The brutal minimalism of land-speed bikes is downright magnetic. So it doesn’t shock us that that’s the place Corban Gallagher discovered inspiration for his newest {custom} construct. Correction: his first {custom} construct.
It’s true—whereas Corban has dabbled with modifying bikes and automobiles up to now, that is the primary time he’s pieced collectively a complete {custom} motorbike. And what a debut effort it’s. Powered by an S1 White Lightning engine, this low and lean Buell hardtail dragster is pixel-perfect.
“I’m a nuclear chemist,” Corban explains, “and spend about 70 to 80 hours per week in my store, constructing nuclear units for all the things from oil and area exploration to navy and numerous analysis makes use of. I’ve a whole lot of downtime in between sure lab processes, so I tackle various things to maintain me busy throughout that point—like studying guitar or constructing air cannons.”
“A pal of mine turned me on to the Handbuilt Present, and I made it my objective to construct a motorbike in 9 months for this yr’s occasion. So I purchased a motorbike raise and parked subsequent to my desk, and would work on it any free second I had.”
The donor bike for Corban’s formidable challenge was a 1998 Buell S1 White Lightning—however all that continues to be of the basic Buell are its entrance forks and Sportster-derived engine. Corban scrapped the remainder, then went on the hunt for a fabricator that might produce a inflexible body within the type he was after.
“I’ve all the time been fascinated by the photograph of Rollie Free setting the land pace file on his Vincent,” says Corban. “I wished to create a low, lengthy bike that mimicked the strains of these previous salt flat racers. Large Al at Bitter Finish Choppers actually got here by way of with the right body for the road I used to be searching for.”
The Buell S1 White Lightning was initially a hopped-up model of the S1 Lightning. Corban managed to get his palms on one with Buell’s ‘Thunderstorm’ spec; an engine package deal with upgraded heads, a greater cam, a lighter flywheel, and better compression pistons. Marketed numbers again in 1998 have been 101 hp and 129 Nm of torque.
The engine was a good runner, regardless of wanting “prefer it simply acquired dragged out of a swamp.” Corban rebuilt the heads, changed the worn-out clutch, and put in a DynaTek 2000i programmable ignition. Different upgrades embrace a recent CV40 carb, a TC Bros air cleaner, and a two-into-one chrome steel exhaust system from Cone Engineering.
Corban repainted the motor too, then dressed it with finned covers from EMD in France. The finned theme continues additional again, the place an identical oil tank from Lowbrow Customs is tucked neatly into the body’s rear triangle. Perched simply above it’s a trendy leather-based seat from Alex Leathercraft in Germany.
It’s a tidy setup, however there’s loads happening. The seat sits on a small shock, which attaches to a bracket that Corban designed to interface completely with the oil tank. The seat’s higher bracket is his handiwork too, and options an built-in mount for the bike’s discreet LED taillight.
Getting the bodywork proper proved to be a tedious course of. Corban began by ordering a custom-made aluminum fairing from Omega Racer in Thailand. However by the point it had arrived, he’d modified his thoughts in regards to the course he wished to take the design in.
“I impulse purchase classic and new gasoline tanks,” he explains, “so I attempted out perhaps 10 totally different tanks to get the road I wished. In the end, I landed on a 1.6-gallon gasoline tank from Lowbrow Customs. However as soon as I made a decision on the gasoline tank, the Omega Racer fairing didn’t circulation appropriately.”
In the long run, Corban ended up shelving the Omega half and ordering an inexpensive plastic nostril fairing off eBay. Corban trimmed it down till it regarded proper, then retrofitted the headlight that had include the Omega fairing. The whole lot’s bolted to custom-made brackets, with the first fairing keep’s attachment level doubling up as a mounting level for the brand new speedo bracket.
Tucked behind the fairing are clip-ons that Corban constructed by turning down some spherical aluminum inventory and matching it to generic aftermarket clamps. The vintage-style controls are Moto Iron elements, and the grips come from Biltwell Inc. Take a more in-depth take a look at the foot controls, and also you’ll spot some Sato Racing elements too.
On the reverse finish of Corban’s Buell hardtail sits a repurposed Honda Shadow fender, mounted on handmade struts with invisible fasteners. The Buell forks and brakes made the lower, albeit with {custom} rotors and pads. The wheels are model spanking new.
“I did splurge for a set of Dymag MotoGP wheels,” Corban admits. “No matter else I wanted, I’d fabricate myself. I attempt my finest to repurpose as a lot as I can—for instance, I discovered that lots of the capsules I usually use to encapsulate radioactive materials make for excellent spacers and numerous brackets, which saved me a whole lot of added machining.”
“This was additionally my first time portray a motorbike and I needed to do it in an energetic machine store, so it was difficult to maintain the paint freed from airborne particles. I used to be capturing for the ‘AMF Harley years’ look, with a little bit of old skool Montreal Expos thrown in.”
The unhealthy information is that Corban doesn’t know fairly how briskly his Buell hardtail is. Since he completed it simply in time for the present and didn’t wish to danger damaging it, the preliminary shakedown was light. However the excellent news is that now that Corban has popped his {custom} bike construct cherry, he’s already busy with the following challenge.
“I used to be so stoked from this, that I began a brand new construct for subsequent yr’s Handbuilt Present the minute I acquired house. The present is held in Austin on the similar time the MotoGP is being run on the Circuit of the Americas, so I wish to construct one thing that was within the spirit of each occasions. It’s a poor man’s GP bike, with a 1997 Sportster body, a 1996 motor that I’ve rebuilt with tons of mods, a {custom} mono-shock swingarm with hacked-up suspension elements from a Ducati SS, Buell XB wheels and forks, a Fifties type Norton Manx tank, and full race fairings from a Nineteen Seventies Triumph Trident.”
Sure, we’ve seen a teaser. And sure, it’s as wild because it sounds.
Corban Gallagher Instagram | Photos by, and with particular due to, Myke Toman
