covers lend a certain comp-shop feel to the usually pedestrian VT750 V-twin. An AFT hop-up kit with new pistons, rings and camshafts backs up the look. Including the required gaskets and O-rings, it retails for $1050. AFT also sells kits for the Honda VTX1300 and Fury. ing two of the best in the business shape metal and share tricks of the trade inspired the girls to take Halia’s build quality up a notch. Filled with visions of English wheels, teardrop hammers, panelbeater sandbags and wooden bucks, the team met to map out the plan for the Honda.

First and foremost, the bike was going to be street-legal and capable of carrying a passenger. Second, it was going to run at Bonneville. Why the passenger criteria? As Giuffra says, “Why not? Let’s not forget motorcycle riding is fun and every once in a while you might want to share that fun.” And the speed runs? Bonneville makes a strong statement about a bike’s build quality, so it was a no-brainer to go back. A sketch was created and sheetmetal fabrication started, led by AFT Girl Nalani who also chose the name Halia, Hawaiian for “In Memory Of,” as a tribute to her dad who had recently passed.

The VT750 main frame was left stock, except for the removal of a single cross brace deemed unnecessary, while the swingarm was drilled for style and weight savings. Giuffra took his two-up requirement

to the suspension experts at Race Tech to create shocks that would give the ride height he was after while still being able to carry a passenger. Additionally Race Tech guts are utilized in the Honda forks that now live in Krause Motor Company triple-trees. Giuffra stole a trick from 1920s board-trackers by drilling the rim lips and rear hub before

they were sent off for powdercoating. While the drill bit was still hot, pretty much anything else that could be Swiss-cheesed without reducing structural integrity was given the treatment. Bonneville is a cruel mistress when it comes to horsepower-to-weight ratio.

Normally a Shadow 750 has forward controls that kick your feet out in a style reminiscent of Peter Fonda riding a chopper, which simply would not do on a Bonneville bike or fun street machine. So the stock equipment was turned into mid-controls – this is a custom shop, after all – and fit with footpegs created by metal maestro Kirk Taylor. Clip-ons and a set of Beringer hand controls completed the go-fast riding position.

Speaking of going fast, Halia was treated to a hop-up kit AFT has created that puts about 50 hp to the rear wheel – not a lot compared to today’s frontline sportbikes, sure, but enough to push a VT750 to the entertaining side of 100 mph at Bonneville. Going that fast invites an

upgrade in anchors so a very nice six-piston caliper and floating rotor from the addictive Beringer catalog were fitted up front.

Fresh out of their metalworkers dream class, Nalani, Shelby, Kristin and Angela, quite literally, pounded out the panels you see in these photos, including the high-mount supermotard-style front fender that is actually nine pieces welded together. A sidenote to that fender, you will notice it is not on the bike in the Bonneville shots as rules specify fenders be no more than an inch from the tire. Panels on the bike are aluminum and the gas tank is steel, all built in-house. Perhaps Westbury and Foster should offer their instructional services to more shops around the country?

No matter where you look, cool custom tricks abound. Those leather panels between the gas tank and steering neck? Simple replacements

n Extra weight costs speed, and running at Bonneville stresses the need for a better power-to-weight number. Aside from drilling the swingarm, sprocket, chainguard, hubs, wheels, motor mounts, etc. – nuthin’ lighter than a hole – minimalist controls with hidden micro-switches in the grips help keep weight down.