Kawasaki Vulcan 1600 Mean Streak Front Right
Project X: Overnight Custom Honda VTX Motorcycle
The Baron/Hoover Summit
While Baron was well on his way toward building customs enthusiasts could replicate with real-world budgets, he was helped by Kawasaki's former head of U.S. development, John Hoover. Baron's Warrior had a reputation for being one of the nicest-looking competitors in Prostar's Hot Rod Cruiser class. So Hoover, being a rabid dragracing fan, approached Baron to see if he would consider customizing bikes without the Star logo. Hoover's goal was not just to convince Baron to build some show bikes for him. He also wanted to encourage Baron to add Kawi products to his accessory line. Hoover gave Baron access to Kawasaki's entire big-twin line, which at the time consisted of the Vulcan 1600 and 1500 plus the Mean Streak. The two repeatedly discussed the importance of price ceilings. Although Baron had enjoyed success with his "Bike in a Box" program (now called Customizing Kits), Hoover kept insisting that while the multilevel approach to selling the kits was on the right track, Baron needed to cut the costs of his show bikes even closer to the budgets of the average cruising enthusiast. As a result, Baron set out to create this trio of bikes as inexpensively as possible. Companies often spend more on a show bike's flashy paint scheme than the already pricey chassis and accessory additions. While Baron's Mean Streak kits ain't cheap (ranging from $1026 to $5400), keeping the paint cost of each of these three Kawasakis to $1500 helps the price stay at a relatively reasonable level. The project Mean Streak is a fairly straightforward custom. The primary change was the inclusion of a set of Baron's Gangster fenders. Baron wanted to keep the front wheel naked for the dragracing crowd at Prostar events, but Hoover convinced him that even though people buy these higher-performance cruisers, they still want full fenders. On Hoover's recommendation, Baron later added a more dressed-up, fully cloaked front fender. By asking for this simple modification, Hoover was able to help fill a hole in the Kawasaki cruiser line. View Related Article
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