CustomFighters.com Charity Bike Build
By: Shaun “Scrapyard” Kelly

Last month a brilliant idea was proposed by fslflint. Let us, the forum members build a bike as a community. With the vast amount of talent, skill and knowledge complied amongst the forum members; we would be stupid not to take advantage of this idea. Very quickly this idea snowballed into an even better proposal. Once the build is complete, auction the bike and offer the profits from the sale to a deserving charity organization.

Immediately, all hearts and minds turned to get the project going. Ideas started flying. And in the true CF form, we broke it all down in a democratic move to keep all members involved. While we were still trying to decide on a base platform for the build polls started going up. Over 20 unique charities were chosen and voted on. Voting was close for many days. And many members expressed very heartfelt and intelligent thoughts on why they felt their charity of choice would be best deserving. When the polls closed 2 charities stood out with very close voting. These two charities are very dissimilar in their respective cause, but hit home on a personal level with enough people to both be considered. In an executive decision, our forum Administrator, AB420 AKA: Chris Miller decided it best to split the bikes profit between the two. St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and The National Motorcycle Safety Fund became the charities of choice for this project.

With a great outpouring of interest to participate in this project, many have offered to donate parts, services and whatever spare money they can contribute. A donation found has been started for those that want to give to the project monetarily. If you would like to donate via Pay Pal, visit the following link: http://www.customfighters.com/forums/misc.php?do=donate . Also, $2 from every Custom Fighters T- shirt sold in March will be donated to the cause. As of this writing, we have collected over $1400 usd to put towards the build of the bike. With our largest donation being from our member Chris, whom is currently residing in Afghanistan helping our troops stay in contact with their world here at home. He was generous enough to contribute $1000usd to the project. For that, we give him a huge heartfelt Thank You! All funds collected will go to the build of the bike. Any parts, materials, services, etc. that need to be purchased to complete the project will be taken from this fund.

Sponsors have also started stepping forward. Offering parts and services to the project. Site supporters, European Streetfighters and Moto-Madness.com have offered to donate some parts to the build. We thank them very much for their support. Our own fslflint has also offered to lend his machining skills towards making some one off pieces. We are also in talks with other companies for their support and are welcoming anyone else that wishes to help out.

The inevitable question of what bike to start with and where would it come from arose. The topic went back and forth a bit. 929 adam offered his CBR929, Bad Kaw offered a GS1100 rolling Chassis and I offered my GSXR907 project. The GS1100 left us searching for a power plant. The 929 ended up having a damaged frame that was beyond repair. In the end the members decided to use the classic GSXR, as it was the most complete and compatible with the ideas we had in mind. On a personal note. I’m very excited and honored that my bike won out the decision process. This was a project I had waiting in the wings for well over a year. With no clear direction to take the project and trials of life diverting my attention it sat. I tinkered with it when I could but those times were far and few between. Most recently, I had been pondering some of life’s questions. All the times people had helped me over the years. How grateful I was that I had the chances I’ve had. There’s no way I could repay everyone. But in my mind, if you can’t pay it back, pay it forward. When this project came about and I started seeing the potential it could have. There was no better way for me to help.

Where we are now.

Currently, the projects state is as follows.

Frame: 1991 Suzuki GSXR750. Subframe removed, fully polished. Engine: GSXR750. 907cc Wiseco pistons, ’90 GSXR750 Slingshot cylinder head, Megacycle GSXR1100 cams, APE cam chain tensioner, Two Brothers Adjustable Ignition Advance, Mukuni 40mm Flatslides, Yoshimura stainless exhaust, Barnett’s clutch and HD springs. Frontend: Honda CBR929 Forks. Rearend: Triumph 955i Single sided swingarm, rear shock, brake rotor, caliper, Attack Performance linkage. Bodywork: Bandit 600 or GSXR750 fuel tanks.

The list above contains parts that have been accounted for as of this writing. We are still in need of many more parts.

Where we are headed.

As of late, there has been much talk of how the bike should look and what pieces should be used to complete our goal. The general consensus is we want to create a true Custom Fighter. Meaning we want to use as many one off and specialty parts as possible. It has already been decided that the triple clamps will be machined by fslflint. He is working on a set of collet lock style clamps to hold up the frontend. Very trick setup. He will also be making a set of risers that will house a very trick set of gauges and indicator lights.

We also have another machinist on hand for this project. A good friend and co worker of mine, Buck of www.GoblinMillworx.com will be helping out with fitting the swingarm and some fabrication and welding duties that may be needed. We will be bracing the Triumph arm with aluminum tube to give it a more unique look.

Bodywork has become a main topic of the build. A lean towards a one off body set for the project has become intensely discussed. If any of our members are skilled body men or have fiberglass and forming skills, this could be a huge opportunity for you to contribute. We would also be interested in hearing from custom painters that may be interested in helping out. All the members are encouraged to input their ideas into the project. We are always open to ideas and will deeply consider its impact on the project. We all want to create the best fighter we can. Something that will stand out as “OUR” bike.

Obtaining our objective.

There’s much more to this project then just building a killer machine. We have to keep the main goal in focus. This project is going to help out some very well deserving charities help people in need. Children with life threatening illness and their families. Kids who haven’t had the chances we have to live and enjoy life. Just because they were dealt a bad hand doesn’t mean they have to pay the ultimate price. This is our chance to make a difference. Also this gives us a chance to make a statement among the motorcycle community as well. Let’s buck the stigma that we are a bunch of hooligans out to raise hell. Let’s show them that we care about safety and support the riding community at large. Along with community as a whole. Lastly, the cherry on top, we all get some well-deserved exposure for our scene and the great site that we all enjoy.

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