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"One For The Boss"

text by Joe Kress

Man, this has to be the third or fourth bike I've put together for Lisa," says her husband, Kirk Taylor."She always seems to sell 'em but I've got a feeling this one's a keeper" It should be. Lisa's latest ride is a classic, a simple little rigid that never fails to draw a crowd and it's an everyday rider. Kirk says that even when it's mixed in among some really high- end show bikes from their shop, Custom Design Studios, in Novato, California, it's this little bugger that is always getting the nod."It gets as much or even more attention than a full-blown custom," he says, slightly bemused. Lisa was pulling out of a parking lot somewhere Kirk says, when savvy bike builder Paul Cox came running up screaming,"lady that's one bad ass motorcycle you got there!" Paul was right and he would have been even more impressed had he known the full story behind this scoot.

Lisa's latest ride was a "slow burn project" Kirk says, built mostly from parts left over from other more pressing projects around the shop or picked up with barter work. For example, Johnny Chop made the gas tank in exchange for some paintwork. Not a dollar changed hands. The whole bike went together with deals like that, put together with spare parts in spare time and with spare money. "That's why it took us four years to finish it!" Kirk laughs. "You know the drill. We'd score a front end here, maybe something else there, pickup the wheels on sale.That's how it went.''

The basics here are a 4-up, 2-out, 35-degree rake frame from Daytec, cleaned up a little and dressed out with CDS touches like that hot rod gusset up at the neck all drilled out. "That's just kind of my vibe," Kirk says. "I'm into the retro stuff. I like tying together car and bike pieces. To me a gearhead's a gearhead and it all belongs together.''

Check out the fender struts out back. They're Hurst speed shift levers. The engine has that old-timey feel but it's brand-new, a 100-inch RevTech with pan top covers. The transmission behind it is a 5-speed Kirk put together with more parts lying around the shop-a tranny case bought at a blowout price and stuffed with the gear set from an- other bike that got a 6-speed.The keg- style oil tank came from Midwest and got some extension panels added on the ends to make a home for the ignition switch and so on, and the pipes bolted to that new/old motor are Supertrapps, Paul Yaffe X-pipes. "It's a great looking pipe," Kirk says. He made it even better by changing the outer coating and putting on a ceramic material usually reserved for pistons. That velocity stack is a new Custom Design Studios piece, just out. "We call it Dick's Cool Unit," Kirk says. A neat little spun aluminum piece with a mesh- screen cover, it works with either a Mikuni or CV carburetor and works great, swears its maker. ''It does away with all that spitting, sputtering and stumbling so common to stacks," Kirk explains. "The screen does a great job of straightening out and evening out the airflow. "The piece is timeless and traditional just like the rest of the bike.

This spare-parts special, took second place "Best of Show'' in San Diego and even grabbed a first in class at our Easyriders Bike Show in Kansas City. Not too bad for a bike thrown together on the cheap. The only question now is how long will she keep it?