Vida Bike has been constructing Euro-style choppers from their workshop in Fukuoka, Japan, for 17 years. However they’ve additionally discovered their groove with high-performing Harley-Davidson FXR and Dyna builds in recent times. So when their newest buyer wished a little bit of each in a single bike, Vida was poised to ship.
The fee got here from the proprietor of For Life—an import retailer that sells American vogue out of the identical constructing as Vida. With Californian fashion particularly on his thoughts, Shimazaki-san (often called Shima to his mates) requested Vida to construct him the last word Harley-Davidson FXR chopper, with no compromises in efficiency.
“I’ve identified Shima for about 15 years, since he first got here to our home,” says Vida’s founder, Taku Okubo. “He’s been driving customized FXRs and Dynas, however he has all the time admired our choppers. So we acquired to speaking; ‘Let’s make a chopper utilizing an FXR!’”
Okubo-san took a 1993 Harley-Davidson FXR and began with the body; the primary port of name for any nice chopper construct. The tubular spine was minimize and reconfigured with spherical pipe. It was stretched to mount the gas tank good and excessive, then joined to the prolonged downtubes with a brand new neck gusset.
New forks have been put in, measuring 8” longer than earlier than. The internals have been changed with upgraded fork springs and preload adjusters, and the lowers have been smoothed down. The wheels have been swapped out for 19F/18R Sundance-Enkei rims with Bridgestone Battleax rubber, Galfer discs, and four-piston Brembo calipers.
Whereas the entrance of the body was stretched, Taku selected to maintain the rear finish uncut to take care of the dual shock, triangular body, and brief rear guard setup that so many individuals love concerning the FXR. “That’s the golden rule for this class,” he provides.
A Sportster-style tank sits up high, massaged by hand to widen the highest part and slim the underside. The petcock is neatly molded into the tank, feeding gas into a brand new S&S E-Carb that sucks air by a Vida velocity stack. The engine was bumped as much as 85 cubic inches and now runs with a sportier cam and a semi-open main from BDL.
Vida based mostly the FXR’s seat on the unique design however with extra of a gunfighter silhouette. It’s completed with contrasting diamond stitching and an embroidered Vida Bike brand on the again.
Tall Kraus risers have been put in, together with a brand new set of bobber bars, ODI grips, and a pair of Brembo grasp cylinders. Vida deleted the switchgear and built-in a tiny digital speedo from Motogadget into the Harley’s headlight nacelle. The throttle runs internally, leaving the cockpit tremendous sano.
The ignition barrel and the buttons for the Motogadget gauge have been relocated to the facet panel on the left of the FXR. Burly Kraus footpegs do obligation decrease down.
Different ending touches embrace an excellent alloy swingarm from Chopper Guys, a pair of Öhlins S36E shocks, and a high-mounted ceramic-coated exhaust system. However this construct is as a lot about what isn’t there, as it’s about what’s.
The impossibly intricate paint job was laid down by 420 Customs—an everyday Vida collaborator. The workshop’s identify is emblazoned throughout the entrance of the gas tank, as requested by Shima.
Eagle-eyed readers will spot how the wiring disappears ‘into’ the body simply in entrance of the tank, minimizing visible muddle. And if you take a step again from the entire bike’s unbelievable particulars, you’ll discover quite a lot of open house across the forks, engine, and even the rear finish with the slotted swingarm.
By slicing away the fats like this, Vida has uncovered probably the most lovely components of this machine. And by sticking with well-judged top-shelf parts, they’ve constructed a chopper that ought to carry out higher than most.
We’re not the one ones smitten with this radiant customized FXR both. It lately took residence the ‘Membership Harley Choose’ on the Joints Customized Bike Present in Nagoya earlier this yr… and Shima certain appears comfortable together with his new bike.
Vida Bike | Fb | Instagram | Photos by, and with honest because of, Kazuo Matsumoto
