pg.8 ..... Magazine Viewer Features pg.12 ... Intro pg.14 ... What's New pg.18 ... Indy Boz Show pg.22 ... Tokyo Exclusive pg.24 ... Who Won The Airbox mod? pg.30 ... Readers Ride pg.36 ... Hitman Katana Debut pg.60 ... The Pink 10 pg.68 ... Inside TOCE pg.76 ... TOCE Caution Bike pg.88 ... Psycho Chrome Busa pg.96 ... Bike Art pg.100 . iBling pg.102 . Social Networking
Photo: Authentic WWII era Japanese medals inset in the upper triple tree of retro-mod Katana (cover bike).
Executive Editor & Art Director: Lee Wallace lee@blingrockets.com Associate Editor & Art Director: Adam Canni adam@blingrockets.com Editor-at-Large: Louis Grasse louis@blingrockets.com Aussie Associate Editor: Matt Gittoes matt@blingrockets.com Staff Writer: Steve Hall steve@blingrockets.com Marketing and Promotions Director: Jesse Fennell jesse@blingrockets.com Technical Director: Rob Uecker rob@blingrockets.com Contributors & Participants: Hitman Custom Motorcycles TOCE Brothers Performance Kory Souza Originals PsychoChrome Isao Yoshioka BlingRockets, ISSN 2151-0776 (online), Issue no.10, Sept 2010 is digitally published monthly by Rockets Media Inc. All rights in letters, all photographic submissions including but not limited to drawings, or any type of submission sent to BlingRockets will be treated as unconditionally assigned to copyright purposes and are subject to BlingRockets right to edit, title, and organize editorially and will become the property of BlingRockets. Copyright Š 2010, digital publication originating from the USA
Thanks for pulling up the latest issue. A whole lot of time and effort was put into this
one, above and beyond what generally goes into this baby. Our main feature, Hitman Custom Motorcycles' retro-mod '83 Katana was a product of my recent trip to the north east. I had allotted about four days for myself and on the the second day I was already wishing that I could stay longer. You see, when I landed in Hartford on Monday we had gone directly to see D-Man in Union City, NJ. Immediately after the shoot we left NJ and went right through the tunnel to check out Times Square (video above). The next morning was all about scoping out the area and then shooting a couple of Hitman's rides. Wed was very similar as it was engulfed shooting this issue's cover bikes which then led to me working with a couple of Hitman's other Suzuki GS projects. After cleaning up real quick we drove over to South Windsor, Ct. to visit the TOCE guys where I scored the inside scoop on their operations (see "Inside TOCE pg. 68) and material on a few of their bikes. All of us hit the local bikenight before I headed back to Torrington. The following day consisted of getting a few more vids clips before packing up all the equipment in order to head north to Peabody, Ma. to see Mark with Break Lites. At Mark's place I was able to get some great material on two of his "boom box" bikes (damn they were loud). After heading out of the Peabody/Boston area we hit up the Springfield, Ma. bike night. Without a doubt there is a whole lot of outstanding BlingRocket activity in the north east. It really sucked having to leave aside from the fact that the area was under a "heat wave" and that Florida was enjoying lower temps than the north. To say the least, I'm sitting on a bunch of great material from this trip so please keep an eye out for all of it over the next several issues. Special thanks to Industrial Saws in Torrington for allowing us to shoot the bikes on their property. Take care and be safe! -Lee
BlingBros Billet Grill for the Kawasaki ZX14 If it's attention your looking for on the streets or at the show, these all new BlingBros billet grills will do the trick. They are hand crafted and assembled to fit the 2006-2010 Kawasaki ZX14. We all know the 14's are hot straight from the factory, but lets face it, we still have to add our own unique touches right? BlingBros grills are made in USA. The face of the grill comes highly polished to a perfect shine. EASY to install. And can be done in under 5 minutes! A mod that can enhance the look of your bike in a very short amount of time.
