Eye-popping paint and plating, of course, are nothing without an up-to-date chassis keeping pace. To this end both the Hayabusa and the Gixxer roll on extra-wide, 240-series Metzeler rear tires mounted on RC Components rims (Regals on the 'Busa, Venoms for the GSX-R). Both bikes also sport Trac Dynamics aftermarket swingarms with slight extensions (just two inches on the Gixxer), a departure from the wildly exaggerated, eight- or 10-inch-over arms currently in style with so many East Coast sportbike builders. "It just looks better," Anglada says, explaining his choice of shorter arms. "Especially with the GSX-R and so many other new bikes, the tails are so steep and pointy I think too much extension just looks crazy."
In stark contrast to the wildly modified chassis, Anglada's engines are surprisingly stock-except for an HMF high-mount pipe on both bikes, each is exactly as Suzuki intended powerwise. "We make them look pretty, not go fast," Anglada says. "I actually think, with a lot of these wide-tire bikes, we make them go slower!" Anglada cites a handful of concerns that keep him away from serious performance work, the foremost being reliability. "All my customers cruise with their bikes, so I want reliability first-the most embarrassing thing down at Bike Week is not being able to start your bike, or a $40,000 bike overheating on Main Street.
"Besides," Anglada points out, "the cruiser tires we have to use with these wide-tire conversions just aren't made to handle a lot of horsepower."
Accordingly, the majority of the aftermarket bits on both bikes were chosen primarily to improve aesthetics. Both wear undertail cowls from Extreme Graphics, Galfer Wave rotors and braided lines, ST Machine custom billet levers and custom seats from Universal Upholstery in Kissimmee, Florida. Remaining bits-bullet bar ends, mirror caps on the GSX-R and swingarm-mounted license-plate brackets on both bikes-are manufactured locally to CSC's specs, and are available for sale on the shop's web site at www.18889CHROME.com.
Anytime you try to do something different, you run the risk of being ridiculed or otherwise ruined for taking a risk, but this has hardly been the case for Anglada and this pair of candy-colored Suzukis. Instead, Custom Sportbike Concepts is storming the show scene in the Southeast and winning every award in sight-in fact, it was the success of these two bikes that resulted in CSC being elevated to the Pro Builder class. "It was getting out of hand," Anglada says. "Our customers would be going home empty-handed and we'd win all the trophies."
Not that Anglada was especially sympathetic to the folks who pay his bills. "What could I say-they spent 20 grand on their bikes, I spent 40 grand, so I get the trophies!"
No doubt plenty of these paying customers will be rolling back into Custom Sportbike Concepts over the coming months, begging to have their played-out chrome touched up with a quick color coat. Everybody, it turns out, wants candy.