About this build.
XL1200 Cross
It is a cold and miserable day in February of 2014 at the Motor Cycle News, British Custom bike Championships and Motorcycle show in London Docklands at the Excel centre.
Shaw Speed & Custom are present with three custom builds on the Harley-Davidson UK stand, two bikes with Mag Europe who look after Roland Sands and Performance machine for the UK and Europe, and three other custom bikes sitting together representing Shaw Speed & custom with a bike built for a prolific British Super bike Champion, and two Rough Craft style Guerrilla bikes based on Sportsters a brand that has worked with SS&C over the past years.
Its a busy show for the team and is the start of another extremely busy year for the Custom wing of the UK Based dealer Shaw Harley-Davidson.
Two bikes sit in the Modified Harley-Davidson championship Class, Shaw Speeds focus, and the result is a win for the team with one of their latest customer builds the 1200 Cross, the prize presented by the legendary bike builder Fred Krugger, with their other entry taking the runner up award.
After opening the Speed Shop doors late in 2009, and taking the World Championship win in 2010 in Sturgis USA in the Modified Harley-Davidson class the custom side has gone from strength to strength, and keeping up with the pace and demand for their bikes has been probably one of the biggest problems that the business suffers.
The winners story is as follows, the bike was motivated from McQueens 1964 Triumph TR6 ISDT Motorcycle, and his 1971 Husqvarna 400 Cross and a fusion of the two is where he wanted his bike to be, number 278 being SMs race number.
The project evolved from low key sportster off road influenced bike with a major focus on the Honda replica drum brakes, 4 leading shoe front from 1964 Honda 250 four race bike, and the twin leading rear drum from 1967 Honda 500 Four.
The customer came in and saw the build, and loves classic bikes but loves the American Harleys too, so it was perfect for him to have the bike that always sat at the back of his mind but with a adhesion of the past with the later Harley-Davidson being a 2010 Sportster with fuel injection, ECU and later date mechanics
The bike was stripped to the frame and every nut and bolt , and the frame and forks were modified with detailing on the frame with fender rails removed, ECM and regulator were relocated to a new caddy underneath the engine area, frame was drilled to take internal wiring and any unnecessary brackets and mounting points were removed
The ethos of the bike was to keep the bike minimalist and competition like, to the point that the bikes runs a day only MOT and therefore there is no headlight or indicators but does run a stop and tailight on the nearside.
Detailing is seen from the speedo that is housed in an aluminium cup that is mounted to the steering stem bolt ,to the gaitored forks that were rotated 180 degrees to take the drum brake ,stays that were machined in house using billet aircraft aluminium, signature Shaw speed & Custom engine guards were made one can see on Shaw Speed & Custom builds, and the retro appeal was added to using vintage motorcross 7/8th handlebars with Magura levers and original vintage style handlebar grips,
Shaw Speed & Custom number boards on front and also sides that were English wheel rolled in the UK workshops of SS&C to add to the bikes appeal, and the seat was made and tailored locally after the pan was created ,the gas tank is original Harley-Davidson and was used with a unique Italian made gas cap that looks the part.
The drum brakes add to the complete look, and the wheel were built using aluminium rims with a 180mm rear Continental Twinduro tyre and laced with short stainless spokes, the wheels gave the team a real buzz, machining for use of new bearings and a chain and sprocket combination to add to the era , and working with zero exhaust systems the one off stainless twin pipes add to the 60s motocross feel , after studying this era the speed shop thought it was the best way to go to compliment the bike overall , with the beehive style air breather.
Other details include, pegs from Burley, sprocket cover from RSD cover to match the timer and derby cover, mirror polished original Rocker covers, front and rear fenders SS&C, side mounted old school press metal plate SS&C and simple iconic paint work by Image Design Custom
Ohlins rear shocks and enhanced front suspension internals are also details that were carried out on the project, the Shaw Speed & Custom team now have over 80 modified Harley-Davidsons on their website www.shawspeedandcustom.co.uk which will officially be five years old already this coming November, maybe they will do a first 5 anniversary special.