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WikiShift – Breakthrough Technology Enthusiasts have complained for years of having to change between clear and tinted shields for night and daytime riding. Wiki® provides a much sought after solution. Their sun-sensitive color changing shield technology named WikiShift™ delivers convenience with style. No more uncomfortable sunglasses inside the helmet, switching shields, carrying an extra shield, or getting caught at night wearing a tinted shield which is obviously dangerous. So how does it work? The photochromatic reaction occurs when the photochromic molecule is exposed to UV from the sun. Therefore when riding at night, street lights and oncoming headlamps (which do not emit UV light) do not cause a reaction and the shield remains clear. But when exposed to sunlight the shield quickly darkens. The “shift” from clear to tint typically takes 30 to 60 seconds. WikiShift is a coating which must be applied to the exterior surface of the shield to work its magic because UV inhibitors in polycarbonate (the material all faceshields are made of) block most of the UV. This is the main reason photochromic inserts do not work well. Photochromic molecules are one of the most expensive materials in the world by weight. Cost varies by color and amount of darkness. Current available colors are smoke, amber, and blue. Wiki’s advanced award-winning technology was developed by its premier photochromic chemist. The popular Wave helmet includes a WikiShift shield. It is an incredibly unique and desirable piece of safety equipment. The helmet features an incredibly light carbonfiber re-enforced fiberglass shell, is very comfortable, and meets DOT and strict ECE standards. Also, a brand new product called a WikiShift Skin™ will convert most clear shields to a WikiShift shield in a snap. Now almost any street helmet can be outfitted with WikiShift technology! Prices of shields and skins range from $49 - $99 depending on color and darkness and Wave helmets (WikiShift shield included) run around the $300 mark. Visit www.wikihelmets.com or call (877) 411-9454.
When the Boz Bro’s Show was created a few years back for the Yamaha enthu-
siasts, a new style of custom build was suddenly supported by the hard hitters of the nation for a brand of motorcycle that was almost dead last on the list for customization. Although last year we saw many different customs created for, created around, or at least unveiled at this prestigious Yamaha-backed event; this year brought many new faces, many new places of origin and definitely some new ideas to the table. Traveling the circuit for Moto GP, the Boz Bros show had a successful run in 2009 and found the likes of Roaring Toyz, CSC, Gregg’s Customs and others onsite from across the nation to compete in the multiple city event. This year, in 2010, things were much the same but plenty different as the top ten amateur and the top ten pro builders were invited to bring their bikes out for initial display at Moto GP-Laguna Seca in California and again out the Indianapolis GP for the same style of judging and display. The winners have cash prizes, championship rings and lots of promotional hoopla at stake for both of the events. This year, the stakes were raised when the clothing company “Silver Star Casting Company” signed on as a major sponsor of the event and offered print and TV advertising of the bike as part of their national campaign, a championship ring and most importantly, a full clothing sponsorship for a year. Not too shabby for countless hours of building and driving followed by tireless weekends of cleaning, setting up and speaking about your custom.
The plan for each of the Moto GP events is to display the bikes over the entire race weekend and to have the attendees vote for the bike they like. They can meet and mingle with the builders, read about the customizations made to each of the bikes and take a needed rest from the roar of superbikes to gawk over the endless hours of custom paint, machining and sweat poured into each motorcycle on display. Our featured bike, your overall 1st place winner for the Pro Builder competition for 2010, was thrown together on a last minute whim, the way some of the worlds’ best customs seem to hit their mark. Tony Sesto of Sesto Custom Cycles and Andrew Ramos of True Finish Plating were called to duty in the final hours with an invite to the Laguna Seca event, just nine days prior to liftoff. Not preparing previously for this event or this build while most other builders had not only completed their builds but already had their bikes crated and shipped or were completing the final touches before loading up a trailer from across the US and starting their trek to the West Coast. With only days to spare from their initial invitation to this event and the drive up the coast that would land them in Monterey, California for Moto GP, they hit the ground running on a 2007 Yamaha R1 that was in the shop, BONE STOCK, with no time for heavy modifications or custom components! In true hardcore fashion, Tony headed well outside his comfort level for a build in such short time and with such possible implications.
