It may not be the easiest...
It may not be the easiest speedometer in the world to read, but it's certainly one of the most sanitary mounting jobs I've ever seen. The sleek air cleaner housing is another catalog MMS item, this one modified to accept the speedometer and indicator lights.
Last but not least, check out the forward controls and footpegs. Notice how sanitary they are? Notice how they tuck in and up? Notice how they don't impede cornering clearance? Form is nothing without function, is it?
When it came time for paint, Wing once again had his own ideas. Accordingly, he sent Parak some photos of a particular bike with a particular paint scheme he had in mind. Being particularly polite, Mr. Parak, every inch a gentleman, told Mr. Wing, in a very nice way, of course, that he wasn't about to paint his masterpiece with that particular paint. Once again, Wing decided to trust the judgment of the artist. Parak had Pfeil Design, an Austrian paint shop, lay on the stunning orange pearl with lime-yellow flame paint job. Oh yeah, the seat covering--that's Alcantara, a synthetic, extremely durable and washable suede used by Porsche and Audi for seat inserts and headliners.
After eight months of transatlantic phone calls, not to mention the occasional trip to Germany, the bike was done. Wing had yet to see the finished product. Nonetheless, he had faith that his trust in MMS had not been misplaced. In fact, he and Samuels had begun to kick around the idea of importing the MMS line of custom accessories to the United States. Parak thought it was a great idea, but Wing and Samuels wanted to gauge public opinion. Since Daytona was just around the bend, the boys thought the hot tip would be to drag Wing's as-yet-undelivered as well as unseen bike and Samuels' Intruder down to Florida. They'd set up a booth, run the MMS bikes up the proverbial flagpole and see if anyone saluted.
Here's where it all turned to, uh, excrement. The bike was supposed to be shipped directly to Wing. He'd then put a few shakedown miles on his new toy, check it over and head for Daytona. Due to a shipping snafu, the bike was delayed in Germany for an extra week. It finally made its way onto a plane, which promptly had an engine fire and returned to the airport. Two weeks later the bike arrived stateside. Unfortunately, it arrived in New York City.
"No problem," said the shipper "We'll truck it to Atlanta, and you guys can pick it up on your way to Daytona."
This sounded like the path of least resistance, so Wing's crew and Samuels loaded up Samuels' Intruder and their gear and headed east on I-80. Because business obligations kept Wing in Utah, he'd fly into Daytona and catch up with the guys and the bike there. After pushing their rig through enough rain to put Noah back in the Ark-building business, the pair arrived in Atlanta, only to be told that the crated bike wouldn't/couldn't clear customs. Wing's able assistant Ryan Moss cajoled, convinced and connived until the bike was released at the 11th hour. The only problem was the guys now had less than 12 hours to unwrap the bike, assemble it and get it from Atlanta to Daytona. Moss and Samuels uncrated the bike in the customs parking lot and started thrashing. After a few hours of chasing down tools, screwing the bike together and just staring at it with huge grins on their mugs, they were finished. Remember that until they actually opened the crate no one, including Wing, even knew what color the bike was. Moss thought a call to the boss was probably a good idea at this point.
"It's what color?" Wing asked.
"Orange," replied Moss, "but trust me, it's stunning."
Sure, it looks clean now....
Sure, it looks clean now. All it took was a custom swingarm, a trick rear wheel and the relocation of several major components. Not exactly something you'd want to tackle between episodes of American Chopper!
Moss hit the starter button, the bike fired instantly (as if anyone had expected anything less) and after a few laps around the parking lot the crew got back on the road. They hit Daytona dog-tired at 3 a.m. Considering what they'd put themselves through just to get there, merely arriving with their wits intact should qualify both gentlemen for some sort of award.
Wing flew in shortly thereafter. I suppose saying that Wing was immensely pleased and enormously impressed with his new ride would be somewhat of an understatement, but that's what he was. His trust in Parak had not been misplaced. Everything about the bike, including the paint, was perfect.
Excitement goes a long way toward dispelling exhaustion, and as soon as the crowds formed around Wing and Samuels' bikes, all the trials and tribulations of the past week simply ceased to exist. From the get-go the MMS Road Star drew a crowd like dollar day at the Mustang Ranch. Rumor has it that one of the bigwigs at Yamaha didn't even recognize the lineage of the bike. When Wing mentioned that it began life as a stock Road Star, the wig was both dumbfounded and dazzled. He thanked Wing and walked away muttering, "That bike is going to sell us a lot of Road Stars."
Wing also mentioned that during the course of the week he had several blank- check offers to buy the bike, all of which he politely refused.
Granted, the bike was a knockout as a static display, but the question is, how does it work as a motorcycle? Quite nicely, thank you. According to the owner, the bike performs extremely well. Being somewhat lighter than a stock Road Star, Wing's bike has a very good power-to-weight ratio. The mildly breathed-on engine is lively, yet retains the stock motor's reliability and low maintenance. Wing says it also handles considerably better than a standard Road Star. The clean footpeg mounting enhances ground clearance, and when the road turns real twisty, all it takes is a touch of a button to pressurize the rear suspension, raising the bike and providing even more clearance. To cap it all off, the bike is surprisingly comfortable to ride, something that can't be said for many radical customs. The bike's only flaw? It seems that whenever Wing stops, a crowd gathers and Wing is inundated with questions.
When Wing conceived this project, he knew what he was after. "I wanted a bike where nothing stood out, [I wanted] everything to just flow." Of course, the bike also had to be practical, fun to ride and easy to maintain. The last thing Wing wanted or needed was a finicky, hard-to-manage trailer queen. Parak was able to turn Wing's vision into reality in a way few builders could have done. The end result is a stellar-looking bike that performs well and is comfortable to ride. There are no loose ends, warts or excuses. The bike is, in a word, outstanding.
MMS Cycles, Ingolstadt, Germany
Construction and fabrication
49(0) 841-961-3333
www.mms-cycles.net
For more articles on custom bikes and articles about how to customize and modify your motorcycle, see the Custom section of MotorcycleCruiser.com.