BROOKLYN'S KINGS RIDERS BUILDS A BILLBOARD FOR ITS WORK.
Brooklyn is one of the oldest cites in America and has a long history that dates back to the late 1600s. It is one of the original six towns of Kings County from which Kings Riders derives its name. Buried deep in the inner city, Kings Riders lives, breathes and works the inner city life, and just a few feet out of the shop doors is the real East Coast custom bike scene.
Shop bikes are meant to be rolling showcases of everything they can do given the budget. The Kings Riders 2000 Suzuki Hayabusa serves as an example of what a customer, with enough cash, can ride away with. After having issues working with some of the other single-sided swingarms on the market, Kings Riders wanted to come up with its own design. Alex Martinez always believed that a single-sided swingarm should be almost transparent. "The whole goal is to make the wheel look like it's floating in midair." Using a newly designed swingarm, hub and brake caliper, they tried to make its arm appear as minimal as possible.
The bike carries the king theme for which the shop is named. The tailsection was custom lengthened to house the 300mm tire sitting out back. The seat was made to represent a horse's saddle with its leather-molded construction. The airbrush work was all done in-house by Mauricio Mojocoa, and it took over 12 hours just to paint all the horseback riders throughout. Combined with a gold leaf accent, marble and other effects, something new appears with each passing glance.
While the cost to duplicate this bike might only be fit for a king, it stands to show that anything is possible with the right amount of talent and gold.
BUYER'S BOX
2000 SUZUKI HAYABUSA
FRONT END: Tricky front end, RC Components wheel
REAR END: Tricky rear shock, RC Components wheel, Kings Riders single-sided swingarm, rear brake and rotor system, 300mm tire
MOTOR: Two Brothers Racing exhaust
PAINT: Kings Riders, House of Kolor candy orange with tribute to gold leaf and marble effect
POLISH/CHROME: Sport Chrome (www.sportchrome.com)
BODYWORK: Custom lengthened tailsection by Kings Riders
ACCESSORIES: NYC Parts levers, Vortex rearsets, RIS Design grips and upper triple tree, Drastik Plastix LEDs, custom seat and solo seat cover by Kings Riders
OWNER: Kings Riders
BUILDER: Kings Riders (www.kingsriders.com)