He stripped the bike down to its bare frame, took apart every nut and bolt on this cleanly detailed engine and delivered everything that even resembled metal to his partner in crime, Drew at True Finish. With only days left until the event and no time to delay, Drew separated out his project like a doctors prep table and started plating until the sun came up….several times. Tony worked diligently to put together every little bling bit and polish or chrome everything that he could physically touch his hands to. (In case you haven’t noticed, the entire engine of this sport bike was polished and shined up like an absolute mirror) With the chroming well underway and the scheme still to be had, the crew quickly met with Robert Garcia and came up with the Einstein-like idea for a Moto GP bike show winner! How about painting it to look like a replica race bike? How about painting it as a replica of Valentino Rossi’s move to Yamaha and his Fiat-sponsored bike that helped him propel to over one-hundred overall wins and (9) Nine Grand Prix World Championships. In a sea of custom bikes brought from all over the country to compete with big wheel tires, super extended swingarms, TV’s, gadgets, and lights, is there any real question why this motorcycle was picked to be a crowd favorite and the overall winner at two of the world’s biggest race events? Competitions of this type are never won on skill and completion alone, so strategically building a bike that race fans respect and automatically brand with is quite the chess move on this power team’s behalf, and as far myself and the rest of the fans at the events believe, CHECK-MATE!
A dripping wet and beautifully bright paint scheme, globs and globs of chrome
plating and highly polished pieces, a Boz Bro’s exhaust, a Power Commander and RG3 suspension are the entire makeup of this otherwise bone-stock Yamaha. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a stock custom done tastefully and with presence. On the road, at the track or parked in front of the Yamaha tent, this custom is one slick looking bike and catches eyes from across the way. This new win over the field of competitors landed the West Coast team of Tony and Drew with some cold hard cash, that championship ring, the promotional kudos from all of the supporters of the event for the next year, the yearlong clothing sponsorship from Silver Star and the respect that this build deserves. Oh, and did I mention the brand new R6 delivered directly to the winner from Yamaha? Well, that’s the real deal and upon receipt these guys will be up to it again as they prepare the newly delivered motorcycle for its custom debut at the International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach this coming December. If you can’t make it, don’t sweat it, BlingRockets will be there with the coverage, and we’ll have it first. Congrats go out to all of the participants for a great display of custom motorcycles and mad love to these guys and their nine day build. Enjoy the pics, relive the event, and get up off the couch next summer to come and enjoy a great day for motorcycle enthusiasts from around the globe. Congrats on your 1st place finish!
Tokyo based Isao Yoshioka, a.k.a 'Blaze Turbo' surprised us
all once again with this rear mounted turbo CBR. Blaze, our overseas "Brother in Bling" took the high road when tackling this project. We're all aware of the cool factor that a turbo brings to the table so to mount one under the tailsection and run outside piping was a real ballsy move to say the least. Blaze is the type of builder who knows how the rest of the world tends to customize their sportbikes thus he makes sure to continuously throw us for a loop and do something different from the rest. Keep in mind that Blaze isn't even allowed to floss this bike on the roadways during daylight hours, instead he rocks his turbo bikes at the local drag strip where participants are left alone. Feel free to follow Isao's activities via his blog (link) and Facebook page (link). -Lee
Steve's 1999 X1 Lightning: Race Stripe white. 1 of 300 made. +.30 over S&S flat top pistons. S&S Rods. Reworked flywheel. Andrews Cams. Forcewinder Intake. SS2-R Vance & Hines Pipe. Ceramic coated header. Race ECM. Joker Bar End mirrors. Crossroads bars. NYC Choppers oil cooler. Custom Diamond Plate undertail.
Did you ever wonder where your GIXXER got it's
roots from or what started real racing competition between the top four? Well... In 1979 engineers at Suzuki hired a special design team to create a prototype motorcycle that would be like none ever seen before. With it's unveiling at all the International motorcycle shows in 1979 and 1980 the GSX1100S Katana left a lot of mouths open and catching flies. The bike was so revolutionary some claimed it was from another planet. With it's flowing lines and futuristic fairing it was the first of it's kind and the grandfather of what you are now riding.
