2006 Custom Suzuki Hayabu...
2006 Custom Suzuki Hayabusa
Custom sportbike builders are finally getting the respect they deserve in the industry. In a very businesslike fashion this Hayabusa was sponsored by one of the biggest wheel companies in the motorcycle world. Every month we feature the best of the best from around the globe-some of these bikes are built by shops and some by regular guys, but every one of them involves a boatload of time, creativity and money. If you've already put some work into your own ride then you'll be painfully aware just how much dough it can cost, and this project involved a little monetary assistance for the builder so he could concentrate on his unique ideas.
Florida's PsychoChrome, owned and run by Gonzalo Polanco, has put together some pretty sick rides in the past. One particular ZX-10 he built must have been really sweet because another shop actually tried to claim credit for it. Gonzalo told us a very amusing story about how he went to a local show and found his bike featured on the stage-labeled as someone else's creation. He hunted down the "other guy who'd built it" and gave him his PsychoChrome business card-complete with a picture of the very same ZX-10. Apparently the guy's face turned a dead match for House of Kolor's "Neon Magenta."
Gonzalo took this incident in stride and used it for motivation in his next major build. He wanted to make something that really set his style apart from everything else going on in the sportbike scene, and focusing on his stylishly crafted bodywork was the clear way to do so. One of PsychoChrome's signatures has been custom gas tank fabrication, but considering there are a million custom 'Busas on the street Gonzalo needed to take it a step further.
His team created a one-off upper fairing with a truly beautiful nose section, and some of the design cues from the front of the bike flow into the rear as well. The tail section also houses custom-made LED lights and a video camera, and this LED theme continues on into the fairing sides where they're used to illuminate the RC Components logos.
The RC logos earned their place by stepping up with the aforementioned sponsorship. Gonzalo is a dealer for RC Components parts and was keeping them up to date on this new build when the company surprised him with an offer of some cool new parts for the bike. Who could refuse?
The 'Busa wears a sparkly new set of RC "Vega" wheels; out back there's a 300 with a smooth hub and an RC Vega sprocket, while up front there's a matching smooth hub with a Vega chrome brake rotor. What's really cool is the way the front end was finished by cleaning up the unused rotor mount on the factory fork leg for the ultimate "uncluttered" look.
The set of shiny trick hoops established the chrome theme, and Gonzalo sent everything he could out for a matching luster.
From the fork uppers to engine cases, triple trees, and even the oil cap, it was all chromed right down to the nuts and bolts that hold it all together.
C&S Customs provided the 10-inch-over swingarm for the stretch, and a Tricky air-ride system provides the slam-both key components in a custom Hayabusa build. The air-ride system is just that-it's controlled with a TV clicker-style remote for an extra bit of pimp appeal.
After four months of hard work, all that was left to finish the bike was the paint. Of course that's what makes your choice of paint so vital-with the wrong paint job a work of motorcycling art can turn into a childlike Crayola scribble in seconds.
Gonzalo has been around the block and knows the importance of the ultimate finishing touch, but with this build he went down a different route and chose a paint scheme inspired by the low-rider car scene. And the results were brilliant.
Though this bike's beautiful custom lines and unique paint scheme contribute to an overall winner, what's really exciting is the sponsorship aspect. If the parts suppliers start sponsoring a couple of bike builds here and there, this will free up more of the builders' limited resources to press ahead with wild projects like this.
Though Gonzalo still invested the same amount of money into this bike as he would've without the help, the sponsorship enabled him to invest his limited resources elsewhere. If this trend continues, the kind of bikes we might see a year from now could dwarf the current masterpieces.
Maybe the business world isn't all that bad after all-as long as they don't think this means we're gonna start wearing a suit to the shop.
The Buyer's Box
2006 Suzuki Hayabusa
Front end: RC Components "Vega" wheel with smooth hub, Vega brake rotor
Rear end: Tricky Air Ride with remote, C&S 10-inch-over 300 swingarm, RC Components "Vega" wheel with smooth hub, HHI rear brake system
Motor: Power Commander, K&N air filter, NOS 40-shot, custom exhaust
Paint: PsychoChrome
Polish/chrome: Pinky at VMA, Dania, FL
Bodywork: Custom bodywork and steel gas tank by PsychoChrome, HID headlight, integrated ANT camera system, PsychoChrome windscreen
Accessories: Hot Match gas cap, billet TV screen, alligator seat by Jeffrey Phipps
Other: Performance Machine brake and clutch master
cylinders, internal throttle, Thunder Cycle billet grips, PsychoChrome handlebars, stainless steel hosesOwner: Gonzalo Polanco
Builder: Gonzalo, Miguel, Grasshopper, Captain Steve and Erika at PsychoChrome (www.psychochrome.com), with special thanks to Chris Cross at RC Components (www.rccomponents.com)