2007 Suzuki GSX-R1000 - The Anti-Bling

Going chrome isn't always the answer, and one bike shop has just about had it with the shiny stuff. Florida's Wild Card Customs set out to create a bike that is the antithesis of a bling machine and pulled it off with stunning results.

This new direction will certainly spark some criticism, as it's so true that you can't please everybody all of the time. A pretty steady flow of e-mail comes through the office each month venting either the love or hatred of certain bikes featured in previous issues. Though it's fantastic that people are so passionate about sportbikes that they'd write in to praise or condemn us for daring to show something they don't personally agree with, we simply can't display one-dimensional super-blingy bikes constantly. It really does get a bit tedious, you know.

Somebody with a bit more power over the current ultra-chrome trend is Wild Card's Mike Godek in Clearwater, Florida. His shop is responsible for some of the wildest big-bling bikes to roll around the southland, but he explained why he chose a different path for this build: "We decided to put down the airbrush for this one and try to move in a new direction, and the dirtbike gear hanging in my closet really piqued my interest. The graphics are wild and you have to really look at it to see all the hidden details, like the little skulls all over.

"The helmet, along with many new styles, is a flat clear, which is what made me think about a bike without chrome or shine. No bling! I wanted to see if we could just do something different-I mean paint is paint, right? So Wild Card's painter Clint Sweet stepped up, dusted off the brushes, and went to work on the scheme. The base color is a pure white, with the black and gray graphics painted on by hand."

If the pattern looks familiar it's likely because your subconscious has retained it from a local visit to the bike shop. Dirt riders will surely recognize the Fox "Tantrum" motocross apparel design for both its simplicity and effective underlying graphics. Wild Card matched the clothing's mellow graphics under the main pattern, but you'll have to look closely to notice the ghosted-in skulls and designs. It plays into Godek's "anti-bling" theme nicely with an understated paint job that only takes true effect after close scrutiny.

A sick bike requires more than a trick paint job, of course, and Godek went to Urban Industries for a set of its "Gangsta" wheels. The rear sticks with the "anti-bling" idea, and though it's a healthy 240, that falls well short of the flashier fatter sizes that seem to pull up the rear of nearly every fresh custom ride in the sweltering Sunshine State. The same treatment of hand-painted graphics and designs were applied to the front and rear wheels to keep the "Tantrum" theme rolling.

The mild 8-inch stretch comes courtesy of North Carolina's Hardcore Cycles. It's a basic stretch design that's been given a black powdercoat to keep it looking dark and mean. Finishing up at the rear is a sprocket (also done in black, of course) and lowering links from Vortex Racing.