Shooting Star: Custom Yamaha Road Star Motorcycle

For builders who create one-of-a-kind machines for customers, the process usually follows standard patterns: A client has an idea for a pro to flesh out, or the client, familiar with the customizer's style, contracts the artist to work magic on a bike. Either way, once the project reaches completion, the bike gets ridden or shipped away to its new home, leaving its creator behind to start anew.

Several builders have told us that when they are completely immersed in a series of projects they often forget about how previous bikes looked as they went out the door. The next deadline or project immediately takes over, with the recent departure crossed off the To Do list. Later, at a bike show -- or perhaps in a magazine -- they see their workmanship as if for the first time, and enjoy a moment of self-discovery, seeing the results of their handiwork out in the world.

John "Baron" Vaughan-Chaldy must have thought of one of these moments when the owners of Banzai Motorsports in Illinois asked him to build a Road Star. When the previously uncrated twin arrived at his shop, Baron was told to build this bike as if it were his own. While he is always one to throw himself into a new project, Baron decided that this bike would truly become something special. This Road Star would become a no-holds-barred expression of what the big Yamaha could be.

Gather the Craftsmen

Before a single part was removed from the Road Star, Baron developed a concept and a rough plan -- a theme if you will -- for the bike he decided would be named Shooting Star. Once he had some thumbnail sketches, Baron created a list of priorities for the project. First, he wanted the bike to look like a hardtail, while maintaining full suspension travel. Second, the rear tire needed to be the widest one that could be shoehorned into the swinger. And finally, an aggressive look needed to be carried uniformly throughout the bike. The machine had to flow, to look like it was breaking the law while still on its sidestand.

However, Baron believes in giving credit where credit is due and stresses that Shooting Star would not exist if not for a couple of key individuals. For example, he could have referred to Dan Hatch as the paint and graphics guy. But, according to Baron, Hatch's skills go much further. Baron discussed his plans for Shooting Star with Hatch, who proposed a few designs that were good but not quite what Baron envisioned. On the second day of pondering the project, Hatch had an epiphany at 2 a.m. Four hours later, he was banging on Baron's front door.

As he stood in his driveway wearing a bathrobe, looking at the sketches Hatch had draped all over the hood of his truck, Baron knew that his vision had been captured. In his night of inspiration, Hatch had produced a four-foot-wide series of drawings on transparent paper that flipped down over a scaled photograph of a naked Road Star frame, showing various levels of his design. Hatch had also drawn out all the major body parts in three dimensions with rear, side, and three-quarter views to show how the bike would look from various angles.

Baron took Hatch's drawings to Earl Cook, the man Baron turns to for all his metal work. Cook outlined what parts would be challenging and might require revision to make the jump from paper to metal. Then he said he needed the stripped chassis at the ride height that Baron wanted the bodywork to be built around. This posed a slight problem, because Baron still didn't know how he was going to lower the Star an inch and a half while maintaining full suspension travel. Finally, they agreed that Cook would build the bodywork to accommodate the inch and a half of lowering. Baron just had to deliver it, or the bike would end up looking awkward. Shooting Star's frame had to be modified extensively to allow the metalwork that Baron envisioned. The entire rear sub-frame was removed and redesigned for the new long rear fender and seat assembly.

The lip on the fenders and the tank were a challenge. In some places, it simply was not practical to put the one-third of an inch bend into the metal. Hatch assured Baron that the look could be carried by the graphics. Even the Headwinds headlight shell was graced with this stylish bend. The tank is a textbook example of the art of compound curves. Two flush-mount gas caps slip perfectly into the tank top. The sides flow down to the lip, which then swoops under the tank with nary a seam or ripple in sight.

Get Down

While Cook shaped the metalwork, Baron was hard at work with a CAD (computer aided design) engineer who worked a little magic of his own. When they were finished, the relay arm on the rear linkage had been redesigned to lower the Star the required 1.5 inches while maintaining full suspension travel. He says he also managed to give the rear suspender better progression. (Other Road Star owners can reap the same rewards when the relay arm enters Baron's Custom Accessories' model line.) The fork was sent to the Race Tech suspension gurus for springs and Gold Valves to give the front optimum performance while incorporating Baron's 1.5-inch lowering blocks.

Originally, Baron had planned on resting the lowered suspension on a set of Performance Machine wheels, but when he saw a photograph of RC Components' Slash wheel design, he knew they were meant to be on this motorcycle. The swooshes in the wheels embody the shooting star motif of this custom. When Baron contacted RC Components to order the 18(?) inch wheels to carry a set of the fat TK Avon tires, he also ordered matching calipers and discs.

Even with all the fabulous metalwork on the Yamaha, the trickest part on the entire bike has to be the belt drive's rear pulley. The Rick Ball at RC Components has found a way to combine the rear disc and the pulley. The swept surface of the disc is really two discs on either side of the pulley held in place by recessed allen bolts. The discs act as the sides of the pulley, holding the belt in place. The extra-wide caliper hangs from the rear axle, squeezing both sides of the pulley, while the belt runs unmolested through the caliper -- a truly clever system that allows the unobstructed right side of the wheel to get maximum exposure!

In keeping with the glimmering look of the bike, much of Shooting Star is either chromed or polished. Many of the bolt-on parts are either existing or prototype Baron's Custom Accessories items, or select pieces culled from other aftermarket companies. The forward controls will be available from Baron soon. The chromed, billet triple clamp was created because he couldn't get the stocker to chrome up. While he was designing the replacement, Baron decided to machine integrated turn signals into the lower clamp. The Baron's bar and risers received a set of J Brake levers and Harley-spec switchgear. All electrical wiring was run through the bar for an uncluttered look. A Ness throttle and Aeromach mirrors round out the cockpit.