The next change was the paint job. It's my feeling that a custom paint job is the most personal and perhaps most difficult of all motorcycle modifications. I've been to Daytona Bike Week countless times and have attended plenty of shows, and the paint is usually what makes or breaks the bike for me. Since I have no artistic ability, my goal was to find a painter I trusted and leave the artistry to him. After looking at numerous artists in my area (Chattanooga, TN), I settled on Liquid Visions in Ringgold, GA. Gary Stroud is the in-house Picasso, and after seeing his work, I decided he'd be able to make my bike stand out. I gave him input about the colors I liked and also told him that the bike was a Honda-and I wanted it to look like one after he finished. To keep the cost reasonable, I disassembled the bike and presented Stroud with the parts I wanted painted, along with photos of a stock VTX as a reference. About five weeks later, Stroud called me to come take a look at the finished product. The paint was wild. It all started with a base coat of House of Kolor Tangerine, followed by careful airbrushing of the "real flames." To maintain the Honda look, Stroud borrowed the tribal flames from the photos I had left behind and augmented them with some metal flakes. Then a VTX logo was sprayed on each side of the tank, and finally, five coats of clear were applied to create depth. After leaving 25 copies of Ben Franklin with Stroud, I was well on my way to a custom bike.
The project was now starting to really look the way I wanted, but naturally, a few more things were on my list. The next goal was to get rid of the black brake lines, so I ordered up a custom Spiegler brake line kit from Honda Direct (hondadirectline.com). The kit maintains the Honda linked brakes but greatly improves the feel and look. This install is not for the fainthearted, though, as it includes 14 separate lines and requires removal of the tank and seat to access the factory parts. I also ordered chrome Kryakyn passenger rear pegs from Honda Direct to upgrade the plain-Jane rubber stockers. And if you want to add other shiny stuff, go no farther than your local dealer. I found a ton of stuff for nearly every VTX spec in the Honda accessory catalog, adding the following chrome bits: master cylinder cover, billet banjo bolt covers, billet oil dipstick, chrome driveshaft cover, swingarm pivot cover and a chrome driveshaft bolt cover. Honda parts have the best fitment and quality of any on the market.
After torquing everything down, I couldn't wait to get the "X" back on the road. Riding the bike this time was in some ways exactly the same; the engine is just as reliable as it was before the turbo, only faster. The dual ball-bearing turbo spools almost instantly and pushes the bike forward with an extra 50 horsepower. The only thing that stops the turbocharged fun is the rev-limiter. Even in top gear the bike will easily bounce the tach off the redline. Unlike many 130-plus-hp custom cruisers, this one starts easily and cruises the interstates as well as crowded city streets without overheating. Velocity does suggest 93-octane fuel just to be safe, but with the relatively low 9.0:1 stock compression ratio, even this is probably overkill. The bike is just as smooth as ever, but now it hits you with the kind of brute torque that a true power cruiser should deliver
One of the goals on this project...
One of the goals on this project was to have a custom paint job that still let everyone know it was a Honda. So the VTX logo was incorporated into the elaborate "real flame" paint scheme.