ORANGE
CRUSH
Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 Classic
Story and photos by Marty Kane
"It's not about speed...
it's about looking good"
If you're a cruiser rider, you've probably
said that more than once to a sportbike rider.
Each year, Kawasaki's builds a few fully
custom bikes to sample what the end users can do with their latest offerings. Because they
get a chance to do informal, hands-on, R&D, changes to following models often come as
their result.
Afterwards, the bikes tour the country on the
consumer show circuit, and riders can see first hand, what can be done with the models
they may ride or want.
The bike now known as Orange Crush, started
life as a 1999 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 Classic. Kawasaki's John Hoover built this bike in his
own garage, without all of the fancy equipment that most custom bike builders have at
their disposal. The result... a complete and total head turner.
Starting out with a few items from the
Kawasaki accessories catalog, Hoover chose handlebars and grips from the "Fire and
Steel" line. As well, a few stock components were robbed from other models (footpegs
from a Vulcan 750, rear brake pedal from a Vulcan 1500A, and "European" model
front turn signals).
Planet Cruiser supplied a Streamer-series
front and rear fender, as well as a "streetfighter" looking dual halogen
headlight assembly (with pseudo carbon fiber look).
After mounting all of the body components,
Hoover turned to AP Designs' Alex Paul, who laid out the graphic scheme, and began
spraying on many coats of high luster "candy" paint.
To round off the bike's looks... billet
aluminum RC Components Dagger-series wheels were mounted, and a tail light assembly from
Bikers Dream found a home on the rear fender, just above the french-cut license plate
opening.
Manufacturing, and a sleek "Profiler
Seat" by Travelcade continued the narrow racy look. Though black seats are cool...
this one did not match the look, so Hoover asked AP to make one of their trademark
"Colorblast" custom seat covers to match the bike.
No custom bike is complete without being
slammed to the ground, so Progressive Suspension supplied a pair of ultra-short Cruiser
Shocks, and complimenting "Cruise Control" front fork lowering kit.
To turn up the wick in the horsepower
department, a Dyna ignition was installed to add additional fire power, and Thunder
Manufacturing supplied 7" round air cleaner assembly, carburetor jet kit, and a
overbore piston kit. To provide the proper sound, Vance and Hines threw in one of their 2
into 1 "Pro Pipes".
This is one fine ride. The best part in my
eyes... is the cost. For about the same price as a stock Harley, you could do up this
entire bike complete with all customizing!
For more information, contact:
Kawasaki - AP Designs |