Suzuki knew that they were onto something. The
bike took off in Europe and was produced over a period of years in just about every cc imaginable, from 1100 to 125. The most popular being the 1100 and the 750. In 1981 Katana lovers were introduced to the Katana 1000s made solely for the World Superbike series.
You see, bikes that were raced in the World Superbike series just like today had to be production motorcycles and could receive limited modifications. 1988 saw the downturn in popularity of the Katana based on the fact that the American market utilized the GSX650F/750/1100F models and merely slapped the Katana sticker on the side of these soft sports touring bikes. Trust me, these American Katana's are not even close to the real thing. If you want to get close to the Katana take a look at it's offspring the GSX-R1000. Now hopefully, you the reader have an understanding of where your GIXXER came from.
Over the course of it's nine year production the Kat grew a
cult like following. So strong in fact that in 1990 to celebrate Suzuki's 70th anniversary, 200 1980 Katana's were produced to celebrate the anniversary.
All the bikes were sold prior to hitting the parking lot. Websites, forums, clubs and friends have all been formed around this motorcycle. Some people truly understand and love the Katana and one of those hardcore Katana lovers is Mark at Hitman Custom Motorcycles. In 1987 Mark fell in love with the Suzuki GS series after watching Terry Vance drag race one of these big brutes.
Mark's desires for the GS series led him to a run down warehouse ap-
proximately six years ago where he laid his eyes upon a couple of bikes. One of which was a completely destroyed 1983 Katana 1100 spray painted red, layered in dust, fitted with a non-factory 1150cc motor, combined with the usual rust, corrosion and other gremlins. Mark took the bikes to his top secret shop where they both would undergo an extensive restomod (performance enhanced restoration).
As you can imagine to keep with his namesake, Mark the Hitman tackled the project ju
Hitman� would. Mark thought out this project for the last two decades and he was not tal precision and forethought of a sharpened Katana itself (Japanese sword), this pro step by step. Mark started by dissecting the frame, piece by piece. Until the old cage new features that he had pre-thought out. Imagine if you can, the opening scenes to rebuild him, we can make him stronger and faster than he ever was�. Just so happe hopped up 1150cc engine that had previously been used for drag racing. Mark parted bike and set his sights on rebuilding his drag race motor. After a complete tear down t all new internal parts, was bored out and a nice increase in compression. Topped off megaphone to let all the ponies out. Mark found out that he had built such a bad ass e 12volt batteries just to kick it over. Both of which are hidden in the custom late mode the widened cage. The engine was equipped with a magneto by Bill Hahn to deliver lig magneto just looks cool).
The Hitman, knowing the motor had too many ponies caged up in the block for a sta
Anthony Consorte's outside belt driven charging system from a 1992 Suzuki GSX-R.
ust as methodically as a “Hollywood about to rush into it. With the menoject came to life in Mark's thoughts was wide enough to accept all the the Six Million Dollar man “We can ened Mark was in possession of a out the engine from the purchased the old Suzuki 1150 motor received f with a Murray header and custom engine that it took two, I repeat two el GIXXER tail which is fastened to ghting/life to the big beast (plus the
andard charging system he utilized
Now I know your asking yourself, why? Well... A standard charging system on a m tor this bad ass would simply blow apart like a hand grenade. Drag racers use th charging technique on some bikes. After the creation, the Hitman stood back looke at his engine, crunched the numbers and determined that the 1150 had grown like weight lifter on steroids a whopping 278cc's making the engine now a Suzuki 1428 inline four cylinder, wow!
