The second part of the lowering equation included a Kewl Metal air-ride kit, installed along with a Guffin-fabricated softail-style rear suspension, sized to accommodate a 240-section tire. With the air shock fully compressed, the bike is just about a frog's hair from the pavement. Fully extended, well, it's no GP bike, but it'll at least get around the corners. Jim is quick to point out that while the slammed look is great for photos and holeshots, riding it over the road in that state is difficult, to say the least. When a minor glitch caused the system to depressurize during a test ride, he likened it to riding a Zamboni through the mountains, an experience that doesn't strike me as being particularly fun. As an aside, the finished chassis is nearly 9 feet long (actually 8' 11"), which makes for a mighty stable ride.
Once the engine and frame were completed, the next thing on the To-Do List were the rotating pieces. The rear hub is a joint effort from Gschweng and Honda Direct Line. One of only four built, the design flips the brake to the left side of the hub, the space it formerly inhabited now being occupied by the nitrous bottle. Weld Wheels turned up the custom rims specifically for this project.
Despite all the trickery lying beneath it, the bodywork is what really catches your eye. The tinwork began with the purchase of a front fender blank, a Sharpie and some aquarium tubing. First, Jim used the tubing as a spacer to determine the fender-to-tire clearance, then drew what he wanted the finished fender to look like on the blank with the Sharpie. Next, the good Mr. Payne carved away everything outside the lines, while Jim marked time whittling out some hidden brackets and the mounting hardware. While the process may sound simple, let me be the first to assure you it isn't.
The fuel tank started as a VTX Retro piece. After being pounded, stretched, massaged and sanded, it was installed on the "C" chassis, with just 125 thousandths of an inch clearance all the way around. And you think you're careful when you R&R your tank? Fortuitously, the stock retro dash provided the right look, so it was retained.
To accentuate that slammed look, the radiator was lowered and cloaked with an Xtreme Revolution shroud. The slick rear-shroud/fender combo also came from Xtreme and was created almost by accident. Paying a social call on his friend Paul Mott (Xtreme's owner), Jim was inspired by a streetfighter one-piece body he saw laying around in the shop. Still in his suit and tie, Jim used it and some fenders to hack together a "Frankenstein" version of what he wanted. Mott finished the job, and CNC'd the short mounting struts. The body really ties the whole thing together, although it does hide some of the bike's more innovative mechanical bits. To ease maintenance chores it comes off with four bolts, just like a funny-car body.
Some of the bits that aren't hidden include the one-of-a-kind forward controls created by Legends of Irvine, California; the water-jetted control panel, carved out by Guffin and located between the cylinders on the left side, which contains the air-ride controls, an oil-pressure gauge, and the NOS arming switches; and the custom ostrich-print leather seat, complete with the Mr. Nasty logo, created by So Cal Cycle Seats.
Jim is quick to credit those who helped in the build and in particular Michael Payne, who he says was instrumental in getting the project rolling and seeing it through to completion. Along with the chores previously mentioned, Payne also stretched the tank, installed the wiring and painted the bike (choosing the color scheme along the way). His reward for all the hard work and long hours? He's got the second key.
So is Jim satisfied with his second outrageous custom? Hard to say. The bike is certainly awesome looking and features the type of technical achievements that've made Guffin a real player in the VTX community. But I also get the impression that he's not ready to shut down his lathe or to ride a stock bike, at least not yet. My guess is that we'll be seeing at least one more Guffin-built VTX in these pages, and I'm willing to bet it's going to be even more outrageous than its predecessors.