ROUGH CRAFTS

Crow Tar: A Street Bob Personalized
Two years ago, Harley-Davidson took Winston Yeh from Rough Crafts to Barcelona to test Milwaukee's new twin-cylinders. And like most of those present at the launch event, the trainer was impressed with the new Softail platform.
"I had the idea of ​​building a performance version of a Softail in my head ever since," says Winston. "So when a client arrived with an open project, I knew exactly what I had to do."
"Tarmac Raven", "Tar Raven, has a dark, baroque appearance. The Rough Crafts style is unique, but remarkably, it did not require any turning work, which should have been a relief to Winston's long-time partners at CT-Garage. The new body rests comfortably on the structure of origin and accentuates the elongated appearance, almost similar to a sleigh. The tank is a highly modified Sportster unit, and the tail was made of fiberglass. Both were wrapped in a layer of carbon fiber by Simon Fiber Craft, and then painted by the Air Runner in contrasting shades of matte black and glossy. But it's actually the mighty Milwaukee-Eight that dominates the side view. And as is not difficult to guess, this V-Twin is a long way from the original bike.
"I had a conversation with David Zemla of the S & S Cycle," says Winston. "He provided the latest kit for the M8 engine: the 124-cubic-inch (2.032cc) Power Pack." This includes forged pistons with a compression ratio of 11: 1 and a warmer combustion chamber, and promises 124 horsepower to the crankshaft. The torque rises from 149 Nm of origin to a whopping 180.
"I have not had a chance to take my engine to the dynamometer," says Winston, "but I can tell you're getting serious!"
Keeping all of this power under control is aided by a full set of modified Öhlins suspension. At the front are the robust 48mm FGRT301 forks originally designed for the Ducati Diavel. This makes the Street Bob distant from the typical geometry of the relaxed Harley cruisers for a more aggressive and dry stance.
"The Öhlins also made a tailor-made rear bumper, which is one inch longer than the standard Softail product," Winston says.
CNC Racing provided a triple tee that Winston modified to carry a steering shaft and Harley style straps. Next, he installed his BlackStone Tek super light carbon fiber wheels - this time seven-spoke "Black Mamba" wheels, which are about 25% lighter than forged aluminum. The wheels were equipped with the latest Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP V3 rubber to complete the 17-inch package. The brakes are Beringer: dual 4-piston calipers and Sunstar discs on the front, and a modified Ducati Panigale brake kit on the back.
Winston's next port of call was Roaring Toyz, Fla., Who knows a thing or two about customizing sports.
Roaring Toyz designed and supplied a monolateral swing arm for the Street Bob. "They went to the trouble of buying a Softail to develop a new monolateral swingarm system," says Winston, impressed. "It works with Ducati Panigale single-sided eccentric traction wheels. It was something that appeared to me at the door and it was a perfect fit! "
On the side opposite the swingarm, there is a SC-Project Titanium S1 series silencer. Rough Crafts has combined this with custom titanium tubes, which SC-Project will soon prepare and replicate to provide a complete production system.
A handful of parts from Rough Crafts itself contribute to the "Guerrilla" look - such as the clutch cover, handlebar, air filter with bladed fins and gas cap. For the cuffs and valve caps, Winston turned to Arlen Ness and to the rear lights and taillights, the Rhizome. 2 Abnormal Sides created a set of sill covers and the deposit emblems.
"You can really see how much work Harley has put on this platform to customize it," notes Winston. "Even sporting this radical appearance does not actually have any cuts or welds anywhere." "Even the Street Bob's home panel is so good that we simply designed our raised risers to support the handlebar around it - so it retains all source functions."
Just to make things even easier, Rebuffini, an Italian spare parts specialist for Harley-Davidson, has found a way to make the hand controls softly connect with the Softail CAN Bus electronics. That's why Winston installed its RR90 controls with radial brake pumps: "It's a super clean turn-key kit, just install it."
The good news is that Winston is already working on production versions of many of the pieces shown on Tarmac Raven. So if anybody has a Street Bob in the garage, he can take a bite out of Rough Crafts' black magic in it. Pedro Araújo, direto de Portugal