As Mark created the engine he was simultaneously building the chassis. As I me
tioned before he widened the frame, raked the front end and matched a 2005 GIXXE front fork set to the bike. Flowing back to the tank he modified and molded it to a cept and marriage the 2007 GIXXER subframe and tail section. The side panels we lengthened but given a stock appearance. Most streetbikes are defined at a glan by their swingarms. At first glance the Hitman swingarm is like no other. Handmad lengthen, chromoly and with no visible welds. Speaking of no visible welds, I dare yo to find one visible weld on the Hitman's bike. I'll give you a free BlingRockets shirt your can, they are just not there. Incredible! Take a close look at the wheels. Noti the holes? Just for looks, Mark drilled and filled the wheels to give them a unique so appearance. It is this kind of detail that makes this bike so special. Most folks wou just buy wheels or do nothing at all where as the Hitman takes pride in “his work�. Th bike has an airshifter and you may notice an air tank, the tank is for the airshifter an not for an air-ride. This bike is about hauling ass and looking good. Not about sittin on the ground and looking good. The front sprocket support was created by Kosma Specialties based on the BHP of the 1428cc Suzuki. The stock transmission outp shaft would not hold up in this environment. Working your way up to the old Ka fairing you'll notice a familiar headlight setup (projector beams) taken from the R Retrofitting is hard but imagine retrofitting separate bikes, not an easy task but th Hitman pulled it off. The simplicity of the controls behind the fairing can be confusin Remember this bike is all business, every knob/button has a purpose. Not all is wha seems though. Everything, especially the buttons are a mystery when it comes to th Hitman. Be careful what you push, I'll leave it at that. Hitman painted the bike hims without flaw, a beautiful tangerine candy and black with a race look like no other. U close the colors can hypnotize you.
Kat lovers are sure to be pleased to know that this bike was on it's way to the scra
yard. But thank God the Hitman found it and saved it. The Hitman informed us th the bike could not be brought back to it's original status, it was too far gone. Therefo he decided to pay homage to the old Kat by making her better than she ever wa We here at BlingRockets are truly impressed by the attention to detail and methodic precise like work that the Hitman has put into this contract kill.
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A stroke of luck, coincidence or even fate is the result of what your seeing on this page.
Maybe pure coincidence Christina Nikolaidis met Kory Souza of Bridgewater, Mass. The reason being is that Christina owned a 2006 ZX-10 that was an unfinished build collecting dust in a no-name shop. Perhaps the builder had bit off more than he could chew but that became water under the bridge when the bike arrived at Kory's place. Even though Kory had few projects to show Christina how good he was. Christina had faith that Kory could get the job done and put her trust in him. Kory started with a vision and without putting pen to paper began to create a masterpiece with the help of a few friends. Such as famous airbrush artist Keith Hanson and a few ideas from Christina, Kory and Keith over a period of six months were able to complete the Perfect 10 but most importantly made a new friend in Christina.
Kory started with the old dusty '06 10 that was improperly fitted with a C&S
8" over arm with air-ride suspension, which had to be completely redone. Once the arm was in place Kory moved on to the front end where he fitted the bike with an AirFX front air-ride system which he married together with the rear using one electric switch. Kory went over the entire motor tightening and tweaking and capped it off with a Roaring Toyz low exit megaphone exhaust. Meanwhile over at Keith Hanson's shop he was busy putting Christina's favorite things in the paint scheme. Keith completed the job over a six month period and as you can it was well worth the wait.
During this bike build, everyone involved
became close friends. As I mentioned before it must have been fate that brought them all together. For at the end when Christina was presented the bike at a surprise gathering, all involved were present and to this day all remain friends. In this writers humble opinion this could be the best girls bike that I've ever seen (since it's a Kawasaki).
founded in s a w e c n a Perform Toce Brothers rs Dan and Joe Toce, in Southin e ng interests lo fe 2002 by broth li ir e h T necticut. m to a point e th t h g u Windsor, Con ro b y 60 year nd cars finall a ir s e le th c y m rc o to fr o d m ed to expan id c e d manufactury e to , th g n ti la p where y. They ss of chrome tr e s in u s d u in b e y il ik b m rt old fa ts for the spo n e n o p accommom to o c s m rm to a s g u in c ing ed factory sw ifi d o m g in d il u els. With the e h w ry began b to c fa and widened date 240 tires a ton of d n a t, n e m equip help of new velopment, e d d n a h rc a rese Performance rs e th ro B e c To its own s re tu c fa u n a now m wingarms, s r la u b tu custom nd accessoa s e ip p t s u exha te modla f o ty e ri a v ries for a es. They ik tr d n a s e ik el sportb having the in s e lv e s m e pride th duct from the ro p a e k ta to ability on all unti c u d ro p to e design stag prototypes, e c o T f. o ro der one everything ts s te d n a ts construc they build.
