Kevan Cahyadi is the kind of man who has absolutely embraced the eclectic nature of Indonesia’s customized bike scene. His store, Solace Motorbike in Jakarta, has labored on a various providing of bikes; from scooters to dust bikes and all the pieces in between. However this Sportster café racer treads extra conventional floor.
Based mostly on a 1994 Harley-Davidson Sportster and referred to internally as ‘Project7,’ it’s a low-slung café racer with compact proportions and a killer design. “The genesis of this venture stemmed from the problem of reworking a V-twin cruiser right into a café racer with a stage body construction,” says Kevan. “The mid to rear body has been reworked to align parallel with the fuel tank, with clean curves achieved via meticulous metallic shaping.”
To get the construct began, Kevan used his 3D design expertise to rigorously plan your complete workflow. From the start, he knew that the Harley’s proportions could be a serious ache—however he’s at all times up for a problem. With the 3D mannequin, Kevan may see precisely what he wanted to do to stage out the Sportster’s cruiser silhouette.
He began with the wheels, swapping the entrance for an 18-incher and the rear for a 17-incher. Fitted with a traditional tire up entrance and an enormous Hoosier drag tire on the again, the chunky rubber helped set the tone of the construct.
Subsequent, Kevan lowered the entrance forks considerably with assist from his good friend, Juli Purwantoro, then swapped the highest yoke for a brand new half that he designed and machined himself. Clip-on handlebars make for a really dedicated driving place, which is compensated for by a set of extremely modified rear-set foot controls. The cockpit additionally options bar-end mirrors and switch alerts, and a repro Lucas P700 headlight.
Kevan spent a whole lot of time looking for a gasoline tank that might swimsuit the bike. Quite a few choices had been examined, however none would match with out substantial modifications. So, to get the tank excellent, Kevan turned to his associates at Good Motorbike.
The crew at Good hooked Kevan up with a customized gasoline tank, oil tank, and seat unit, bringing Kevan’s digital dream into actuality. Whereas they had been there, Good additionally fabricated a brand new entrance fender and customized aspect covers. The seat was lined in black leather-based to match the paint scheme—once more executed by Good.
In the back of the bike, Kevan chopped and looped the rear part of the subframe earlier than the brand new seat went on. He then raised the rear experience peak by lengthening the decrease shock absorber mounts. With the inventory rear suspension bolted again on, the rear of the bike was now sitting good and stage.
With the aesthetics and ergonomics taken care of, it was the engine’s flip to obtain consideration. The bike started life as a Sportster 883 however was shortly bumped as much as 1,200 cc. The manufacturing unit belt drive was transformed to a chain-driven system, giving Kevan wiggle room with gear ratios.
The consumption wears an elbow-sucking velocity stack, and the unapologetic straight-through stainless-steel exhaust system is a customized piece. Sportsters are loud sufficient as they’re, so we will solely think about what these big-bore shorty pipes should sound like at full tilt.
Though Solace Motorbike has been whittling away at their skillset for fairly a while now, additionally they have a decent community of craftspeople and suppliers that they lean on. “Quite a few people have performed pivotal roles within the growth of Project7,” Kevan provides, “together with Good Bikes, Juli Purwantoro, and Common Motowork. Their contributions have been integral to reaching this stage, and the journey of enchancment continues!”
Lengthy, low, and imply, Solace’s Sportster café racer may not appear significantly sensible—however since when have café racers been about practicality?
