The Harley-Davidson Road Bob is without doubt one of the most stripped-down large cruisers that The Motor Co. sells. With trimmed bodywork, little to no passenger lodging and the tiniest speedo we’ve ever seen on a manufacturing facility bike, there’s little or no to take away in case you’re customizing one. Which is strictly why Winston Yeh of Tough Crafts in Taiwan loves working with it.
For his newest venture, Winston took a inventory 2020-model Road Bob, and turned it right into a sci-fi-infused {custom} that appears prefer it rolled straight out of a online game. This daring aesthetic has so much to do together with his consumer; the bike was constructed for Cooler Grasp, a serious producer of laptop circumstances and peripherals.
They’ve been in enterprise for 30 years, and are large within the gaming neighborhood. Wanting a rolling showpiece to commemorate this milestone, they turned to Tough Crafts.
“For his or her thirtieth anniversary, Cooler Grasp requested me to construct a motorcycle and matching laptop case to have a good time,” Winston tells us. “I got down to mix signature components of each worlds—the model’s signature purple lighting, and the sharp edges and boxy shapes which are discovered on most Cooler Grasp circumstances. Plus Tough Crafts’ signature fin particulars, with numerous solid carbon fiber.”
Nicknamed the ‘Cosmos Charger,’ this Road Bob is wild, futuristic and loaded with actually considerate particulars. We have been fortunate sufficient to catch glimpses of Winston’s early design drafts, and witnessed first hand how he agonized over discovering the stability between cool and clichéd. In any case, how do you add LED lighting to a car with out making it appear to be a wannabe avenue racer?
Fortunately Winston figured it out ultimately. There are shades of different Tough Crafts builds right here—just like the heavy scalloping on the fairing, tank and tail. However the nearer you get, the extra you see delicate touches that convey the vibe of Cooler Grasp’s merchandise.
To tug it off, Winston turned to 3D design and printing. On condition that he’s labored on quite a few Milwaukee Eight Softails already, he now has their chassis 3D scanned and able to ‘construct’ on. The fairing, tank and tail have been all designed digitally, then 3D printed in a high-end polymer.
From there, Winston turned to common collaborator, SFC Simon Fiber Craft, to wrap every half in solid carbon fiber. It not solely added an additional layer of fabric, but in addition created the gorgeous marbled texture you see on every half.
Operating up the center of the fairing, excessive of the tank and onto the tail is a collection of CNC aluminum fins. Backlit by purple LEDs, they’re a nod to laptop warmth sinks. The tank itself is definitely only a cowl although, with a custom-built aluminum gasoline cell hiding beneath it.
The bike’s major lighting all comes from Koso. There’s a pair of LED projectors up entrance, and LED flip indicators at each ends, with the rear pair doubling up as taillights.
Lurking under the bodywork is a number of candy chassis upgrades. Tough Crafts put in a brand new set of Öhlins forks, held in place by {custom} yokes. An Öhlins shock connects to a brand new swingarm from The Velocity Service provider.
The wheels are from Efficiency Machine, measuring 18” up entrance and 16” out again. The tires are Metzeler ME888s, whereas the braking setup matches Beringer calipers to Efficiency Machine discs. Tough Crafts upgraded the clutch to a hydraulic setup from Rebuffini too.
The Road Bob’s engine wears Tough Crafts x Arlen Ness foot pegs, grips, and rocker field and cam covers. The handlebars and finned air filter are Tough Crafts elements, whereas the switches are from Rebuffini. They’re completely plug-and-play too, designed to combine straight with the Harley’s CAN bus system.
Winston roped in his traditional dream group of collaborators to push the construct over the end line. MS Professional dealt with all of the fabrication—together with the {custom} exhaust and its burly field muffler—whereas CT-Storage took level on the ultimate meeting.
Line&Circle Customized Paint laid down the livery, utilizing delicate black finishes and pin stripes to enrich the cast carbon sections. 2Abnormal sides got here to the get together with {custom} push rod collars and tank badges, plus a particular Tough Crafts emblem for the {custom} laptop case that Winston designed.
It’s precisely the type of consideration to element that we’ve come to anticipate from Tough Crafts. This Road Bob won’t be everybody’s cup of tea, however there’s no denying that it’s as cohesive as it’s menacing. From entrance to again, each half right here feels prefer it belongs.
The Cosmos Charger really seems to be prefer it’d be completely wild to journey too. Winston might have designed this practice bike for a pc elements firm, however we’d take it out on the streets in a heartbeat.
Tough Crafts | Fb | Instagram | Photographs and video by An Lee