e ts. Toc s a i s u rt enth cing, o a p r s r g o a t r o d ly of m cross, e o r dition t i t d o n a m e n I n p i . u made volved t racing nd chopr n s i i a c f n f e a o t e g Their s mbers have b , jet skiing and cks, hot rods a e u staff m snowmobiling to off-road tr thing. y n a t inau n , i b o g b e m n r i a o t a t c n s y u st with a es, the e and race ju k m i how e b t h r w t o o f p v n o i s k r d d , to y ride, e ahea l experience r e t one u h t a T u h f . t s t o n n o o e i l per is ch el an exc pertise, old s Toce has a v ry sportbike s a h Toce technical ex e job done. r eve o f wing t l o i l l u o b f h t f o t t tion o exhaus oks forward to get s l m o o t o t s u o and the will have a c lingRockets l y .B day the an purchase s. uc that yo ther's progres ro Toce B
Eve
Toce In 20 thei drag kill mad
ery shop that I've ever been to has a shop truck. In the case of the e Brothers shop they made their shop bike into their premier bike. 004 Joe and Dan Toce purchased a 2001 GSX-R1000 and it has been ir test dummy for nearly all of their projects. Joe used the bike for g racing and therefore it was equipted with an air shifter, teathered switch, factory widened rear wheel (240), and the first Toce handde Public Offender high mount exhaust.
Later the old GIXX was used to test their first tubular 240 and 300 sw
several names, several of which I can't repeat. The has been used fo shows, test drives for potential customers and just about everything bike I can't imagine it being anything but the masterpiece that it is no
wingarms. The bikes had or running errands, bike g else. After seeing this ow.
Dan Toce decided it was time to give the old girl a face lift. With that i
he fired up the welder, the CNC machine and the think tank. He configur undertail R1 exhaust to the Gixxer only after he completely redesigned section of the Gixxer by taking bits and pieces of styles from other bike shop. Then with a stroke of genius swung for the fence by creating a single sided swingarm with a Buell perimeter rotor to stop the big fatty it came to the paint scheme Toce went against their normal style with
in mind, red their d the tail es in the one-off y. When
a little
“in your face� scheme of orange a actually appear motionless.
Toce Brothers Performance have
shop bike and turning it into a si rideability with an in your face fla Brothers Performance do it for yo
and black. The wheels are painted so that while they are spinning they
e definitely outdone themselves with the Caution Bike by taking the old ingle sided swingarm street king, all the while providing comfort and are and unmatched performance. Caution, don't this at home. Let Toce ou.
When one thinks of Miami the first things that come to mind are
the fancy cars, beautiful women, sandy beaches and money. And in the case of Psycho Chrome and their custom '07 Busa this rule is no exception. Money was no object. I know what your thinking, just another busa that I can't afford but we can always dream.
If there is one bike tha it would be Pyscho Chr Hayabusa. In 2007 Pete stock Busa delivered to vision. Make it bad as customer's order without
at you could dream about rome's custom built 2007 er Rodriquez had a totally Psycho Chrome with one ss! Gonzalo followed the t flaw.
Gonzalo took the 2007 Busa and hand crafted a one-off custom gas tank with a pop up cap and worked his way out. He then fitted the bike with a 8� over C&S arm with Tricky Air and a 300mm fat tire. Gonzalo then moved around to the front and started with the lower right fork by shaving off the caliper brackets smooth as the freshly shaved legs of a South Beach club girl. He out did himself by then tapering the hub to match the smooth setup. The headlights were blacked out, a Psycho Chrome windscreen was installed and the tail was smoothed with flush mounted LEDs. The standard trio was added to the motor (air filter/airbox, PCIII and Brocks pipe). All finished off in beautiful rich black, candy blues and chrome.
In
the past, when I thought of South Beach I would think of the multitude of night clubs, dream of the white sandy beaches littered with ladies wearing little to nothing, the sports cars, the fancy clothes and all the great food. Now when I dream of Miami I only dream of this sexy South Beach girl. Great job Gonzalo!